Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche

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Theme: Intentionality

Padmasambhava is the teacher primarily responsible for bringing Buddhism to the Himalayas in the 8th century. He holds a small blue container representing the thousands of terma, or treasures, that he hid throughout the region for later discovery. Illustrating this concept, he is here presented holding a treasure casket in his hand.

A meditation session led by Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche.

For centuries Himalayan practitioners have used meditation to quiet the mind, open the heart, calm the nervous system, and increase focus. Now Western scientists, business leaders, and the secular world have embraced meditation as a vital tool for brain health.

Whether you’re a beginner, a dabbler, or a skilled meditator seeking the company of others, join expert teachers in a forty-five-minute weekly program designed to fit into your lunch break. Each session will be inspired by a different work of art from the Rubin Museum’s collection and will include an opening talk, a twenty-minute sitting session, and a closing discussion. Chairs will be provided.

This program is supported in part by the Hemera Foundation with thanks to our presenting partners Sharon Salzberg, the Interdependence Project and Parabola Magazine.

He wears the garb of a Buddhist scholar (pandita) with a hat ornamented with golden stripes that represent his levels of knowledge. His intention to bring knowledge and enlightenment to Tibet prevails. During the fragmentation of their empire at the end of the 9th century, a time of uncertainty when the present felt elusive and undefined, Tibetans looked to their glorious imperial past as a frame of reference for the present and an aspirational model for the future. They considered the past and future similarly entwined within individual lives. Individuals’ intentions shape the future, demonstrating the fundamental fluidity of time.

About the Speaker

Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche was born in 1981 and is a lineage holder of the Profound Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa from the Nyingma School of Early Translations and one of the throne-holders of the Riwoche Taklung Kagyu Lineage. Phakchok Rinpoche’s primary root gurus are his grandfather, the late Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and the late Kyabje Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche.

Phakchok Rinpoche received a traditional education from the Dzongsar Shedra in India, the complete Chokling New Treasures lineage from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Kyabje Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, and the Great Perfection lineage from Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche. Rinpoche’s teaching style is direct, addressing the needs of those present; traditional, not compromising the methods of practice and transmission in the slightest; and accessible, teaching the profound meaning in a way that can be understood and glimpsed by people of diverse backgrounds.

As a yogi practitioner with a family and the responsibility of monastic institutions, Rinpoche is deeply familiar with both ways of life and practice. Rinpoche’s life defines what it means to be a dharma practitioner in today’s world by emphasising that practitioners should find a balance in their lives. There should be a base of study and contemplation in order to understand the profound views of the Buddha’s teachings, and practice should be emphasized in a way that genuinely reduces ego clinging and negative emotions through a range of methods and practices. Altruistic activity should address the needs of those in one’s community and beyond as an expression of the compassion and wisdom cultivated in practice. These are some of the main principles that Rinpoche practices and teaches to his own students.