Madison Tergar Community
Upcoming Events
Anytime Anywhere Meditation
with Martha McCurdy, PhD
Hybrid from Tergar Madison
Saturdays, February 21, 2026 through March 21, 2026
9 – 10:30am
Anytime Anywhere Meditation was created for real life. You don’t need special cushions, long hours, or a quiet retreat to begin. This course is designed to help you start meditating right where you are — in the middle of your workday, while commuting, or during a quiet moment at home.
Click here to register.
Joy of Living Level 1 Workshop
With Kasumi Kato
Hybrid from Tergar Madison
March 20 - 22, 2026
Meditation enables us to transform all experiences, even difficult emotions and painful thoughts, into sources of joy. The modern world has become fascinated with the practice of meditation. With all the hype and glossy images on magazine covers, it would be easy to think that meditation is about sitting in the right posture, using a special technique, or forcing the mind to be calm or relaxed all the time. But the real power of meditation isn’t in the method. It’s in shifting our perspective.
The key to this shift in perspective is awareness. In this workshop we will learn to transform our experience by exploring sensations, thoughts, emotions, and even awareness itself as supports for meditation.
This program offers step-by-step instructions that will benefit those new to meditation and inspire those who have an existing practice. The schedule for this workshop includes video teachings by Mingyur Rinpoche, presentations by Tergar Guide Kasumi Kato, as well as guided meditations and discussion. It is suitable for people of all faiths, as well as both beginning and experienced meditators.
Click here to register.
½-day Retreat: Spring Renewal: Opening to New Possibilities
With Kasumi Kato
Saturday, March 28th, 9am-noon
Hybrid from Tergar Madison
In the busyness of life, finding moments of renewal can feel out of reach. Spring is a season of gentle renewal—a time when the earth awakens, energy stirs, and new possibilities emerge. This half-day retreat is an invitation to reconnect with yourself and embrace the fresh momentum of the season. Through guided meditations, mindful walking, and reflections, you’ll explore simple yet nourishing practices to bring renewal into your daily life. Like the soft unfolding of spring blossoms, this retreat offers a space to open with curiosity, inspiration, and a sense of ease as you step into what’s next.
Schedule:
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM: Welcome and Opening Teachings
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM: Guided Meditation – Renewal and Recognizing Innate Wellbeing
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM: Tea and Reflection Break
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM: Walking Meditation – Seasonal Connection
11:15 AM - 11:45 AM: Meditation – Embracing Renewal
11:45 AM - 12:00 PM: Contemplation and Sharing – Practical Application
Registration information coming soon.
Recurring Events
Joy of Living Meditation Group
Tuesday Evenings, 7:00—8:00pm
Offered as a hybrid event via Zoom and in-person.
Whether an experienced practitioner or just beginning your meditation journey, please join us on Tuesday evenings to explore the practices of awareness, compassion and wisdom.
*Community Nights: the first Tuesday of each month includes a 60-minute teaching/practice session followed by a 30-minute social period with snacks provided.
To receive the Zoom links, please subscribe to our weekly newsletter or email [email protected].
Open Meditation
Friday mornings, 8:00—10:00am
The first hour of Open Meditation is an unguided meditation, followed by one hour of shared reflections (in-person only). We alternate between Wingra Park on the west side of town and Burrows Park on the east side of town. If the weather is not good for an outside meeting, we will meet at the Tergar Center on Blount Street. An email is sent out on Thursday with the location for the following day. To join this group, please email [email protected].
Blueprints of Awakening Discussion Group
First and Third Wednesdays,
4:00—5:30pm
This discussion group meets via Zoom every first and third Wednesday of the month to discuss the Blueprints of Awakening transmission from Vajrayana Online (online only). Meetings are held from 4 pm to 5:30 pm with rotating moderators. For more information, please contact [email protected].
Nectar of the Path Practice
Second Sunday Mornings, 10:30am—noon
This is a monthly opportunity to practice the Nectar of the Path at our center (in-person only). This concise and beautiful liturgy was written by our guiding teacher, Mingyur Rinpoche, and captures the essence of many key aspects of Tibetan Buddhism in a practice that involves contemplation, meditation, and chanting in both Tibetan and English. The one-hour practice is led by a volunteer Umdze (chant leader) and is open to all.
Dharma Talks
Biweekly on Thursday Evenings, 7:00—8:00pm
This hybrid talk is offered twice a month on Thursdays and is led by guest speakers such as Dr. Cortland Dahl, Kasumi Kato, Dr. Scott Anderson, Dr. John Dunne, and others. These meetings are FREE and open to everyone. The talks start at 7 pm and are held at our center at 301 S. Blount St. and on Zoom.
If you are interested in Buddhism or the spiritual journey, these talks are for you. To view the schedule or receive the Zoom links, please subscribe to our weekly newsletter or email [email protected].
Movie Night
Monthly on Saturday Evenings,
7:00—9:00pm
Each month the Tergar-Madison Meditation Community hosts a community movie night in our beautiful center. These screenings are free and open to all! Bring your friends, family and favorite movie snacks for a relaxing Saturday night.
Saturday, February 14th - The Dalai Lama’s Gift
The Dalai Lama's Gift is a documentary about the historic 1981 Kalachakra Tantra ritual performed by the Dalai Lama in a Wisconsin cornfield, the first time the ceremony was held outside of Tibet or India. The film uses never-before-seen footage from the Smithsonian archives to explore how this sacred event and the teachings of the Dalai Lama had a transformative and lasting impact on the American and Midwestern Buddhist community that organized it.
Saturday, March 14th - Digital Dharma
Digital Dharma is an epic story of a cultural rescue and how one man’s mission became the catalyst for an international movement to find, save and provide open access to the story of the Tibetan people.
When ancient writings of Sanskrit and Tibetan texts vanish during the political turmoil of the 1950s and 1960s, the history of a whole society-–its beliefs, customs and roadmap to enlightenment-–is in danger of disappearing. Enter destiny in the form of American pacifist E. Gene Smith, a Mormon from Ogden, Utah, the unlikely leader of an effort to rescue these early insights from mankind’s consciousness, from the medical to the mystical.
Saturday, April 11th - AKONG: A Remarkable Life
AKONG: A Remarkable Life traces the extraordinary journey of Chöje Akong Tulku Rinpoche, born in Kham (Eastern Tibet) and recognized as a reincarnate tulku at a young age. In 1959, amid escalating Sino-Tibetan tensions, he joined a perilous 10-month trek across the Himalayas to India—an ordeal few survived. Resettling first in India and later in the UK, Akong Rinpoche co-founded Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery & Tibetan Centre in Scotland in 1967—the first Tibetan Buddhist centre in the West—and helped introduce authentic Tibetan Buddhist teachings to generations of students.
Through ROKPA and allied initiatives, Akong Rinpoche supported medical, educational, and humanitarian projects across Asia and Africa. The film interweaves rare archival footage, interviews, and on-the-ground material to capture a life defined by compassion, pragmatism, and service.
For upcoming events and programs please go to our online calendar.
Under the guidance of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Tergar Madison holds weekly drop-in meditation groups and public talks, as well as periodic retreats, workshops and classes on meditation and Tibetan Buddhism. Please join us!
Please Note: Service animals are welcome in the center. Other animals are asked to stay home during the retreat to make the space as accessible as possible for those with allergies.
Tergar Madison
Address:
301 S Blount Street, Suite 104, Madison, WI 53703
Click here for a parking map
Email: [email protected]
FaceBook: Tergar Madison
SoundCloud: Tergar Meditation Community
Suggestions and Comments for Tergar Madison Leadership:
If you would like to offer input to the Tergar Madison Community Council, please follow this link.
Tergar Programs
Joy of Living Workshops and Retreats
The Joy of Living is a course of meditation training that is open to people of all religious and cultural backgrounds. Tergar Madison offers regular workshops and retreats related to the practices of mindfulness, compassion, and insight meditation.
Exploring Buddhism is a study program that covers the core teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. These teachings address the full spectrum of Buddhist thought and practice, starting with teachings on the Four Noble Truths and leading up to the philosophy of Vajrayana Buddhism.
The Path of Liberation builds on the foundational teachings of the Joy of Living, presenting a course of meditation practice rooted in the ancient teachings of Tibet. Tergar Madison holds regular activities for Path of Liberation practitioners.
If you have questions about Tergar Madison programs, please send an email to [email protected].