Strategies for Supporting Our Compassionate Action (Modules 1 & 2)

When we see suffering we all want to do something about it, and many of us are called to the path of service including service in our jobs, as family members, as volunteers as well to our friends and our community. This calling is often a long journey; it is easy to get lost or tired. Joy and inspiration can give way to frustration and depletion, and the overwhelm that comes when we feel that there’s so much at stake.

We all need support to shore up our commitment and strengths, to persevere and sustain our compassionate action. The goal of this course is to provide tools for your path of compassionate action. Everyone is welcome to participate – each half-day module stands on its own while it contributes to the overall theme of Sustainable Service. You may attend either the morning or afternoon session, or the entire day. The Program includes lecture, interactive discussion and meditation.

The Program has eight topics presented in individual modules, and these modules will be offered in quarterly day-longs over the coming year. For each training date, one module will be offered in the morning and one in the afternoon. You can find a complete description of the Program at lionsroardharmacenter.org.

March 8, 2025

Morning session: Clarifying Our Intentions – 9:30 am – 12:30 pm.

In our life and spiritual practice we emphasize being clear about our intentions. But sometimes aspirations can be unclear or not in alignment with our highest ideals – how can we get in touch with authentic intentions that benefit ourselves and others?

Afternoon session: Building Resilience by Balancing Empathy – 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Our lives can feel overwhelming as we face global, national and personal crises. How do we generate a compassionate response in the face of this suffering? How do we increase our own resilience and ability to meet these challenges? The answer is balanced empathy drawing forth our best ability to help ourselves and others.

July 12, 2025

• Module Three: What’s Holding you Back?
• Module Four: Compassionate Boundaries

November 8, 2025

• Module Five: Managing Conflict Compassionately and
• Module Six: Self-compassion: What it is and is not and how it can make you happier

March, 2026 (date to be announced)

• Module Seven: Managing Emotions Mindfully
• Module Eight: Reclaiming Joy
  Lunch will be on your own with water and coffee supplied at the temple. Parking available in the adjacent parking lot and on the street.

For questions, please contact Susan Farrar at [email protected].

Tenzin Chogkyi (she/her/hers) is a teacher of workshops and programs that bridge the worlds of Buddhist thought, contemplative practice, mental and emotional cultivation, and the latest research in the field of positive psychology. Tenzin first became interested in meditation in the early 1970s and then started practicing Tibetan Buddhism in early 1991 during a year she spent studying in India and Nepal. She completed several long meditation retreats over a six-year period and took monastic ordination with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, practicing as a monastic for nearly 20 years. Since 2006 she has been teaching in Buddhist centers around the world and taught in prisons for 15 years.

She is currently based in Santa Cruz, California. You can find more about her at unlockingtruehappiness.org.

Host or Publisher Lion's Roar Dharma Center