Rigpa Australia

The Essence of Tibetan Buddhism: A Weekend with Jan van der Breggen
2025-06-07 09:30 - 2025-06-08 15:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Sydney, 158 Australia St, Newtown, Sydney, NSW, 2042, Australia
In this weekend of teachings, shared reflection, and meditation practice, Jan van der Breggen will guide participants through an exploration of key elements of Tibetan Buddhist tradition, with the aim to help anyone — whether new to Buddhism or with an already established practice path — establish a meaningful relationship with the vast and colourful world of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Buddhist path can be divided into three broad stages: the foundational path, emphasizing peace, the mahayana path, emphasizing compassion and wisdom, and the vajrayana path, emphasizing transforming our perception of ourselves and the world we live in.
During this weekend we will explore how this third approach — that of transforming our perception, forms a thread that runs throughout all three stages. It is founded on the view that the awakened state, enlightenment, is right here, in the present moment, and can be brought into every aspect of the spiritual path.
From this perspective, our world and our reality depend entirely on our own mind, and the way it perceives reality. And so, the unsatisfactory nature of our lives that Buddha’s teachings speak of, is not caused by an inherent problem with our world. Instead, it is a result of our limited, distorted perception.
Founded on this view, Tibetan Buddhism is marked by a rich array of skilful methods which it has nurtured and perfected over hundreds of years. This includes basic meditation practices to calm and stabilise the mind; contemplative methods to awaken in us deep wisdom and vast compassion; visualization practice, mantra recitation, and profound meditation to help us arrive swiftly at a direct realization of our true nature and the nature of reality itself.
During this workshop we will explore some of these methods, and how each of them is founded upon the view they are designed to help us bring into direct, personal experience.
About Jan van der Breggen
Jan began his path of meditation at 17 years old, touched by the tenderness of the human experience and filled with questions about what reality was all about. Thirty years later, Jan continues to be moved by the vast profundity of the Buddhist path and its vision of the inherent wisdom, loving kindness and strength that lies in the minds of each and every one of us.
Jan completed Rigpa’s three-year retreat, is a Senior teacher, and, in 2017, he was selected to participate in the Milinda program, a 10-year, international Buddhist teacher training program under the guidance of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.
Jan grew up in the Netherlands and has lived in Brisbane, Australia, since 1998, where he obtained a postgraduate degree in information technology. He makes a living as a data and analytics professional for a large financial service provider. Jan was instrumental in founding Rigpa Brisbane in 1999, where he has served as a Dharma instructor for over 20 years.

Bringing the Mind Home - Finding Inner Peace, Compassion, and Wisdom
2025-06-11 19:00 - 21:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Brisbane, Unit 2/19 Enoggera Terrace, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
The key message of Buddha’s teachings is both empowering and optimistic: that inherent in the essential nature of our mind is a kindness, compassion, and wisdom that is naturally ours. And through the simple, yet revolutionary shift in orientation that comes when we learn to turn within and come to know that aspect of our mind, we will come to discover within ourselves a tremendous capacity to benefit ourselves and our world.
The teachings of the Buddha say that when we understand our mind, we understand ourselves and who we really are, and this brings with it a deep sense of peace, confidence, and well-being. For those of us who are searching for a wholesome relationship with ourselves and the world around us, Buddha’s message is an invitation for exploration and investigation.
The Buddha never asked anyone to just believe what he said, but instead asked us to deeply investigate anything before accepting it. In this course, we invite you to do exactly this, and will facilitate a process of

learning about what Buddha had to say about our mind, and its role in creating our reality
reflection and investigating this to see if it rings true to you, and challenging our own views and habits in light of our understanding
meditation – which is a direct and experiential process of clearly and directly seeing your own mind and reality, in light of the insights gained through learning and reflection

The course draws on a variety of sources, ranging from the direct teachings of Buddha recorded in ancient texts called sutra and abhidharma, to contemporary masters who hold the living and unbroken transmission of the Buddha’s wisdom mind, and are able to guide us from the depth of their insight and compassion.

Course details
This is the first module of a two part course. It can be followed as as stand-alone course or taken together with the next course module, which will run from Wednesday 20 August to Wednesday 8 October 2025

When: Weekly classes on Wednesday evenings from 11 June to 30 July 2025, 7:00 – 8:45pm AEST. Practice based classes on Sunday 29 June and Sunday 27 July, 9:30am to 3:30pm AEST
Where:
in person at Rigpa Brisbane, 2/19 Enoggera Terrace, Red Hill;
in person at Rigpa Melbourne, 803 Nicholson St, Carlton North and
online (online attendance only available if you do not live in Brisbane or Melbourne)
Cost: $200 full fee or $110 concession

For Rigpa subscribers: The course is included in your subscription fees

How To Survive Your Mind
2025-07-05 09:30 - 12:00 (Australia/Adelaide) | Rigpa Adelaide, 310 South Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
Overcoming the Conceptual Mind
Saturday 5 July | 9.30am – 12.00 noon

How to Survive Your Mind – mindfulness, awareness and compassion practices for yourself in everyday life.
A monthly program on the first Saturday of the month that introduces you to meditation and discusses a topic of general interest.
This month’s topic is Overcoming the Conceptual Mind
Feel free to come along to any session that suit you. No need to register, just drop in.
Fee: Standard $15, Concession/Student $10
We do not have credit card facilities, please bring cash.
Cost negotiable depending on your financial circumstances.
Location: Rigpa Adelaide
The Theosophical Society Building
1st Floor, Upper Hall
310 South Terrace, Adelaide

Meditation: Meet Your Fundamental Goodness | Finding Peace & Joy Everyday
2025-07-05 15:00 - 17:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Sydney, 158 Australia St, Newtown, Sydney, NSW, 2042, Australia
In this busy turbulent world, it is easy to get lost in confusion, stress and mindless distraction. But even just a little meditation helps us find peace, clarity, spaciousness and ease. And, as we explore meditation more deeply, we discover that it offers a vast and profound way of coming to know our own mind. This then brings our mind home to its true nature, to access the deeper wisdom and compassion that is at the core of who we really and truly are.
Saturday 5 July, 2025
3:00-5:00pm
Rigpa Sydney and Online
$20 standard, $10 concession (under 35’s, concession cards etc)

Inspiring a Revolution in Your Heart and Mind
2025-07-08 18:30 - 2025-08-05 20:30 (Australia/Adelaide) | Rigpa Adelaide, 310 South Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
Module 5 – Rebirth, Karma and This Life
5-week course
Tuesdays Beginning 8 July to 5 August
6.30pm to 8.30pm

Inspiring a Revolution in Your Heart and Mind presents an experiential journey through The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, its major themes and their practical implications. Suitable for people of any religion or none, the course encourages you to experiment with applying the Buddhist teachings in your daily life.
This module explores the Buddhist reasoning for the acceptance of rebirth and reincarnation. We will use the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths as a framework to help us take stock of our lives, inspire a shift in the way we see ourselves and the way we relate to the world around us. Lastly, the module investigates Karma. Karma is often misunderstood in as fate or pre-destination. Karma however, if understood well, presents us with an opportunity to be free from our suffering.

FREE for Rigpa subscribers.
Location
Rigpa Adelaide, 1st Floor Theosophical Society Building,
310 South Terrace, Adelaide
Event Fee(s)
5 weeks – full ($15 per session) A$75.00
5 weeks – concession ($10 per session) A$50.00
One session only (full) A$15.00
One session only (concession) A$10.00
Register here.
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying is available for purchase at our centre for $20. (Please bring cash – we do not have credit card facilities)
We hope that you can join us and we look forward to seeing you there.

The Wisdom of Compassion - Bodhichitta and Tonglen
2025-07-22 19:00 - 21:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Online via Zoom, Australia
The Buddhist practice of ‘equalizing self and others’ as expressed in giving with great love and taking with great compassion, known as Tonglen, is one of the most useful and powerful of all Buddhist practices. Tonglen is a simple and straightforward practice, which is extremely effective at getting to the heart of our predicament: our excessively self-centred attitude. Tonglen opens you to the truth of the suffering of others; it reveals the loving, expansive radiance of your own nature. And it offers extraordinary power in destroying the self-cherishing and self-absorption which is the root of all our hard-heartedness and all our suffering.
The Wisdom of Compassion presents key Buddhist teachings on the powerful logic of compassion and practical methods for developing a more kind relationship with ourselves, those around us and ultimately all beings.
Our innate capacity for empathy is the source of the very best of human qualities: love, kindness, generosity, warm-heartedness, courage … compassion. Although we are born with a vast capacity to love, we may not know how to do so unconditionally, or how to express that love in practice.
When our heart and mind are filled with love, we find the greatest inner healing, tranquillity and well-being. Modern research shows that with empathy and compassion we can be more fully ourselves, connect more easily with others, improve self worth and reduce self-criticism, and lead healthier lives.
Participants in this course will learn how to:

develop loving kindness for themselves
extend that loving kindness to all beings
move along the path from compassion to fully enlightened courage

Inspiring a Revolution in Your Heart and Mind | Rebirth, Karma and This Life - Sydney and Online
2025-07-23 18:30 - 2025-08-20 20:30 (Australia/Melbourne)
Rebirth, Karma and This Life (Module 5 of the full-year course, new students welcome)
This module explores the Buddhist reasoning for the acceptance of rebirth and reincarnation. We will use the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths as a framework to help us take stock of our lives, inspire a shift in the way we see ourselves and the way we relate to the world around us. Lastly, the module investigates Karma. Karma is often misunderstood in as fate or pre-destination. Karma, however if understood well, presents us with an opportunity to be free from our suffering.

An open heart in tumultuous times
2025-08-01 19:15 - 21:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Sydney, 158 Australia St, Newtown, Sydney, NSW, 2042, Australia
An open heart in tumultuous times
How the Buddhist approach to compassionate living can nourish us all.
His Eminence the 7th Yongzin Ling Rinpoche will teach on Bodhichitta and the Eight Verses of Training the Mind.
Give all profit and gain to others,
Take all loss and defeat on yourself.
These astounding words, so contrary to our conventional worldview, encapsulate the Buddhist teaching of training the mind in compassion.
The compassion teachings summarised in the Eight Verses challenge us to go beyond our usual fixed ideas and assumptions, revealing a much bigger, brighter, freer version of ourselves. By learning how to overcome a limited view of ourselves we can begin to relate to others, ourselves, and the world with more kindness, compassion, and understanding. We start to see through divisiveness and antagonism and experience a deep and liberating connection with others.
At a tumultuous time when our lives are getting fuller, faster and more stressful, the advice and practical training contained in the Eight Verses is invaluable in helping us to not only cope with the challenges of our life but to actually use them as the raw material for our awakening.
🗓️ Friday 1 August
⏰7:15pm
📍Rigpa Sydney, 158 Australia St, Newtown & Online via Zoom
About Ling Rinpoche
Ling Choktrul Rinpoche (7th Kyabjé Yongzin Ling Rinpoche) is an important lama of the Gelugpa school, born in India and recognized at an early age by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of his Principal Teacher, His Holiness the 6th Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche.
Ling Rinpoche entered Drepung Monastic University in South India in 1990. He received his geshe degree in 2016 and completed his tantric studies in 2018.
Since the early 1990s he has given teachings and tantric initiations in many countries in Asia and Europe, North America and Australia. He has participated in the Mind and Life Institute dialogues between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and scientists on a variety of topics, such as physics, neuroplasticity and destructive emotions.

How to Survive Your Mind
2025-08-02 09:30 - 12:00 (Australia/Adelaide) | Rigpa Adelaide, 310 South Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
Turning the Mind Away from Difficult Emotions
Saturday 2 August | 9.30am – 12.00 noon

How to Survive Your Mind – mindfulness, awareness and compassion practices for yourself in everyday life.
A monthly program on the first Saturday of the month that introduces you to meditation and discusses a topic of general interest.
This month’s topic is Turning the Mind Away from Difficult Emotions
Feel free to come along to any session that suit you. No need to register, just drop in.
Fee: Standard $15, Concession/Student $10
We do not have credit card facilities, please bring cash.
Cost negotiable depending on your financial circumstances.
Location: Rigpa Adelaide
The Theosophical Society Building
1st Floor, Upper Hall
310 South Terrace, Adelaide

Peace & Joy Every Day
2025-08-02 15:00 - 17:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Sydney, 158 Australia St, Newtown, Sydney, NSW, 2042, Australia
The timeless wisdom of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition offer many practical methods to help us heal and thrive as we face the everyday challenges of anxiety, depression, anger, physical pain, loneliness and burnout.
Spend time with your best self on a journey from sadness and anger to peace and joy. The timeless wisdom and meditative insights of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition offer many practical methods to help us heal and thrive as we face the everyday challenges of anxiety, depression, anger, physical pain, loneliness, and burnout.
This standalone Saturday afternoon sessions on ‘Finding Courage in a World Full of Fear’ offers an introduction to meditation and practical advice from some of the foremost Tibetan Buddhist teachers of our age. Applying these teachings can help us meet the challenges of these difficult times, heal ourselves, and bring us to the core of our own peace, compassion and wisdom.
Topics we’ll be covering:
2 August Overcoming fear and anxiety
6 September Transforming Loneliness
4 October Healing low self esteem
1 November Basic Sanity
6 December Break free of self obsession
The session includes:

Video teachings from Tibetan and Western Buddhist masters including Sogyal Rinpoche, Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Pema Chödrön and Sharon Salzberg.
Meditation practice
Time for contemplation
Group discussions and Q&A, offering you the opportunity to explore the teachings and practices in an open supportive environment and to connect with a community of practitioners.

Sydney and Online
First Saturday of each month.
Online via Zoom or at Rigpa Sydney 158 Australia St, Newtown
$20, concession $10, free for Rigpa subscribers
Check out the For Everyone section of our home page to reserve your place in the latest session.

Overcoming Fear and Anxiety
2025-08-02 15:00 - 17:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Sydney, 158 Australia St, Newtown, Sydney, NSW, 2042, Australia
Fear is one of the strongest emotions we may face, and anxiety can be utterly paralysing.
The Buddhist teachings illuminate the deepest source of our fears, and offer a rich array of tools to help us pacify and ultimately conquer those fears. Invoking protection from small heartedness, we can access the courage to heal ourselves, transform our fear, and develop as expansive confidence that empowers us to help others.
🗓️ Saturday 2 August
⏰ 3-5pm AEST (5:00am CET, 12:00 midnight US East, 9:00pm US West)
📍Online & Sydney

Inspiring a Revolution in Your Heart and Mind
2025-08-26 18:30 - 2025-09-23 20:30 (Australia/Adelaide) | Rigpa Adelaide, 310 South Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
Module 6 – The Spiritual Path
5-week course
Tuesdays Beginning 26 August to 23 September
6.30pm to 8.30pm

Inspiring a Revolution in Your Heart and Mind presents an experiential journey through The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, its major themes and their practical implications. Suitable for people of any religion or none, the course encourages you to experiment with applying the Buddhist teachings in your daily life.
The first declaration that the Buddha made at the time of his enlightenment was: “Profound peace, free of complexity, natural simplicity, uncompounded luminosity.” This module examines what is enlightenment and explores the practical training of the Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen Path in terms of View, Meditation, and Action. To see directly the absolute state, the Ground of our being, is the View; the way of stabilizing that View and making it an unbroken experience is Meditation; and integrating the View into our entire reality, and life, is what is meant by Action.
FREE for Rigpa subscribers.
Location
Rigpa Adelaide, 1st Floor Theosophical Society Building,
310 South Terrace, Adelaide
Event Fee(s)
5 weeks – full ($15 per session) A$75.00
5 weeks – concession ($10 per session) A$50.00
One session only (full) A$15.00
One session only (concession) A$10.00
Register here.
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying is available for purchase at our centre for $20. (Please bring cash – we do not have credit card facilities)
We hope that you can join us and we look forward to seeing you there.

Inspiring a Revolution in Your Heart and Mind | The Spiritual Path - Sydney and Online
2025-08-27 18:30 - 2025-09-24 20:30 (Australia/Melbourne)
The Spiritual Path (Module 6 of the full-year course, new students are welcome to join)
The first declaration that the Buddha made at the time of his enlightenment was: “Profound peace, free of complexity, natural simplicity, uncompounded luminosity.”
This module examines what enlightenment is and explores the practical training of the Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen Path in terms of View, Meditation and Action. To see directly the absolute state, the Ground of our being, is the View; the way of stabilizing that View and making it an unbroken experience is Meditation; and integrating the View into our entire reality, and life, is what is meant by Action.

How to Survive Your Mind
2025-09-06 09:30 - 12:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Adelaide, 310 South Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
Making Clear and Wise Decisions
Saturday 6 September | 9.30am – 12.00 noon

How to Survive Your Mind – mindfulness, awareness and compassion practices for yourself in everyday life.
A monthly program on the first Saturday of the month that introduces you to meditation and discusses a topic of general interest.
This month’s topic is Making Clear and Wise Decisions
Feel free to come along to any session that suit you. No need to register, just drop in.
Fee: Standard $15, Concession/Student $10
We do not have credit card facilities, please bring cash.
Cost negotiable depending on your financial circumstances.
Location: Rigpa Adelaide
The Theosophical Society Building
1st Floor, Upper Hall
310 South Terrace, Adelaide

Transforming Loneliness
2025-09-06 15:00 - 17:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Sydney, 158 Australia St, Newtown, Sydney, NSW, 2042, Australia
Often, we go looking for happiness, comfort and company outside of ourselves.
Ultimately, however, deeper lasting contentment lies within ourselves. Through working with our own mind and heart, emotions like loneliness can be transformed and transcended so that we can feel comfortable in our own skin whether we are in a crowd or completely alone.
🗓️ Saturday 6 September
⏰ 3-5pm AEST (6.00am London, 5:00am CET, 1:00 am US East, 10:00pm Friday US West)
📍Online & Sydney

Practical Wisdom
2025-09-15 19:00 - 21:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Online via Zoom, Australia
Making the everyday your spiritual path
Investigating how we can we translate the presence and awareness we cultivate in the meditation into action. And, how we can use our everyday activities to deepen our understanding of reality.
Online
Monday evenings
Starts 15 September

How can we apply the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha’s teachings to our daily lives? How can we translate the presence and awareness which we cultivate on the meditation cushion into action? How can we use our everyday activities to strengthen and deepen our view and understanding of reality?
In this day and age, many of us find ourselves feeling busier and more stressed and it seems more difficult to find time for meditation practice. If we really wish to progress on the spiritual path, we need to bridge the separation between our study and practice and our everyday life. Based on the wisdom of the Buddhadharma, Sogyal Rinpoche’s Practical Wisdom teachings provide us with a rich array of advice and skilful tools to help us in our task of integrating the dharma into our lives in order to bring benefit to others.
The Practical Wisdom teachings show us how to dissolve the separation between our practice and our everyday life; how to use every opportunity in our day to progress on the spiritual path; and how to accomplish our everyday tasks more effortlessly. These teachings are practical, relevant, and even life changing.
Course participants will need basic understanding of the principles of Mahayana Buddhism, and some familiarity with meditation and compassion practices. The course is recommended for students who have completed a course or retreat with Rigpa.

Online
When: Monday evenings, 12 weeks
7:00-9:00pm AEDT (9:00am CET, 3:00am Mon US East)
Where: Online via Zoom
$240, concession $120, free for Rigpa subscribers
We are yet to finalise dates for when this course will be offered in 2025. If you are interested in attending this course, please register your interest by emailing rigpa.australia@rigpa.org.au.

Practical Wisdom: Wisdom & Compassion in Action
2025-09-15 19:00 - 21:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Online via Zoom, Australia
How can we apply the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha’s teachings to our daily lives? How can we translate the presence and awareness which we cultivate on the meditation cushion into action? How can we use our everyday activities to strengthen and deepen our view and understanding of reality?
In this day and age, many of us find ourselves feeling busier and more stressed and it seems more difficult to find time for meditation practice. If we really wish to progress on the spiritual path, we need to bridge the separation between our study and practice and our everyday life. Based on the wisdom of the Buddhadharma, Sogyal Rinpoche’s Practical Wisdom teachings provide us with a rich array of advice and skilful tools to help us in our task of integrating the dharma into our lives in order to bring benefit to others.
The Practical Wisdom teachings show us how to dissolve the separation between our practice and our everyday life; how to use every opportunity of our day to progress on the spiritual path; and how to accomplish our everyday tasks more effortlessly and efficiently by applying the principles of the Buddhist teachings to our actions. These teachings are practical, relevant, and even life changing.
Participants of the course will need basic understanding of the principles of Mahayana Buddhism, as well as some familiarity with meditation and compassion practices. It is recommended for student who have completed a course or retreat with Rigpa.
Led by Western meditation instructors with many years of experience, each session consists of:

Video teachings from Sogyal Rinpoche.
Meditation practice
Time for contemplation
Group discussions and Q&A, offering each student the opportunity to explore the teachings and practices in an open supportive environment and to connect with a community of practitioners.

This is a FREE event, however a donation would be gratefully received.

Love, Compassion, Joy & Equanimity
2025-09-19 19:00 - 21:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Melbourne, 803 Nicholson St, Carlton North, Melbourne, Victoria, 3054, Australia
We are pleased to announce that the Fifth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche has offered to teach in our Melbourne Centre on the evenings of September 19 and 20 and for the day on Sunday September 21. He is a Kempo who studied at Larang Gar under Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche.

Friday September 19 from 7pm till 9pm.
Love, Compassion, Joy & Equanimity – the motivation of the Four Immeasurables in our lives and practice

About Rinpoche
The Fifth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche was born in 1970, amid many auspicious signs, and was soon recognised as the reincarnation of the Fourth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche of Ju Mohor Monastery.

Even as a young boy, he was unlike his peers. He had a particularly loving and compassionate nature that was noted and appreciated by all who met him. Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche showed exceptional intelligence in all his studies and attained perfect understanding in all he was taught.
With the guidance of his spiritual teachers, he undertook all the traditional training of his lineage. This included accumulating the 500,000 ngondro practices, and training in the Rigdzin lineage tradition including the essential Dzogchen instructions of kadak trekchö and lhundrop tögal during which time he gained extraordinary insights and experiences from his meditation practice. This training culminated in a three year retreat at Yachen Orgyen Samten Choeling, under the regular guidance of HH Lama Achuk Rinpoche.

At the age of 18 years he was formally enthroned as the Fifth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche and abbot of Ju Monastery.
His education continued at the great university centre of Larang Gar at Serthar. He studied the different schools of Buddhist philosophy and the sutra and tantra under a number of teachers, particularly the founder of Larang Gar, HH Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche. He graduated from Larang Gar as a Khenpo at the age of 25.

Later, Rinpoche returned to Ju Mohor Monastery to give teachings, to the great benefit of the monastic community there. During this time, Rinpoche also received many empowerments, oral transmissions and pith instructions of the secret Nyingmapa kama and terma traditions from a number of scholars and practitioners including HH Drupwang Pema Norbu, Khenpo Pema Tsewang, Venerable Gyangkhang Tulku, Venerable Khenpo Choekyap, Venerable Trulshig Rinpoche and Venerable Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche and several teachings on Secret Mantrayana from Venerable Ngorlu Ding Khenchen.

Rinpoche is now heading the groundbreaking Vista Project, based in Sershul, the town closest to Ju Mohor Monastery. The aim of the Vista Project is to revitalise the economic and cultural lives of the Tibetan people. Although the Chinese economy is growing rapidly, the nomadic peoples of Eastern Tibet are often unable to take advantage of the opportunities available. The Vista Project aims to provide basic education and vocational training to enable local nomads to survive and prosper in the modern economic climate and also to preserve and cultivate the ancient culture of Tibet.

The Four Thoughts that Turn our Mind from Samsara
2025-09-20 17:00 - 19:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Melbourne, 803 Nicholson St, Carlton North, Melbourne, Victoria, 3054, Australia
We are pleased to announce that the Fifth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche has offered to teach in our Melbourne Centre on the evenings of September 19 and 20 and for the day on Sunday September 21. He is a Kempo who studied at Larang Gar under Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche.

Saturday September 20 from 5pm till 7pm $25/$15
The Four Thoughts That Turn Our Minds From Samsara

About Rinpoche
The Fifth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche was born in 1970, amid many auspicious signs, and was soon recognised as the reincarnation of the Fourth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche of Ju Mohor Monastery.
Even as a young boy, he was unlike his peers. He had a particularly loving and compassionate nature that was noted and appreciated by all who met him. Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche showed exceptional intelligence in all his studies and attained perfect understanding in all he was taught.
With the guidance of his spiritual teachers, he undertook all the traditional training of his lineage. This included accumulating the 500,000 ngondro practices, and training in the Rigdzin lineage tradition including the essential Dzogchen instructions of kadak trekchö and lhundrop tögal during which time he gained extraordinary insights and experiences from his meditation practice. This training culminated in a three year retreat at Yachen Orgyen Samten Choeling, under the regular guidance of HH Lama Achuk Rinpoche.
At the age of 18 years he was formally enthroned as the Fifth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche and abbot of Ju Monastery.
His education continued at the great university centre of Larang Gar at Serthar. He studied the different schools of Buddhist philosophy and the sutra and tantra under a number of teachers, particularly the founder of Larang Gar, HH Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche. He graduated from Larang Gar as a Khenpo at the age of 25.
Later, Rinpoche returned to Ju Mohor Monastery to give teachings, to the great benefit of the monastic community there. During this time, Rinpoche also received many empowerments, oral transmissions and pith instructions of the secret Nyingmapa kama and terma traditions from a number of scholars and practitioners including HH Drupwang Pema Norbu, Khenpo Pema Tsewang, Venerable Gyangkhang Tulku, Venerable Khenpo Choekyap, Venerable Trulshig Rinpoche and Venerable Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche and several teachings on Secret Mantrayana from Venerable Ngorlu Ding Khenchen.
Rinpoche is now heading the groundbreaking Vista Project, based in Sershul, the town closest to Ju Mohor Monastery. The aim of the Vista Project is to revitalise the economic and cultural lives of the Tibetan people. Although the Chinese economy is growing rapidly, the nomadic peoples of Eastern Tibet are often unable to take advantage of the opportunities available. The Vista Project aims to provide basic education and vocational training to enable local nomads to survive and prosper in the modern economic climate and also to preserve and cultivate the ancient culture of Tibet.

Meditation, Compassion & Wisdom in Everyday Life
2025-09-21 10:00 - 16:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Melbourne, 803 Nicholson St, Carlton North, Melbourne, Victoria, 3054, Australia
We are pleased to announce that the Fifth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche has offered to teach in our Melbourne Centre on the evenings of September 19 and 20 and for the day on Sunday September 21. He is a Kempo who studied at Larang Gar under Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche.

Sunday September 21 from 10am till 4pm
Meditation, Compassion & Wisdom in Everyday Life”

About Rinpoche
The Fifth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche was born in 1970, amid many auspicious signs, and was soon recognised as the reincarnation of the Fourth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche of Ju Mohor Monastery.

Even as a young boy, he was unlike his peers. He had a particularly loving and compassionate nature that was noted and appreciated by all who met him. Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche showed exceptional intelligence in all his studies and attained perfect understanding in all he was taught.

With the guidance of his spiritual teachers, he undertook all the traditional training of his lineage. This included accumulating the 500,000 ngondro practices, and training in the Rigdzin lineage tradition including the essential Dzogchen instructions of kadak trekchö and lhundrop tögal during which time he gained extraordinary insights and experiences from his meditation practice. This training culminated in a three year retreat at Yachen Orgyen Samten Choeling, under the regular guidance of HH Lama Achuk Rinpoche.

At the age of 18 years he was formally enthroned as the Fifth Amnyi Trulchung Rinpoche and abbot of Ju Monastery.
His education continued at the great university centre of Larang Gar at Serthar. He studied the different schools of Buddhist philosophy and the sutra and tantra under a number of teachers, particularly the founder of Larang Gar, HH Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche. He graduated from Larang Gar as a Khenpo at the age of 25.

Later, Rinpoche returned to Ju Mohor Monastery to give teachings, to the great benefit of the monastic community there. During this time, Rinpoche also received many empowerments, oral transmissions and pith instructions of the secret Nyingmapa kama and terma traditions from a number of scholars and practitioners including HH Drupwang Pema Norbu, Khenpo Pema Tsewang, Venerable Gyangkhang Tulku, Venerable Khenpo Choekyap, Venerable Trulshig Rinpoche and Venerable Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche and several teachings on Secret Mantrayana from Venerable Ngorlu Ding Khenchen.

Rinpoche is now heading the groundbreaking Vista Project, based in Sershul, the town closest to Ju Mohor Monastery. The aim of the Vista Project is to revitalise the economic and cultural lives of the Tibetan people. Although the Chinese economy is growing rapidly, the nomadic peoples of Eastern Tibet are often unable to take advantage of the opportunities available. The Vista Project aims to provide basic education and vocational training to enable local nomads to survive and prosper in the modern economic climate and also to preserve and cultivate the ancient culture of Tibet.

The Wisdom of Compassion - The Six Paramitas
2025-09-23 19:00 - 2025-12-23 21:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Online via Zoom, Australia
Much as we may wish to be kind, caring and loving, often this may be difficult for us in practice. As we move from wishing to be more compassionate to grappling with how we put this into action, the Buddhist teachings include six tools in a how-to guide:
1. Generosity: cultivating the attitude of generosity.
2. Discipline: refraining from harm.
3. Patience: not being perturbed by anything.
4. Diligence: finding joy in what is virtuous, positive or wholesome.
5. Meditative concentration: not being distracted.
6. Wisdom: the perfect discrimination of all knowable things.
These are known as the Six Paramitas, or transcendent perfections and contain all the vital skills needed for us to transform our mind and open our heart.
This twelve-week course addresses each of the Six Paramitas in turn, offering a wealth of practical advice to help us put our best biggest heart into action everyday.

Inspiring a Revolution in Your Heart and Mind
2025-09-30 18:30 - 2025-10-28 20:30 (Australia/Adelaide) | Rigpa Adelaide, 310 South Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
Module 7 – Open Heart
5-week course
Tuesdays Beginning 30 September to 28 October – 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Inspiring a Revolution in Your Heart and Mind presents an experiential journey through The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, its major themes and their practical implications. Suitable for people of any religion or none, the course encourages you to experiment with applying the Buddhist teachings in your daily life.
This module provides an introduction to the Tibetan Buddhist compassion practices with a particular focus on loving kindness practice. Meditating on loving kindness can help us restore our love and confidence and heal unresolved emotional wounds. It also puts us back in touch with the fundamental goodness of our core being, and once that has happened, we are able to love ourselves and others.
FREE for Rigpa subscribers.
Location
Rigpa Adelaide, 1st Floor Theosophical Society Building,
310 South Terrace, Adelaide
Event Fee(s)
5 weeks – full ($15 per session) A$75.00
5 weeks – concession ($10 per session) A$50.00
One session only (full) A$15.00
One session only (concession) A$10.00
Register here
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying is available for purchase at our centre for $20. (Please bring cash – we do not have credit card facilities)
We hope that you can join us and we look forward to seeing you there.

How to Survive Your Mind
2025-10-04 09:30 - 12:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Adelaide, 310 South Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
How to be happy and find stability
Saturday 4 October | 9.30am – 12.00 noon

How to Survive Your Mind – mindfulness, awareness and compassion practices for yourself in everyday life.
A monthly program on the first Saturday of the month that introduces you to meditation and discusses a topic of general interest.
This month’s topic is How to be happy and find stability
Feel free to come along to any session that suit you. No need to register, just drop in.
Fee: Standard $15, Concession/Student $10
We do not have credit card facilities, please bring cash.
Cost negotiable depending on your financial circumstances.
Location: Rigpa Adelaide
The Theosophical Society Building
1st Floor, Upper Hall
310 South Terrace, Adelaide

Healing Low Self Esteem
2025-10-04 15:00 - 17:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Sydney, 158 Australia St, Newtown, Sydney, NSW, 2042, Australia
The Buddhist teachings are adamant that the core of our being is fundamentally good. It is our negative emotions and misunderstandings that oppress us and lead to low self-esteem, insecurity and feeling unloved. Join us to investigate how we can begin to heal ourselves by acknowledging and connecting with the fundamental goodness and unconditional love that we all have within us, which we call our buddha nature.
🗓️ Saturday 4 October
⏰ 3-5pm AEST (7.00am Paris, 1:00 am US East, 10:00pm Friday US West)
📍Online & Sydney

Inspiring a Revolution in Your Heart and Mind | Mind is Like the Sky - Sydney and Online
2025-10-15 18:30 - 2025-11-12 20:30 (Australia/Melbourne)
Mind is Like the Sky: Discover Inner Peace and Contentment in the True Nature of Your Mind
In this course, we will learn to:
· Sit with what is, cultivating a gentle curiosity toward our inner world.
· Explore the space between thoughts, discovering the innate clarity and peace that is always present.
· Work with energy and emotion not as enemies, but as natural expressions of a dynamic mind.
· Rest in awareness itself, moving from thinking about experience to directly knowing it.

This is a deeply experiential path. It is for those who feel a call to look inward, to move beyond concepts, and to touch the timeless wisdom that has illuminated hearts for centuries. No prior experience is necessary, only an open heart and a willingness to explore.

Join us. Let’s journey together from the turbulence of the surface to the profound stillness of the depths.

Enlightened Courage: the secret to training and transforming your mind with wisdom and compassion
2025-10-17 09:30 - 11:30 (Australia/Melbourne) | Online via Zoom, Australia
Featuring teachings from Sogyal Rinpoche, Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche and Patrick Gaffney, this weekly course presents the Mahayana Seven Points of Mind Training. These points lay out a path of formal meditation practice, along with guidelines for extending that practice into everyday life.
These teachings are precious and unique in presenting the entire depth and breadth of the Buddha’s Mahayana teachings succinctly and practically. Mahayana mind training offers an approach to life that is straightforward, grounded in sanity, kindness, and compassion. Yet it also offers a vision that completely transcends our ordinary way of viewing ourselves and others, with an all-encompassing vision of enlightenment.
At the heart of this vision of enlightenment is the view that our innate, fundamental identity is vast, luminous and utterly awake. The Mahayana teachings refer to this as our enlightened heart, or bodhicitta. Enlightenment is nothing other than who we really are. But for most of us, our true nature is like a hidden treasure, concealed behind layers of mental activity and preoccupation. Mahayana mind training helps us give expression to our enlightened heart in everything we think, say and do.
🗓️ Friday Mornings, 17 October – 12 December
⏰ 9.30am – 11.30am Australian Eastern Daylight Time
📍Online via Zoom

How to Survive Your Mind
2025-11-01 09:30 - 12:00 (Australia/Adelaide) | Rigpa Adelaide, 310 South Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
Finding the Natural Freedom of the Mind
Saturday 1 November | 9.30am – 12.00 noon
How to Survive Your Mind – mindfulness, awareness and compassion practices for yourself in everyday life.
A monthly program on the first Saturday of the month that introduces you to meditation and discusses a topic of general interest.
This month’s topic is Finding the Natural Freedom of the Mind
Feel free to come along to any session that suit you. No need to register, just drop in.
Fee: Standard $15, Concession/Student $10
We do not have credit card facilities, please bring cash.
Cost negotiable depending on your financial circumstances.
Location: Rigpa Adelaide
The Theosophical Society Building
1st Floor, Upper Hall
310 South Terrace, Adelaide

Basic Sanity
2025-11-01 15:00 - 17:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Sydney, 158 Australia St, Newtown, Sydney, NSW, 2042, Australia
Often our mind can seem like a wild monkey, jumping restlessly from thought
to emotion to thought. The good news is that we all have basic sanity. It is our
essential nature. But mostly we do not know that. We identify ourselves with
mad monkey mind and we suffer because we do not know who we really are.
In this session we’ll explore how meditation can begin to pacify monkey mind
and reconnect us with our innate, vibrant wisdom and peace.
🗓️ Saturday 1 November
⏰ 3-5pm AEDT (12 noon Perth, 2.30pm Adelaide, 5.00am CET, 12 midnight US East, 9:00pm Friday US West)
📍Online & Sydney

Inspiring a Revolution in Your Heart and Mind
2025-11-04 18:30 - 2025-12-02 20:30 (Australia/Adelaide) | Rigpa Adelaide, 310 South Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia
Module 8 – Awakening Compassion
5-week course
Tuesdays Beginning 4 November to 2 December
6.30pm to 8.30pm

Inspiring a Revolution in Your Heart and Mind presents an experiential journey through The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, its major themes and their practical implications. Suitable for people of any religion or none, the course encourages you to experiment with applying the Buddhist teachings in your daily life.
This module explores the Buddhist approach to practicing compassion and how to apply it in all situations. The first step to compassion is to realize that other people are just like you. They too wish to be happy and free from suffering. Then, though the practice of Tonglen (giving and receiving), we begin to mentally take on the suffering of others with compassion and give your happiness and wellbeing with love. So that ultimately our every action can be an act of compassion.
FREE for Rigpa subscribers.
Location
Rigpa Adelaide, 1st Floor Theosophical Society Building,
310 South Terrace, Adelaide
Event Fee(s)
5 weeks – full ($15 per session) A$75.00
5 weeks – concession ($10 per session) A$50.00
One session only (full) A$15.00
One session only (concession) A$10.00
Register here.

The Wealth of Our Innate Wakefulness - Saturday 8 November 2025
2025-11-08 09:00 - 17:00 (Australia/Melbourne) | Rigpa Melbourne, 803 Nicholson St, Carlton North, Melbourne, Victoria, 3054, Australia
Please note that the teachings in day 2 follow on from day 1 with a beginning, middle and end, and therefore it is advisable to register for both days. All effort will be made to help those unable to attend both days to catch up.
A weekend teaching on buddha nature
Out of all of Buddha’s teachings, those on buddha nature communicate most directly what lies at their heart: that we are fundamentally good, and our essential nature, our identity, is the same profound, peaceful, stainless, lucid, and unconditioned‍ essence that Buddha himself discovered as a result of following the spiritual path.
Confidence in buddha nature is deeply transformative in terms of our outlook on life; the way we view ourselves, the world around us, our values and priorities in life, our relationship to our spiritual path: all this is touched by the teachings on buddha nature.
This weekend teaching will bring together classic Indian and Tibetan Buddhist teachings on buddha nature, and contemporary teachings by Sogyal Rinpoche, which will give us the opportunity to discover our own buddha nature, and give expression to it in our thoughts and actions.
We will work together on building confidence in our buddha nature through the practice of contemplation — which will enable us to see its relevance to our own lives and experience — and more experientially, through the practice of meditation: learning to let go and relax in the clarity and awareness of our mind which is available to us all the time.
Together we will reflect on questions like:

What are we looking for in life? And why?
Who are we really? If our thoughts, emotions, our body, and our world are always changing, is there something in us that is really ‘us ’, which is constant and unchanging?
What is mind?
How can I know I have buddha nature?
If my mind’s nature is buddha nature, why am I suffering?
How to overcome fear?
How do we habitually relate to ourselves and others? And why?
What is wisdom? And what is compassion?
How can I come to fully actualise my buddha nature?

About Jan van der Breggen
Jan began his path of meditation at 17 years old, touched by the tenderness of the human experience and filled with questions about what reality was all about. Forty years later, Jan continues to be moved by the vast profundity of the Buddhist path and its vision of the inherent wisdom, loving kindness and strength that lies in the minds of each and every one of us.
Jan completed Rigpa’s three-year retreat under the guidance of Sogyal Rinpoche. He was entrusted as one of Rigpa’s Senior teachers by Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche and Mindroling Jetsun Khandro in 2022. Jan has been a participant in the Milinda program since 2017. Milinda is a 10-year, international Buddhist teacher training program under the guidance of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, with a three month per year intensive and immersive in-person learning and reflection program.
Jan grew up in the Netherlands where he obtained a Masters Degree in Social and Historical Anthropology. He has lived in Brisbane, Australia, since 1998, and was instrumental in founding Rigpa Brisbane in 1999, where he has served as a Dharma instructor for over 20 years.
About Alessandra Pizzardello
Alessandra is a dedicated practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism with over 20 years of study and retreat experience, including at Rigpa Shedra East in Nepal.
Originally from Italy, she also lived in Sweden and Australia, where she started a successful business that has been running for over two decades before deciding to fully committing to the Dharma. Rooted in the Nyingma and Longchen Nyingtik traditions, Alessandra has been sharing the Buddhist teachings as a Dharma instructor in Australia for several years, with the heartfelt wish to support and inspire others on their own path of study and practice.

Cost for each day :
Sangha and Concession: $30 per day
Full Price: $50 per day
Benefactor $75 per day
BYO lunch
Morning and Afternoon tea provided
