| Dear friends of Tig-Le House and Origins Centre, I hope this message finds you well and supported in your lives and practice. There is a sense of slower, quieter times due to current worldly conditions and the changing seasons. Reminders of the deep need for our mindfulness to keep growing and evolving. We have just had a lovely term at Origins, sharing mindfulness and Puja, and working with the centre and the land. The term culminated in an immersive retreat on the Theravada Dhamma, teachings attributed to the Buddha Gautama. Thank you, everyone, for sharing the depth and development of practice. This newsletter shares updates on upcoming changes, second-term sessions, and retreats. After living onsite at Origins Centre, I will now be returning to Tig-Le House to continue offering Buddha Dharma teachings and mindfulness sessions there, while also staying involved, supporting Origins. This change comes in response to the simple yet important truth that my family and I have been missing one another, and that we genuinely need to remain closely connected and not apart for extended periods. Tending to these relationships is foundational to maintaining a happy, healthy harmony at home for us all. There are other practical and personal considerations that have contributed to this decision, the outcome of which I believe will support a grounded and steady way of contributing to the work of the Dharma. While my presence at Origins will change, my commitment to the Centre, the Committee, Community, and its purpose remains. I will continue to help as a Senior Dharma Teacher, running retreats, working with the Committee and assisting where possible, albeit in a different pattern in this evolving space. Coming home to Tig-Le House, for the second term, we re-establish a regular pattern of in-person sessions and practice opportunities here (details below). We look forward to welcoming you and hope you will attend.I deeply appreciate everyone’s support and kindness, and I look forward to connecting, whether at Tig-Le House, Origins Centre, or elsewhere along the Path. Warm regards Sonam |
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| WHAT’S COMING UP WEEKLY SESSIONS @ TIG-LE HOUSE Second Term – 29th April to 17th June Monday Night Mindfulness: For this term, I will be teaching traditional mindfulness through the Four Satipatthana Meditations, progressing through these across the term. These are open-house drop-in anytime sessions each Monday, 7pm to 8pm, from the 4th of May to the 15th of June. All welcome. No booking required. Cost is Dana, a supportive contribution for the welfare of the teachings. Recommended $20/session Wednesday Evenings Dharma Group: The second term teachings are on the Mahayana, Seven-Point Mind Training in Bodhicitta, and the Wisdom of Compassion, each Wednesday, 7pm to 8:30pm, from 29th April to 17th June. Experience with mindfulness in our network is required to attend. This is a dedicated study and practice group that requires a commitment to attend each session from the first session through the term. Booking is required. To enquire about joining the weekly study group, please email tiglehouse@gmail.com Cost is Dana, a supportive contribution for the welfare of the teachings. Recommended $160 – $240/term RETREATS @ ORIGINS CENTRE Learn traditional Buddhist meditations that cultivate our innate mindful, compassionate nature. It is possible to stay on-site or attend from off-site. Each retreat is limited to 14 participants. Mahayana, Seven-Point Mind Training on Compassion – 22nd to 28th June. A dedicated practice retreat exploring core Buddhist teachings through the stage-by-stage meditative training attributed to Atisha. This approach supports the development of Bodhicitta, the heart of awakening, and encourages the cultivation of compassion as a practical way of being in the world. The retreat centres on integrating mindfulness and meditation through the Puja to Chenrezi text developed by Lama Sonam. This text brings together traditional prayers, English translations, key principles, and Dharma teachings, offering a steady framework for meditative practice and reflection. The retreat includes teachings on lineage and historical context, preliminary contemplations, meditations for cultivating Bodhicitta, Metta, Tonglen, and Vajrasattva healing and transformation practices. These are introduced sequentially, gradually building into a complete and integrated meditative practice. Participation involves a commitment to attend all sessions, a willingness to engage openly, and an ongoing dedication to personal practice in accordance with the guidance offered. The retreat offers a balanced structure of group sessions, Dhamma talks, puja practice, meditation instruction, and time for personal rest and reflection. This Mind training and meditation is both challenging and rewarding; a foundation in mindfulness is required to attend. To join us for the retreat, please complete the registration form here at https://forms.gle/EaRKLDqd3eDFsetC6 Mettā Meditation Retreat – 3rd to 9th August. Cultivating an open, friendly, and benevolent attitude toward oneself, all beings, life and the world. Through graduated practice, our natural Metta state is cultivated and matures, nurtured by heartfelt feelings of understanding, warmth, and goodwill for our own and others’ experiences and the realities of life. Metta is a warm, strong heart, a deepened sense of love and kindness, a reclaiming of our loving bond and kinship with our own experiences, with each other, and with the broader web of life. Truly, Metta is falling in love with all this world and the Refuge that grows deep within because of this love. This retreat is taught in the tradition of four stages, four efforts as the building blocks of Metta and include: re-establishing connection to the seeds of tenderness, opening the doorways of universal friendliness, an all-encompassing kindness, taking willing responsibility for the work of healing and transformation into our own hands, and Metta to our influences, the relationship and pathways that carry the benefits forward into our daily lives. These stages are explored in a grounded and practical way, supporting both personal insight and everyday application. Previous experience with mindfulness is essential to attend this retreat. Developing our Metta state is challenging, opening the doorway to personal experiences that require the support of our capacity for self-regulation and the calm and peacefulness of our mindfulness. To join us for the retreat, please complete the registration form here at https://forms.gle/EaRKLDqd3eDFsetC6 Vajrayāna and Deva Retreat – 23rd to 29th November. Vajrayāna, the Tibetan Buddhist Tantric vehicle, is a body of teachings and practices that weaves a tapestry of our love for the sacred and the dance of minds into compassionate activity, embedding it into our humanity through meditation, visualisation, symbolism, ceremony, story, and histories. Further details to come. To practice the Dharma effectively in this world, a genuine interest and appreciation for peacefulness must first arise within, followed by a sincere effort to understand its causes and to cultivate and apply them in ways that respond to diverse needs and circumstances, not in isolation, but in solidarity, for the benefit of all life. Sending well wishes to everyone, Sonam |
