Meditation Offers And Herbal Medicine

In the Nyingmapa tradition meditation is an aspect of rituals, such as group sadhana practice (i.e. visualization of gods and deities according to sadhana texts) and daily practice where different kinds of meditation are possible. We may offer the following meditation courses. In addition, we can offer Tibetan herbal medicine.

Meditation on Emptiness (tongpa nyid), 2 days course: Under the guidance of the Khenpo („teacher“) participants will learn how to concentrate the mind on emptiness (Tibetan: tongpa nyid, Sanskrit: sunyata). They will learn how to sit in a correct position, how to breathe during meditation and how not to get distracted from obstacles and thoughts.

Meditation and Visualization (sadhana), 3 days course: Under the guidance of the Khenpo („teacher“) participants will learn how to visualize a deity of the Mahayana tradition. They will learn how to sit in a correct position, how to breathe during meditation and how not to get distracted from obstacles and thoughts. Then they will learn how to visualize a deity according to a sadhana text, like the Medicine Buddha (Tibetan: Sangye Menla; Sanskrit: Baishyaje Buddha), the Buddha Manjusri, the Dakini Tara or Shakya Muni Buddha.

While staying in Serlo monastery, participants will receive warm meals three times a day. For breakfast, this includes coffee and/or tea, pancake and/or tsampa porridge. For reasons of practicability, the meals offered for lunch and dinner are vegetarian and follow the monastery’s own change plan of lunch and dinner. Let yourself get surprised by the original and tasty Sherpa food. Accommodation is in clean two-bed or single-bed rooms. Availability of single-bed rooms may depend on early booking. Guest rooms with attached bathroom are available in Serlo monastery, again depending on early booking.

The dates for the meditation courses are not fixed but depend on individual request and are offered in the months of September to November. Minimum number of participants per group should be 5, maximum will be 12. Once we receive your requests, we will manage to adjust the dates of the courses.

Tibetan Herbal Medicine: Visitors to Serlo Monastery can receive herbal medicine collected from the local mountain area. The treatment will be on advice of an expert (Amchi) trained in Tibetan Medicine.