DHARMA DEEP DIVE
Dharma Deep Dive (formerly Sukhasiddhi Sundays) is an opportunity for both new and experienced practitioners to come together in the community, exploring the principles of Vajrayana Buddhism through meditation, inquiry, and discussion.
**PLEASE NOTE**
Our series structure offers two six week courses, outlined below. You may sign up for one course or both.
Each session includes meditation, inquiry and discussion, and guidance for how to allow the teachings to steep in your experience between classes, becoming a lived understanding.
COURSE ONE
The 12 Links of Dependent Origination: Understanding Suffering and Finding Freedom in Challenging Times
Dates:
Sundays | January 18, 25, Feb 1, 8, 15, 22
Location:
In-person at Wisdom River Meditation Center or Online via Zoom.
Time:
8:30 - 10:00 AM Pacific | Teaching
10:15 - 11:15 AM Pacific | Chenrezig Practice**
The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination reveal how suffering takes shape in our lives and how it can be gently undone. In a world marked by rapid change, polarization, and increasing stress, understanding the dynamics of these links offers a way to stay grounded, clear, and compassionate rather than being swept into fear or reactive patterns.
In this 6-week course, Lama Döndrup will guide participants through the 12 Links as a practical, experiential map. Using imagery, explanation, and inquiry, we will explore:
How conditioned tendencies shape our perceptions and reactions
Where the cycles of struggle and overwhelm take hold
How awareness interrupts these patterns in real time
What opens up when we recognize the points of freedom within the chain
These teachings help us meet difficult emotions, uncertainty, and societal upheaval with more steadiness and wisdom. By seeing clearly how suffering arises, we begin to loosen its momentum—and discover a more liberated, compassionate way of relating to ourselves and others.
Suitable for both new and seasoned practitioners, this course offers accessible tools fornavigating inner and outer challenges with clarity and courage.
Join us for a grounded, compassionate exploration of how freedom becomes possible even in unsettled times.
Fee:
$240 course fee
$200 (base)
$180 (Sukhasiddhi member)
$300 (benefactor)
The deadline to register is Saturday, at 12 PM (Pacific).
**Please Note: This Dharma Deep Dive class series is included in the Dharma Training Program as part of the curriculum. If you are already enrolled in DTP, you do not need to register separately for this series. **Please Note: This Dharma Deep Dive class series is NOT included in the Bodhi Program. If you are enrolled in Bodhi and are interested in this series, you will need to register separately.COURSE TWO
The Inner Strength of Compassion: Shantideva’s Teachings for Today
Series I: Activating Bodhicitta:
Opening to the Welfare of All
Dates:
Sundays | January 18, 25, Feb 1, 8, 15, 22
Location:
In-person at Wisdom River Meditation Center or Online via Zoom.
Time:
11:30 AM - 1:45 PM Pacific
In a period when division, anxiety, and polarization are shaping so much of our collective experience, many of us are asking how to stay open-hearted and engaged without becoming overwhelmed. Shantideva’s 8th-century classic, The Way of the Bodhisattva, offers a profound and timely response. His teachings illuminate how we can cultivate a courageous, compassionate heart that remains steady even when the world feels unsettled.
This first 6-week series of our year-long exploration focuses on Chapters 1–3, where Shantideva introduces the essence of the bodhisattva path: bodhicitta, the heartfelt commitment to awaken for the benefit of all beings. These chapters describe how this intention arises, how it expands our sense of connection, and why it is considered one of the most powerful forces for good.
Throughout the series, we will explore:
How bodhicitta helps us meet the suffering of the world without shutting down
How cultivating a vast motivation brings clarity, resilience, and warmth into daily life
Why Shantideva describes bodhicitta as a “jewel” that transforms everything it touches
How these ancient teachings can support compassionate engagement in ourcomplex modern world
Each session includes meditation instruction and guided sitting, followed by teachings, contemplative exercises, and optional small-group breakouts to deepen personal reflection. These practices help us not only understand bodhicitta but begin to embody it.
This series is the first step in a three-part, year-long journey, each segment followed by a short Awake in the World module to support applying the teachings directly to our lives and relationships.
Meditation experience is welcome but not required. All who wish to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and a wider sense of belonging are invited to join.
Fee:
$240 course fee
$200 (base)
$185 (Sukhasiddhi member)
$300 (benefactor)
The deadline to register is Saturday, at 12 PM (Pacific).
**Please Note: This Dharma Deep Dive class series is included in the Bodhi Program as part of the curriculum. If you are already enrolled in Bodhi, you do not need to register separately for this series. **Please Note: This Dharma Deep Dive class series is NOT included in the Dharma Training Program. If you are enrolled in DTP and are interested in this series, you will need to register separately.** Chenrezig Practice Opportunity
10:15 - 11:15 AM Pacific
Six Sundays: September 14 - October 19, 2025
Lama Döndrup will be leading a Chenrezig practice as part of the Dharma Deep Dive Course on The 12 Links of Dependent Origination. You are welcome to join for the practice only.
Participation is open to all. If you have received the Chenrezig empowerment, this practice will deepen your connection. If not, you are still warmly welcome to join.
Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara) is the embodiment of boundless, universal compassion, the very essence of our true nature. Meditating on Chenrezig helps dissolve distorted views of self and others, opening to the radiant luminosity that has always been present. As one of the most beloved figures of Vajrayana Buddhism, Chenrezig offers an inspirational gateway into the path, guiding us to uncover our innate clarity and compassion.
At a time when so many of the norms and institutions we have long relied upon are unraveling, social, political, and environmental foundations that once gave us a sense of stability, Chenrezig offers a reliable refuge. This practice reminds us that beyond shifting structures lies something indestructible: the boundless compassion that is our true nature. Chenrezig embodies this compassion not as something outside of us, but as a reflection of the unshakable, luminous heart we already carry within. In resting in this presence, we strengthen our capacity to meet the suffering of our world with steadiness, tenderness, and wisdom.
There is no fee, but donations are welcome.
Registration is required.
Vajrayana Buddhism has an empowering and profound view of the true nature of reality, and many methods for deepening one's understanding and realization of true nature. Sukhasiddhi classes offer teachings on Buddhist principles, topics, texts, views of reality, methods, and practices which help to integrate the teachings.
PLEASE NOTE:
For Those on Zoom
We request you be fully present with Zoom video on for classes and trainings. This is an opportunity for the lamas and teachers to connect with you. If this is not possible, please let the registrar or teacher know.
For Those in Person
NO SCENT POLICY: Sukhasiddhi Foundation maintains a fragrance-free environment. Please do not use any scented lotions, colognes, aftershave, shampoo, etc. while attending Sukhasiddhi events. Thank you for your consideration.
MEET THE TEACHER
Lama Döndrup has been practicing and studying in the Buddhist tradition since the mid-1990’s. After five years of Theravadin Buddhist training, she immersed herself in the teachings and practices of the Shangpa and Kagyu Vajrayana lineages. In 2005, she completed a traditional three-year retreat under the guidance of Lama Palden and Lama Drupgyu with the blessing of her root guru, Bokar Rinpoche and was authorized as a lama. Upon her return to Marin County, she began teaching at Sukhasiddhi Foundation. In January 2020, as Lama Palden’s successor, she stepped into the role of Resident Lama, guiding the Center’s ministerial work.
Lama Döndrup’s teaching style is thorough and clear yet with light touch as she supports the natural unfolding of each student’s innate wisdom and compassion. She aims to preserve the authenticity of the tradition while making the teachings and practices relevant and accessible to the lives of 21st century Westerners. In addition to her Buddhist practice, Lama Döndrup trained the Ridhwan School’s Diamond Approach for seven years and has a Masters of Fine Arts degree in piano performance. She is an active classical pianist and teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area.