Vajrayana Concentration Practices

Instructor: Lama Linda
Dates: March 18, 25 April 1, 8
New Link to Zoom:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87469872916?pwd=dW45sm68Mj6aOeNWT2TYvJk32Wo4OX.1
Meeting ID: 874 6987 2916 Password: 108108

This series introduces the core concentration methods of Vajrayana Buddhism—training stability, clarity, and the capacity to rest in awake awareness. Each session offers a practical technique, its purpose, and how it supports deeper meditative insight.
We explore how Vajrayana works with form, energy, and awareness to gather scattered attention and reveal the mind’s natural luminosity. Whether you’re newer to practice or experienced, these sessions build confidence and consistency.

What the Series Covers:

• 1. Shamatha with Support
  Using breath, sound, or visual objects to develop steady attention, relaxed effort, and continuity.
  2. Deity Forms as Concentration Objects
  Simple visualization practice to hold luminous images with clarity while staying embodied and at ease.
  3. Subtle Energy and Concentration
  Working with breath and the central channel—such as vase breathing—to steady the mind and refine perception.
  4. Nondual Shamatha
  Resting directly in open, effortless awareness in the Mahamudra/Dzogchen style, where concentration and insight merge.

How it comes together - The series moves from form-based focus, to subtle-energy training, to resting in the natural state—offering a progressive, experiential map for stabilizing and deepening your meditation practice.

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Classes are offered on the ancient basis of Dana, also known as "give from the heart" or "pay what you choose." This allows you to pay according to your heart, and to what you value. Dana can be sent by e-transfer to dana@awakenintoronto.org or by PayPal to https://paypal.me/awakeningintoronto

Teacher Bio: Lama Linda (Linda Hochstetler) has explored consciousness and awakening for more than 30 years. She trained with Namgyal Rinpoche—the first Canadian-born Rinpoche—from 1995 until his passing in 2003, grounding herself in Theravada and Vajrayana Buddhist practices. She later continued her studies with Qapel (Doug Duncan), a successor in the Namgyal lineage, and received permission to teach under his guidance. She is the co-founder and leader of the Awaken in Toronto Sangha, where she teaches weekly online classes on consciousness and awakening principles, and leads retreats 4 times a year.
A registered social worker specializing in illness, dying, and death, Lama Linda also maintains a thriving private psychotherapy practice, has presented widely at conferences, and has been interviewed extensively on end-of-life topics. In 2021 she published her first book, 21 Days to Die: The Canadian Guide to End of Life. A mother, wife, and friend to many, she encourages her students to use their relationships as gateways to love more deeply and explore dharma more fully. She is devoted to weaving Buddhist teachings with Western psychotherapeutic approaches to support transformative change. www.lindahochstetler.com