Our Namesake -- Machig Labdron
Machig Labdron is among the best loved of Tibetan saints, along with her contemporary, Milarepa, and the eighth-century female saint, Yeshe Tsogyal. Born in the late eleventh-century with all the signs that accompany the birth of a great being, Machig Labdron (Machig: “one mother” and Labdron: “light of Labchi”) was a brilliant child prodigy. By her mid-teens, she could recite the entire 100,000 verse Prajnaparamita in a single day and could comprehensively explain its meaning as well. However, she had not yet internalized that meaning. She meditated following the instructions of her teacher, and one day while reciting the chapter on evil spirits, attained complete realization.

In her adulthood, Machig Labdron became a great teacher and tantric yogini. She was the physical mother of three children, all of whom became great adepts and played a significant role in transmitting their mother’s practice lineage down to the present day.

Our Lineage -- Lama Tsong Khapa
Machig Labdron study group offers Mahayana teachings within the tradition of Lama Tsong Khapa. Lama Tsong Khapa (1356-1419), also known as Je Rinpoche Losang Drakpa, is one of the most important figures in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. Born into a ordinary family in the Amdo region of Tibet, he took the vows of a monk at a very young age. By adolescence he had mastered much of the Buddhist teachings and went on to continue his study under the great Buddhist masters of his day. It is said that his intense devotion to study and practice resulted in many visions and teachings received directly from Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. His voluminous writings provide commentaries on almost all of the classic texts of Buddhism. He wrote many comprehensive treatises, most notably his Great Exposition on the Stages of the Path to Buddhahood. Lama Tsong Khapa also founded the three great monasteries of Tibet. The Gelugpa tradition, one of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism regards Lama Tsong Khapa as its founder.

Our Spiritual Teachers
Lama Yeshe
(1935-1984) born in Tibet, where he studied until 1959, when the Chinese invasion of Tibet forced him into exile in India. Lama Yeshe continued to study and meditate under the direction of the foremost Tibetan masters of the time in India until 1967, when, with his chief disciple, Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, he went to Nepal. Two years later he established Kopan Monastery, in order make Buddhism available to Westerners. In 1974, requested by their students, the Lamas began making annual teaching tours to the West and as a result of these travels a worldwide network of Buddhist teaching and meditation centers—the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), began to develop. In 1984, at the age of forty-nine, Lama Yeshe passed away.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche was born in Thami, Nepal, in 1946. At the age of three, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the Lawudo Lama, who had lived nearby. At age ten, Rinpoche went to Tibet, where he stayed until the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 forced him into exile in India, where he met Lama Yeshe. The Lamas went to Nepal in 1967 and started teaching Dharma to Westerners. In 1974, they began traveling around the world to teach and establish centers of Dharma. When Lama Yeshe passed away in 1984, Rinpoche took over as spiritual head of their organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), which continues to flourish under his peerless leadership.
For Rinpoche's life story and teachings visit the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive (LYWA), which is devoted to the teachings of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Thubten Yeshe.

About Machig Labdron Study Group
Since 2000, this group has been meeting weekly to study Buddhist thought and practice meditation together. We learn from a variety of Buddhist teachers – both Western and Tibetan. We are associated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). 

Our study encompasses subjects from the Lam Rim, the graded path to enlightenment.  All About Karma, How to Develop Bodhicitta, Transforming Problems , How to Meditate, and Establishing a Daily Practice are some of the subjects we’ve studied in past years. Everyone is welcome to join us at any of our events. No previous experience is necessary.