Winter Practice Period 2026
Deity Practice - Tracing the Roots of Compassion
with Emyo Darlene Tataryn
Sunday, February 1st, 2026
10:00 am - 2:00 pm ET (New York)
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV
The intention of this half-day zazenkai is to introduce participants to a more traditional version of compassion practice completing the teachings of the Winter Practice Period.
About this retreat:
In order to practice Vajrayana, an overview of the following will be briefly introduced:
The Three Turnings of the Wheel
Vajrayana – The Diamond Vehicle
Initiation or Wongkur
The magic of Mantra and Visualization
Deity practice or Arising Yoga.
This half-day retreat offers a series of hands-on teachings utilizing the visualization techniques practiced in Karma Kagyu lineage. As a technique for developing compassion, deity visualizations offer a compelling and accessible technique for opening the the heart to broader energies.
Unobscured like a cloudless sky,
remain in a lucid and intangible openness.
Unmoving like the ocean free of waves,
remain in complete ease, undistracted by thought.
Unchanging and brilliant like a flame undisturbed by the wind,
remain utterly clear and bright.
~ Tashi Namgyal
Emyo Darlene Tataryn
Darlene Tataryn, PhD Expressive Therapy, is an educator and therapist who bridges Buddhist meditative traditions with the transformative power of emotional and somatic therapy. As founder of One Wisdom, she guides individuals and communities toward somatic healing, emotional liberation, and spiritual awakening, seeing the world as an ever-unfolding mandala of interconnection and luminous potential.
She was a pioneer in Canada's expressive arts field since the early 1970s, and in 2017, Darlene was acknowledged as an Elder in Expressive Therapy at the International Indigenous Roots of Expressive Therapy Conference in Winnipeg. Her Buddhist training includes Theravada and Yogachara (Shamatha-Vipassana certified by Upasaka Culadasa in 2021), Vajrayana Karma Kagyu Namgyal Lineage among others, and Zen, ordained as Priest Emyo Seien by Jun Po Roshi in 2014. As a Culadasa-certified teacher of The Mind Illuminated, Darlene offers meditation programs for all levels. She is a certified Hollow Bones Mondo Zen Facilitator of koan inquiries that integrate heart-mind collaboration and shadow work for compassionate living.
These disciplines inform her creations: Maitreya's Chair—a contemplative seated movement practice for releasing tension and cultivating tranquility—and The Lotus Series (Asaya Yoga), a dynamic movement meditation promoting neurocellular reprogramming, spinal alignment, and improvisational expression for all ages.
With over 35 years as a counselor, private practitioner, and former Applied Counseling instructor, she draws on Integral Theory to support clients in therapy, retreats, and expressive movement sessions where trauma dissolves and innate wisdom emerges.
As practitioner, wife, and (grand)mother, Darlene encourages spiritual practice in the daily activities of life and relationship. She has shared Buddha Dharma through Sunday meditation sits and retreats at Selkirk Vihara, the Hermitage on Denman Island, Dharma Treasure in Cochise, AZ, and online venues such as Shining Bright Lotus Meditation Society. She invites us to affirm our birthright to live, move, and grow as embodied expressions of the Divine—interconnected in body, breath, and boundless potential.
For inquiries, meditation attendance, or to join her email community, visit onewisdom.ca
“Compassion is rooted in the Absolute ground of being and is expressed through action. In this retreat we will contemplate relative and absolute Bodhichitta or the mind of enlightenment.”
Schedule
All times in EST (New York)
9:45 – 10:00 am Zendo Opens
10:00 – 10:15 am Check In
10:15 – 10:30 am Introduction- Compassion
10:30 – 10:45 am Bodhicitta- Absolute and Relative
10:45 – 11:00 am Practice and Discussion
11:00 – 11:20 am Morning Service
11:20 –11:30 am Break
11:30 – 11:45 am The Three Turnings
11:45 – 12:00 pm Practice and Discussion
12:00 - 12:15 pm Vajrayana
12:15 – 12:30 pm Practice and Discussion
12:30 - 12:45 pm Wongkur and Sadhana
12:45 – 1:00 pm Discussion
1:00 – 1:15 pm Mantra/Visualization
1:15 – 1:30 pm Discussion
1:30 – 1:45 pm Putting it all together
1:45 – 2:00 pm Final Discussion and closing