Rigpa's Centre in Dublin, established in 1986, is a place to discover and connect with the practice of meditation and the buddhadharma and to learn what this can mean for our lives on a deeper level. For those who have already established such a practice, the Centre is somewhere to come and gain inspiration and support. We look forward to seeing you at Rigpa Dublin - a refuge in the heart of the city.

How to find us                            

Rigpa Dublin
12 Wicklow Street (3rd Floor)
Dublin 2
email: dublin@rigpa.ie
Directions: entrance via glass door to left of Lacoste shopfront
 

Click map to enlarge

The Centre is run on a voluntary basis and most activities take place during evenings and weekends. Details of our programme of teachings and practice are given below. For updates on what is happening at the Centre: you can check this website, register your email address (top right of page), post your query to dublin@rigpa.ie, or phone us at 01-6703358.

The Teachings

The founder and spiritual director of Rigpa is Sogyal Rinpoche, world renowned Buddhist Master from Tibet, author of the highly acclaimed The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, and a lama of the Nyingma school (one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism). Rinpoche's teachings come from an authentic, unbroken line of teachers traced back to Lonchenpa (in the 14th century), who established the 'Longchen Nyingtik' lineage, and before him to Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), the great Dzogchen master who established the teachings of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni in Tibet in the 8th century.                                                                                                Garab Dorje was the first human master to receive the Dzogchen teachings (wisdom teachings of utter lucidity, or great perfection), some 2,000 years before Longchenpa. The fundamental lineage of Dzogchen ultimately comes from the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra and consists of countless masters whose lives serve as models of complete liberation. These teachings have been practiced in Tibet for over 1200 years and are a wisdom and spiritual heritage for all humanity.

Programme - Courses

New Courses starting April 2010

• Tuesdays: “The Eight Verses”  - transforming the mind; teachings on generating compassion. Meditation Mandala level class for those who have completed the Introductory course. Starts: Tuesday, April 13                                                                                              Current Courses:
  

• Mondays: Finding Peace - Introduction to Meditation, Q1 2010- Beginners                                                                         Complete introduction to the practice of meditation based on the teachings of Sogyal Rinpoche, looking at posture and method, the benefits of meditation and the ways to integrate it into our everyday lives.                                                                                      Started: Monday, January 18 (7.00pm)                                 Finishes: Monday, March 29                                               
  
  
• Tuesdays: Turning Suffering and Happiness into Enlightenment, Q1 2010
  - Meditation Mandala students (who have completed introductory module)                                                               For students with experience of meditation who wish to deepen their knowledge of the Dharma. ‘Mandala’ refers here to a group of students. The ‘Meditation Mandala’ is for students studying the earlier stage teachings of the Mahayana (Maha-yana = Great-path).                                                                                    Started: Tuesday, January 19 (7.00pm)                                Finishes: Tuesday, March 23
  
  
• Wednesdays : Parallel Programme Teachings
  Same teachings as in home retreat transmissions (see Sunday below), given over more extended period. Covering Bodhichitta (heart of the enlightened mind) throughout 2010. Teachings on Training in the Precepts of Bodhichitta in Aspiration refer to three stages of (i) meditating on the equality of self and other (without which a perfectly pure altruistic attitude cannot arise),
  (ii) exchanging self and other - seeing oneself in the position of others, and in so doing gaining an appreciation of both how and why others feel the way they do, and how one appears in their eyes, and
  (iii) considering others as more important than ourselves.          These classes are for experienced Meditation Mandala, Ngondro and Dzogchen students.
  Booking form for current course, Jan-May 2010   Please contact the Centre if you would like to join this course                                   Started: Wednesday, January 20 (7.00pm)                               Finishes: Wednesday, May 26                                                  No classes: March 31 & April 7 (Easter break)                                                           
   
• Thursday practice nights to March 11  - start: 7.00pm                    March 4: Ngondro                                                                           March 11: Ngondro                                                                         Further details on these practices below                                       There will be no drop-in meditation in March. Instead we are running an Introduction to Meditation weekend over March 20-21 (see 'Forthcoming Events' on homepage).                                                                                                                                                                               
  
• Sundays: Home Retreat transmissions
  4th year of Rigpa’s Home Retreat programme. Transmissions on Guru Yoga to Losar (Tibetan new year, Feb 14, 2010), thereafter on Sadhana practices. For students registered on this programme and experienced Ngondro and Dzogchen Mandala students. Please contact centre for further information.                                          
  
  

Sangha Days                                                                                   

Sangha means 'community of practitioners' and refers to all Rigpa students. On one Sunday each month (usually that following the second Saturday), the whole Sangha is invited to come together and hear recent teachings, news and advice from Sogyal Rinpoche. Sangha Days also form part of the Parallel Programme and Home Retreat.

          (Sundays) to June 2010:

• March 14
  

• April 11
  

• May 9

• June 13
  

Start time 10.00am (registration from 9.30am), with a break for lunch (75-90 minutes), finishing up around 5.00pm. Sangha Days take place in the Georgian Suite of Buswells Hotel (click for location and directions). New students are welcome after completion of an introductory course, either in Dublin or another location such as Dzogchen Beara.

Programme - Practice

• Tendrel Nyesel Tsok – twice monthly
  A special terma teaching and practice for eliminating, preventing, protecting against and transforming harm and conflict of every kind, including that created by negative actions, disturbing emotions and mistaken perception.
  Practiced twice monthly in the Centre (individual students may have daily practice), it is famed as a practice dedicated specifically to averting the inauspiciousness of the times and said to be one of the most powerful practices for bringing peace and stability in the world.
  For Vajrayana level students who have a Guru Rinpoche empowerment. Dates for group practice notified by email to students in Ngondro and Dzogchen Mandalas
  
  
• Ngondro
  To develop pure perception, students on the Vajrayana path practice preliminary or ‘foundation’ practices. These are a powerful means for effecting a deep purification and transformation of our being, essential to preparing students before they can receive the profound teachings of Dzogchen. The practices begin with a contemplation on the four thoughts, followed by taking Refuge, generating Bodhichitta, Vajrasattva purification, Mandala offering and Guru Yoga.
  Ngondro and Tendrel Nyesel Tsok are two of the main practices for Vajrayana students in Rigpa, Ngondro typically being a daily practice.
  Practice sessions in Centre offered occasionally. For Ngondro and Dzogchen Mandala students.                                                           Upcoming Ngondro practice: Thursday Mar 11                       7.00pm, length approx 1.5 hours                                                          
  
• Phowa – monthly
  Practice for the transference of consciousness at death. For students with Phowa empowerment.
  
  
• Drop-in Meditation                                                                       Short teaching followed by 40 minutes of sitting. This is a flexible way of going to the Centre and meditating in a group. Students mainly benefit from the teachings silently, according to their own understanding and experience; it is not like a course on meditation (and therefore not recommended for totally new students). Queries answered at the end of the practice.                                                Next drop-in meditation in the Centre will be in April. We are running an Introduction to Meditation Weekend over March 20-21 (see 'Forthcoming Events' on homepage).