Nalandabodhi Seattle presents
Sunday Open Meditation:
Wisdom from the First Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa
with Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen
Sunday, 12 October 2025
Sunday, 19 October 2025
Düsum Khyenpa (1110–1193) was the first Gyalwang Karmapa and the founder of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.
He dedicated his life to helping others, pacifying conflicts, and healing the sick, demonstrating that true spiritual awakening is inseparable from working for the benefit of all sentient beings.
His teachings emphasized the direct path to enlightenment through advanced meditation, grounded in a deep commitment to faith (a sense of trust and confidence), wisdom and compassion.
Over two Sundays, Acharya Lama Tenpa will present the First Karmapa’s teachings of Six Things for Quickly Achieving Enlightenment, grounding these in a 21st century context.
Those who wish to achieve unexcelled buddhahood
in one lifetime and one body need to have six things, it is said:
Faith, wisdom, compassion,
Meeting the lama, requesting Dharma,
And effort in accomplishing its purpose.
— from Six Things for Quickly Achieving Enlightenment (excerpt from The Life and Teachings of Düsum Kheyenpa, The First Karmapa)
Schedule
10:00a PT Meditation
11:00a PT* Dharma Talk by Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen
12:00a PT Community Lunch
* click here to see your local start time.
Format
Hybrid — onsite at Nalanda West and online via zoom.
Recordings will be available for registered participants on the resource page for 2 weeks after Sunday, 19 October 2025.
Registration Details
Zoom and Resource Page links will be emailed after registering. Please look for an auto-email with the subject: ‘Registration Confirmed: Sunday Open Meditation with Lama Tenpa (Su, 12 & 19 Oct 2025).’
Please practice generosity when registering so that Nalandabodhi Seattle can continue to offer precious teachings like these to all who are interested in the dharma.
Questions?
If you have questions about these Sundays, please contact seattle@nalandabodhi.org.
If you would like to volunteer to help support this Sunday or Sunday Open Meditation in general, please fill out this form.
Teacher Bio
Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen was born in Nepal and entered the monastery at age thirteen. In 1981, Lama Tenpa and Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche enrolled in the first class of Rumtek Monastery’s Karma Shri Nalanda Institute in Sikkim, India. Lama Tenpa completed his studies with an Acharya degree in 1991. Following his graduation, he taught Buddhist philosophy at the institute for two years. Under the guidance of Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, he then entered a three-year retreat in Pullahari, Nepal.
From 1997 to 2004, Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen was the resident teacher at H.H. the 17th Karmapa’s Theksum Tashi Chöling Center in Hamburg, Germany. Since 1998, Lama Tenpa has also been one of the main teachers at Nitartha Institute. Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen is a professor of Buddhist studies and Tibetan language at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and teaches regularly at Nalandabodhi centers around the world.
Date/Time
Date(s) - Sun., October 19, 2025
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location HYBRID Nalandabodhi Seattle @ Nalanda West
