RETREAT TOPIC: Mahamudra & the Wisdom of Milarepa

DATES & TIMES:

Monday afternoon, June 20 - Sunday midday, June 26, 2022 *lunch available on Sunday

Check in begins 3pm June 20

Retreat ends 12pm June 26

REGISTRATION:

Deadline: June 1, 2022 at 6pm

Please Note: Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Rooms available for up to 25 residents and 10-15 commuters.

Once 40 residents and commuters have registered, in-person registration will be closed.

Deposit: $300 deposit required by June 1 at 6pm

Register here

ACCOMMODATIONS:

Single & Double rooms are available - rooms are set up for 1 or 2 participants.

Meals are included in fees for all in-person participants. No outside food can be brought in.

Special dietary needs must be noted on the registration form.

REQUIREMENTS:

All in-person participants must show proof of Covid-19 vaccination.

PREREQUISITES:

Participants need to have taken refuge vows. For those without Vajrayana practice experience or practice in another tradition, a short phone interview is required. For those who have not taken refuge vows, Lama Palden Drolma will be offering those on Wed., May 25 at 5:30pm PDT.

Retreat is a unique opportunity to feel what the essence of sangha is: the intimate connection that is present whether physically close or at a distance.

MAHAMUDRA MEDITATION provides a precise, graduated, step-by-step process for coming to the realization of the true nature of mind & reality, and then being able to rest in that true nature – peaceful, content, joyous. Without realization of the nature of what is, we are often trying to arrange phenomena to be the way we would like, which often results in frustration & suffering.

The retreat will combine sitting meditation with teaching and instruction, and will move through the stages of the path leading to realization. Beginning with shamatha (Tib: shiné) meditation, the mind is brought to stability. Then in vipashyana (Tib: lhaktong) meditation, the nature of our experience is examined and its true, nondual nature is ultimately realized. The actual Mahamudra practice joins the two, resting in the primordial purity of true nature and experiencing phenomena self-liberate.

WISDOM OF MILAREPA: The Mahamudra practice and teachings will be enhanced in the afternoon with teaching on and the practice of Milarepa, which is a Guru Yoga practice in which we merge our minds with Milarepa’s. This is a Vajrayana practice that beautifully invokes heartful inspiration and devotion in the context of Mahamudra. The Milarepa teachings will include exploring his joyful songs of realization, which allow for a different level of transmission and integration.

The retreat day will start with an optional 6 am sitting, a 7am Lujong session to open the channels, and breakfast at 8am.  The teachings will take place in morning and afternoon sessions, with additional sittings during the day and yoga in the afternoon. Evening sessions will include compassion and loving kindness pujas and practices.

This retreat is suitable for experienced Mahamudra practitioners as well as for experienced meditators new to Mahamudra.