Programs

Flexible Dates

Week One: The Inner Science of Awakening Dignity

With Sophie (Shu-chin) Wu, Hilary Herdman and Seth Auster-Rosen

This opening week of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences introduces participants to the inner science of buddha dharma — the contemplative foundation that underlies the full immersion. In the weeks that follow, this inner science will be brought into dialogue with the outer sciences of medicine, artisanry, and philosophy (psychology and reasoning). The first week establishes the ground from which those later integrations unfold, inviting participants into the Buddhist tradition through meditation, study, and dialogue. The week opens with the Inner Science of Awakening Dignity, taught by Sophie Wu. From a Buddhist perspective, dignity arises…

June 17 - July 27, 2026

Samye Institute Summer Immersion 2026

Explore Buddhism as a Way of Life Six- or three-week immersion at Samye New York, Cooperstown, New York   Samye Institute invites you into a rare educational and spiritual journey, a place where you can step out of habitual life, re-center yourself, and immerse in the Buddhist Arts & Sciences through direct experience.   You will live and learn in a supportive environment that integrates study, meditation, embodiment practices, nature connection, and traditional Himalayan arts, guided by masters, scholars, and experienced practitioners. This is more than a program. It’s a lived experience of the Buddha Dharma that you will take…

Flexible Dates

Week Two: Tibetan Medicine & the Science of Wellbeing

With Tawni Tidwell, Hilary Herdman and Seth Auster-Rosen

This second week of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences begins the integration of inner and outer sciences that defines the heart of the program. Building on the contemplative foundation established in the opening week, participants now bring the inner science of buddha dharma into dialogue with one of the great outer sciences of the Buddhist tradition: medicine. The week unfolds through meditation, study, and discussion, with study sessions led by Tawni Tidwell at its center. The week's centerpiece is the Outer Science of Medicine, taught by Tawni Tidwell, which introduces the principles of Tibetan medicine…

Flexible Dates

Week Three: Buddhist Sacred Art & Artisanry

With Buchung Nubgya and Hilary Herdman

This third week of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences continues the integration of inner and outer sciences at the heart of the program. Building on the contemplative foundation established in the opening week, participants now bring the inner science of buddha dharma into dialogue with another of the great outer sciences of the Buddhist tradition: artisanry. The week unfolds through meditation, study, and hands-on practice, with studio sessions led by Buchung Nubgya at its center. The week's centerpiece is the Outer Science of Sacred Art, taught by Buchung Nubgya, a master of Tibetan thangka painting.…

Flexible Dates

Week Four: Buddhist Philosophy I – Understanding Reality by Knowing the Mind

With Tulku Migmar Tsering and Seth Auster-Rosen

This fourth week of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences continues the integration of inner and outer sciences at the heart of the program. Building on the contemplative foundation established in the opening week, participants now bring the inner science of buddha dharma into dialogue with another of the great outer sciences of the Buddhist tradition: philosophy. The week unfolds through meditation, study, and dialogue, with study sessions led by Seth Auster-Rosen at its center. The week's centerpiece is the Outer Science of Philosophy, taught by Seth Auster-Rosen. Critical thinking is how we come to understand…

Flexible Dates

Week Five: Buddhist Philosophy II – The Nature of Thought, Perception, and Insight

With Tulku Migmar Tsering and Seth Auster-Rosen

This fifth week of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences continues the integration of inner and outer sciences at the heart of the program, picking up directly from the philosophical inquiry of the previous week. Participants now turn from the broad framework of Buddhist concepts to the specific question of how we know — extending the inner science of buddha dharma into the territory of Buddhist epistemology. The week unfolds through meditation, study, and dialogue, with study sessions led by Seth Auster-Rosen at its center. The week's centerpiece is the Outer Science of Buddhist Epistemology, taught…

Flexible Dates

Week Six: Noble Living, Noble Caring, Noble Dying: Healing Practices in Buddhism

With Tulku Migmar Tsering, Tsunma Jamyang Donma and Andrea Sherman

This final offering of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion: The Buddhist Arts & Sciences gathers the inner and outer sciences explored over the preceding weeks into an extended reflection on what it means to live, care, and die well. Drawing on the medicine teachings of Week Two, the contemplative training of the inner science weeks, and the philosophical inquiry into mind, perception, and reality, this offering turns toward the Buddhist tradition's deepest and most practical question: how do these understandings shape the way we accompany ourselves and one another through life, illness, and death? The week centers on the Noble…

July 21 - 27, 2026

Summer Seminar 2026

With Phakchok Rinpoche

Awakening Dignity · Transformation · Realization We warmly welcome our local and international sangha to Phakchok Rinpoche’s annual Summer Seminar at Samye Hermitage New York in Cooperstown. This stand-alone week of teaching and practice marks the culminating seminar of the Samye Institute Summer Immersion, while remaining fully open and complete as an independent program for both new and seasoned practitioners. Over the course of the week, participants are guided through a coherent and integrated path encompassing Awakening Dignity, Transformation, and Realization, offering a full arc of contemplative training grounded in lived experience. The seminar opens on Tuesday evening with a…

Flexible Dates

Mahamudra Practice Retreat

With Tulku Migmar Tsering

This five-day retreat follows directly after Phakchok Rinpoche’s Summer Seminar and offers participants an opportunity to deepen and integrate the Mahamudra and Vajrayana instructions received during the week through sustained meditation and contemplative practice. During the Summer Seminar, participants are introduced to Mahamudra as a path of direct recognition and growing familiarity with awareness itself. This retreat creates the conditions to continue that process through silence, devotional practice, meditation, and continuity of awareness in daily life. Led by Tulku Migmar Tsering, the retreat maintains the practice container established during the seminar, including daily sang offering and protector practices for those…