Other Activities
Most activities are held in Paris or Veneux-Les Sablons. For details and dates please refer to the calendar.
Study groups and lectures by students selected by Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche
Courses in Buddhist philosophy:
- First course: covered in three years on the bases of Buddhism
- Second course: covering the five aggregates with reference to Asanga's Abhidharma-samuccaya.
Meditation – both concentrative and analytical – mainly on the stages of the path (lamrim).
Retreats for those who attend Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche's teachings regularly:
- weekend study retreats open to Buddhists and non-Buddhists interested in learning more
- practise retreats for Buddhists only
- lamrim retreats for advanced practitioners.
Ceremonies: Recitation of the Necklace of the Fortunate (the six preliminary practices), the Breeze of Faith in Tara and other rituals. Celebration of Buddhist feast days.
Library
Guépèle Institute has a library of books in English, French and Tibetan that can be borrowed at no charge by members of the institutes. The library is located in the Yiga Tcheudzine temple and is open during the monthly weekend sessions, Saturdays and Sundays at 1:15 pm.
Readers will find books on Buddhism for beginners and more advanced practitioners, biographies of celebrated masters, teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, stories and studies of ancient and contemporary Tibetan society, Buddhist religious art books, reference books on Tibetan language and medicine and much more.
Tibetan lessons:
Knowledge of the Tibetan language gives one access to a large body of canonical and exegetical works available
in Tibetan thanks to the extraordinary translation work of Tibetan masters that began in the 7th.
The institutes organize classes in Tibetan by Venerable Dagpo Rinpoche's students,
some of whom are former students of I.Na.L.C.O. (the school of oriental studies in Paris).
Learning Tibetan helps those who so wish to read and understand prayers, discourses and the root texts
they are based on directly in that language. It allows one to study or even translate these works and to
talk directly with Tibetans. Currently the institutes offer one classe in Veneux-Les Sablons per week for advanced levels.
Volunteer work The organisation, maintenance and activities of the institutes entirely depend entirely on work done by volunteers.