Hippie Yogis in Rishikesh, India

The sound of the universe: "OM"

Like the Buddha-to-be (the Bodhisattva in past lives) striving in and around the Himalayas for many rebirths, young spiritual seekers head to the highest mountain range in the world and holy cities like Rishikesh and Haridwar in search of yogic powers (siddhis) and, more importantly, liberation (moksha, vimutti) from samsara Why would a comfortable Westerner travel to India and head up into the Himalayan foothills at the headwaters of the River Ganges?

Transform the Mind (Yongey Rinpoche)

Transforming an Unwholesome Mind

Alexandra David Neel

(Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche) May 26, 2025: What if our anger, jealousy, and laziness weren’t enemies to fight — but gateways to deeper awareness?

This newly released clip comes from the Buddhist Psychology Immersion course on Vajrayana Online. It is currently exploring teachings on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness: Form (the Body), Feeling, Mind, and Phenomena (Mind Objects).

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche will be teaching on this topic June 6-8 (to be re-streamed June 7-9) events.tergar.org/events/deta...

Unmistaken Child

The Immersion course includes 43 guided meditations and 43 daily life practices, and it’s just one of more than 30 courses available on Vajrayana Online. To join the course now, visit vajrayana.tergar.org 

🔗 Joy of Living Meditation Program: Learn meditation under the skillful guidance of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche at own pace: joy.tergar.org

🔗 Vajrayana Online: Study and practice of the Tibetan Buddhism with Mingyur Rinpoche. learning.tergar.org

(Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche) Advice for a younger generation

🔗Online events, retreats with Mingyur Rinpoche: events.tergar.org

🔗 About Tergar Path: tergar.org/programs

• Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Tergar.org, May 26, 2025; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Institute of Buddhist Studies (California)

The Institute of Buddhist Studies

The institute, begun in 1949, specializes in graduate-level Buddhist studies as well as Shinshu ministerial training in Berkeley.

About IBS - Contact - Admissions - Academics - News & Events - Journals & Publications - IBS Podcast

IBS is a Buddhist seminary and graduate school affiliated with the Graduate Theological Union and associated with the Buddhist Churches of America. Located in the Jodo Shinshu Center in downtown Berkeley, California. IBS offers a systematic educational program specializing in contemporary Shin Buddhist studies and culminating in a fully accredited Master of Arts degree jointly administered by the GTU.

Among the IBS programs are: Master's degree in Buddhist Studies, Jodo Shinshu ministerial training, Buddhist chaplaincy training program, a number of academic journals and publications, and study abroad opportunities with Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan.

Hard Times are crowding the Yoga Ashrams

Fantasy: living in a commune is a hippiefest of tuning in and dropping out (Tugster).

Sara Eckel (NY Times, July 15, 2009)

Yoga retreats with chores attract the weary and unemployed.

Shortly after Steven Odnoha lost his job at Intel, he drove three days from Rio Rancho, N.M., to the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. For months, Mr. Odnoha had been wondering how he could get the time off to join a yearlong meditation program at the nonprofit yoga retreat. His pink slip, in September 2007, provided the answer.

“I figured if I stayed for a year, the economy would be warming up by then, and I could head back and see what’s available for a semiconductor manufacturing technician,” said Mr. Odnoha, 40, as he picked wild thyme from a small garden outside the institute’s kitchen.

Obviously, the economy didn’t cooperate, but Mr. Odnoha doesn’t mind. Now he spends his days on the Himalayan Institute’s 400-acre wooded campus, practicing hatha yoga and meditation, studying spiritual texts, biking, walking, and preparing meals in the institute’s kitchen. In exchange for his cooking duties and an annual fee of $3,000, he gets a private room, three vegetarian meals a day, and unlimited access to the institute’s classes, seminars, and other events.

Reality: slice of heaven, lunch prep at the Himalayan Inst. in Honesdale, PA (NYT).

The Himalayan Institute is one of many retreats where cash-strapped spiritual seekers can participate in work-study programs in which they pay typically $300 to $900 a month in exchange for a few hours a day of service, like washing dishes, cleaning rooms or weeding gardens.

As the unemployment rate has risen and people have sought refuge from the harsh economy, these work-exchanges have become a hot commodity. The Himalayan Institute received twice as many applications for its summer work-study programs this year as last — its August session is full, with 22 people, compared with 11 last year — and so did two similar retreats, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in Carmel Valley, California, and Satchidananda Ashram in Buckingham, Virginia (which is better known as "Yogaville").

The people who run these programs say there seems to be a link between the troubled job market and the rising popularity of yoga retreats. More>>