Glimpses of Mahamudra

Mahamudra is a meditation tradition within tantric Buddhism that points to the nature of awareness itself, elevating our ordinary perception to the level of the sacred. In this view, all experiences arise from a mind that is naturally vast, empty, and luminous. In this online course, esteemed Buddhist teacher and editor Judith Lief takes us on a journey through the mahamudra teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche as presented in his Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma.

Using video recorded during a nine-day retreat, we’ll begin with a deep dive into shamatha-vipashyana meditation—the practice that builds our capacity for experiencing reality directly and completely. We’ll study the hinayana and mahayana—the foundational teachings of the Buddhist path that give us the tools to cultivate gentleness, wisdom, and compassion. We’ll discuss the importance of the heart-opening quality of devotion and the student-teacher relationship in entering the vajrayana. Finally, Lief will guide us in a series of practices and contemplations to glimpse the inherent, sky-like nature of the mind as clear, brilliant, and joyful.