Buddha spoke highly of spiritual friendship. With Dharma centers now emerging from the pandemic, DFF is delighted to announce a year long class that will meet once a week – in person – at our South Seattle location in the Mount Baker neighborhood. Studying and practicing together, we support each other and ourselves by creating the conditions for spiritual community to flourish. The course will encompass three inter-related Buddhist teachings.
On May 6, Venerable Lozang Yonten launched our exploration into the Four Seals with a presentation on impermanence. The Four Seals broadly introduces spiritual aspirants to Buddhist philosophical tenants or views on the nature of various phenomenon. Ven. Yonten will teach remotely via Zoom. We will view together on a big screen in our shrine room. The following three weeks, a senior student will facilitate discussions and meditation with suggested readings. Each month, either Yangsi Rinpoche or Venerable Yonten will introduce a new topic within the Four Seals. After four months, we will begin another module of teachings on the Four Foundations of mindfulness, following the same pattern – with Rinpoche and Ven. Yonten introducing topics once a month, and a senior student facilitating during intervening weeks. The final four month segment beginning in January 2024 will focus on the Four Noble Truths. This year long series is designed to be suitable for beginners as well as more experienced students. Suggested text 
for the course: Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions, The Dalai Lama and Thubten Chodron.
Location: 2109 31 st Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98144
Schedule through June 3: May 13, 20, 27, and June 3, 10:00 a.m. to Noon.
Zoom option available for June 10 with Venerable Yonten. Register here. We encourage you to attend in person if possible in order to create and sustain a lasting spiritual community. Out of care for people with chemical sensitivities, we ask that you not wear any scented personal care products, including scented laundry soap, deodorant, cologne, perfume, etc. Thank you!
Biographies of Teachers:
Yangsi Rinpoche was recognized at the age of six as the reincarnation of Geshe Ngawang Gendun, a renowned scholar and practitioner from Western Tibet. Rinpoche trained in the traditional monastic system for over twenty-five years, graduating in 1995 with the highest degree of Geshe Lharampa from Sera Je Monastery in South India. Rinpoche then went on to complete his studies at Gyume Tantric College. Rinpoche came to the West in 1998 with the particular wish to benefit Western students of the Buddhadharma and has travelled and taught extensively throughout America and Europe. Rinpoche was a resident teacher at Deer Park Buddhist Center in Madison, Wisconsin for five years.
In 2005, Yangsi Rinpoche founded Maitripa College, a Buddhist university located in Portland, Oregon. Rinpoche currently serves as President and Professor of Buddhist Studies at Maitripa. Rinpoche is also the Spiritual Director of Ganden Shedrup Ling Buddhist Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico as well as Dharma Friendship Foundation located in Seattle, Washington. Rinpoche is the author of Practicing the Path: A Commentary on the Lamrim Chenmo, published by Wisdom Publications in 2003. Rinpoche teaches in English and is admired for his deep understanding of the Dharma and its unique presentation that continues to make the ancient wisdom of the Buddha relevant to modern times. Rinpoche is an inspiration to many for embodying the wisdom, kindness, and compassion of the Buddhist path. More.
Bhikshuni Lozang Yönten has been a Buddhist nun since 2003 and is currently the Chaplain of Maitripa College as well as a Lecturer of Buddhist Studies. Buddhist since her teenage years, Ven. Yönten moved to Australia and studied extensively under Gyurmé Khensur Rinpoche
In 2012, she became an accredited In-Depth Registered Teacher with FPMT and was requested to become the Resident Teacher at Kunsang Yeshe Retreat Centre in New South Wales, Australia where she remained for three years and frequently visited up until the pandemic. From 2015 onwards, Ven. Yönten was mainly based in New Zealand at Mahamudra Centre. During that period, she divided her time between leading retreats in New Zealand and teaching Philosophy at Human Spirit: Buddhist Psychoanalytic Training Program in Israel, as well as offering classes and retreats in various parts of Europe, until she moved back to the USA in 2021. Prior to joining Maitripa, Yönten-la offered retreats and courses at Vajrapani Institute and Land of Medicine Buddha – both in California. She also has experience in hospice work and palliative care, as well as a deep commitment to social justice and a love of animals.
Jordan Van Voast took the 5 Buddhist precepts of refuge in 1992 with Venerable Thubten Chodron. In 2000, he moved to Dharamsala, India and participated in a two month Lam Rim course at Tushita taught by Yangsi Rinpoche. He continued studying Buddhist philosophy at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, attending teachings with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Returning to the United States in 2002, he continued his work as an acupuncturist, offering affordable care to the community as well as participating in global relief missions, with Acupuncturists Without Borders and the Tzu Chi Foundation. Jordan has served on the Board of Dharma Friendship Foundation since 2003.
Cost: All classes freely offered. Dana can be offered during class, or on our website. DFF is a non-profit organization with a goal of breaking even on expenses which include our website, email services, licensing fees, and offerings to teachers. Masking policy: Masks are optional. We ask that you be considerate of other’s health and not attend if you have recently been exposed to other people with respiratory illness, or have symptoms such as cough, sneezing, chills, fever, sore throat, etc. Thank you.