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Vajragarbha was created to support the conditions in which the Buddhist teachings can be studied deeply, practiced sincerely, and brought toward realization.
Through live teachings, meditation, sustained courses, guidance from experienced teachers and long-term practitioners, sangha practice and retreat, students are supported not simply in learning the Dharma, but in allowing the teachings to become part of the way they practice, relate, meet difficulty, cultivate compassion and wisdom, and live their lives.
Our intention is to preserve both the depth of the traditional teachings and their living application so that wisdom and compassion are not merely understood, but increasingly embodied through practice.
Vajragarbha’s course library and teachers offer instruction across the traditional Buddhist path, from foundational meditation and Buddhist teachings through Mahayana, Tantra, Mahamudra and Dzogchen. Students may enter according to their experience and continue through increasingly profound levels of study and practice.
Dra Thal Gyur

A 12-Week Study and Practice Course with Lama Michael Gregory
The Dra Thal Gyur is the root tantra of the Seventeen Tantras of the Dzogchen Upadeśa tradition and one of the foundational texts for understanding the view and experiential instructions of Dzogchen.
In this live course, Lama Michael Gregory is undertaking a sustained study of the tantra together with Vimalamitra’s commentary, combining translation, textual explanation, guided meditation, and practical instruction.
The teachings explore central questions of Dzogchen: the nature of awareness, how appearances arise, how confusion develops, the relationship between awareness and perception, and how saṃsāra and nirvāṇa may be understood without ever departing from primordial purity.
The course also emphasizes direct practice: recognizing awareness in meditation and ordinary life, examining thought and emotion as appearances, and exploring the relationship between awareness, perception, and self-arising primordial wisdom.
Enrollment is currently open for students wishing to join the existing live teaching cycle.
New students receive access to the recordings of the classes already taught, along with the remaining live teachings and course materials through Teachable. The course includes root-text study, Vimalamitra’s commentary, guided Dzogchen meditation, and practical contemplative exercises.
Some previous meditation or Buddhist study is helpful, though prior familiarity with the Dra Thal Gyur itself is not required. Vajragarbha exists to support sincere practitioners in the study and practice of the Buddhist path not only through receiving teachings, but through developing the understanding, meditation, discipline and continuity that allow those teachings to become lived experience.
Next Live Teaching: Tuesday
Live on Zoom • Tuesdays • Learn at Your Own Pace Recordings via Teachable

Lama Michael Gregory has devoted more than three decades to the study, practice, and teaching of Buddhism, with particular emphasis on the profound traditions of Dzogchen and Mahamudra.
His spiritual training has taken him through the monasteries and retreat environments of India, Tibet, and the Himalayas, where he received teachings and empowerments from some of the most revered masters of Tibetan Buddhism, including H.H. the Dalai Lama, H.H. Penor Rinpoche, H.H. Dodrupchen Rinpoche, H.E. Gyaltsab Rinpoche, and H.E. Thrangu Rinpoche. For Lama Michael, the Dharma is not merely a body of philosophy or scripture, but a living tradition preserved through the kindness of teachers, the continuity of transmission, and the sincere practice of successive generations.
A former Buddhist monk and experienced retreat master, Lama Michael has guided practitioners internationally through the classical stages of the Buddhist path, from the foundations of meditation and compassion to the direct teachings on the nature of mind. For decades, Lama Michael has taught throughout the United States and internationally, leading Buddhist teachings, meditation retreats, extended residential practice programs, and pilgrimages, while offering continuing guidance to a growing community of students.
His teaching is known for its clarity, directness, depth, and engaging character. Drawing upon classical Buddhist texts, traditional oral instructions, and his own years of contemplative training, he has a particular ability to illuminate profound teachings while addressing the practical questions and difficulties that arise in a practitioner’s experience.
At the heart of his teaching is Dzogchen, a tradition concerned with the direct recognition of the nature of mind. Rather than presenting these profound instructions in isolation, Lama Michael emphasizes the importance of the complete Buddhist path, from the cultivation of compassion, renunciation, and wisdom to the practices of Vajrayana and the direct teachings of the Great Perfection.
The study of Dharma does not end when a teaching has been heard. Its meaning unfolds through contemplation, meditation, the guidance of experienced teachers, and the sincere effort to bring the teachings into our lives.
At Vajragarbha, students are invited to remain with the teachings through an ongoing program of live classes, meditation, Dharma discussion and sangha practice.
Lama Michael Gregory offers weekly Dzogchen teachings, including sustained study of traditional texts, commentary and meditation instruction. Sacred Sundays brings together experienced three-year retreat practitioners for Dharma teachings, guided meditation and questions arising from practice. Throughout the week, our wider teaching community offers instruction and meditation support across different Buddhist traditions.
Students can participate in live teachings, practice alongside fellow members of the sangha, revisit recordings, and draw upon an extensive library of courses and contemplative instruction.
This continuity of teaching, practice and spiritual friendship is central to Vajragarbha’s intention: to support the cultivation of bodhicitta, compassion and wisdom, and the sincere pursuit of liberation and realization.

Vajragarbha membership is for practitioners who wish to remain connected to the teachings and sangha beyond a single course.
Members are able to participate in an ongoing teachings, teacher and sangha support and live practice:
The purpose of membership is not simply access.
It is continuity.
A place to return to the teachings.
A place to practice.
A place to ask questions.
A place to remain connected with teachers and fellow practitioners as practice develops over time.
Members receive the current Dra Thal Gyur live teachings, recordings and course materials as part of their membership.
Lama Michael Gregory (Gen-la)

Retreat offers an valuable space in which we can devote ourselves to our potential for awakening, limitless bodhicitta, compassion, wisdom and insight. We offer everything from foundational to advanced buddhist retreats from Theravada, Mahayana, Tantra, Mahamudra and Dzogchen Teaching and Lineages.

This six-week video course offers a contemplative and deeply compassionate journey. Led by Lama Michael this transformative course introduces the classical foundations of Buddhist mindfulness. Practices illuminate how to watch your unfolding mental and emotional world non-reactively and respond with heart, and wisdom.
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Dzogchen Tuesday Night Teachings with Lama Michael Gregory.
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Tantra Teachings and Q&A on Buddhist Tantra Teachings With Lama Philip. Suitable for practioners with empowerment.
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Pemako Center was created to assist contemplatives and meditators as a place to practice with with ongoing instruction from among the very best of living yogis and scholars. We focus on on providing the most supportive solo retreat and group retreat experience with crystal clear teaching and meditation.
Feel free to reach out with any practice, retreat or membership questions or inquiries you might have. The doors to our community are warmly open to you, and we look forward to welcoming you soon.

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