Programs
Transforming the Mind: The Practice of Lojong in Everyday Life
With Matthew Zalichin
In fall of 2025, Samye Hermitage New York hosted a weekend retreat on lojong—the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of “mind training.” Lojong teachings show us how to transform adversity into the path, open the heart of compassion, and bring Dharma practice directly into everyday life. Guided by Matthew Zalichin, this retreat focused on The Seven […]
The Song of Lodro Thaye: A Study in Mahamudra
With Matthew Zalichin
In the fall of 2023, our resident meditation instructor, Matthew Zalichin, offered a series of classes dedicated to The Song of Lodro Thaye by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, a concise yet profound poem from the Kagyu Gyurtso. Closely aligned with Phakchok Rinpoche’s presentations on Mahamudra, this text lays out the essentials of Mahamudra—the ground, path, […]
Trinley Nyingpo Retreat
With Tulku Migmar Tsering
In this retreat, Tulku Migmar Tsering taught on the fundamentals of tantric practice, including the three samadhis, four stakes, and other essentials, with daily group practice of the Trinley Nyingpo. This condensed sadhana practice is drawn from the Lamé Tukdrup Barché Kunsel (The Guru’s Heart Practice, Dispeller of All Obstacles), which was discovered by the […]
Developing Compassion
With Tulku Migmar Tsering
In the summer of 2023, Tulku Migmar Tsering guided us toward a deeper experience of compassion. Over a week-long series of personalized teachings and practice sessions, Tulku Migmar led us into ever greater insights into how we can develop ever greater compassion, the heart of Buddhist path. This style of mind-training is a powerful mechanism […]
The Four Foundations: A Tibetan New Year's Retreat 2024
With Tulku Migmar Tsering and Matthew Zalichin
In winter of 2024 during the New Year of the Tibetan lunar calendar, known as Losar, Samye New York hosted an immersive retreat on the Four Foundations of the Dharma. According to tradition, the actions carried out during these first days of the year are believed to carry a potency magnified a millionfold. Guided […]
The Path of Meditation
With Tulku Migmar Tsering
In this introductory retreat, Tulku Migmar Tsering led us through the Buddhist path of meditation. Experiential guidance in the traditional path of meditation was combined with dedicated practice sessions, suitable for absolute beginners as well as those who wish to reconnect with their sitting practice. Tulku Migmar elucidated the path from the outset of […]
Living the Dharma: Residential Practice Program
Deepen your practice. Serve with awareness. Live the Dharma. Samye Hermitage New York invites practitioners to join our community for periods of residential practice and service during the quieter months of the year. Set on our 26-acre retreat campus in the hills of Cooperstown, this program offers an opportunity to live within a rhythm […]
Sundays at Samye: The Practical Bodhisattva
With Michael Friedman
Each Sunday from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm, our sangha gathers for a morning of meditation, discussion, and Dharma study. Sundays at Samye offer a welcoming space to deepen practice and explore the Buddhist path together. About the Current Course: The Practical Bodhisattva Guided by Lama Michael Friedman, this course explores the Bodhisattva […]
Buddhist Studies Circle
The Buddhist Studies Circle is a weekly, discussion-based group for anyone interested in exploring how Buddhist teachings function both in their historical depth and in the context of modern life. The Circle offers a welcoming space for shared inquiry, thoughtful reading, and conversation, open to practitioners and non-practitioners alike. Meetings are offered in person at […]
Awakening Dignity Practice Group
We warmly welcome you to the Awakening Dignity Practice Group, a weekly meditation gathering inspired by the teachings of Phakchok Rinpoche and connected with the global Awakening Dignity Across the Globe practice community hosted by Samye Institute. This group offers a supportive local space to practice meditation together while participating in a six-month international […]
Sangha Practice and Volunteering Week
From April 24th to 29th, join us for a Week of Practice and Volunteering: Plan to arrive on Friday evening or Saturday morning. On Saturday the 25th, Morning and Evening Practice sessions will bookend gardening, painting, upkeep, and other outdoor projects. Sunday the 26th is Guru Rinpoche Day: Join for Tsok in the morning before […]
Spring Meditation & Movement Retreat
With Peter Woods
This Spring Meditation Retreat offers a clear and well-structured opportunity to return to meditation practice as it is taught within a living lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, under the guidance of Phakchok Rinpoche. The retreat emphasizes steady, foundational practice—beginning with settling the body and mind and cultivating familiarity with awareness. Rather than focusing on intensity or […]
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 […]
SISI – Module 1: Path of Dignity (Weeks 1–3)
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 […]
SISI – Week 1: Awakening Dignity & the Four Noble Truths
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 and outer sciences of the Buddhist tradition through meditation, study, and dialogue. The week begins with the Inner Science of Awakening Dignity, taught by Shu-chin Wu. From a Buddhist perspective, dignity arises from recognizing that […]
SISI – Week 2: Tibetan Medicine & the Science of Wellbeing
With Tawni Tidwell and Tulku Migmar Tsering
This week introduces the principles of Tibetan medicine and its holistic understanding of health. Participants explore how body, mind, community, and environment interact, learning practical approaches to cultivating balance through lifestyle, diet, and awareness.
SISI – Week 3: Sacred Art & Buddhist Artisanry
With Tulku Migmar Tsering, Urgyen Gyalpo and Hilary Herdman
Sacred art plays an essential role in communicating Buddhist insights and shaping contemplative environments. Students will learn, through workshop and studio time, to draw an iconometrically precise Buddha from a master of Tibetan thangka painting.
SISI – Module 2: Path of Transformation (Weeks 4–6)
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 […]
SISI – Week 4: Buddhist Philosophy I – Understanding Reality by Knowing the Mind
With Tulku Migmar Tsering and Seth Auster-Rosen
Critical thinking is how we come to understand the most important Buddhist teachings: impermanence, selflessness, emptiness, enlightenment. Participants explore the core Buddhist philosophical concepts through both philosophical reflection and contemplative practice. These explorations illuminate the intimate relationship between mind and world.
SISI – Week 5: Buddhist Philosophy II – The Nature of Thought, Perception, and Insight
With Tulku Migmar Tsering
The way we perceive and think shapes our understanding of our world; Buddhist epistemology is the study of what we really know and how. Participants examine the nature of thought, language, and conceptual knowledge in Buddhist philosophy. Through experimentation and contemplative exercises, we investigate the relationship between conceptual understanding and non-conceptual meditation.
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 […]