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IN THIS NEWSLETTER: •   From The Wisdom Seat •   The Wisdom Seat Events •   Programs To Consider • Wisdom's Melody •   A Teaching The Wisdom Seat board recently met to work through the results of our first community survey, and I am happy to share with you some updates shaped from your suggestions and feedback. Thank you to everyone who participated. How can I know what programs Wisdom Seat offers?   Now there is one place, a public google calendar, where we have all ou

IN THIS NEWSLETTER: •   From The Wisdom Seat •   The Wisdom Seat Events •   Programs To Consider • Wisdom's Melody •   A Teaching I recently had the opportunity to prepare and practice a talk in a teacher training program. My chosen topic was the role of play in Buddhism, a topic I’ve thrown around in my head for many years. Our reference text was Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s commentary on the lojong slogans so I thought this was a good opportunity to explore viewing lojo

IN THIS NEWSLETTER: •   From The Wisdom Seat •   The Wisdom Seat Events •   Programs To Consider • Wisdom's Melody •   A Teaching According to this year’s Tibetan lunar cycle, the New Year falls in late February. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche adapted this tradition in the west as Shambhala Day beginning in 1978. For both traditions it is a time of spiritual renewal, celebrating cultural traditions (like the delectable dumplings called momos!) & in the days leading up to the

IN THIS NEWSLETTER: •   From The Wisdom Seat •   The Wisdom Seat Events •   Programs To Consider • Wisdom's Melody •   A Teaching Happy 2026! Looking back at 2025: Together we gathered for 26 events this past year - not even counting our weekly Wednesday evening meditations. Our podcast was downloaded 2,215 times, and our blog posts were read 5,989 times. Thank you for showing up, listening, and practicing together. Our sangha spans the globe.  While 26% of us are in Pe

The Wisdom Seat 2025 Fall Retreat brought together practitioners for eight days at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra monastery in the Catskill Mountains for a deep dive into mindfulness-awareness meditation. Led by Michael Carroll and supported by The Wisdom Seat staff, the retreat combined 6–7 hours of daily shrine room practice with breath and body relaxation, outdoor walking meditation, readings from Buddhist texts, Dharma talks, and both group and individual meditation instructi

IN THIS NEWSLETTER: •   From The Wisdom Seat •   The Wisdom Seat Events •   Programs To Consider •   A Teaching When we pause and reflect on our lives, we most likely can recall dozens of friends and loved ones who brought color, joy and surprise to our lives: a kind-hearted cafeteria worker or quirky teenage boyfriend; a rambunctious canine or hilarious roommate; a trusted boss or loving parent. Such memories can bring smiles and tears.     Chances are many of those we

IN THIS NEWSLETTER: •   From The Wisdom Seat •   The Wisdom Seat Events •   Programs To Consider •   A Teaching The seasons are changing in earnest here in Pennsylvania. We are in the bardo (or “interval”) between summer and winter, complete with golden, red, and brown leaves, carved pumpkins, and Halloween decorations. This shift is a reminder that everything is in motion, constantly changing.  Our regular online meditation group has been reading and contemplating Pema

IN THIS NEWSLETTER: •   From The Wisdom Seat •   The Wisdom Seat Events •   Programs To Consider •   A Teaching Our founders Matt DiRodio and Michael Carroll recently sat down together and edited The Wisdom Seat’s chant boo k which we use in our monthly nyinthuns and other events. Much appreciation for their work and dedication! So for those who participate in our nyinthuns, take note of the new version updated in September 2025. On September 11th our communities exper

IN THIS NEWSLETTER: •   From The Wisdom Seat •   The Wisdom Seat Events •   Programs To Consider •   A Teaching At the end of the month The Wisdom Seat will be offering Refuge and Bodhisattva Vows. As many of you know these vows are a proclamation to formally claim one's identity as a Buddhist. Why would one want to take this leap?  You might ask yourself  "Who needs to join a religion?" Maybe in your study of buddhism you came across the teaching of "egolessness", so yo

Like all things, The Wisdom Seat is ever-changing, and we are writing today to start a dialogue with you, our community, about how we can best shape our organization to serve our precious sangha in the years ahead. Whether you consider Wisdom Seat your sangha, donate time or funds, come to events, or simply read our newsletter, we consider you to be part of The Wisdom Seat community, and we want to hear your voice. We will be soliciting your opinions and ideas in the weeks to

IN THIS NEWSLETTER: •   From The Wisdom Seat •   The Wisdom Seat Events •   Programs To Consider •   A Teaching OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA This is Sanskrit. I didn't know I've been chanting Sanskrit for years, and how important the language was to Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Did you know Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche often preferred his students go back to the original Sanskrit instead of using Tibetan terms? "He(CTR) even decided, whenever possible, to choos