Bountiful Buddha Courses
The Santa Barbara Bodhi Path Buddhist Center has been offering a high-quality curriculum of instruction in Buddhist meditation practice and philosophy ever since its founding in 1997 at the direction of Shamar Rinpoche. Generations of students have come to learn and practice in a modern, non-sectarian environment focused on authentic Buddhist teachings taught and practiced by experienced leaders.
Dawa Tarchin Phillips, the center’s longtime resident teacher, studied and trained as an ordained monk with the late Tibetan Buddhist meditation master Gendün Rinpoche, and later completed two three-year meditation retreats at Dhagpo Kundreul Ling Hermitage in France. Now a lay meditation teacher, author, and social entrepreneur, Phillips, whose Tibetan name of “Dawa Tarchin” means “Accomplished Moon,” is also a researcher in UCSB’s Department of Psychology. His research focuses on the benefits of meditation in school children, and is conducted through his nonprofit The Institute of Compassionate Awareness – which provides secular meditation training to school children and youth.
Bodhi Path’s diverse community of practitioners encompasses all ages and levels, offering an array of ongoing and periodic programs for dharma study and practice, including weekly gathering and periodic weekend programs. The center’s multi-year curriculum is designed to offer western lay students a comprehensive foundation for dharma study and practice.
Next up on the schedule is the Buddha Nature weekend course on May 10-11 on Awakened Nature, a timeless subject of scientific exploration, philosophical examination, and spiritual contemplation. Participants will explore and discover how awakened nature works and why following a path to awakening with sincerity and commitment is the most effective way of reducing suffering and accessing one’s potential for happiness and freedom.
Buddha Nature will also be the topic for Dawa’s Thursday May 15 session, both as a review for weekend curriculum class participants and an invitation for all to deepen engagement with the path of awakening and connect with the supportive community.
On May 22 and 29, visiting teacher Khenpo Tsering offers a teaching that explores the profound wisdom and transformative practices of the Samantabhadra Prayer that outlines the Bodhisattva’s Path through its 10 great aspirations. Through understanding and embodying these aspirations – reverence, offering, confession, rejoicing, requesting teachings, beseeching buddhas to remain, following their example, dedicating merit, and transferring merit to all beings – practitioners can cultivate boundless compassion and wisdom on their journey toward awakening.
Every Tuesday, Bodhi Path’s trained member meditation facilitators conduct multiple short sessions of meditation led at the Center from 6-7 pm, both in person and online. After years at 22 W. Mission Street, the Santa Barbara Bodhi Path Buddhist Center has relocated to 3815 State Street, Suite G129, directly across from Pottery Barn in La Cumbre Plaza.
Call (805) 284-2704 or visit https://bodhipath.org/centers/sb
Meditation at Mahakankala
The Mahakankala Kadampa Buddhist Center, which also recently relocated from Brinkerhoff Ave. to 1825 State Street, Suite 202 – offers a variety of introductory meditation classes that are designed to give a broad introduction to Buddhist meditation, ideas and practice. Each class combines guided meditation with practical advice that can be applied immediately as a method for solving the stress and problems of modern life.
The classes are particularly valuable for beginners or for those who are able to attend only occasionally, as well as for those who want to follow a systematic series of classes. The classes are designed both as a series and as independent classes, so you can attend any of the intro classes, even if the series has already started.
The Mahakankala Center was founded in 1995 by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche while he was doing a writing retreat in Santa Barbara – the center’s Sanskrit name translates as “great compassion.” Mahakankala offers ongoing hour-long weekly meditation sessions on Sunday mornings, Monday and Wednesday evenings, and at lunchtime on Tuesdays. Heart Jewel Prayers, Powa Prayers, Guided Lamrim Meditation and Wishfulfilling Jewel Prayers are also among the regular offerings at The Mahakankala Center.
A new weekly class called “The Happiness Habit,” which began in mid-March, grows out of the concept that our thoughts are paths that lead us places, meaning that good habits of mind can create mental paths that lead us to happiness. If we learn to recognize our own bad habits of mind and stop following their paths, we can transform our life. Each class begins with a guided breathing meditation and Dharma talk, and culminates with a second meditation based upon the evening’s topic.
The Mahakankala Center is also readying a special summertime Dharma for Kids Series offered as an enriching experience for families with children during the month of July. The Tuesday afternoon classes, led by Kadampa teacher Mindy Thomas,serve as a gathering to explore our inner-peace and happiness, and to investigate the loving kindness and great treasures of Buddhism through guided meditation, stories, arts and crafts. All ages are welcome, although a parent or guardian must be present.
Visit https://meditationinsantabarbara.org or call (805) 563-6000
The Lowdown at LoDo: Diving in at District House
District216, located at Lodo Studios across from Office Max in downtown Santa Barbara, is a membership-based “psychedelic social club,” where the aim is to further the normalizing and legalizing of psychedelics use in our daily lives. But for the next two weekly District House Events, the use of mind-altering substances is only tangential to the topic.
On May 14, “A Journey to Awaken the Subtle Senses” – led by Hannah Jo, District House’s hosts, and a Sexuality & Embodiment Coach – is an immersive experience aimed at awakening your subtle senses and expanding your capacity to connect beyond the physical. It’s designed for those seeking to heighten their sensitivity to subtle energy and engage in nervous system-friendly partner practices that encourage attunement and deep listening to one’s intuition and desires.
The practices honor the intelligence of the body, inviting touch to arise from an authentic place of curiosity and connection, rather than habit or expectation. Participants will journey through the layers of the subtle body, beginning with energetic connection in the causal body and gradually progressing to explore platonic touch. Whether attending with a partner or solo, you are invited to participate at the level that aligns with your physical and energetic preferences.
While the experience can be useful for those integrating psychedelic experiences, the workshop is also an opportunity to explore similar realms without substances – essentially a “sober psychedelic” journey that accesses the same states of expanded connection, embodiment, and intuitive flow, but through somatic and relational practice.
The District House has also booked Jeremy Bieber to run a music meditation study on May 21. The L.A.-based guitarist, composer and music producer – who has recorded and/or performed with Macy Gray, The Lettermen and Jeff Chang, among others – is currently pursuing a PhD in transpersonal psychology at Sofia University. The study is research for his doctoral dissertation. The session consists of two 15-minute meditations, the first in silence, the second with gentle music playing in the background. A set of questionnaires will be completed after each meditation. Participants must have maintained a regular meditation practice for at least two years.
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