Online Dharma: Tergar’s Kickstarter campaign for new mobile app ‘Joy of Living’ gains momentum

Tergar International, founded by revered Dharma teacher and meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, announced the resounding success of its recent Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the development of a new mobile app, named “Joy of Living” after Tergar’s foundational course of Buddhist practice and learning.

“We are thrilled with the incredible support our Kickstarter campaign for the Joy of Living app has received. This enthusiasm reaffirms our mission to bring Mingyur Rinpoche’s teachings to a global audience,” Tergar told BDG.

“Our Kickstarter funding goal was only $10 USD, and we were fully funded within two hours. But our actual goal is much higher than that. So what’s happening…? Early success on Kickstarter is encouraging more backers to join us, which can potentially help our project go viral and spread Mingyur Rinpoche’s wisdom to an even wider audience… By setting an achievable initial goal, we’ve gained traction and are reaching new audiences beyond our Tergar community. While we’ve made great progress, the cost of developing and maintaining this app is estimated at $000 million USD over three years. Every dollar raised brings us closer to creating a more robust and feature-rich app.”

At the time of writing, the Kickstarter campaign had raised $146 from 170 backers.

“The global mental health crisis is acute, with millions struggling with heightened anxiety, depression and isolation,” Tergar said in a statement shared with BDG. “Meditation has become a key tool in the growing mental wellness movement, offering a powerful way to build resilience. The Joy of Living app offers a proven, user-friendly approach to meditation, based on Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s teachings from his best-selling book. This innovative app supports users on their personal meditation journey and helps expand the reach of this transformative practice.”

The first public version of the Joy of Living app is expected to launch in early October 2024, with full functionality rolling out in the following months.

“In a time when stress, anxiety, and disconnection are commonplace, the Joy of Living app offers a glimmer of hope,” observed Beth Korczynski, Tergar’s chief philanthropy officer. “This isn’t just about relaxing. It’s about providing people with practical tools to cultivate awareness, compassion, and wisdom in their daily lives. We believe that by making these teachings widely available, we can contribute to a calmer, wiser, and more compassionate world.”

The app promises to provide users with: anytime, anywhere access to guided meditations and Dharma teachings; a structured, step-by-step path to help beginners and advanced users deepen their meditation practice; personalized meditation recommendations and insights based on the user’s preferences and progress; access to exclusive live events featuring teachers Mingyur Rinpoche and Tergar; and connection with a global community of meditators for mutual support and inspiration.

“The Joy of Living app was born out of our desire to make Mingyur Rinpoche’s transformative teachings accessible to everyone, everywhere,” said Cortland Dahl, Tergar’s executive director. “In today’s fast-paced world, we saw an opportunity to connect ancient wisdom with modern technology, putting the profound benefits of meditation at people’s fingertips.”

Click here to learn more about the Joy of Living Kickstarter campaign

“Tergar’s Joy of Living is a meditation path that anyone can follow, regardless of religious or cultural orientation,” Tergar noted. “It addresses the basic functions of the mind, such as mindfulness and movements toward happiness and away from suffering. By working with these qualities of the mind, we gradually transform our relationship to the experience of the present moment, learning to approach every thought, feeling, and sensory experience with unconditional warmth and acceptance.”

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. Image courtesy of Tergar International

Mingyur Rinpoche, the founder of the Tergar meditation community, which has centers and practice groups around the world, is a renowned teacher and best-selling author whose books include: The joy of living: discovering the secret and science of happiness (2007); Joyful Wisdom: Accepting Change and Finding Freedom (2009); And Transforming Confusion into Clarity: A Guide to the Foundational Practices of Tibetan Buddhism (2014)

Born in 1975 in the Himalayan region bordering Tibet and Nepal, Mingyur Rinpoche received extensive training in the meditative and philosophical traditions of Tibetan Buddhism from his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (1920-1996), considered one of of the greatest modern masters of Dzogchen, then at the Sherab Ling monastery in northern India. After just two years, at the age of 13, Mingyur Rinpoche began a three-year meditation retreat, then completed a second one immediately afterward, as a retreat master. At age 23, Rinpoche received full monastic ordination.

Mingyur Rinpoche undertook a four-year solo itinerant retreat in the Himalayas between 2011 and 2015. In recounting how he came to terms with the realities of his ambition to practice as an itinerant yogi, Rinpoche revealed that he faced many personal and spiritual challenges, including, at one point, his own mortality. Rinpoche described the years he spent wandering in the Himalayas as “one of the best times of my life.”*

The essence of Buddhist practice is not so much about trying to change your thoughts or behavior in order to become a better person, but about realizing that, whatever you may think about the circumstances that define your life, you are already good, whole, and complete. It is about recognizing the inherent potential of your mind. In other words, Buddhism is not so much concerned with healing you as it is with recognizing that you are, here and now, as complete, as good, and as essentially good as you could ever hope to be. ― Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

*Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche returns from four-year wilderness retreat (BDG) and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche releases video offering insights after his retreat (BDG)

References

Mingyur, Yongey. 2007. The joy of living: discovering the secret and science of happiness. New York City: Harmony.

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The article Online Dharma: Tergar’s Kickstarter campaign for new mobile app ‘Joy of Living’ gains momentum appeared first on Buddhist News Global.

Online Dharma: Tergar's Kickstarter Campaign for New Mobile App 'Joy of Living' Gains Momentum

Click here to learn more about the Joy of Living Kickstarter campaign

References

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