We will be offering online preparatory classes throughout the winter of 2023 and spring of 2024.

This retreat is open to those who have made a heart connection to the Buddhist teachings and have a genuine aspiration to discover the wisdom and magic of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s vajrayana teachings. It is good if you have completed previous 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 pretty 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 and Nyingma paths as presented by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, students of any qualified vajrayana teacher are encouraged to attend, as well as students who do not have any vajrayana teacher.

Please use the Contact form to let us know. We'll arrange a call with one of the organizers of the retreat to discuss your questions.

No, you do not need to have finished ngöndro before the retreat. Mentorship in Kagyü ngöndro will be available for those participants who choose that path.

There are different opinions on this issue. As technology allows for the teachings and transmissions of great masters–living and deceased–to be recorded, replayed, broadcasted and transmitted across the globe and throughout time, different masters hold different opinions on how vajrayana transmission can take place. Some masters require transmission to be in-person only. Some masters have given vajrayana transmission online. Some teachers are playing recordings of previous transmissions by a deceased master. We have received instruction and support from different Kagyü and Nyingma masters to continue Trungpa Rinpoche’s transmission through the container we will be creating for this retreat. This being said, it is highly encouraged to make connections to other living, authentic lineage holders of the Kagyü and Nyingma traditions. Trungpa Rinpoche’s students have been fortunate to receive empowerments from many different masters who support the continuation of his legacy, including Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Khandro Ripoche, and many others.

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 week three of this retreat. The living container for this transmission will be held by senior students of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who are inspired by the vision of sharing his vajrayana training with a new generation of practitioners. In this sense, 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 presenting the entire 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 to 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 Kenpo Gangshar Wangpo, one of his two root gurus. 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 entire 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, and crucial 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.

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