Self Paced Programs (Tara Mandala, yana)

Self Paced Programs is an open enrollment online meditation offering from Tara Mandala, a Tibetan Buddhist community founded by Lama Tsultrim Allione. It is for people who want to study and practice Tibetan Buddhism at their own pace, from home, with recorded teachings and the option of joining live practice groups. The programs are hosted on yana, Tara Mandala's Digital Dharma Hub, and are listed as open throughout the year.

What to Expect

Each self-paced program includes teaching and practice recordings, texts, and support material for self-guided study. You move through the content when it suits you rather than on a fixed class schedule. Accompanying live practice groups are also hosted on yana, so the solitary work of studying a practice can be balanced with practicing alongside others.

The programs available are:

- Green Tara
- Riwo Sangchö
- Chöd of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu
- Zhitro
- Opening the Heart Sutra
- Mandala of the Empowered Feminine
- Machig Labdrön and the Nature of Mind

Together they cover several strands of the Tibetan tradition: deity practice, purification and offering practices, the Chöd lineage, practices connected with death and dying, a study of the Heart Sutra, and teachings on the feminine and on the nature of mind associated with Machig Labdrön.

About Lama Tsultrim Allione

Lama Tsultrim Allione is the teacher listed for these programs and the founder of Tara Mandala. She is known for her work with Machig Labdrön, the Tibetan woman teacher at the source of the Chöd tradition, and for developing Feeding Your Demons®, a method that blends Tibetan wisdom with modern psychology to work with difficult experiences. She also received Machig Labdrön's Longevity Sadhana while meditating in Machig's sacred cave in Bhutan, a practice she now shares in Tara Mandala's wider program of teachings.

Before You Go

Everything takes place online, so you need only a way to reach yana and a quiet place to practice. Some practices in the Tara Mandala community are offered to those who have already received a particular transmission, so it is worth reading each program's description on enrollment to see what it asks of you. Beyond the self-paced courses, Tara Mandala also offers live online programs, daylong teachings, and long-term study paths such as its yearlong Heart of Buddhism program, which can be a next step once you have settled into a practice.