Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science

06/19/2026

“What I’ve learned in my contemplative study and practice is that we are stronger, healthier, and happier when we are connected and in community with others. This thriving we experience is only made stronger with diverse views, experiences, and opinions that invite us to challenge our perceptions and expand our horizons. Compassionate communication is connective. It helps to build bridges instead of walls that keep us apart.

If you haven’t before, I hope you choose to honor this day in a way that celebrates bridging divides, open and honest communication, and the joy it is to have the freedom to bask in the sun while breaking bread with those closest to you.”
—— Rahshaana Green, “Freedom to Bask in the Sun: A Reflection on Juneteenth”

Happy Juneteenth!

Read ’s beautiful essay on our blog at:
https://nalandainstitute.org/freedom-to-bask-in-the-sun-a-reflection-on-juneteenth/
Or see our bio for the link.

06/18/2026

Repost from Tibet House US - NYC
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Prayers for Bob Thurman, led by Dr. Nida

Friday, June 19
10:00am EST
Online via Zoom - link in the bio

To honor Bob during his cremation ceremony, his beloved friend and fellow teacher, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, will lead a live online practice of the Heart Sutra and Bardo prayers and mantras for 108 minutes. We warmly invite you to join us in this collective offering of prayer, devotion, and dedication. ❤️🙏

Thank you for holding Bob, his family, and the entire Menla and Tibet House US community in your hearts during this time.

May all the merit generated by his extraordinary life ripple endlessly throughout the world for the benefit of all sentient beings.

With love and gratitude,
Tibet House US & Menla

06/17/2026

Repost from Joseph Loizzo
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I honor my lifelong friend and mentor, Tenzin Bob Thurman, whose eloquence, fearless as dawn, dissolved all my doubts and opened so many minds! From the first day I heard the great dharma drum of your voice, your first day teaching 63 years ago, until today, when your spirit left your body for the Realm of Pure Joy, Tush*ta, to gather with your mentors Geshe Wangyal, Ling Rimpoche, Serkhong Rimpoche Gelek Rimpoche and Tara Tulku to help plan the emergence of Shambhala on planet earth, you have always been my perfect teacher! In my eyes, you alone have been the most brilliant interpreter and fluent translator of the Buddha-dharma for our age, you alone have had the audacity and poly-genius to share the Naga’s speech of gold in all the languages of the materialist-creationist West—from evolutionary theory to quantum physics, analytic philosophy to neuropsychology, sociology to environmentalism, ethics to aesthetics, theology to prophecy, politics to social justice. I am eternally grateful that your vision has guided me every day since we met, always leading, always pointing, up to the very last post of yours I heard just days ago: “The ultimate reality cannot be found. But it can be lived…” Well, my friend, you have lived it, on behalf of us all! So now as you transition to that heavenly realm, may your tutelary Manjushri protect you, and may your alter-ego Hayagriva speed and guide you—OM ARA PACANA DHI! OM MANI PADME HUM HREE! And by the Time Machine of your teachings, may all beings everywhere and all our descendants come to embody your vision of our Sacred Mother Earth as a Kalachakra Medicine Planet!
Robert A.F. Thurman Tibet House US - NYC Nalanda Institute

06/11/2026

Repost from Joseph Loizzo
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Last week in Miami I had the privilege of participating in gathering initiated by Patrick J. Kennedy as part of his lifelong fight to make mental health care a right rather than a luxury. The focus of the gathering was how to take the rapid change initiated by the overall health crisis and the tide of AI to find new ways to transform our broken mental healthcare system in the U.S. and elsewhere by reaching out directly to people with creative health education and empowering skills learning programs enhancing by systematic coaching and long term community-building.

I was there to present on Nalanda Institute’s Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT) which we have recently built into a new precision mental health app called Dawn created through the partnership of Steve Carnevale and Mobio Interactive’s Besh Saab.

What struck me most about Patrick and everyone at the gathering was how folks were genuinely committed, listening and working together to make people’s lives better.

Grateful for the chance to be in dialogue with Patrick, Steve, Besh, and our whole gathering, including Hans IJerman, Anna Wang, Shebani Sethi MD ABOM, Chris Appleton, Lauren Driscoll, Rebecca Messing Haigler, Andrew MacPherson, Dr Bechara Saab, Marjorie Morrison, Joseph Loizzo, and many more.

Let’s keep growing the dialogue and the collaboration sparked in that gathering!

06/09/2026

May all beings live in safety.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings be healthy.

May all beings live with ease.









photo: on Unsplash

06/03/2026

Nalanda Institute joins the LGBTQIA+ community in celebration of this month, and always!

May all beings be free from suffering.

06/03/2026

Happy 100th birthday, dear Allen Ginsberg!

Father Death Blues

Hey Father Death, I’m flying home
Hey poor man, you’re all alone
Hey old daddy, I know where I’m going

Father Death, Don’t cry any more
Mama’s there, underneath the floor
Brother Death, please mind the store

Old Aunty Death Don’t hide your bones
Old Uncle Death I hear your groans
O Sister Death how sweet your moans

O Children Deaths go breathe your breaths
Sobbing breasts’ll ease your Deaths
Pain is gone, tears take the rest

Genius Death your art is done
Lover Death your body’s gone
Father Death I’m coming home

Guru Death your words are true
Teacher Death I do thank you
For inspiring me to sing this Blues

Buddha Death, I wake with you
Dharma Death, your mind is new
Sangha Death, we’ll work it through

Suffering is what was born
Ignorance made me forlorn
Tearful truths I cannot scorn

Father Breath once more farewell
Birth you gave was no thing ill
My heart is still, as time will tell.
~

05/18/2026

Tracy Blasioli offers her experience of facilitating a cancer survivor CBRT group at Weill Cornell Hospital.

Dr. Joe Loizzo, creator of Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT), talks about your secret power of compassion.

Compassion-Based Resilience Training starts May 20th.

To learn more, visit www.nalandainstitute.org/cbrt-teacher-training.

Nalanda Institute's CBRT Teacher Training will give you the knowledge, experience, and confidence to teach the wisdom of mindfulness, the artful care of compassion, and the science of resilience. This program will also help you deepen these practices in your life in a caring community of like-minded people.

Level 1 Teaching Fundamentals: May 20, 2026 – October 21, 2026
Class is weekly on Wednesdays, 3:30 – 5:00pm PT / 6:30 – 8:00pm ET

Level 2 Teacher Practicum: October 28, 2026 – January 6, 2027
Class meets once a month on a Wednesday, 3:30 – 5:00pm PT / 6:30 – 8:00pm ET

All classes are recorded and available to review anytime.

We hope to see you on May 20th!

05/11/2026

05/07/2026

Repost from .us
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Filmmakers Jane C. Wagner & Tina DiFeliciantonio invite you to their film screening of Transcendence: A Journey of Hope & Healing on Wednesday, May 20 at 6:30pm, free in-person at Tibet House.

After the screening, there will be a Q&A session with a group of panelists moderated by trauma and resiliency educator :

- The filmmakers, Jane C. Wagner and Tina DiFeliciantonio;
- Choenyi Tenzin (formerly Kalsang Pelmo), one of the main characters in the film;
- Dr. Kristina Jones, Choenyi Tenzin’s psychiatrist (joining virtually);
- Tenying Yangsel, a program manager at the recently closed Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture;
- Dr. Asher Alajhem, co-founder of the Bellevue PSOT program, who worked closely with the ‘first’ wave of Tibetan asylees;
- Professor Robert A.F. Thurman (joining virtually).

Filmed over a decade, Transcendence: A Journey of Hope & Healing is an intimate documentary following the healing journeys of four asylees who come to the U.S. seeking refuge as they work with care providers to overcome unimaginable cruelty, rebuild their lives, and find the strength to speak out against those who terrorized their communities in the countries they once called home.