Awakening the Kind Heart:
How to Meditate on Compassion
with Venerable Sangye Khadro

Thu Oct 22, 7–8:30pm; Sat-Sun. Oct 24-25, 10:30am-4:30pm; Tue Oct 27, 7–8:30pm EDT

 IN-PERSON & ONLINE

A truly kind heart already exists in each and every one of us. It’s just a matter of learning how to
bring it out and expand it so that we can feel it more often, for more people and more
beings—and eventually for all living beings. In this intensive course of study and practice,
Venerable Sangye Khadro will teach and lead students in discussions and meditations on the
four immeasurables: love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. They are called immeasurable
because they extend to all sentient beings. It is the cultivation of these intentions and feelings
that open our hearts towards ourselves and others, and they are fundamental aspects of the
path of awakening.
While we set out to be kind, it can be quite difficult to practice. Our minds are innately pure but
polluted by obscurations such as negative emotions. When we experience anger, jealousy, and
pride, they can compromise our good intentions and create the conditions for unskillful
reactivity. These obscurations can be identified and eliminated, allowing the true, pure nature
of our mind to be revealed, which has the potential to experience boundless compassion.
Venerable Sangya Khadro (Kathleen McDonald) is the author of Awakening the Kind Heart: How
to Meditate on Compassion, which shares the same teachings and meditations that will be
explored in this course. As our teacher, Lama Zopa Rinpoche said, “This book will help you find
happiness and true satisfaction and help you live a life of benefit to others.”

Important Note

This is an in-person and online event. For online, the events will be administered using Zoom.

After registering, the system automatically sends a confirmation email (if opted in) and/or a receipt email that contains the Zoom meeting link and/or other instructions. Some email domains like Yahoo, AOL are rejecting the auto emails. If you don’t immediately receive the system email(s) or you have any other questions, please contact us at registration@shantidevanyc.org.

Registration

Suggested: $20 per session
Other offering options: free, $5, $10, $30

The suggested amount supports teacher offerings, rent, and other center expenses -and most importantly, it keeps teachings freely available to everyone, with session recordings shared on the center’s Recorded Teachings page and YouTube channel. Shantideva member benefits will apply automatically if you have a membership in MindBody.
 

Shantideva Center may publish recorded sessions in the public domain (e.g., on YouTube). By registering for this event, you are agreeing to give your consent to this process. Please be conscious of any personal information you share. Recordings are typically made to spotlight only on the teacher or facilitator so participants are usually not visible.

Time zone: US Eastern Daylight Time (GMT/UTC-4)

For questions regarding registration, please email registration@shantidevanyc.org for assistance.

Additional Materials

Link to purchase Awakening the Kind Heart at Wisdom publications:

https://wisdomexperience.org/product/awakening-kind-heart/

Additional optional resources suggested by Ven Sangye Khadro:

The Dalai Lama: The Compassionate Life. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003.

Salzburg, Sharon. Loving Kindness – the Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Boston: Shambala, 1995. 

Wallace, Alan B. The Four Immeasurables: Cultivating a Boundless Heart. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications.

Recordings

Available soon.

Dana for the Teacher

Shantideva Center makes offerings to our teachers and facilitators using the funds collected through registration. You can give additional support to the teacher or facilitator and create a stronger karmic connection by offering dana. Please make sure to select the teacher’s or facilitator’s name in the dropdown menu. Dana offered is passed entirely to them, but please note that it is not tax-deductible.

About the Teacher

California-born, Ven. Sangye Khadro ordained as a Buddhist nun at Kopan Monastery in 1974, and is a longtime friend and colleague of Abbey founder Ven. Thubten Chodron. Ven. Sangye Khadro took the full (bhikshuni) ordination in 1988. While studying at Nalanda Monastery in France in the 1980s, she helped to start the Dorje Pamo Nunnery, along with Ven. Chodron. Ven. Sangye Khadro has studied Buddhism with many great masters including Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, and Khensur Jampa Tegchok. She began teaching in 1979 and was a resident teacher at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore for 11 years. She has been resident teacher at the FPMT centre in Denmark since 2016, and from 2008-2015, she followed the Masters Program at the Lama Tsong Khapa Institute in Italy. Ven. Sangye Khadro has authored several books, including the best-selling, How to Meditate, now in its 17th printing, which has been translated into eight languages. She has taught at Sravasti Abbey since 2017 and is now a full-time resident.

Hans Burghardt holds a BA and a MA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a PhD from the University of Barcelona, where he spent seven years doing research. Since 2002, he meditates and is a student of great Buddhist masters including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, Lama Jampa Monlam, Khensur Jampa Tegchok amongst others. He has completed the Masters Program of Advanced Buddhist Studies of Sutra and Tantra at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa (Italy) and has completed a one-year individual meditation retreat. He currently teaches meditation and Buddhism at Tushita Meditation Center Spain and other FPMT centers, and is co-founder and coordinator of the Initiative for an Emotional, Ethical, and Social Education, that promotes the establishment of Emory University’s SEE Learning in Spain.