The Tibetan Buddhist Path: Glimpses of Awakening Full Program Registration

with Damita Brown, Daniel Nguyen, Emilia Volz, Jean Marie Robbins, Mark Nowakowski, Pamela Bothwell and Rhea Colmar

September 11, 2025 - April 9, 2026

Online Program Online

Sep 11, 2025 - Apr 09, 2026

When: Thursdays 7pm - 8:30pm Eastern

Registration: Full program or Individual Modules.

  • CAD $396.00 – Complete Bundle

This is the page to register for the Full Program– all four modules, which includes a discounted rate and four 20-minute meetings with an instructor.

The Tibetan Buddhist Path

Glimpses of Awakening Through the Three Yanas

Fall 2025 to Spring 2026 • Live Online


Take your seat on the path of wakefulness.

Based on the Teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

This online program begins with the Hinayana, the first of the three yanas or “vehicles” of the Buddhist path. Yana means “path” or “means of transport.” We begin with personal discipline, meditation, and the truth of suffering.

Rooted in the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages and based on The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma, this course presents Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s transmission of the path as it was first taught in the West.

The Hinayana unfolds in four modules: settling the mind, observing experience, meeting suffering, and stepping onto the path of liberation. Each invites meditation, study, and direct application in daily life.

Open to new and returning students, each session includes meditation, teachings, discussion, and readings. Recordings are available for continued reflection.

You may register for the full program or for individual modules. Both options are welcome. The full program includes a reduced rate and four private 20-minute meetings with an instructor. Recordings are available for ongoing reflection.

This training builds a foundation for Mahayana and Vajrayana study and helps prepare students for in-person retreats, where habitual patterns become clearer and insight deepens through direct experience.

A Mahayana course is planned for 2026 to 2027. Details to come.


Program Structure

Four online modules • Attend live or via recording • Open to all levels

Module 1

Module 1: The Foundation

Shamatha and Vipashyana • Fall 2025

We begin with the basics of meditation, introducing shamatha (calm abiding) and vipashyana (insight). This module grounds us in the Three Yana view and the essentials of mindfulness, awareness, and the path of individual liberation. We explore the three marks of existence, working with kleshas, and bringing practice into daily life.

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Module 2: Refining Meditation

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness • Late Fall 2025

Building on our foundation, we refine our meditation through the Four Foundations of Mindfulness: body, life, effort, and mind. We explore the development of shamatha through the nine stages of settling the mind and work with obstacles and antidotes directly.

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Module 2
Module 3

Module 3: The Truth of Suffering

Winter 2026

This module explores the heart of the Buddha’s first teaching: suffering and its origin. We examine the skandhas, the wheel of life, the six realms, the twelve nidanas, and karma as patterns that shape our perception, actions, and sense of self.

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Module 4: The Path to Liberation

Spring 2026

We turn to the third and fourth noble truths: the cessation of suffering and the path itself. This module includes study of the Eightfold Path, taking refuge, and an introduction to the Mahayana perspective. We conclude with personal reflection on what it means to take one’s seat on the path.

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Module 4

Join the Journey

Full Program

Includes all four modules, session recordings, group discussions, and reflection prompts. Full program participants also receive a discounted rate and four 20-minute one-on-one Zoom meetings with an instructor.

Individual Modules

You may also join one module at a time. Each includes live sessions and recordings for later review.

Who It’s For

This program is open to anyone seeking a clear and practical way to engage the Buddhist path. Whether you are beginning or returning, the invitation is the same: to meet your life with honesty, curiosity, and wakefulness.

About the Leaders

Damita Brown

Dr. Damita Brown is a community-based educator and consultant specializing in the application of contemplative practices to issues related to racism. She earned her doctorate in the History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she focused on the relationship between social justice and racial identity. She later taught at the University […]

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Daniel Nguyen

Daniel Nguyen has been a practitioner of Buddhism for over a decade. He studied the Theravada tradition, as well as the Kagyü and Nyingma tradition through attending and teaching at the Profound Treasury Retreats. He is one of its current board members. Daniel is a family doctor in Montreal. He works in a group clinic, […]

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Emilia Volz

Emilia was raised within two Buddhist communities: Shambhala and Mangala Shri Bhuti. She began practicing as a teenager, attending Sun Camp and Shambhala Training. In 2012, she became a student of Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, attending the Shechen Seminar in Croatia for several years. Emilia continues to serve Shechen Monastery as an advisory board member for […]

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Jean Marie Robbins

Joined Shambhala Chicago in 2014 and considers the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche her teacher. A retired school administrator and serial career changer, Jean Marie is now a Meditation Instructor in the Chicago sangha. She’s interested in how dharma practice and study can liberate us from personal biases as well as from the cultural conditioning at […]

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Mark Nowakowski

Mark Nowakowski met the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1972 and has been his student ever since. He also studies and translates with many other Kagyü and Nyingma masters. Mark is particularly inspired by the works of Chögyam Trungpa and his teacher Khenpo Gangshar. He recently coordinated the translation and publication of Songs of Realization and […]

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Pamela Bothwell

Pamela Bothwell first encountered the dharma at Tail of the Tiger (Karme Chöling Buddhist Contemplative Center) in 1973, and has been a direct student of the Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin, and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche ever since. A retired attorney, Pamela is a mother, grandmother, and the best friend of a mutt named […]

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Rhea Colmar

Rhea Colmar considers herself a student in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche as well as other contemporary Buddhist teachers.  As a public health nurse, Rhea is interested in the intersection of meditation, health, and well-being, on both the individual and societal levels. She has a background in dance and massage & bodywork. Recently, she […]

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