From (and including) January 2019 onward, Dzogchen West will be meeting in Laguna Beach on Sunday afternoons from 2 pm to 3.30 pm at:

Yoga Sapien
610 N. Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 208 (above Pavilions)
Laguna Beach, CA 92651

All are welcome. For more information on what to expect, see the FAQ.

For further details on specific dates, please click here

Feel free to come along.

There will not be an Online Meditation Group meeting in September due to construction work.

The next OMG meeting will be on Thursday, October 4th at the usual time.

Our third annual long-weekend Autumn Meditation Retreat will be held at the beautiful Questhaven Retreat in North San Diego County again this year. Dates are Thursday, November 15th through Sunday, November 18th, 2018.

Further details and secure online registration are available here.

The "Early Bird" discount for registration closed at the end of August, but to obtain the best rate from caterers we need to fill at least three more spots. So for the next three people who register to join us at this wonderful weekend retreat, we are offering the same discount. After those are gone, the retreat will be regular price (almost $100 more), so if you're planning to attend, now is the time to register, secure your spot and save.

Space is limited, and these discount places won't last - so register now for the lowest cost and the best chance to secure your choice of accommodation. If you don't see the discount rate, we're sorry, others secured it first.

We hope to see you there!

Our three-day residential Dzogchen retreat in San Marcos, CA from Thursday evening, December 8th to Sunday afternoon, December 11th, is ALMOST FULL.

There is likely to be space for one or two more to attend. To secure your place on the waitlist please see further details and secure online registration here. 

We hope you can join us for this peaceful and uplifting time together in the heart of the Dzogchen tradition.

Further details and secure online registration are available here.

The "Wheel of Conditioning" or "Wheel of Life" is depicted outside many meditation halls in the East, to remind us of the ways we find ourselves caught up in cyclic patterns of action and result, and of the urge to break free.

This Declaration of Interdependence maps out the twelve links of conditioned origination - the Twelve Nidanas - in outer, inner and yogic progressions.

Each Sunday afternoon for the coming weeks, Lama Daniela and Lama Christopher will be exploring with the group this process that can trap us in unsatisfying loops of repetitive behavior - but can also afford us a glimpse of freedom.

This course of study is open and accessible to all, regardless of spiritual background. Whilst the entire series forms a comprehensive whole, individual Sundays can also stand alone and anyone is welcome to attend at any stage during the course.

Details of these meetings can be found here.

The meeting in Laguna Beach on the afternoon of Sunday, April 2nd has been cancelled. Lama Christopher is overseas and Lama Daniela has a Symphony commitment. The Sunday series will resume on Sunday April 9th.

For the four Sundays in late February and early March, Lama Christopher and Lama Daniela guide us in exploring the fundamental premises of this ancient wisdom tradition. Melding both conventional interpretation and the direct experiential findings of the yogic practice lineage, these teachings open us to a positive, uplifiting and ultimately freeing realization of life just as it is.

The series started with the first of the Buddha's basic teachings: "Facts about Dissatisfaction: Embracing the Mystery". Frequently - and mistakenly - rendered as "Life is Suffering", this principle introduced us to the vast potential of our shared human condition, and surprisingly revealed the inherent possibility of transcendence. 

The second basic teaching, "Facts about Craving: Not Getting Hooked", explored how we become trapped by the mind's tendency to grasp at experiences, and get mired in unsatisfying patterns of reactivity.

Then the good news: "The End of Confusion: Beholding Liberation". The third basic teaching introduces us to not just the possibility, but the actuality of freedom. This is a direct, experiential glimpse of the deathless peace inherent in our fundamental nature.

Join us for this extraordinary exploration of the ground of being - and of the path to freedom.

Sunday, March 6th in Laguna Beach: The End of Confusion

Lama Surya Das will be teaching a One-Day Dzogchen Meditation Retreat on Saturday, January 30th, 2106 from 10 am to 5 pm, at the Neighborhood Congregational Church in Laguna Beach, CA.

Sometime during the day, we're hoping for a special guest appearance by Lama Surya's friend, renowned comedian Pete Holmes, to help him "Enlighten Up" (as the Lama often says). Don't miss it!

Further details:
"Everything Must Be Meditated": the All-Embracing Way of Awakening

Lama Surya will also give a public talk at the University of California Irvine in Orange County the previous evening (click here for details):

"Awakening to Oneness: Relationship Yoga as Meditation for Healing, Well-Being and Wisdom"

The group has completed reading "Make Me One With Everything".

There will be NO Sunday meetings on January 24th or 31st due to Lama Surya's visit.

Sunday afternoon meetings will resume on Sunday 7 February.

Our weekly Tuesday evening gathering at the Neighborhood Community Center in Costa Mesa is rarely cancelled. However, due to a conflicting event, there will be no meeting there this week, Tuesday December 8th.

Regular Tuesday evenings with Lama Daniela and Lama Christopher will resume next week on Tuesday December 15th.