Never Turn Away

The Buddhist Path Beyond Hope and Fear

A foundational Level Buddhism Course

Teachers: Jane Kolleeny, Derek Kolleeny, Gene Bobker

9 Sundays from May 15th thru July 31st.

from 12:30 – 2:30 pm

(Omitting May 29, June 19 and July 3)

Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche said that we should always turn toward those things that scare us, open to them completely, and never turn away from them: “Turn towards everything.” Trungpa Rinpoche’s approach was simply to be open and to minimize the projections we make on our experience. However, having turned toward a situation, we may find that we don’t know what to do and experience embarrassment. The spiritual path consists of going into our embarrassment as the only way to encounter our obstacles and transform them. This book presents the essence of the teachings of Trungpa Rinpoche structured around the scheme of the Buddha’s foundational teaching of the Four Noble Truths. This path of openness, clarity, and sensitivity is actually the hallmark of the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhist practice.

This course will focus on reading a book by the same title by Rigdzin Shikpo. Classes will consist of a meditation session of about 20 minutes, a presentation, Q&A, and discussion.  The course is open to anyone interested; there are no prerequisites. To participate, purchase a copy of the book Never Turn Away by Rigdzin Shikpo and either register and pay suggested donation (see button above). Please email us for any questions at westchesterbuddhistcenter@gmail.com 

Rigdzin Shikpo (Michael Hookham) has spent more than fifty years studying and practicing Buddhism. When he met his principal teacher, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1965, he had already trained with several Theravadan monks over the course of nine years and was closely associated with the Buddhist Society in London. He is the Dharma director of the Longchen Foundation, a community of Buddhist teachers and students practicing meditation in the Mahayana and Dzogchen traditions of Buddhism.