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March 2026 NEWSLETTER

  • Feb 26
  • 12 min read

Updated: Mar 1

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:







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 lojong slogans as reminders to be playful in our practice. Lojong, also referred to as mind training, can be thought of as methods for turning away from self-centeredness and cultivating habits that generate bodhichitta. I felt it is a good setting to explore the role of play and a playful mind on the path.


Lojong is not a collection of rules but are more like reminders not to take things so personally yet not dismiss our experiences of phenomena. I think of it as a Swiss Army knife: every slogan has a use, and their utility reveals itself in their own time often when least expected. In order to avoid turning slogans into another way of tightening up, there needs to be playfulness with slogans themselves. 


Maria Montessori once said, “Play is the work of children.” I propose a different look at this: play is the work of being human. Play is a verb and noun, and at its core it has two components: simplicity and openness. It naturally requires give and take, in other words giving up ownership of what’s happening while also participating wholeheartedly. If you’ve participated in improv, played music with others, witnessed children in pretend play, danced alone in your kitchen, doodled and sketched… you get the idea of what I’m pointing towards. 


In my experience with slogans, they have helped me remember why I chose this path over and over again. When I find myself caught up in fixation, a slogan cuts through the fog be it a favorable or unfavorable situation. On the path, the give and take occurs when we balance discipline and experimentation. As we cultivate stabilization through meditation, working with our mind and thoughts, we are then ready to actually open up to the phenomenal world on its terms. Much like young children benefit from guidelines before they can safely explore, practitioners benefit from guardrails as we embark on the open path to avoid what Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche would call “idiot compassion”. 


Familiar or not with the slogans, I hope you get to explore play in your practice both on and off the meditation seat. May your give and take with the phenomenal world be a gentle way to come back to simplicity and openness, in all situations be they unfavorable or favorable. May you unfold over and over while always returning home. May you always maintain a joyful and playful mind.


Al San Valentin


Notes from Bill


We're looking for someone to join The Wisdom Seat for web and technical help. This is a paid hourly, remote position supporting our newsletters, website editing, social media, and event coordination. If you're organized, comfortable with Google Docs and Drive, and have an interest in contemplative practice, I'd love to hear from you! Email me at billmoriarty@thewisdomseat.org if you're interested.


The Wisdom Seat Retreat for 2026 is now open for registration! Take a look and consider joining us for this 8-day practice intensive, supported by members of The Wisdom Seat staff: https://www.thewisdomseat.org/the-wisdom-seat-retreat


We recently published several interviews with Michael Carroll that were originally produced by Applied Mindfulness Training as part of their Mindful Voices series. We're glad to have them as part of our podcast now. https://www.thewisdomseat.org/podcast



take care,

Bill Moriarty

Board President of The Wisdom Seat


Additional Newsletter Section: Wisdom's Melody

We invite you to take a look at an introduction to a new section in our monthly newsletter titled "Wisdom's Melody." A place for your inspired writing to be featured and shared with The Wisdom Seat Community.








Celebrate the Blossoming of Springtime: One-Day Mini-Retreat with Corina Benner

Sat, Mar 21st

In-person | Pawo Khandro Ling


Gather together for this seasonal celebration in the elegant and dignified space the Philadelphia Wisdom Seat makes available to us. Reflect, Recharge and Rejoice with Yoga, Meditation, Breathwork, Poetry, Camaraderie, and Presence.






Causes and Conditions: How Did Things Get Like This?

A Mindful Gathering with Michael Carroll and Bill Moriarty

Tuesday, March 31 

7-8pm Eastern

Zoom

 

Nothing that's happening in the world today happened overnight. In this Mindful Gathering, Michael Carroll and Bill Moriarty explore the Buddhist teaching of Dependent Origination - the understanding that all phenomena arise through causes and conditions.


What conditions gave rise to this moment? And what conditions are we helping create now? What does this teaching offer us as we live in a turbulent and confusing time?






Proclaiming Basic Sanity: Living the Bodhisattva Path

August 10-18, 2026

Drala Mountain Center


How do we navigate with wisdom, compassion, and fierce courage in an age of spiritual crisis?


Please join Buddhist teachers Michael Carroll and Susan Piver for a week of meditation, community, and real talk about how to take our practice off the cushion and into the beauty and confusion of our world.







Wednesday Meditation

Ongoing offering: Online meditation every Wednesday evening

6:15 to 7:30 PM EST


Worldwide Wednesday evening online sitting meditation practice.

We, at The Wisdom Seat, invite you to meet on Wednesday evenings from 6:15 – 7:30 PM Eastern Time to practice the sitting meditation discipline as taught in the Buddhist & Shambhala tradition of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.







Nyinthun: Everyone is welcome!


Ongoing offering: Nyinthun (in-person and online)

The first Sunday of every month.


All day sitting interspersed with walking meditation. The word nyinthun*, is Tibetan for “day session.”

​

In understanding dharma, Trungpa Rinpoche placed a strong emphasis on mindfulness/awareness meditation practice. This community practice of Nyinthun - all day sitting interspersed with walking meditation - gives us the opportunity to experience the full spectrum of our mind, make friends with our immediate experience and rediscover our natural sanity.


Please take a look, and sign up to join us for some nyinthun retreat days. It is ok to join for as much of the day as you can.







Collaborative practice undertaking with The Wisdom Seat & The Profound Treasury Retreat


The Wisdom Seat encourages as many opportunities for practitioners to engage in the discipline of mindfulness/awareness (shamatha/vipashyana) as one can engage in. We are happy to invite the Profound Treasury Retreat (PTR) with their offering of Sunday sitting.


PTR community is hosting a 2-hour sitting session from 9:30am to 11:30 am EST 

There will be meditation instruction every third Sunday of the month, given by a qualified meditation instructor.


Dates: March 8th, 15th, 22nd, & 29th

Here is the Zoom link for this session: Sunday Sitting Zoom Link


All are welcome to attend.








Ocean

Milarepa Day

A Day of Hearing Songs of Realization

Sunday, March 1st

12:00 pm — 6:00 pm Eastern


The journey to awakening begins by listening to the dharma. When heard in the present moment, the guidance provided by past realized teachers can suddenly become relevant and specific to our own personal path.


This year, we will do an abbreviated version for Milarepa Day. The day’s activities will include opening chants, the Milarepa sadhana, and reading the songs of Milarepa, Gampopa, Mikyo Dorje, Lodro Thaye, Yeshe Tsogyal, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and other lineage figures.


There will be 15-minute breaks as needed.


All the texts being read will be displayed on your screen. Come prepared to read along.


The Milinda Talks

Talk Two

March 21, 1 pm Eastern

In Ocean’s Main Shrine Room

Uttaratantrashastra

with Miguel Oramas & Javier Torales (Rigpa)

No registration required.


West Chester Meditation Center

WMC Annual Retreat The Three Pillars of Wakefulness: Stability, Openness and Kindness

March 6th - 13th

In-Person at the Garrison Institute

Led by Judy Lief, Derek and Jane Kolleeny, & Gene Bobker


A week-long immersive retreat is a powerful way to deepen our relationship to meditation and see its benefits. With a settled mind, we can tune into our innate wellbeing and our open heart. Mindfulness-awareness meditation, fully understood, can directly support overcoming our fixed, inflexible patterns, and allow the emergence of a more stable attitude of acceptance and kindness. We hope you can join us in exploring and fine-tuning these qualities that our world needs more than ever.



Dorje Denma Ling

Mandala of the Empowered Feminine

May 12 - May 18, 2026

In-Person

Taught by Susan Lorraine and Friends


In this retreat, we will meet the dakinis—the dynamic, free, wise, compassionate, and sometimes fierce energies that dance within open awareness. Our main practice will be the Mandala of the Five Wisdom Dakinis. Lama Tsultrim will join our retreat remotely, to formally introduce the practice.



Sky Lake Retreat Center

Vajrayogini Group Retreat

April 10 - 18th

in-person at Sky Lake Retreat Center in Rosendale, NY


All Vajrayogini sadhakas of the lineage of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche are warmly invited to join this group retreat at the beautiful Sky Lake retreat center. The retreat will include group sadhana practice, lujong, daily study of tris, and group discussions. We will culminate with a feast on 4/18.  Sky Lake is in a secluded mountain setting and offers both shared and private rooms with en suite baths and private balconies.


10% early bird discount for those who register and pay in full by March 1. Questions or comments? Please contact Dana Fulmer at Danafulmer1@gmail.com or Ken Einhorn at 917-716-5870.



Profound Treasury Retreat

Planting Seeds, Cutting Roots

June 12th - 21st

In-Person at Saco, Maine


At the 2026 Profound Treasury Retreat, through a week of contemplation and practice, we’ll explore the Buddhist understanding of karma as the intricate chain of cause and effect that arises from ego’s attempt to secure its position in our world. By acknowledging the workings of cause and effect, we can begin to see our deep interconnectedness with all beings and recognize the reverberations of our actions through familial, cultural, and collective patterns. We will also explore the possibility of discovering freedom from karma in the present moment and how each future moment, therefore, could be completely open.


As Trungpa Rinpoche says, “But if, for a moment, you do something that is not based on a belief in separateness, if it’s not based on thoughts that have any kind of prerequisite or dependency, then your activity ceases to be karmic.” (The Karma Seminar - KCL September 1972)


The Profound Treasury Retreats are for everyone, whether you are new to meditation or a seasoned practitioner. Your presence and wisdom are welcome.


Apply soon - the first 20 participants to complete registration will win special PTR merchandise!



Three Yana Retreats/Drala Mountain Center

The Third Entering the Vajra World Retreat

June 21st - July 21st

In-Person at Drala Mountain Center


The Three-Yana Retreat is designed for Buddhist practitioners with experience in study and meditation, who wish to establish a solid foundation for a life-long journey.

The Entering the Vajra World Retreat begins with a 13 week online study program on the Foundational Vehicle and the Mahayana. It is followed by a month-long, in-person retreat at Drala Mountain Center involving intensive practice and study of Mahayana and Vajrayana topics. During the third week of the retreat participants receive Vajrayana transmission and the opportunity to explore the ngöndro preliminary practices.

 

The Three-Yana Retreat is a contemporary version of the deep training that was the hallmark of Trungpa Rinpoche’s Vajradhatu Seminaries. It provides students with an introduction to Vajrayana practice in Trungpa Rinpoche’s tradition with a solid foundation in the three-yana principles.


Sopa Choling/Gampo Abbey 

Attention: Vajrayogini Practitioners

Announcing a very rare opportunity to practice inner and secret Vajrayogini.

The retreat at Sopa Chöling has a few vacancies and we’re inviting you to apply.



A few details:

You must have completed the Vajrayogini mantras and attended an amending fire offering (see Dorje Denma Ling schedule, June 2026).


Optional: 

Part 2 of this retreat is optional and includes outer, inner and secret Chakrasamvara. For this, Chakrasamvara empowerment is required.


Questions? Write to threeyearretreat@gampoabbey.org







Welcome to “Wisdom’s Melody,” our new series on the dharma in everyday life! We invite everyone in the The Wisdom Seat community to share how they bring meditation off the cushion and into the world.


How do the teachings show up in your ordinary days?  What is your experience of mindfulness, awareness, compassion, skillful means? Does your meditation practice help you navigate difficult times?


Please submit your contribution of 800 words or less before the 20th of the month to info@thewisdomseat.org.


We look forward to hearing from you.


Elizabeth Brownrigg, Chief Editor


LESSONS OF A HOSPITAL STAY

By Alison Driscoll


One minute, I’m going about my day, the next, in pain culminating in barely being able to walk. Alone & away from home, I call 911 and am soon strapped to a gurney by 2 capable men in EMS uniforms & headed to the ER. 


So begins the journey begins of a dharma practitioner trained as a healer now in need of healing herself. The ER is full. A long wait, then vitals, blood tests, a cat scan. “Good news & bad news," says the ER doc. No ruptured appendix. Bad news: intestinal blockage which, if not resolve in several days, will require surgery and right now requires a nasal-gastric (NG) tube from the nose to the belly.  The first try is unsuccessful. Call in the nurse who’s expert at this procedure: sharp shooting pain & in seconds she has the tube in. She’s confident, capable and on to the next patient. I see how this ER team works, supporting each other and the patients at hand in a symphony of skill and improvisation. 


Next stop: 4th floor, where I will remain for 5 days with the NG tube, IV pole, & hospital staff drawing blood and checking vitals several times a day.  A dear childhood friend & her sister, who live more than an hour away, drop everything & are with me in the room the next morning like angels descending, offering words of encouragement and volunteering to retrieve whatever I need from the Airbnb: phone charger, computer & most importantly, practice materials.


The next morning a nurse named Princess from Trinidad shakes me out of a sound sleep at 5 a.m. to ask if my bed is wet. Hearing a sleepy “no,” she departs. Annoyed at first, then I realize I’m likely one of dozens of patients on this floor she needs to ask & to be ready to change bedding before her shift ends at 7 a.m.


A short while later, practicing in the wee hours before rounds begin, the overnight nurse enters, sees Medicine Buddha and the mandala and says,“That’s so beautiful.” Sharing the intention of the practice to heal self and others, she smiles through her mask and says, “That’s wonderful. We need that.” She is Vietnamese. I tell her about Thich Nhat Hanh. Her eyes brighten. She asks me to write his name down & says she’s going to look him up.


In the afternoon the surgeon arrives with a handful of residents. He seems arrogant as he presents my case to them. The next day he arrives alone. He is kind & says I am making progress. He is from Yemen. He tells me of his family there: the suffering; that there is so much illiteracy. This no longer feels like doctor to patient, but human to human. How quick I was to judge him.  


On the 4th day, having progressed from no food or water to clear liquids, a tall handsome man with a turban brings breakfast: jello, broth, tea. With a smile he says: “Here you are, Miss Alison. Enjoy.” He likely delivers hundreds of meals a day, yet has time for a smile & a personal greeting. He is from Sudan. He doesn’t need to say anymore.


Later that day a diminutive nurse with a large entourage enters the room, and immediately notices the error of my being given clear liquids while the NG tube is still in. Without hesitation, she yanks out the tube: sharp, shooting pain - and then relief. She is as capable as the ER nurse was.  What seems like an aggressive act is a merciful one, and I learn she is the senior most nurse in the hospital, training all the nurses and some of the residents.


Day 5: I receive confirmation I am likely to be discharged after the doctor sees me. I am allowed to unplug the IV pole to go to the bathroom by myself. I swing my legs from the bed to the floor. A housekeeper enters the room at the same time, smiles, & points to my bare feet. I’m supposed to be wearing the hospital-assigned nonskid socks. “It’s for safety,” she says gently. I thank her & learn she is from Jamaica. Everyone here is looking out for the patient’s welfare, from the doctor to the housekeeper.

 

Five days of being still while receiving the gifts of kindness and care and meeting people from around the world - serving, smiling, listening, teaching - doing their jobs. So many lessons learned. Assumptions crushed. Deep habitual patterns of judging and impatience and irritation revealed. It just took an emergency, lying in a hospital bed attached to an IV pole, as a patient, not a healer - to remind me once again of our rare and precious human existence and shared humanity.

Copyright © 2026 Alison Driscoll. All Rights Reserved.

Alison Driscoll has been practicing & studying in the Kagyu-Nyingma Buddhist & Shambhala lineages since the early 1980s. Her principal teacher/vajra guru of the past 25 years is Her Eminence Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche in the Mindrolling lineage. Alison is an Ayurvedic practitioner, longtime hospice volunteer, & death doula.








The Most Profound Six Dharmas that Liberate The Stream of Consciousness


Since the view is the nature of mind, recognize your own essence.

Since the meditation is luminosity, let go in continuous natural lucidity.

Since conduct is illusory, take whatever appears as the path.

Since experience arises as dharmata, uproot fixation.

Since the fruition is innate, give up clinging to hope and fear.

Since activity is altruism, lead beings through compassion.

         - Source Unknown

















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