Fall 2025 Courses

How to Progress in Your Meditation Practice

Part Two: Practice

Part One: View - recorded talk here from Dec 21, 2025

SATURDAY, February 7th, 2026

10:00 AM UNTIL 5:00 PM (includes lunch)

THE ALIGNED CENTER, 1 BRIDGE STREET, SUITE 64, IRVINGTON, NY 10533

Suggested Donation: $30* (includes lunch)

Space is limited; registration is required.

In this day-long workshop, we will clarify the understanding of our meditation as having two phases – shamatha and vipashyana – in order to deepen our experience of them. These two are said to be the basis for all of the vast varieties of samadhis. Exploring their definitions and qualities, the obstacles and antidotes to their development, the stages of their progression and how to progress from the first to the latter. Bring yourself (!). Lunch included. 

Derek Kolleeny began the practice and study of Buddhism in 1976 and soon became a student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, attending his first of many Naropa Institute summer sessions in 1977. He earned a B.A. from Harvard College in the Comparative Study of World Religions, focused on Buddhism, including study of Sanskrit and Tibetan languages. During a year off from college, Derek was the assistant coordinator of the six-month US tour of HH the XVIth Gyalwa Karmapa in 1980 and attended the Vajradhatu Seminary and the Kalapa Assembly in 1981 at Lake Louise, in Alberta, Canada.

“Not Lost in Translation: From Words to Meaning and Beyond”

Presenting Larry Mermelstein, Executive Director of

Trungpa Rinpoche’s  Nalanda Translation Committee

Sunday February 1, 2026

10 AM - Noon ET, via Zoom

We are excited to have the opportunity to discuss the translation world of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche with the executive director of the Nalanda Translation Committee (NTC), Larry Mermelstein. The NTC is a unique aspect of Trungpa Rinpoche’s mandala in that it has remained virtually unchanged since its creation over 50 years ago.

From important issues such as the impact of context upon translation to the importance of practicing in one’s native language and the balance between study and practice, we will then delve into Larry’s experiences in Trungpa Rinpoche’s world as he journeyed from the role of Translation Committee coordinator to a wide range of other activities as teacher, practice-center administrator, editor, publisher.

Larry Mermelstein became a student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1971. As a founding member and executive director of the Nalanda Translation Committee, Larry worked closely with Trungpa Rinpoche in translating and presenting Buddhist & Shambhala teachings in the West. The Committee worked with the Vidyadhara to translate all of the community’s core practice texts from Tibetan to English, spanning the Kagyu, Nyingma and Shambhala traditions, and to create incredibly helpful practice manuals for almost all of the key practices. He is a long-time consulting editor to Shambhala Publications and served as a member of the board of directors and an acharya (senior teacher) in the Vajradhatu/Shambhala community for some twenty years.

Please register by RSVP only, or make an optional donation by selecting from the pull-down menu.

Mark your calendar — Zoom link here

A WMC advanced-level course based on The Bodhicaryavatara by Shantideva

This Winter join us to continue our exploration of the classic Buddhist text The Bodhicaryavatara (The Way of the Bodhisattva), a volume that has long been treasured as an indispensable guide to enlightened living. Written in the eighth century by the scholar and saint Shantideva, this work has inspired many of the tradition’s greatest teachers.

This semester we explore working with the paramitas, including  dealing with anger and practicing patience, developing enthusiasm or exertion for our practice, and dissolving the barriers between self and others through meditation. As before we will read the verses together, take part in compassion practices, and engage in energetic discussion. We closely follow Shantideva's verses, along with Pema Chodron's expert commentary, which makes the richness of this guide accessible to all on the Bodhisattva path. Practical meditation exercises enrich the text.

Students are encouraged to obtain a copy of Pema Chodron’s Becoming Bodhisattvas: A Guidebook for Compassionate Action, which was also published as No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva in earlier editions. Either will do.

We are committed to making our programs affordable to all, and we endeavor to set the course fee at a rate that covers necessary expenses. We rely on donations to cover additional program costs. Please consider offering an additional amount to offset program expenses. Thank you for your contribution.

Those with limited income please note the student/fixed income option.