Nalandabodhi NY Membership and Dues

Our aspiration in offering Membership is to fulfill the direction of our teacher, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, to make full participation in Nalandabodhi’s offerings available to anyone wishing to engage in Nalandabodhi study, practice and mindful activity courses, and to create a strong connection between each Nalandabodhi member, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, the Nalandabodhi Mitras, and the sangha community at large.

What You’re Supporting

  • Rinpoche’s teaching activity
  • Nalandabodhi’s Three Paths: Path of Meditation, Path of Study, Path of Mindful Activity
  • our community’s website

Member Benefits

  • discounts on programs
  • assignment to a Practice Instructor (PI)
  • attendance at Sangha Retreats if you are a formal student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

Member Commitments

Practice

We encourage members to engage in daily meditation practice and move through progressive stages of practice with the guidance of a Practice Instructor (PI).  A Practice Instructor is assigned upon request to Membership Coordinator Gail Monteforte. Group practice sessions are offered at the center and are an opportunity to strengthen one’s daily practice as well as the practice path of the sangha as a whole.


Study

The Nalandabodhi study path provides a comprehensive introduction to Buddhism and deepens the understanding of the teachings by systematically leading students through a complete overview of the ground, path and fruition of the three yana journey.  Members are encouraged to complete the curriculum as laid out and taught by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.  The study path is continually enriching regardless of your previous dharma study.


Sangha Activity

Our center functions exclusively through the volunteer efforts of our members.  We encourage regular participation and contact with our local center and some form of support to the center on a regular basis.  Perhaps the most meaningful form of commitment a member makes is maintaining one’s relationship with Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche as one’s primary spiritual friend and teacher.

Membership Dues

  • Full membership: $40 per month or $480 per year
  • Senior (over 62) and full-time student discounted membership: $32 dollars a month or $384 per year
  • Please contact our Membership Coordinator Gail Monteforte to discuss alternate payment plans if these amounts are not affordable.

For FULL MEMBER MONTHLY dues, please process your payment here:

full member monthly

 

For FULL MEMBER ANNUAL dues, please process your payment here:

Full Member – one year

 

For SENIOR/STUDENT MONTHLY dues, please process your payment here:

senior/student monthly

 

For SENIOR/STUDENT ANNUAL dues, please process your payment here:

senior / full time student

 

Becoming a Formal Student

To become a formal student means that you have asked Rinpoche to be your teacher and Rinpoche has accepted you as his student.  It is recommended that you be a member for three to six months before you make this request. When you are moved to take this step it is advised that you discuss this with your Nalandabodhi Practice Instructor.  You may write a one-page letter to Rinpoche introducing yourself and stating your desire to become a formal student.  This letter goes to his correspondence secretary, who meets with Rinpoche and presents these requests several times each year.  You will customarily receive a letter from Rinpoche acknowledging your request.

Being accepted as a formal student by Rinpoche offers many opportunities to deepen and enrich our practice, study, and activity within the sangha.  When we become students of a teacher, we take refuge in the teacher as a representative of the Buddha, in his teachings as genuine instructions leading us on the spiritual path, and in his community of students, or sangha, as partners in this journey.  The relationship between a teacher and his sangha is also reciprocal. Rinpoche often tells us that he needs his students’ feedback as well as participation and support to develop a Buddhadharma effective for Western students.  Working together with each other in the sangha also provides spiritual support and feedback.  As members, we share a commitment to establishing harmonious relationships with other members as part of the sangha discipline of loving kindness and compassion.  Sangha provides a vital aspect of our practice.  It is meditation in action and interaction.