Geshe Dorji Damdul – The Noble Mahayana Sutra Dependent Arising, Heart sutra and Staircase to Emptiness: Healing Emotions though the Nalanda Wisdom of Emptiness
May 15 – 20, 2020
Bio of Geshe Dorji Damdul
In 1988, Geshe Dorji Damdul joined the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Dharamsala and went on to gained his Geshe Lharampa Degree in 2002 from Drepung Loseling Monastic University. He then joined Gyudmed Tantric College for Tantric studies. In 2003, recommended by the Office of H.H. the Dalai Lama Geshi La studied English language at Cambridge University, England UK.
Appointed as translator to H.H. the Dalai Lama since 2005, he also translates texts such as Arya Nagarjuna’s “Mulamadyamikakarika” (Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way), Acharya Shantideva’s “Bodhicaryavatara” (Wisdom Chapter). Geshi La has co-authored, scientific, philosophical, Buddhist and secular books with prominent professors in the UK and USA as well as with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Since 2011 Geshe La has served as Director of Tibet House, Cultural Centre, New Delhi where he gives weekly teaching Buddhist philosophy, psychology, logic and practice. He has also lectured at Delhi University and presented papers for National and International Conferences held in Delhi and Mumbai and is presently writing two books; “Journey into the Paradox of Brain and Mind” and “What Constitutes the Ultimate Reality: The Effects of Understanding the Ultimate Reality.”
Geshe la’s passion is to help students gain deep understanding of the Nalanda tradition of Buddhist philosophy and imbue that knowledge with the heart of Bodhichitta, so that practitioners can transform their own continuum into the path of enlightenment. Geshe la’s knowledge of science and interactions with world renowned physicist give him the unique ability to teach Buddhist philosophy with a modern twist that many of his non-Tibetan students appreciate.
Guidelines for Behaviour
Rules of Discipline
It is only possible to stay at Tushita if you are taking one of our residential courses/retreats or are an established Buddhist practitioner doing your own formal Buddhist retreat of a minimum of 10 days duration.
Since Tushita is a semi-monastic meditation centre and not a guesthouse, we ask all of our retreatants and visitors to observe the following rules of discipline in order to maintain an atmosphere conducive to inner reflection and meditation:
- Be considerate of the monks and nuns: dress respectfully (please no shorts above the knee, tank-top shirts or tight and revealing clothing).
- Respect all life: do not intentionally kill any living being, even small insects.
- Respect others’ property: do not steal or take anything not freely given.
- Be honest and straightforward: do not lie or intentionally deceive others. This is easy when observing silence!
- Be celibate: no sexual activity. This also includes no holding hands, hugging, massages and other physical displays of affection.
- Be alert and mindful: avoid intoxicants such as alcohol, drugs and cigarettes (we encourage you to stop smoking while here, but if this is impossible, one can smoke at a designated place at the centre boundary).
- Be considerate of others’ silence: keep silence in the appropriate areas and at all times during residential courses, especially in the Gompa and the dormitories. No singing or playing music and in general, maintain a quiet demeanor while on the property.
Basic Course Discipline
In order to keep the atmosphere conducive to inner reflection and spiritual pursuit and to minimise distractions during the course, students on our residential courses and retreats are asked to abide by our basic code of discipline listed below.
- Please be gentle in your behaviour and sensitive to fellow group members.
- Please settle all outside communication before the course begins. Telling friends and family that you will be out of contact for the duration of the course and sticking by that decision significantly reduces distraction from investigation into the workings of your own mind! Likewise, please settle your travel arrangements etc before you come to Tushita!
- You are expected to observe silence (no talking at all) from the evening of the first day until the end of the course.
- Do not leave Tushita property for the entire course.
- Participants must attend all sessions of the course and come to sessions on time.
- Please put all communication / entertainment devices (laptop / mobile phones /cameras / MP3/CD players) etc into our safe at check-in.
Gompa Etiquette
“Gompa” is a Tibetan word which we use for Meditation Hall. Because a Gompa is the location of study, meditation and devotional practices, Buddhists consider them to be holy places. In this tradition, the following modes of behaviour are considered respectful in a Gompa and we ask you to follow them while here:
- No idle chit-chat in the Gompa (ie. You can ask the teacher questions during class, but do not talk with other students).
- Do not point your feet towards the teachers, the altar or any holy object.
- Do not put Dharma materials – prayer books, texts, Dharma books or notebooks with Dharma in them – on the floor, or sit or step over them.
- Do not lie down or do any yoga exercises in the Gompa at any time.
Registration
- To register for an intermediate course, please read ALL of the above and below information about the course.
- Then complete the online registration form in the Registration section of this website.
- Please don’t email just to ask about availability on the course; there will be enough space (unless indicated on our homepage that this course is full or has a waiting list), and you’ll save both yourself and Tushita volunteers time and effort by just completing the form.
- For our student’s convenience and to make the Dharma teachings as accessible as possible we keep this registration process as simple as possible.
Unfortunately up to 50% of the people who register don’t show up for courses! This results in long waiting list and a lot of uncertainty.
Therefore places on our Intermediate courses and group retreats will now be confirmed only after a non-refundable / non-transferable (to different course or person) deposit is received from the applicant. See this FAQ for more information. - If after being confirmed for a course you realize you cannot attend this course please let us know asap about your cancellation, so we can give your spot to somebody else.
- Check-in time is 1pm on the first day of the course. If you arrive after 2pm, you may lose your place to people on the waiting list.
- Most of our accommodation is dormitory-style and rooms can NOT be booked in advance. We have a very small number of single rooms, and a very high demand for them. Please let us know if you are of a mature age (i.e. over 50) or have a physical condition which would prioritise you for a single room; although we can’t guarantee any particular kind of room, we will do what we can to make you comfortable given our limited resources. See this link for more information about how our room allocation system works. For other queries please visit Frequently Asked Questions.
Register by filling out our online form
Please make sure you have read the information on this page first.