Who: Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche
What: Talk, meditation, discussion, book signing
Where: Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave. / Dharma House NYC, 60-06 39th Ave., Woodside
When: Thursday, March 23, $19 ($38.92 with lunch), 1:00 / Friday, March 24, free (donations accepted), 7:30
Why: Tibetan Buddhist teacher Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche returns to the Rubin Museum and Dharma House NYC for a pair of special events on March 23–24 in conjunction with the release of his latest book, Awakening Dignity: A Guide to Living a Life of Deep Fulfillment (Shambhala Publications, December 2022, $21.95). “Why is the joy inside us so hard to maintain? Why are we so easily lured by self-doubt, inadequacy, fear? Why do we feel so incomplete? What is the cause of this kind of suffering and what, if anything, can we do about it?” Phakchok Rinpoche asks in the first chapter, pointing out: “You are not alone.” The follow-up to Phakchok Rinpoche and Erric Solomon’s Radically Happy, the new book was written with associate history professor Sophie Wu and features a foreword by Daniel Goleman and Tara Bennett-Goleman. Awakening Dignity is divided into three parts, “Your Nature Is Pure,” “You Can Change,” and “Gaining Certainty and Trust,” and includes such chapters as “The Mirror of the Heart,” “Making Friends with ‘Sticky Mind,’” “Carefree Ease,” and “‘Who Am I?’”
Born in Kathmandu in 1981, Phakchok Rinpoche is a wonderful teacher with a unique sense of humor; I have sat in on numerous classes he’s led and lectures he’s given in Cooperstown, Westchester, SoHo, Nepal, and online, and they are always enlightening, whether you’re a practitioner or not. Last month I watched the livestream of the remarkable cremation ceremony for his father, Kyabje Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, which provided stunning insights into death, ritual, and reincarnation and fits right in with the Rubin exhibition “Death Is Not the End.” On March 23 at 1:00, Phakchok Rinpoche will be at the Rubin to lead a session of the institution’s “Mindfulness Meditation” series, consisting of an opening talk dealing with the theme of “Unity,” a twenty-minute seated meditation, and a discussion, followed by a book signing. Admission is $19 or, if you want lunch, $38.92 with food from the Indian restaurant TAGMO. The book tour continues on March 24 at 7:30 when Phakchok Rinpoche will be at Dharma House New York City to deliver the public teaching “The Four Transformative Thoughts,” also known as “The Four Mind Changings”; admission is free (donations welcome), but get there a bit early for a seat.