BodhiMind Center

06/16/2026

06/09/2026

ur LINK for all meetings: BodhiMind Center Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 896 2552 0695, Passcode: 202201
(and Button for Donations)


June 8, 2026

Dear BodhiMind Friends,

This week we'll meet in-person Tuesday but by Zoom-only on Thursday.

We are also delighted to announce that our good friend Victor Reyes, who often comes up from Pueblo to lead for us when we cannot make it, will lead a day-long BodhiMind Center retreat on June 28th in Colorado Springs.

Please see details on the retreat at the bottom of our message. Reservations are required.

Hope to see you often!

- David Gardiner

_______________

All our meetings are at 2955 Professional Place, Suite 101, Colorado Springs (belonging to the Hammond Law Group)

You can always support the work we do at BodhiMind Center by donations at our meeting or electronically HERE. It takes several thousands dollars each year to bring you what we offer. Thank you for your generosity.

_______________

TUESDAY, June 9th, In-person and by Zoom, with David Gardiner

TOPIC: Wisdom, Compassion and Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum is called the mantra of compassion, but its syllables express a wisdom element, too. Mani represents the "wish-fulfilling jewel" that is compassion. And Padme represents the lotus flower that unfolds in pristine beauty even though rooted in the muck at a pond's bottom. Om and Hum are common opening and closing syllables. They also have complex layers of meaning. We will meditate together with this mantra.

-----------

THURSDAY, June th, 6 pm: By ZOOM ONLY, with Karen Recktenwald

TOPIC: Awareness of the Taking Refuge Before Meditation

"A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life."
~ The Dalai Lama

Dear Friends,

One might call Daily Practice the bedrock of our Practice, and “Taking Refuge” in the Three Jewels is often the first step. How we practice meditation each morning, afternoon, or evening shapes our body, heart and mind, and therefore our thoughts, speech, actions. We’ll explore a couple of examples from different Buddhist lineages, of which there are so many varied possibilities. As you follow the Middle Way, uou might choose a way of Taking Refuge that resonates in your heart. 😊

“You can adjust a little bit here and there according to what you need to transform.”

“I would like to discuss a little bit on how to put together the whole suitable package of practice and structure it in a certain way for you. For a practice session to be complete, there are four steps that must be present…Refuge, Bodhicitta, Meditation, Dedication.” ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Archives, June 26, 2020

_____________________________________________



Special Summer Retreat, Day-long, with Victor Reyes

Sunday, June 28th, 9 am-3 pm

Cost is $30 (Bring your own lunch)
"Thriving in a Complicated World Through Honest Introspection"
This day-long retreat will focus on a template created by the well-known Buddhist author and teacher, B. Alan Wallace. His "vision quest" reflections ground our self-awareness and life-orientations by focusing on four basic inquiries: What is your vision of genuine happiness? What would you love to receive from others? To transform within yourself? To offer the world?
This time together provides an opportunity to reflect on the way we want to show up in the world, both for ourselves and others, so that we may be of better service to our communities. There will be group discussions revolving around the four questions of Wallace's Vision Quest meditation.
Wallace calls this a "conative" practice, which means it aims to cultivate intelligence within the domain of our desires and intentions. Such a practice combines inquiry into our own deepest aspirations with loving kindness towards ourselves. It can be applied daily—for strengthening genuine loving kindness—or on occasion, to realign ourselves with our deepest goals and desires, which include realizing profound types of well-being and offering valuable service to others.

The retreat will encompass meditation, discussion, and private reflection on the "four basic inquiries."
Contact us at [email protected]
for information on the location and how to make payment

05/27/2026

Our LINK for all meetings: BodhiMind Center Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 896 2552 0695, Passcode: 202201
(and Button for Donations)


May 25, 2026

Dear BodhiMind Friends,

The beginning of an audio book I listened to last night (while in a bath) made me think about the purpose of life. The book was fictional, and the person who was the main character at the start (I heard just thirty minutes) was described as depressed and as thinking for a long while how he might kill himself without his wife or children knowing that he'd intended to do so. Time-wise, that was all I wanted to listen to and, content-wise, the easy, factual tone of the narrative description bothered me. It seemed to be normalizing suicidal ideation, which I suppose can be a meaningful approach since it's not such an uncommon phenomenon and maybe the narrative goes on to offer a healthy way "out." I don't know. But I stopped listening (and probably won't return to it), But it got me thinking.

I asked myself whether I had ever, even subtly, had such ideation. I think the answer is no. I have thought about the topic many times and even whether I could seriously ever imagine contemplating such action, yet it seems too remote a state of mind/being for me.

Then I asked myself why. The first thought that arose as a response was that there are too many people in the world whose presence I value profoundly. I feel grateful for them, the gifts of their intelligence, kindness, joyful humor, insight and more. Something about the gifts that others offer, and the love I receive from them, makes me feel appreciated.

Then I reflected on how this reason seems selfish. It's about how my life is important, is worth preserving, because I am fortunate to have people in my life who give to me, who love me. I then thought that such selfishness is not such a bad thing, as it's not overtly hurtful and it's also imbued with much gratitude.

But then I asked myself if this was truly the main reason that I cannot imagine having suicidal ideations. And suddenly, my inner vision shifted. I saw myself in relation to others in a different light. What occurred to me is that it is not only the love from others that I cherish, but it is my capacity to love them that provides me perhaps the greatest joy and strength. I am grateful that I can love and care for others. This simple insight took firm hold of me.

I then realized that it is the presence of others in my life that makes this possible. Yes, sure, my inclination toward being a loving person also matters here, but it could not be fulfilled in the tiniest way without others.

This thought then led to another: What Buddhists call bodhicitta (or bodhimind) is simply the recognition that one's capacity to care for others can provide one's life with profound meaning, coupled with a commitment to growing and extending that capacity as greatly as possible.

This is the foundation of the Mahayana Buddhist path. And it is a key reason why when I was in college reading Buddhist texts for a class that many of the passages hit me so deeply... So much so that I left school for a year to think about what I really wanted to study, during which time I read some wonderful books on Buddhism and taught myself how to meditate. ....

The final thought I had (before leaving the bath!) was how powerfully healing bodhimind can be. I reflected on some people I have met - and many others I have heard about - who cannot find good reasons to go on living. It is very tragic that their minds and spirits feel stuck in such despondence, where they feel there is no more joy to live. And I thought about how precious could be the opportunity for them to orient their minds toward others. A key feature of their depression is its self-absorbed quality. "My" life is meaningless, they think. And I'm not making small their pain, or blaming them, as I know it is very difficult to turn deep thought patterns around from this tunnel-vision. But ... what about others? What might you be able to offer them? What opportunities can you create to bring some skill of yours, or just your time, into the lives of other people, even just one person? Everyone ought to be able to discover this impulse within them, even if it's buried beneath other habit energies. Might not the effort to reorient oneself in this way re-energize a depleted sense of life, breathe fresh air into the stuckness?

While this is a core part of the spirit of bodhimind, it has nothing to do with being "Buddhist." It's simply about finding more meaning and purpose in your by giving to others, even in small ways. And, of course, Buddhism offers much fine guidance for such a path of practice.

This spirit is at the heart of the untranslatable mantra Om Mani Padme Hum.

I repeat this mantra many times a day. It provides a pause from the crushing surge of modern drives... it turns my being toward a centeredness that dwells in compassion and joy. It is a practice that brings me peace.

May we all find more peace from our practice - whatever it may be.

- David Gardiner

_______________

TUESDAY, May 26th, 6 pm: In-person and by Zoom, with David Gardiner

TOPIC: Meaning through Loving

Meditation together, and discussion.

And we will chant Om Mani Padme Hum
-----------

THURSDAY, May 28th, 6 pm: by Zoom ONLY, with Karen Recktenwald

TOPIC: Awareness of the Structure of Your Practice

You can adjust a little bit here and there according to what you need to transform.”

“I would like to discuss a little bit on how to put together the whole suitable package of practice and structure it in a certain way for you. For a practice session to be complete, there are four steps that must be present…Refuge, Bodhicitta, Meditation, Dedication.” ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Archives, June 26, 2020

Dear Friends,

One might call Daily Practice the bedrock of our Practice. How we practice meditation each morning, afternoon, or evening shapes our body, heart and mind. This daily practice conditions our body sensations, feeling tones, perceptions, thoughts, emotions, moods and energies, and of course our speech and actions. We’ll explore a couple of examples from different Buddhist lineages, of which there are so many varied possibilities. They all agree on one thing, that the best practice is the one that you actually do! Thus we follow the Middle Way and choose a structure that resonates in your heart and has a place on your daily calendar.

“There’s a lot of amazing philosophy to talk about, but the nuts and bolts of the practice is where I like to spend time. All the learning and insight emerge from you meeting your direct experience.” ~ Will Kabat-Zinn, Sunday Sangha, 5/3/2026
Very Important Announcement:
Three Upcoming Retreats teaching “Fully Being: A Path of Awareness, Healing & Insight,” with Adam Kane. Adam is Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s chief translator, and someone from whom I have learned so much. Feel free to email me with questions, [email protected]

May 29-31 (3 days – 2 nights, additional nights @ half rate) HERE. Drala Mountain Center, Colorado.
June 5-7 (3 days – 2 nights) Here Denver Shambhala Center, Denver, CO.

July 1-5 (4 days and nights, pay before 5/1/26 for 10% discount) HERE. Dorje Denma Ling Center, Nova Scotia



-----------

04/28/2026

Our LINK for all meetings: BodhiMind Center Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 896 2552 0695, Passcode: 202201
(and Button for Donations)


April 27, 2026

Dear BodhiMind Friends,

This Thursday Victor Reyes will lead meditation and discussion. See below for details.

Also see the repeat announcement below for a wonderful speaker, Chenxing Han, who will offer a free talk open to the public at Colorado College about Asian Americans within the fold of US Buddhists. See the poster below. The talk is the Max Kade Theater on the 3rd floor of Armstrong Hall on the CC campus. Armstrong Hall is the large red brick building on the northeast corner of Cascade and Cache La Poudre. Parking is unfortunately not available for the public on campus, so you need to park nearby, perhaps along Cascade Avenue a couple blocks south of CC, or east of campus along Cache La Poudre.

Meanwhile, I will share last week's message again here:

Yesterday morning, in that crepuscular, intermediate state between sleeping and waking, a phrase came into my mind: "View all beings as made of light." It's not a cluster of words that I've said or heard before, that I can recall. But it struck me strongly, and I repeated it to myself throughout the morning.

Where do things of the slippery in-between dream world come from? No theories here, just radiant wonder.

View all beings
as
made of light

It has a nice ring to it, this voice from beyond (or within, or whatever). I think I will lead Tuesday's meditation with this image. I think I'll note how it can encapsulate the themes of Wisdom and Compassion we've been discussing and trying to jointly embody for some weeks now.

Short version: Light is an image often employed in Buddhist texts to convey the universal, embracing, radiant, and non-obstructive nature of mind as well as of all reality. The subject and object dimensions of perception - self as thinker and world-out-there as what we think about - are never fully separable. Always deeply entwined. It is all pervaded by soft light.

This depiction aligns with the teachings of "emptiness" - that nothing is its own thing, everything arises and changes in relation to infinite other causes and conditions. This is not to say, in Buddhist thought, that "all is one." Individuality remains. An apple is not a pear, and I am not a dog.

And yet neither am I an entirely independent being with an unchanging and locatable core. I morph and merge... e-merged from mother's womb, change by days and years, eventually will melt away. Yet this pattern of a person that we call by my name is not another person. It is David. And it is not. Both senses are true, just on different levels, different ways of seeing the situation.

Here is the Wisdom component. Freeing up vision to the openness, groundlessness, vast expanse of interconnected, changing being. As the ancient Chinese texts say, everything is "being, emerging from non-being, and then eventually returning..."

And the compassion portion is how this vision of reality, when deeply pondered, causes us to see others' interests, needs, joys, and pains as somehow inextricably connected to ours. Not to say "we are all one." This phrasing is not problematic in the sense that it can foster a sense of unity. But it's important not to let it erase the marvelous diversity and complexity of being. We are one and we are many, at the same time. Ancient Chinese Buddhists called this the world of 事事無碍 - each existent thing is an individual yet there is no obstruction between them. The parallel metaphor they used is of "interpenetration."

Interpenetration. Here we are: View all beings as made of light.

Come share with us.

- David Gardiner

-----------

TUESDAY, April 28, 6 pm: In-person and by Zoom, with David Gardiner

TOPIC: Seeing all beings as made of light

Meditation, dharma talk, and discussion
__________

THURSDAY, April 30rd, 6 pm: In-person and by Zoom, with Victor Reyes

TOPIC: Wisdom, Compassion, Power



Continuing our reflection on the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, we will focus our dharma talk on the foundational paramitas of patience and diligence.

Even if we are not on a Buddhist path, these practices are beneficial to any human being who is focused on developing the resilience necessary to handle the adversities of life by accessing their compassion and wisdom.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the three Buddhas who represent these concepts are:

Avalokiteshvara (Compassion/Karuna):Known as Chenrezig in Tibet and Guan Yin in China, this bodhisattva embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. He vows to help all beings, sometimes delaying his own Buddhahood to do so.

Manjushri (Wisdom/Prajna): Represents enlightened wisdom and cuts through ignorance, helping practitioners understand the true nature of reality.

Vajrapani (Power/Karma): Embodies the energy and power to overcome obstacles, acting as the third member of the trio representing compassion, wisdom, and power

-----------

PUBLIC TALK ANNOUNCEMENT

This is a special announcement about an upcoming free talk, open to the entire public, at Colorado College on Thursday, April 30th @ 4 pm. I invited Chenxing Han, author of the book Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists," to speak to the public as well as to a class I am teaching.

Her book is beautifully written and is prophetic on issues of race and gender in the U.S. It is also a powerfui testament to how Buddhist teachings and practices can help us deal with these issues.

Please share the word!

The talk is in the Max Kade Theater on the 3rd floor of Armstrong Hall on the CC campus. Armstrong Hall is the large red brick building on the northeast corner of Cascade and Cache La Poudre. Parking is unfortunately not available for the public on campus, so you need to park nearby, perhaps along Cascade Avenue a couple blocks south of CC, or east of campus along Cache La Poudre.

We hope you can come!

David Gardiner

04/07/2026

Our LINK for all meetings: BodhiMind Center Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 896 2552 0695, Passcode: 202201
(and Button for Donations)


April 6, 2026

Dear BodhiMind Friends,

There is no Thursday meditation this week. Tuesday is both in-person and by Zoom.

Last week's group practice of the Compassion mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum, was very special. While it's not easy at first to chant the mantra and create a visual field at the same time, the effort is entirely worth while. In our discussion afterward there was a range of responses, some expressing difficulty in visualizing and others saying the feeling was remarkable. It's definitely not easy for some folks to do a visualization. Let me say two things about that.

First, many traditional Tibetan teachers say it is not essential that one's visualized image be either clear or in detail. This is not something to worry about. The most important aspect of doing a visualization is the feeling one gets. So even making a small effort with only a tiny result still counts as a really good practice. Why? Because the practice is about trying to embody a state of open, loving compassion while thinking of other beings to whom you send it. That is what we are trying to gain familiarity with, to gradually get accustomed to. Whether a clear image appears in one's mind or not is irrelevant. Naturally, it's possible that for some people having an image that is vibrant with detail can enhance one's focus and deepen the practice. But there is no doubt that one can have a powerful and impactful compassion meditation with the mantra alone. That is, whether one's visualization is barely apparent or one chooses not even to visualize at all, the energy of generating a compassionate mind is the core element of the practice. The chanting of the mantra helps to keep one's body and mind anchored.

Yet in addition, like many other new practices one might learn - whether playing an unfamiliar sport, learning a musical instrument, studying a new language, and so on - repeated practice with effort tends to bring improvement. So trying the visualization many times, especially without setting a high expectation, may prove satisfying. If it feels limp, dull, then don't try for more than a few minutes. Just let the mantra and the feeling of sitting with the heart of great compassion settle in. That's more than enough.

Then next time you do it, try to visualize just a little. Start with a small portion of the image, such as the eyes. If you can even a glimmer, maybe just a vague sense of something there (like a colorless blob of compassion...), consider that success. Then chant away for another 5-10 minutes whether the blurry image remains or not. Next time you meditate, repeat. And the next time, too. Who knows, after ten sessions over a week or so, something might shift. But if it doesn't, no worries. The essence is developing the mind of compassion as firmly as you can. The rest is icing on the compassion cake!

The image below is of Chenrezig, the Tibetan version of the Indian bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara (known as Guanyin in China, Kannon in Japan).

Come practice together.

David Gardiner

______________

In addition to our offerings this week, see at the bottom of today's message an announcement for the Open Heart Sangha's weekend retreat in June.

______________

All our in-person meetings are held from 6:00-8:00 pm at:

2955 Professional Place, Suite 101, Colorado Springs (belonging to the Hammond Law Group)

______________

TUESDAY, April 6th, 6 pm: In-person and by Zoom, with David Gardiner

TOPIC: All-Encompassing Field of Compassion Energy

[The image is of Guanyin]

Since the state of a Buddha's awakening - both her mental and physical being - is understood to be perfect Compassion imbued with perfect Wisdom, we will strive to mimic such a state by cultivating a "force field" of compassion that emanates from our heart center and through every cell of our body but that makes no distinction between inner and outer, self and other.

Yes, this is admittedly rather mystical. And what's wrong with that?

We will use the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum to concentrate our intention and energy. This mantra includes in the core "mani" that refers to compassion and "padme" that refers to wisdom. Two-in-one. David will clarify how this symbolism works.

______