Reimagine Wisdom
Letter from Director
Dear Friend, At Dharma College, our mission is to translate ancient wisdom into everyday life. Using whatever circumstances we encounter as an opportunity for growth, we begin to manifest the extraordinary potential of being. These uncertain times provide perfect conditions to discover what is holding us back from an ever-available freedom. As we come to understand mind and self more deeply, we can open awareness, engage more closely with experience, and find a rich source for inner development. This mission governs all of our work here at the College. As both a place for learning, and a community of those who share similar interests, Dharma College is creating a vibrant environment, a place for work and serious inner and outer study. Inviting wisdom into our lives depends on our taking the first step when the right conditions arise. We open our gates to you with the wish that we may take this journey together. With all best wishes,
Wangmo Dixey
Ancient Roots — Modern Conditions Founded by Venerable Tarthang Tulku, one of the first traditionally trained Tibetan Buddhist masters to settle in America, Dharma College is neither a typical American college nor a traditional Dharma Center. Situated at the crossroads of Eastern spirituality and Western intellectual pursuits, our program blends aspects of psychology, philosophy, spirituality and science, with a focus on practical application in everyday life. The format of our classes is interactive and discussion-based. Awareness practices along with contemplations bring balance to the open dialogue, study, and conceptual inquiry we engage in. Without being subject to dogma or proselytizing, without long hours of meditation or religious rituals, students develop a deeper understanding of mind, reality, and self and can effectively transform their way of being. Dharma College is here to serve everyone who is interested in pursuing inner knowledge and living a more meaningful life.
Start My Journey Everyday Wellness Mindful Working Grounded Living Clear Understanding Active Wisdom
We are Unique Dharma College is developing a research unit concerned with neuroscience, virtual reality, and perception. Plans are being developed to open a Museum of the Mind on the ground floor to explore how cognition and perception interact. Recently we entered into collaboration with McGill University to study the awareness achieved in Jhana states of meditation. Our background in the Tibetan wisdom tradition and our extensive contacts with Theravadin communities in Southeast Asia are important assets here. Dharma College intends to facilitate the scientific study of these important states of being. We are also developing virtual reality programs to explore the rich traditions of inner visualization which play such an important role in all Buddhist wisdom lineages. Finally, we have developed a wonderful co-working facility with free classes in yoga and meditation. Using the ground floor rooms of our landmark building in downtown Berkeley, with their high ceilings and impressive interiors, we have created a special workplace for people interested in combining well-being and meaning in their working lives. The CoWorking With Wisdom workspace provides members with an enhanced way of working that integrates work and life. Work can develop our inner self, enhancing and bringing balance to our way of being in the world.
Pathway to Wisdom The Dharma College curriculum invites you to develop the precious and rich potential you have for living more deeply. Classes offer a relaxed learning environment in which all aspects of experience are engaged: mind, body, language, feeling, sensation, perception, creativity, curiosity, delight. Whatever you perceive, whatever you feel, whatever you think you know become valuable parts of a unique wisdom journey. We offer three distinct programs, each of which is a gateway to transformation. Whichever program attracts you is the place to begin; whichever engages your mind and opens your heart, is the right path. They say of the Dharma that it is “good in the beginning, good in the middle, good at the end.” Our programs are designed to spark glimpses of insight and caring from the start and all the way through.
The wisdom we need to lead a meaningful life.
Mindful Working
Grounded Living
Clear Understanding
Everyday Wellness Active Wisdom
“This class is a heartening combination of the Lotus Healing practices and up-to-date Covid 19 science as only the insiders know it. These three generous doctors clarify the research, and answer our questions in a most companionable way.” — Dharma College Student
Everyday Wellness, Perfecting good health with balance Integrating attention to health is key to our overall well being. At Dharma College, we are committed to finding the most innovative ways for our students to keep healthy with doctors who care. We offer classes on promoting inner resilience especially during COVID period. We also have a Nourish Me program which invites you to join us for beautiful vegetarian lunches at Dharma College where all ingredients are sourced from some of the best local produce in the Bay Area. We also offer classes in body movement.
“I loved the ease and simplicity of the course and the way it was taught it. It was manageable, even with my busy schedule, and I’m already applying the teachings to my daily life.”
Mindful Working, Learn methods for bringing life to work Work can be more than mere livelihood. For the modern professional, it’s a chance to grow and learn more about ourselves. It can be a way to develop positive and healthy relationships. This program explores the many ways to bring awareness, concentration, and energy to everything we do. You may discover that devoting care to your work and improving your appreciation of life may be more similar than you think.
Some courses that you might enjoy: 28 Day Skillful Means Challenge: Set priorities with more intention. For one month, we’ll meet for just 30 minutes each weekday to help bring clarity to each participant’s specific goals. This class aims to build daily balance and transform work into a spiritual practice. Meditate: 3 Minutes is Enough One does not need to sit for hours upon end to develop stability of mind. In this class, we’ll learn to generate insight through a concise, daily meditation practice. Mastering Successful Work Executive leaders will learn to re-define their organization’s direction, aligning vision with practical execution. Each class introduces tools for effective strategy and execution. Right Livelihood Discover ways to earn a living while staying true to a spiritual path. Classes explore how our job can be an expression of our deepest self. This translates the Dharma into relevance for any modern professional.
✭✭✭✭✭ “The place is nearly too good to be true…” “I can’t imagine a more perfect work scenario…” ✭✭✭✭✭
Coworking With Wisdom The Co-working with Wisdom program grows out of Dharma College’s mission to make the teachings of the Buddhist wisdom tradition available to modern society in new and innovative ways. It expresses an approach known as Skillful Means, which uses the challenges of work for spiritual insight and individual growth, for the benefit of ourselves and others. We are the opposite of work burn out. What if you could have the best productivity, mindfulness, and wellness classes right at your fingertips? What if the best stress management, success, and time management methods were a part of your regular workday? Just think: How much more work could you get done?
“I can see how I can become a more extraordinary human by watching my mind in a way I did not have access to before.” — Dharma College Student
Grounded Living Program, Begin developing practices for inner harmony Discover how to find ease, joy, and compassion in everyday life. Through experiential practices for body and mind, you’ll develop tools for relating more harmoniously to yourself and others. As you build these inner resources, each aspect of your own experience becomes the canvas on which you paint. Your senses expand, your awareness increases. Each six week course meets one-hour each week. While new students can join any term, there is a natural progression from the first to last course. Classes are discussion and practice-oriented. While we’ll reference texts during class, extensive at-home reading is not necessary. 1. Balance, Self-Care, and the Healing Power of Ease 2. Heart Teachings for Everyday Life 3. The Joy of Feeling and Sensing 4. Discovering Mind 5. Transforming the ‘Story of 'Me' 6. Letting go “We have the ability to choose how we would like to manifest: we can shift freely back and forth; we can be angry, confused or joyful — whatever we would like to be. This is genuine creativity, through which we shape our world.” — Openness Mind, 63
Grounded Living Begin developing practices for inner harmony
Mindful Working Learn methods for bringing life to work
Clear Understanding Begin developing practices for inner harmony
Active Wisdom Unfolding body, language, and mind
Everyday Wellness Perfecting good health with balance
Clear Understanding, Waking up to the revelation of mind A series of six courses. Each course consists of six weekly 90 minute online classes and additional self-directed study and exercises.We read a lot about going beyond concept, being non-dual, engaging with the ultimate, but what do these words mean? Our problems begin immediately. All of our attempts to communicate any insight or describe any state thrust us into conceptual duality, the very duality we wish to escape. This reveals the paradox of the spiritual path. The limitless horizon we seek must necessarily be beyond our reach; the qualities we aspire to must necessarily be beyond all characteristics.
“Clarity arises through observing mind. Observing the mechanisms of mind, seeing how they operate, what calms and what agitates them, leads to a potent understanding of mind’s nature.” — Tarthang Tulku
“I’ve studied Buddhism for 45 years. These classes have created openings to directly experience teachings that have been previously only theoretical and fleeting. I connect more deeply with my meditation practices now, more than ever.” — Dharma College Student
One path through this difficulty is to generate an understanding of the conceptual activity of mind. Once we understand the reason for our reactive conceptuality, and why it pervades from moment to moment both our inner narratives and the outer world of things, such an understanding itself reveals what we otherwise miss: the center of experience itself. We can never locate such a center- for our very searching leads straight to the conceptual. What cannot be seen can, however, be found, for it is revealed once the all-encompassing display of mind is fully appreciated.
Active Wisdom, Unfolding body, language, and mind The Lotus Trilogy program explores the extraordinary potential of body, language and mind to unfold, like the petals of a lotus, to reveal the beauty within. Through inquiry, dialogue, and experiential exercises, ordinary assumptions about time,space, matter, language, and mind are thoroughly investigated in a playful and accessible way. The heart of being may be an open field.
For wisdom, we need experience, blessings, and a thorough explanation of mind.
Lotus Body
Lotus Body classes consider the relationship of matter, space and time, and begin to loosen the assumptions we have about the separation between us. As we open borders, our hearts, too, open, and inner and outer connections are revealed. “Every being is interconnected, implicated. Every action is important and every contribution precious.” — Lotus Body, 194
Lotus Language
We investigate the role of language and meaning in human experience. Constrained in our understanding of our inner being by the structure of language, the ways we think, work, live, and love, are limited. Knowing differently, these can be transformed. “Tutored by the spirit of language, mind finds a voice...In this way, we make reality; for reality as a concept owes its existence to the language frame, and language’s labels give our journey meaning.” — Lotus Language, XXXII–XXXIII
Lotus Mind
A lack of inner harmony and a dissatisfaction with life frequently arise from not understanding the true nature of mind. Inside every human being is the capacity to fully develop our abundant human potential. Can we tap the source? “True wisdom is manifested by each being’s activity. It is new and irreplaceable, a contribution to the general fund. When we conduct knowledge ourselves, creating a fresh performance, we give it life, and it gives life to others.” — Lotus Mind, 193
“The study of the regime of mind was thorough, and now we are learning how to live in the very beautiful direct experience, very different from the regime. This course is very important to learn in this changing world.” — Dharma College Student
Dharma College Courses
Six week terms begin throughout the year. Courses are offered at convenient times during the week and on weekends. For full course descriptions, current costs, and the schedule of upcoming weekly courses and events, or for information about how to enroll, see the insert to this brochure or visit our website at www.dharma-college.com. To ensure a place in the class of your choice, pre-registration is strongly encouraged. “The teachings and discussions have profoundly increased my understanding of the conscious workings of my mind in an experiential way. Moreover, the experience of mind beyond thought is becoming an increasing reality.” — Dharma College Student
Executive Director Wangmo Dixey (Executive Director), born in Berkeley, California, in 1969, is the eldest daughter of Venerable Tarthang Tulku. In addition to her role to as Director of the College, she is Executive Director of the Light of Buddhadharma Foundation International and President of the International Buddhist Association of America. She has been awarded many international accolades for her work in Asia. She holds a BA in International Relations from UCLA and an MA in International Development from American University. Married to Dr. Richard Dixey, she has two children.
Instructors Richard Dixey (Instructor) holds a Ph.D. from London University, an M.A. with distinction in the history and philosophy of science from London University, and a B.A. Hons from Oxford. He was director of the Bioelectronic Research Unit at St Bartholomew's hospital in London for fourteen years before founding and becoming the Chief Executive of Phytopharm PLC, a biotechnology company listed on the London Stock Exchange. Richard has been a student of Buddhism since 1972 and has traveled extensively in the Himalayas, India and South East Asia. He is currently an advisor to the Khyentse Foundation.
Abbe Blum (Instructor) holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley, an M.A. from Cambridge University in England, where she was a Marshall scholar, and a Ph.D. in English literature from Yale University. As an Associate Professor at Swarthmore College, she taught Shakespeare and intensive writing seminars. She currently teaches in the School of Psychology and Interdisciplinary Inquiry at Saybrook University. She has been studying Buddhism since the 1970’s, and has taught at various TNMC locations since 1998.
Robin Caton (Instructor) holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan and an MFA in creative writing from Saint Mary's College of California. She is an attorney, poet and teacher who has studied Buddhism for many years, both at the Nyingma Institute and under the direction of Founding Head Lama Tarthang Tulku. Her published works include a volume of poetry, The Color of Dusk. Robin was the Director of Dharma College from 2010 to 2017.
Associate Instructors Teri Beckman (Associate Instructor) leads HIGOL, a boutique coaching and consulting company that works with mission-driven leaders to help them increase their community impact and revenue within their organizations by aligning their human, technical, financial resources with their vision. She has studied and practiced Skillful Means and Buddhist psychology as presented by Tarthang Tulku for thirty years. She has a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Chapel Hill and is a graduate of the Body Therapy Institute, Spirit of Learning Teacher Training.
Bob Dozor (Associate Instructor) is the Medical Director of the Integrative Medical Clinic of Santa Rosa and the Nyingma Senior Retreat Center at Ratna Ling. He holds a B.A. from the University of Chicago in the history and philosophy of science and an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco. He has been a student of Buddhism since the 1960’s and a student of Venerable Tarthang Tulku since 1972.
Jonathan Clewley (Associate Instructor) was educated at the Universities of Sussex (BSc), London (MSc), and Warwick (PhD); and pursued a career as a Clinical Scientist and Virologist at a public health laboratory in London. He has a lifelong interest in arcane and spiritual knowledge, especially Buddhism, coming to Venerable Tarthang Tulku’s teachings through the practice of Kum Nye. As he lives in England, he has been taking online
Richard Kingsland (Associate instructor), holds a B.A. from Stanford University, an M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California, Davis, and an M.D. with honors from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He completed a residency in Emergency Medicine from the University of California, San Diego, and served as an emergency physician in San Diego County for many years. He has traveled frequently to India and Nepal and has been a student of Venerable Tarthang Tulku since 1970.
Ron Purser, Ph.D. (Associate Instructor) is a Professor of Management at San Francisco State University. Author of eight books, including McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality (Penguin Random House/Repeater Books), the Handbook of the Ethical Foundations of Mindfulness and the Handbook of Mindfulness: Culture, Context and Social Engagement (Springer). He writes for such media outlets as Tricycle, The Guardian, Salon, Alternet, Tikkun, Pando Daily and Transformation. He began studying Time, Space and Knowledge (TSK) in 1982.
“Body, language, and mind are the vehicles for our journey toward liberation. Each is a lotus, emerging pure and beautiful from the muddy waters of our experience.” — Tarthang Tulku
Institutional Partnerships We are keen on developing institutional partnerships with like-minded organizations who see an investment in exploring mind and self. Our wish is to find compelling ways to gain deeper knowledge and develop new modes of understanding of both ourselves and those around us, leading to a balanced, harmonious and more fulfilling life. We believe that carrying out this mission in the West offers the potential to create powerful new forms of knowledge and manifest the full potentiality of being human.
Annual Dharma College Retreat Our annual Dharma College Annual retreat brings together all our senior teachers and presents wonderful, rich teachings from Revelations of Mind, Lotus Trilogy and other texts. Why not give yourself the precious gift of inner wisdom today — if not now, when? “I don’t quite know how to describe it other than to say, something seems to have changed in my psychology — and my world, as you foretold us, seems to have changed as well. Where is the irritation gone? Yes, I am hijacked here and there, but I can hardly believe how quickly and, rather without much effort, I am able to free myself of the dis-ease.” — Dharma College Student
Contact We are located in the heart of downtown Berkeley, just one block from Berkeley BART and steps away from secure public parking at either 2061-Allston Way or 2020 Kittredge St., both open from 6 am to midnight seven days a week.
2222 Harold Way Berkeley, CA 94704 510.809.2010 dharma-college.com
2222 Harold Way Berkeley, CA 94704
Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Berkeley, CA
Make A Gift Our work is based on a long and profound tradition of guided self-investigation leading to wisdom, compassion, and a meaningful life. We believe that this work has the potential for being profoundly important, not simply in making individual lives better, but also in addressing our society’s ills. Putting powerful teachings into secular language and through them finding ways to reach many humans can have meaningful results. What’s needed is funding for outreach, building maintenance, and expanding our audience. Help given to us invests in what can help others and benefit all of us.