We will be offering a 13 week, online preparatory class during the spring of 2025.

This retreat is open to those who have made a strong connection to the Buddhist teachings and have a genuine aspiration to discover the wisdom and magic of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s vajrayana teachings. It would be good if you have previous experience with immersive periods of meditation practice. You may have a deep connection to Trungpa Rinpoche’s Shambhala teachings. You may have doubts and hesitations. You may feel that you have lousy hinayana discipline or are a rather fledgling mahayana bodhisattva. You may have already recognized your buddhahood. This is all good; everyone is welcome.

Participants in this retreat will have committed to studying and practicing Buddhism and to have completed previous intensive periods of meditation practice.

We welcome participants with diverse backgrounds. While this program will emphasize the Kagyü-Nyingma path presented by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, students of any qualified vajrayana teacher are encouraged to attend, as well as students who do not have a vajrayana teacher.

Please use the Contact form to let us know what you're interested in. We'll arrange a communication with one of the organizers of the retreat to discuss your questions.

No, you do not need to have finished ngöndro before the retreat. This retreat is aimed at people who wish to enter the vajrayana in Trungpa Rinpoche's tradition. Vajrayana transmission will be offered during the third week of the retreat, followed by instruction in the ngöndro practices.

Students who have received transmission from Trungpa Rinpoche and have spent decades practicing, studying and living what they have learned are qualified to offer the transmission and instruct students in vajrayana practice. We have been encouraged to continue Trungpa Rinpoche’s vajrayana tradition by such masters as Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Khandro Rinpoche, and many others.

The vajrayana transmission will be given by one of Trungpa Rinpoche's senior students. In addition, other senior students will give talks on the transmission and the practices of vajrayana. The samaya connection created by the transmission will be with Trungpa Rinpoche. Students entering the vajrayana in this way may consider Trungpa Rinpoche to be their root guru, although this is by no means required. They will also be encouraged to make connections with living gurus and teachers. The vajrayana is both deep and vast. Students should take advantage of every opportunity to benefit from whatever genuine guides they can encounter.

A vajra master is an individual from whom you have received a vajrayana empowerment. It is very common within the vajrayana tradition to have more than one vajra master, as a vajrayana practitioner may receive many empowerments throughout their journey. Vajrayana transmission will be offered during this retreat. Receiving vajrayana transmission within this retreat will allow a practitioner to make a connection to Trungpa Rinpoche, and more broadly, with the Kagyü and Nyingma lineages he represented.

As students of Trungpa Rinpoche, we are committed to offering the full range of the teachings he presented, in the ways that he presented them. One of the unusual aspects of how Trungpa Rinpoche presented the dharma was the way he gave vajrayana transmission. Traditionally, transmission was given individually, or in small groups, in intimate settings by their teacher. The teacher created the path to bring the students along, and when the circumstances were right, the teacher would take advantage of those circumstances, on the spot. Trungpa Rinpoche’s approach to transmission was different. He was trained in this by Khenpo Gangshar Wangpo, one of his most important teachers and a fellow student of their root guru, Shechen Kongtrul. Trungpa Rinpoche had received transmission privately, at the age of nine, from Shechen Kongtrul Rinpoche. But shortly before leaving Tibet, Khenpo Gangshar instructed him to give transmission to large groups of people. Apparently, the great Kagyü lineage master Gampopa also gave transmission in this way. Trungpa Rinpoche gave transmission to large groups of his Western students. He stressed that this enabled students to explore and deepen the transmission experience within the vajrayana practices they subsequently undertook. Because we are committed to presenting the full range of his teachings and practices, we will be following this approach. This is why we are offering transmission at this Three-Yana Retreat, as the gateway to exploring Trungpa Rinpoche’s vajrayana teachings. The context for giving transmission is especially important for making it effective. This program will create a wonderful context for the transmission. Through the program application process and the pre-program classes, we will make sure that students are well prepared for their vajrayana journeys. Then the first two weeks of practice and study at the program will prepare the ground for the transmission.

There will be an additional charge for laundry, and a charge for the airport shuttle for those people who want to sign up for it.

Please use the Contact form to let us know. One of the organizers of the retreat will communicate with you to discuss your questions.