[Online] The Tibetan Buddhist Path: Glimpses of Awakening
with Daniel Nguyen, Emilia Volz, Jean Marie Robbins, Mark Nowakowski, Pamela Bothwell, Rhea Colmar and Molly DeShong
January 8 - April 9, 2026
Online
When: Thursdays 7pm - 8:30pm Eastern | 8pm - 9:30 Atlantic
Registration: Full program or Individual Modules. Module 3 starts January 8, previous module recordings are available.
Pricing: Pay what you can. Suggested amount $396
- CAD $396.00 – I can pay the suggested amount
- CAD $25.00 to CAD $300.00 – I can pay this amount.
The Tibetan Buddhist Path: Glimpses of Awakening
Fall 2025 to Spring 2026 • Live Online
Thursdays 7pm – 8:30pm Eastern | 8pm – 9:30pm Atlantic
Module 4 started on March 5, and recordings from previous modules are available.
Register for Year-long Program
New Offering
Refuge Vow Ceremony with Judy Lief • April 23, 2026
Open to participants in the Tibetan Buddhist Path series.
About the Program
This year-long online training begins with the Hinayana, the first of the three yanas or “vehicles” of the Buddhist path. We begin with personal discipline, meditation, and the truth of suffering, building a practical foundation for the study and practice of Buddhadharma.
The Tibetan Buddhist Path unfolds through four modules: establishing meditation, refining mindfulness, exploring the first two noble truths, and studying the path to liberation. Students may register for the full series or join by module, and recordings are available for continued study.
This program is well suited to both new and returning students. It offers a structured progression through essential Buddhist teachings while supporting direct application in meditation practice and daily life.
Program Structure
Module 1: The Foundation
Shamatha & Vipashyana • Fall 2025
This course introduces the fundamentals of Buddhist meditation. We begin with shamatha (calm abiding) and vipashyana (insight) as practical ways to work with the mind. Meditation is not about escaping or fixing anything. It is about being present with experience, as it is.
We explore the Three Yanas: Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, as a way of understanding how the Buddhist path unfolds. The three marks of existence are approached as insights that arise naturally through reflection and experience. The course also looks at obstacles to practice, how to meet them without struggle, and how emotions can become workable. We focus on how meditation can be integrated into daily life, not just practiced on the cushion.
Recordings now available
Module 2: Refining Your Meditation
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness • Fall 2025
This module focuses on deepening the stability and clarity of meditation. We turn to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness as practical ways to relate with body, life, effort, and mind. These teachings help us stay with experience as it is, without judgment or distraction.
As our practice deepens, we also explore the traditional map of the Nine Stages of Shamatha. Rather than seeing them as milestones to achieve, we study them as a guide to becoming more grounded and relaxed within awareness. Each session includes meditation, readings, discussion, and direct guidance in practice.
Recordings now available
Module 3: Exploring the Noble Truths – Part 1
Confusion and Awakening • Winter 2026
In this module, we take a closer look at suffering. Not as something to avoid or fix, but as the starting point for waking up. We study how suffering arises, how it is maintained, and how it can become a doorway to clarity and compassion.
Drawing from classical Buddhist teachings and personal experience, we explore the origin of suffering, the skandhas and ego formation, the three poisons, the twelve nidanas, and the six realms of existence. We also take time with the teachings on karma and how our choices create momentum.
Recordings now available
Module 4: Exploring the Noble Truths – Part 2
The Path to Liberation • Spring 2026
This final module completes the arc of the foundational path. We revisit suffering and its origin, and begin to understand cessation not as an idea but as an experience. From here, we explore the eightfold path as a practical guide to living with clarity and purpose.
We also reflect on the meaning of taking refuge in the Buddha as example, the Dharma as path, and the Sangha as companionship. The course concludes with an introduction to the Mahayana view and a space to integrate what has been learned.
Current live course
Interested in taking refuge?
Learn more about the upcoming Refuge Vow Ceremony with Judy Lief on April 23.
What the Full Series Includes
- Four connected online modules
- Live weekly sessions on Thursdays
- Recordings and course materials
- The option to register for the year-long series or individual modules
About the Leaders
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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Molly DeShong
Molly DeShong is a longtime dharma student and teacher based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She thanks Chögyam Trungpa’s lineage, Tsokyni Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, and others for her voracious appetite for three-yana view and practice. In her counselling/consulting work, Molly offers mindfulness and contemplative methods to individuals and groups, drawing from Non-Violent Communication and Transformative […]
Learn more about Molly DeShongCategories : Online, Public Program