Group Retreats
Harmonizing with the Unconditional Love and Wisdom of our Buddha Nature
With John Makransky
From a Tibetan Buddhist perspective, our buddha nature (the source of our profound dignity) is the basic space of our being that is undivided from vast capacities of awareness, warmth, love, compassion and wisdom. These innate capacities are always available below our surface consciousness, but often hidden by our habits of thought and reaction. […]
Samye Institute Summer Immersion 2026
Explore Buddhism as a Way of Life Six- or three-week immersion at Samye New York, Cooperstown, New York Samye Institute invites you into a rare educational and spiritual journey, a place where you can step out of habitual life, re-center yourself, and immerse in the Buddhist Arts & Sciences through direct experience. You […]
Week One: The Inner Science of Awakening Dignity
With Sophie (Shu-chin) Wu, Hilary Herdman and Seth Auster-Rosen
This opening week of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences introduces participants to the inner science of buddha dharma — the contemplative foundation that underlies the full immersion. In the weeks that follow, this inner science will be brought into dialogue with the outer sciences of medicine, artisanry, and philosophy (psychology […]
Mahamudra Practice Retreat
With Tulku Migmar Tsering
This five-day retreat follows directly after Phakchok Rinpoche’s Summer Seminar and offers participants an opportunity to deepen and integrate the Mahamudra and Vajrayana instructions received during the week through sustained meditation and contemplative practice. During the Summer Seminar, participants are introduced to Mahamudra as a path of direct recognition and growing familiarity with awareness itself. […]
Week Two: Tibetan Medicine & the Science of Wellbeing
With Tawni Tidwell, Hilary Herdman and Seth Auster-Rosen
This second week of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences begins the integration of inner and outer sciences that defines the heart of the program. Building on the contemplative foundation established in the opening week, participants now bring the inner science of buddha dharma into dialogue with one of the great […]
Week Three: Sacred Art & Buddhist Artisanry
With Urgyen Gyalpo and Hilary Herdman
This third week of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences continues the integration of inner and outer sciences at the heart of the program. Building on the contemplative foundation established in the opening week, participants now bring the inner science of buddha dharma into dialogue with another of the great outer […]
Week Four: Buddhist Philosophy I – Understanding Reality by Knowing the Mind
With Tulku Migmar Tsering and Seth Auster-Rosen
This fourth week of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences continues the integration of inner and outer sciences at the heart of the program. Building on the contemplative foundation established in the opening week, participants now bring the inner science of buddha dharma into dialogue with another of the great outer […]
Week Five: Buddhist Philosophy II – The Nature of Thought, Perception, and Insight
With Tulku Migmar Tsering and Seth Auster-Rosen
This fifth week of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences continues the integration of inner and outer sciences at the heart of the program, picking up directly from the philosophical inquiry of the previous week. Participants now turn from the broad framework of Buddhist concepts to the specific question of how […]
Week Six: Noble Living, Noble Caring, Noble Dying: Healing Practices in Buddhism
With Tulku Migmar Tsering, Tsunma Jamyang Donma and Andrea Sherman
This final offering of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences gathers the inner and outer sciences explored over the preceding weeks into an extended reflection on what it means to live, care, and die well. Drawing on the medicine teachings of Week Two, the contemplative training of the inner science weeks, […]
Summer Seminar 2026
With Phakchok Rinpoche
Awakening Dignity · Transformation · Realization We warmly welcome our local and international sangha to Phakchok Rinpoche’s annual Summer Seminar at Samye Hermitage New York in Cooperstown. This stand-alone week of teaching and practice marks the culminating seminar of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion, while remaining fully open and complete as an independent program […]