Category: Online

  • A New Way Of Seeing The World Part 1: DISCOVERING BUDDHISM

    A New Way Of Seeing The World Part 1: DISCOVERING BUDDHISM

    🧘🏻‍♀️ Type:

    Course , Online

    📆 Date:

    Mondays, 9 February – 20 April 2026

    ⏱️ Time:

    7.30pm – 9pm (CET)

    💰 Fee:

    160 € suggested donation for ten weeks

    Part 1: Discovering Buddhist Wisdom

    Weekly ONLINE interactive course over 10 weeks with Dominique Side

    Available on Rigpa’s Online Courses platform from 9 February – 20 April 2026

    “This course provides a refreshing and stimulating approach to the Dharma. I really appreciate Dominique’s clear and direct style of teaching, and her knowledge and experience of the subject really shows.” Jon

    Registration for this course is open

    The live sessions of the course will be given in English only (if a small group of French or German join, translation can be offered); materials on the website are available in English, French and German.

    All course materials and the zoom link will be made available on Rigpa Online Courses a week before the course starts.

    For any inquiries about the course please write to [email protected]



    TOPICS OF THE COURSE

    The Buddha’s wisdom reveals a new way of seeing the world and ourselves in it. Buddhist teachings offer reflections that challenge our usual ways of thinking and invite us to question our values and assumptions. 

    This interactive course is an exploration of the key points of Buddhist thought. We will examine these perspectives closely to see the similarities and differences between Buddhist views and contemporary ideas. We will be invited to revisit our own views and clarify for ourselves what our outlook on life actually is. This process leads to far greater confidence in the way we see things.

    ABOUT DOMINIQUE SIDE

    Dominique Side encountered Tibetan Buddhism in the mid-seventies in London—it rapidly became her life’s passion. Since then she has dedicated her life to communicating the extremely practical and at the same time deeply profound ideas  of Tibetan Buddhism to people of all walks of life. 

    Dominique has studied with Sogyal Rinpoche and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in particular, and has completed several strict practise retreats. She also obtained a Ph.D. in Madhyamaka philosophy from Bristol University, UK. She taught Buddhism in London schools for eight years and wrote several textbooks on the subject. Under the guidance of Dzongsar Khyentse she initiated the Milinda training programme for Dharma teachers in 2017. For five years Dominique served as vice-president of the European Buddhist Union; and she manages ‘Windows into Buddhism’, a website with educational resources for those who teach Buddhism to children. 

    Entrusted as a Senior Teacher in Rigpa, she specialises in making Buddhist thought and philosophy accessible to all.

    Recently Dominique started writing in-depth articles from the Buddhist perspective for her blog The Softer Gaze, that have the power to enrich the everyday and support a softer view of life, one that is infused with the Buddha’s compassionate gaze.

    She is author of Discovering Buddhism (2022) that presents the history and key ideas of all the main traditions of Buddhism in an accessible way for the general public and the education sector. Dominique also wrote the ‘A New Way of Seeing. From Knowledge to insight’ (2025), where she set out to share the basic principles of Buddhist thought in an accessible and, above all, relevant way: It presents the Four Nobles truths in a fresh way and invites the reader to unpack these basic truths by seeing how they sit with the views we actually hold. A course on this book will be held in May/June this year (LINK)

    She edited two books by the Dalai Lama The Four Noble Truths (Thorsons, 1998) and Transforming the Mind (Thorsons, 1999).

    WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

    This is a special, stimulating course, open to everyone, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced Buddhist. 

    For Rigpa students, this course is an optional module of the ‘Foundations of the Path’, designed for those who wish to deepen their study at the heart of the ‘Buddha, Dharma and Sangha’. 

    HOW WILL THE COURSE WORK?

    The weekly 90 min live online sessions include talks, discussions, Q&A and guided reflections. This is supported by:

    – videos and written materials on the Rigpa Online Courses platform to prepare the live session

    – materials used during the live session

    – an online discussion forum, and 

    – recorded audio contemplations.

    Most of the course reading will be taken from “Discovering Buddhism” by Dominique Side. We recommend purchasing this book in order to follow the course. All other above mentioned resources will be available online.

    A replay of each session will be available for one week so anyone from any time zone can follow or catch up if a session is missed.

    CONTENT OF THE WEEKLY SESSIONS

    Week 1         What is wisdom?

    Week 2         Mindfulness: the support of wisdom

    Week 3         How things appear and how things are

    Week 4         The Four Noble Truths

    Week 5         Who am I ? Body and mind

    Week 6         The afflictions: how do they function and how can we eliminate them?    

    Week 7         Karma: what it is, how it works, can a Buddhist do without it?

    Week 8         The Wheel of Life

    Week 9         What does enlightenment mean?

    Week 10       The journey: Stages on the Buddhist path 

    COURSE DATES

    Monday evenings 19:30-21:00 CET on

    February 9., 16., 23., 

    March 2., 9., 16., 23., 30., 

    April 13., 20.

    HOW TO ACCESS THE COURSE

    The course is presented on Rigpa’s Online Courses platform with registration via Prajna.

    Upon registration the course will be added to your personal library on Prajna as well as to your account on Rigpa Online Courses. In order to access the course on Rigpa Online Courses you need to use your login for that platform. Note that this login is different from your Prajna login.

    If you don’t have an account on Rigpa Online Courses yet, we will set one up for you during registration and send you an email with login name and a temporary password which you can change later.

    For any inquiries about the course on the Rigpa Online Courses platform please write to [email protected]

    Prajna is a non-profit organisation and your donation/contribution will help to cover the costs of the course: 

    – Suggested contribution/donation:  160 €

    – If you want to give more:  300 €

    – If you have less means:  80 €

    TESTIMONIES

    “Dominique’s course was world class! Each session was so full of content. It really kept sparking and energising me each week: to want to read more, learn and understand more. It was just super accessible and motivating.” Janet 

    “This course went much deeper than other public courses on Buddhism I have done. I appreciated the discipline of following a weekly session, from home.” Beatrice

    “Thank you so much. So enriching and a nice first to follow such an international course, exchanging with people all over the world. And Dominique’s presentations are really eye-opening. Contemplation and examination really make the difference.” Elly

    “During Q&A sessions, the answers by Dominique were sometimes mind blowing, very clear. I like the way she is speaking, sometimes just cutting through our narrow thinking and often quite humorous.” Andrea

    “This course is what I needed to refresh many years of study and practice. Going back to the ‘basics’! Thank you Dominique and all. This is a real treasure.” Brigit

    “I feel a lot of joy each evening! I am happy to have joined this course! I find it refreshing and angled in a very interesting way.  I feel a lot of gratitude to Dominique for her many years of study and practice that also give depth to her words!” Simone

    > BOOKING LINK <

  • Know your mind. Transform your life.

    Know your mind. Transform your life.

    🧘🏻‍♀️ Type:

    In-person, Online

    📆 Date:

    Weekend, 28 February – 1 March 2026

    ⏱️ Time:

    10am – 5pm

    📍 Addr.:

    London Centre, 330 Caledonian Road, London N1 1BB

    💰 Fee:

    Suggested donation | £120
    Concessions | £60

    Finding peace, compassion, and wisdom in the nature of your own mind.

    With Senior Teacher Jan van der Breggen.


    This weekend retreat will take you to the heart of the still revolutionary insight of Buddhism, that life and death are in the mind, and nowhere else. In Dzogchen—the most direct stream of wisdom within the teachings of Buddhism—the mind is revealed as the universal basis of experience: the creator of happiness and the creator of suffering, the creator of what we call samsara and what we call nirvana.

    Through a dynamic process of hearing, reflection, and meditation, guided by the teachings of the Buddha and based on our own direct experience, we will investigate exactly how the mind is the root of our entire reality. This exploration leads to a profound certainty and confidence in our mind’s intrinsic essence: the unchanging, pure awareness that underlies the whole of life and death.

    From this foundation of trust in our inherently pure nature, we will cultivate a deep inner conviction that the mind’s appearances—its unending display of thoughts, emotions, and perceptions—are indeed workable. It is truly possible to ‘tame this mind of ours’, and through this find the peace, compassion, and wisdom that are at the heart of who we really are. 

    The retreat will allow for reflection and meditation on the teachings that are shared tailored to each participants’ prior experience: from complete beginners to Rigpa meditation, ngondro, and dzogchen mandala students.


    Teacher

    Jan began his path of meditation at 17 years old, touched by the tenderness of the human experience and filled with questions about what reality was all about. Forty years later, Jan continues to be moved by the vast profundity of the Buddhist path and its vision of the inherent wisdom, loving kindness and strength that lies in the minds of each and every one of us.

    Jan completed Rigpa’s three-year retreat under the guidance of Sogyal Rinpoche. He was entrusted as one of Rigpa’s Senior teachers by Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche and Mindroling Jetsun Khandro in 2022. Jan has been a participant in the Milinda program since 2017. Milinda is a 10-year, international Buddhist teacher training program under the guidance of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, with a three month per year intensive and immersive in-person learning and reflection program.

    Jan grew up in the Netherlands where he obtained a Masters Degree in Social and Historical Anthropology. He has lived in Brisbane, Australia, since 1998, and was instrumental in founding Rigpa Brisbane in 1999, where he has served as a Dharma instructor for over 20 years.


    How to participate

    This event will be held in person and online.
    * Online Zoom details for online attendees will be in the eventbrite reminder emails 2 days and 2 hours before the event.


    Suggested donation l £120

    Consession l £60

    Financial hardship l Donate what you can

    Contact [email protected] if you are unable to make a donation of any amount at this time and we will register you.

    *Dharma teachings are always offered free of charge. We do not turn anyone away on financial grounds. Your financial contribution is used towards centre running costs, staff salaries, equipment etc. Thank you for your support.

    **You can cancel and receive an automatic refund through Eventbrite up to 24 hours before the event.

  • (FREE) Drop-in Meditation Online

    (FREE) Drop-in Meditation Online

    🧘🏻‍♀️ Type:

    FREE, drop-in, online

    📆 Date:

    Mondays

    ⏱️ Time:

    8:15am–9am

    📍 Addr.:

    Online

    A gentle, guided shamatha (calm abiding) meditation practise.

    These 45 minute online sessions have been running since 2020 and are for both new students and more established ones.

    Feel free to join us whenever you are able to.

    Teacher

    Jonathan Hayward is a UK-based teacher and volunteer for Rigpa UK. He has a background in classical music and talking therapy, and lives in the Sussex countryside.

    Joining

    The Zoom details are included in the confirmation email so please save these.

    Please join the meeting with the name you registered with.

    FREE to join

    Ticket sales for each session close 1 minutes before the start time.

  • Tendrel Nyesel tsok

    Tendrel Nyesel tsok

    🧘🏻‍♀️ Type:

    Sangha Practice Events | In-person | Online

    📆 Date:

    Saturday, 26 February 2026

    ⏱️ Time:

    6pm – 8.30pm

    📍 Addr.:

    London Centre, 330 Caledonian Road, London N1 1BB

    The next Tibetan year, from Losar 2026, is a particularly special moment in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, and especially for the Rigpa sangha world-wide as it is the 100th anniversary year of the parinirvana of the great treasure revealer, Terton Sogyal.

    Beginning on Tuesday 26 February, the day of the actual anniversary, at 6.00 – 8.30pm, a Tendrel Nyesel Feast Offering practice will be held. More details about this special day will be shared by email soon.

    In order to participate in this event, you need to already be practising a sadhana, such as Tendrel Nyesel. For those of you who do not have an empowerment, you are warmly invited to come and do your own practice in the atmosphere.

    You can join in person at the Rigpa UK centre in London, as well as online. 

    We warmly welcome you to join in this celebration and connect directly with the very heart of this precious practice. 

    If you wish to attend the London centre in person for either practice , please let us know in advance by contacting us at [email protected]

    Offerings:

    As we prepare for the tsok, we have the opportunity to contribute to the success of this precious event. Organizing such a gathering requires significant resources, and every contribution, no matter how big or small, has a meaningful impact.

    If you wish to make a donation, you can do so here.

  • Yang Nying Pudri drupchö

    Yang Nying Pudri drupchö

    🧘🏻‍♀️ Type:

    Sangha Practice Events | In-person | Online

    📆 Date:

    Saturday, 28 March – Sunday 5 April 2026

    ⏱️ Time:

    TBC

    📍 Addr.:

    London Centre, 330 Caledonian Road, London N1 1BB

    The next Tibetan year, from Losar 2026, is a particularly special moment in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, and especially for the Rigpa sangha world-wide as it is the 100th anniversary year of the parinirvana of the great treasure revealer, Terton Sogyal.

    Continuing from Saturday 28 March to Sunday 5 April, it is with great joy that Rigpa UK invites you to our main celebratory event, a 9-day drupchö of Yang Nying Pudri – the Razor of the Innermost Essence.

    Yang Nying Pudri is a cycle of Vajrakilaya practices revealed as a treasure teaching by Terton Sogyal, and is the main yidam practice of the Rigpa Sangha. 

    A drupchö is an elaborate way of doing a particular Vajrayana practice over several days, and gives the participants the opportunity to go more deeply into the practice.

    In order to participate in this event, you need to already be practising a sadhana, such as Tendrel Nyesel, and to have received a Vajrakilaya empowerment. For those of you who do not have an empowerment, you are warmly invited to come and do your own practice in the atmosphere of the drupchö.

    You can join in person at the Rigpa UK centre in London, as well as online. 

    If you wish to attend the London centre in person for either practice , please let us know in advance by contacting us at [email protected]

    For those wishing to attend the Yang Nying Pudri practice, both in person and online, more details will be provided on a Prajna page coming soon.

    We warmly welcome you to join in this celebration and connect directly with the very heart of this precious practice. 

    Offerings:

    As we prepare for the drupchö, we have the opportunity to contribute to the success of this precious event. Organizing such a gathering requires significant resources, and every contribution, no matter how big or small, has a meaningful impact.

    If you wish to make a donation, you can do so here