Unconditional Love as Entry Into,
and Expression of, the Nature of Mind

John Makransky

via Zoom

Sunday, January 8th, 2023.
10am-5pm ET

Sustaining Admission (via zoom): $80
Supporting Admission (via zoom): $120
Community Admission (via zoom): $40

We utilize a sliding scale pricing system for events.
The ‘sustaining’ admission is the general recommended donation amount.
We ask that those who are in the position to do so donate at the ‘Supporting’ admission price,
which enables us to offer ‘Community’ admission and scholarships for those experiencing financial hardship.

This one day retreat (via Zoom) will explore ways of accessing and settling into our innate awakened awareness through practices adapted from Tibetan Buddhism. By participating in an empowering field of loving, spiritual connection, we can become increasingly receptive to the unconditioned openness, lucidity and compassionate responsiveness of our buddha nature. Yet parts of us, often unconsciously, can prevent us from becoming more fully receptive to such qualities of awakening. This is true even for long-time practitioners. To address that, we will focus on ways that the unconditional, healing powers of our buddha nature can help realign all parts of us with that nature. Then our innate awareness can increasingly manifest of itself, unleashing powers of love, discernment and responsiveness. This retreat is both for practitioners who identify as Buddhists and for people of other faiths and backgrounds who seek an accessible way to cultivate unconditional powers of love, compassion, and discernment. Guided meditations, explanation of principles, and discussion will clarify our collective practice.

John Makransky, PhD, is Associate Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology at Boston College, senior advisor for Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche’s Centre of Buddhist Studies in Nepal and co-creator of the Sustainable Compassion Training model for accessing innate human capacities of love and awareness. John's academic writings have focused on connections between practices of wisdom, compassion and devotion in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, on adapting Buddhist practices to meet contemporary minds, and on theoretical issues in interfaith learning. In 2000, John was ordained as a Lama, a meditation teacher of innate compassion and wisdom, within the Nyingma Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. As a meditation teacher, John is known for guiding participants in their discovery of underlying powers of love and wisdom.