Kagyu Ngondro Retreat February 24- March 1, 2020

Kagyu Ngondro and Guru Yoga Intensive

Pre-requisites:  Membership in the Surmang Kagyu Order or permission of the instructor.

During this 10 day ngondro intensive we will be practicing the Kagyu ngondro and a short daily practice of the Sun of Wisdom Guru Yoga which Trungpa Rinpoche composed for his root guru Padme Trime.  We will conclude with the Sun of Wisdom Feast.

This retreat will be led by Tashi Armstrong 

This retreat costs $595.00  room and board included.

“The world of anuttarayoga is a large-scale world. Even in the Hinayana, and at least at the Mahayana level of shunyata, it has been taken for granted that the world is vast and that it has its functions, which are interdependent. This has been understood, and that is why the tantric teachings are possible. Tantra stirs up your smug way of sleeping within the gigantic cosmos. It upsets your sense of security and makes you more paranoid. Instead of security, there are a lot of holes all over the place. The oceans are not just oceans, but they have huge bubbles underneath them. The sky is not just a blue sky, but there are holes carved out that are not actually blue sky. It seems that the role of tantra is to see those things, rather than to rest in the eternity and efficiency of the phenomenal world, thinking that everything is going to be okay. That is not possible. Nothing is going to be okay.”
p.528 “The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness”
Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Vajrayogini Drupchen March 27-April 5, 2020

Vajrayogini Dathun

March 27^th to April 5^th, 2020

$595.00 cost includes room and board

Limit 10 participants

"The samaya of body involves always regarding one's basic phenomenal situation as an expression of sacredness.  We do not doubt the sacredness of our world.  The samaya of speech involves also regarding any occurrence-- anything that comes up in our experience-- as sacred.  This could be either internal or external occurrence, so that any subconscious gossi8p or emotional upheaval is included here.  The samaya of mind is connected with the indestructible wakefulness of the vajra mandala-- in this case the mandala of Vajrayogini.  Even the hint or possibility of neurosis is unable to enter into one's state of being because the whole world is seen as part of the mandala of sacredness that one has entered."

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

"Sacred Outlook: The Practice of Vajrayogini"

During our annual Vajrayogini Drupchen participants engage the full sadhana of Vajrayogini on a daily basis.  We do 6 sessions continuing the practice through the night (Participation in sessions 5 and 6 is voluntary!)  Short feasts are held everyday.  The full self abhiseka is held on Friday and Saturday before opening the retreat on Sunday.

Participants get to explore the full sadhana practice in the context of a closed retreat situation.  Functional talking is observed throughout.  We do not allow participants to use electronic devices while in retreat or to leave the retreat boundaries.

The emphasis is on practice but we review the Vidyadhara's Tris during the daily feasts.

Participants need the following prerequisites to enter this retreat:

They need to have completed a Dathun within the last five years

They must have received the Abhiseka from a qualified Lama

They must have completed their full kagyu ngondro by number

They must have be students of the Vidyadhara Trungpa Rinpoche and the Vajra Regent (either directly or by studying their teachings with senior students.)

They must have a personal commitment to maintain their samaya to this lineage.

Dzogchen Kyudo Retreat: "First Shot Best Shot"

May 25th to June 2nd 2020

 "With every shot see your true nature"    Awa Kenzo

“All together, these three principles—heaven, earth, and man—deal with how we can integrate our state of mind into a work of art. A fourth principle, though not exactly the same kind of principle, is that of the universal monarch. It is what joins heaven and earth together. This principle is singlefold: that is, it says that body and mind are able to work together harmoniously. Therefore, the mind develops a sense of openness and peacefulness, and the body develops an absence of speed and aggression. In that way, a work of art becomes gentle rather than contrived or extraordinary. It becomes a good work of art, very genuine, and it becomes worthwhile, really good, to be an artist. You can take a lot of pride in being an artist, in the positive sense. You will be so happy and feel so good to be an artist. You can work according to the principles of heaven, earth, and man, and you can expose yourself by means of those principles. It could be extraordinary, quite fabulous.”

Trungpa Rinpoche "Dharma Art"

 This retreat will explore kyudo training as the technique for realizing the nature of mind.  During this retreat we will explore the traditional  teachings of isshin and zanshin from the Japanese contemplative and martial arts and how they correlate with our training in Dzogchen and Mahamudra.  In particular we will be looking at Trungpa's pith instructions on Dharma Art and Shambhala Warriorship and applying these instructions in our Kyudo training.

Isshin means "one mind".  This is the training of shamatha meditation for Dzogchen Practitioners and, in particular, constitutes cutting through the tendency of following one thought after another.  For the Kyudo practitioner we use the  7 steps of shooting the bow to synchornize mind and body in the activity of shooting the bow.   Zanshin, "remaining mind", is the Kyudo term for vipashyana. This is resting awareness beyond the reference point of habitual mind. This expands into "Kyudo mind" which is the atmosphere of wakefulness.

 $495.00 Includes Room and Board