Mahāmudrā: practicing being a buddha

With Venerable Losang Gendun

Our challenges run deeper than we usually notice. Beneath the obvious discomfort of pain, impermanence and frustration lies a subtler pressure — the background hum of conditioned existence itself, which colors the feeling-tone of every moment with faint unease, causing us to reach for relief, the stabilizing comfort of fixed views and settled identities. What we have not yet seen is that this restlessness is not the nature of the mind — it is the tourist, not the resident.

Mahāmudrā is the direct recognition of our true nature: stillness flowing. Pure from the beginning, the clear-light nature of the mind is empty of fixed views, alienation and characteristics. In meditation this groundlessness offers an astonishing clarity, off the cushion a profound embeddedness in life. With a naked recognition of our true nature, feelings, emotions and thoughts still arise but are recognized as mere waves rippling across the ocean of the mind. Practice becomes an effortless recognition of the inner stillness by enjoying the relief it brings.

During this one-week retreat on Mahāmudrā, the mornings will open with the Ganden Lha Gyema, the quintessential Gelug celebration of the awakened qualities of Je Tsongkhapa, instilling the practitioner with the freedom to celebrate their inner qualities and to let go of hindrances. Evening sessions will offer teaching on the view and the path, with time for questions.

This retreat is designed for mid-level practitioners with a solid grounding in the Dharma — those who have worked with the lamrim, developed some stability in meditation, and are ready to bring that foundation into direct inquiry into the nature of mind.

About Losang Gendun

Venerable Losang Gendun has spent nearly four decades in Buddhist practice, and has been living as a fully ordained gelong in the Tibetan tradition for the past twenty years. His training spans ten years of monastic study across France, India, Nepal, and Myanmar, and more than four years in solitary retreat in the Tibetan Mahayana and the Burmese Theravāda traditions.

For the past eighteen years he has taught Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and meditation worldwide within FPMT, serving the vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In 2023, as a gesture of gratitude to his teachers, he founded The Buddha Project (TBP), offering long-term guidance for serious meditators and fostering dialogue between Buddhist traditions, contemplative science, and the arts. TBP webpages serve as the online learning platform for its core programs, the FPMT In-Depth Meditation Training and the FPMT Ngöndro Lamrim Training.

Important notice:

Long-term and intensive meditation can have unexpected consequences for participants with psychological problems, traumas and the use of psychoactive medication. Should this be the case with you, we kindly ask you to let us know in advance for your own and everyone's safety. In consultation with Ven. Gendun we can then decide whether participation in the retreat is a good idea. Although we observe precautions, any mental problems are the responsibility of the participant. As the retreat will be largely in silence, we will request you for the name and phone number of a contact person we can call in case of an emergency.