Renea Lanter will teach and lead discussions on The 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva. This is an important and often studied text written by Togme Zangpo in the 14th century.
His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama gave this brief introduction:
"Togme Zangpo lived at the time of Buton Rinpoche, which was two generations before Tsongkhapa. He was a lama mostly trained in the Sakya tradition and, from an early age, was famous for being primarily interested in helping others. As a child, for instance, he would even become cross at people if they did not help others. Eventually, he became a monk and studied with and relied on various lamas, mostly two specific teachers. He practiced both sutra and tantra and became a very learned, realized practitioner.
He was most famous for his development of bodhichitta and this he did mostly through the teachings on equalizing and exchanging self with others. In fact, if we try to think of a bodhisattva, Togme Zangpo is one who comes to mind immediately as an example, doesn’t he? He was such a type of great person, truly a special being. Whenever anyone came to listen to his teachings, for instance, they would become very subdued, quiet, and calm.
As he wrote about these thirty-seven practices in order to help us all, we need to try to examine these teachings over and again. We say we are Mahayana practitioners, but if we do not always examine the actual Mahayana practices, this would never do. Therefore, we need to try to examine ourselves in terms of these thirty-seven practices and see if, in fact, we do accord our actions with them."
Source: Berzin Archives: https://studybuddhism.com/en/tibetan-buddhism/mind-training/commentaries-on-lojong-texts/commentary-on-37-bodhisattva-practices-the-dalai-lama
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