FACILITATED PROGRAMS
COURSE INFORMATION
Facilitated Residential and Online Programs
Dharma Ocean offers both online and residential programs led by teachers. Residential programs are in-person opportunities to engage the Ground Yana and Meditation Yana practices, and are held at the Blazing Mountain Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado.
The teacher-led online offerings support and augment the participant’s continuing journey through the Foundation Series and toward the Vajrayana. The Sutrayana Series, in particular, are more scholarly and intensive 12-week courses, in two parts. This series is one of several prerequisites for any student who wishes to consider Vajrayana training.
Regular live gatherings with senior Dharma Ocean teachers and mentors are offered to support those with a Foundation Yanas membership who participate in online courses. Students are encouraged to bring any questions relating to practice and study. Dates for the gatherings, and for future facilitated online and in-person offerings will be posted to the Event Calendar.
RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMS
Meditating with the Body: Touching Enlightenment
*HYBRID RESIDENTIAL AND ONLINE PROGRAM
Meditating with the Body is a Ground Yana training program developed by the Buddhist scholar and meditation teacher Dr. Reggie Ray. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the body is considered to be the gateway to enlightenment — to discover the body is to discover awareness and our own most direct and effective path to profound spiritual transformation.
Designed for beginning and experienced meditators alike, this in-depth training focuses on a series of transformative body-based meditation practices drawn from Tibetan Yoga. The comprehensive five-month program cultivates learning and discovery through systematic study, intensive practice, group retreats, and integration of the practices into daily life.
Prerequisites: This course is open to all.
Winter/Spring Meditation Intensive (Dathün)
The Winter/Spring Meditation Intensive is a Meditation Yana residential program, lasting up to one month. The focus of the retreat is on the practice of pure awareness, the simplest and the most profound of all the various meditation practices that are taught in Buddhism. It is also the ground for our spiritual journey whatever our level of experience, from the very beginning up to seasoned Vajrayana practitioners.
Dathüns are rigorous meditation retreats designed for modern spiritual seekers by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Trungpa incorporated Japanese Zen and Tibetan Vajrayana practices to create a powerful container in which retreatants’ journeys could both deepen and accelerate.
This intensive program provides a unique opportunity to explore the all powerful, primordial essence of our own existence with others in this powerful container of group practice. The program is a silent retreat, with daily talks and guided practices, and an opportunity to simply sit and just be.
Prerequisites: Completion of Sutrayana Part One is required. Familiarity with the Ground Yana practices in Awakening the Body and Meditating with Body, and the Meditation Yana training of The Somatic Practice of Pure Awareness are recommended.
TEACHER FACILITATED ONLINE PROGRAMs
Access online courses you have signed up for at the Dharma Ocean Online Courses portal.
Please note that our course library is not part of this website. This link will bring you to our online learning platform.
The Sutrayana Online Series
Sutrayana study focuses more on the philosophical underpinnings of our lineage. The Sutrayana online course series includes an introduction course and a two-part course that offers in-depth study in the classical Hinayana and Mahayana teachings.
The courses allow an opportunity to study the teachings and integrate them into our daily lives. The curriculum of each course include assigned readings, study questions, talks, exams, and live teaching sessions with a Dharma Ocean teacher. Participants examine the foundational perspectives of this lineage. Guided meditations, ongoing contemplations, active discussion groups, and a continuing relationship with a personal meditation instructor help bring these perspectives to life.
There are no prerequisites for Sutrayana Part One: The Hinayana. However, Sutrayana Part Two: The Mahayana requires the successful completion of part one. Both are necessary for those who are interested in the Vajrayana stage of the journey. Sutrayana students who are interested in the Vajrayana are required to actively participate in discussion groups and pass the course exams.
Sutrayana Part One: The Hinayana
Part One of the Sutrayana series is an online offering where practitioners can deepen their understanding of the view of the teachings of the “first turning of the wheel of dharma.”
Prerequisites: This course is open to all and is required for students interested in registering for Sutrayana Part Two: The Mahayana.
Sutrayana Part Two: The Mahayana
The second part of the Sutrayana study course provides an in-depth exploration of the view of the second and third turnings of the wheel of Dharma.
Prerequisites for this course: Completion of Sutrayana Part One: The Hinayana.
Registration information:
- Program runs February 3 – April 6, 2024.
- The last two weeks of the course will be dedicated to written and oral exams.
- The course website, with orientation information is open.
