Freedom Through Connection: Exploring & Practicing Tibetan Buddhism - Sunday, Dec 6 - Smith College, MA

About this event

Freedom Through Connection

Exploring & Practicing Tibetan Buddhism

Sunday, December 6, 2026

Smith College: Helen Hills Hills Chapel

Dharma Gates and the Smith Buddhist Sangha will be hosting Lama Pema Dragpa from the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center for an all-day retreat.

All young adults (18-35) are welcome to join for any portion of the day.

Regstration preferred.

Register:

https://forms.gle/fFZ56ZcxHK1Se3G9A

Schedule

All programs will be held in the sanctuary of the Helen Hills Hills Chapel except lunch, which will be downstairs in the Bodman Lounge

• Foundational Buddhism (9am-noon) Lunch (noon-1:00)

• The Way of the Bodhisattva (1:00-3:00)

• Ask Anything (3:00-4:00)

• Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhist Practice (4:15- 6:15)

Retreat Description

All of the Buddha's teachings are about love, compassion, and wisdom.

By learning to carefully and wholeheartedly remove the causes of suffering, nourish the causes of happiness, and more fully awaken our hearts and minds, we can experience complete ease and freedom in our lives right here and now. Through study & practice, we expand our field of awareness and stand firm with clear loving presence as a friend to all beings.

Tibetan Buddhism honors and integrates the many aspects of this layered path of awakening, bringing together the vast expanse of our connections into simple, easy to practice moments of fresh compassionate wakefulness.

This retreat will be guided by Lama Pema Dragpa, an ordained Tibetan Buddhist Lama and resident teacher in the Nyingma Dzogchen tradition. Lama Dragpa has been a resident Dharma teacher at Padma Samye Ling (PSL), the main monastery and retreat center of the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center since 2004 and was ordained as a lama by the Venerable Khenpo Rinpoches in 2010.

This event is hosted by the Smith College Center for Religious Life, the Smith Buddhist Sangha, and Dharma Gates , a 501(3)(c) nonprofit dedicated to opening pathways into formal meditation practice for young adults.

This retreat, designed for participants age 18-35ish, is open to the public, as well as current 5 College faculty, staff, and graduate students -- please register using this form.

Vegan lunch will be provided - please RSVP below.

Partial attendance is welcome to any one or more of the sections outlined below. Please plan to arrive 5 minutes before the start of any section and to stay for the duration of that section.

Register:

https://forms.gle/fFZ56ZcxHK1Se3G9A