Natural Meditation
Bodhicitta
2024 Margha Program Overview
About the Margha Program
Margha means “path“ in Sanskrit.
Margha Program content alternates year-to-year between Natural Meditation and Bodhicitta, and may be completed in any order. The program is intended for newcomers as well as seasoned practitioners who are looking for a structured program to learn, progress, and deepen in a sequence of profound yet accessible meditations adapted from traditional Himalayan Buddhist practice. Some participants choose to work with each series of practices for many years.
Guided by a team of Natural Dharma Fellowship (NDF) teachers and Margha mitras (spiritual friends/mentors), the Margha Program is built around monthly online and in-person small-group meetings. Each student chooses or is assigned a Margha Mitra for the year. Meditation practices are introduced by the mitras during monthly meetings, through online resources, including guided meditation audios, and via monthly readings from assigned texts.
A curated selection of suggested books, articles, essays, and podcasts is also provided to complement the teachings. In addition, during twice-yearly retreats at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge, essential teachings are provided by Lama Liz Monson and Margha Program Director Camille Hykes.
Bodhicitta
The 2024 Margha Program focuses on Bodhicitta practices of loving-kindness and compassion and includes the Lojong heart contemplations as transmitted in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Participants learn a series of contemplative practices to deepen in love, self-compassion, compassion for others, wisdom, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.
The curriculum, a thorough distillation of traditional Tibetan Buddhist training, was created jointly by Lama Willa Miller and Lama John Makransky for the students of Natural Dharma Fellowship, with the intent to cultivate and nourish a life of spiritual practice. It is transmitted by Lama Liz Monson, Spiritual Co-Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship, and Margha Director Camille Hykes with support from a dedicated circle of Mitras (spiritual friends/mentors) well-trained in these practices.
Spiritual Friendship
Mitras will offer guided meditations and teachings during the monthly meetings, and they will provide support and address questions related to the Margha practices. Three times during the year, participants will be invited to engage in individual dharma meetings with their Mitra.
It is important to also note that participants offer invaluable support for each other as they explore the practices and teachings together during the Margha year. Margha groups offer participants the opportunity to enact qualities of heart and deepen their understanding of the gem that is spiritual friendship.
Answers to common questions are provided below. If you have questions that are not addressed here, please contact Margha Program Coordinator Jean Fazzino Lain at [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions
Participants choose their monthly group from online and in-person groups during the registration process. In-person groups decide for themselves whether to meet via Zoom or in person during inclement weather and if COVID precautions are needed (face masks, social distancing, and/or same-day testing). The level of precautions will depend on the risk tolerance of each group, ideally informed by then-current CDC guidance.
Participants will remain with their group for the entire year. Hybrid groups are not offered as such groups are not optimal within the small group communal format. Once the program has started, transferring between groups is discouraged.
Participants choose their monthly group from online and in-person groups during the registration process.
In-person groups decide for themselves whether to meet via Zoom or in-person during inclement weather and if COVID precautions are needed (face masks, social distancing, and/or same-day testing). The level of precautions will depend on the risk tolerance of each group, ideally informed by then-current CDC guidance.
Participants will remain with their group for the entire year. Hybrid groups are not offered as such groups are not optimal within the small group communal format. Once the program has started, transferring between groups is discouraged.
This program is designed in a monthly format for individual and group practice and study. Participants are responsible for their own “daily-ish” meditation practice, as well as assigned reading which is outlined in the monthly practice guide.
They will be asked to commit to attending most monthly meetings with their designated small group, and to either attend the Winter and Summer retreat and/or listen to audio files which will be made available following the retreat.
Registration for the Margha Program opens in the fall of each year. An announcement will be posted on this page when the time is near – generally in October. Registration will be posted on the NDF Schedule Page when it opens.
Check our Schedule page for information and access to the Registration form.
The yearly program begins with a Welcome and Orientation Meeting with your Margha group in January 2024. The program officially begins with the Winter Retreat, which will also be held in January. (The Summer Retreat will be held in June or July.) Monthly groups will meet from February through November. The date and time of the monthly meetings vary from group to group, and details will be available on the Registration Page.
Retreat information such as dates, descriptions, and registration will be posted on the Schedule Page of the NDF website. Retreats are offered in a hybrid format at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH, and online via Zoom.
The fee structure for the Margha Program will be posted when registration opens. It generally runs in a tier format Benefactor, Basic Price, and Supported.
It is Natural Dharma Fellowship’s aspiration that no one is turned away from our teachings and retreats because she/he is unable to pay the full cost. In order to make our courses affordable for all who wish to attend, a flexible fee structure is offered that takes into account people’s differing financial circumstances. You may write in any amount that fits your financial situation. The purchase of required texts and NDF Margha retreats are separate from the Program Fee.
Please visit the NDF scholarship page for information about retreat financial assistance.
