This retreat is an opportunity to explore the interdenominational, inter-contemplative themes outlined by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his vision for the Center for Contemplative Research:
The Buddhist meditative practices of śamatha and vipaśyanā
Teachings on nonviolence and compassion from other revered Indian traditions
Instruction in the contemplative traditions of Christianity
The virtual retreat will be available with both audio and video recordings of each day's teachings.
All Q&A sessions, the teachings from Dr. Choudry and the final day panel discussion will be live. All other sessions will be recorded and made available within 24-36 hours.
We are offering multiple pricing options as you will see when you select 'Choose an option' from the drop-down menu below.
Read more about the retreat below.
A virtual retreat from Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado
Sponsored by Santa Barbara Institute and the Center for Contemplative Research
The Vajra Essence – Part III
March 31 - May 30, 2022
Audio Stream/Download Registration
This online, 8-week retreat will focus on completing Phase 4: “Determining the Characteristics and Qualities of the Ground,” Phase 5: "Determining Secret Dualistic Grasping and Revealing the Way of Natural Liberation" and Phase 6: "Teaching on the Essential Points of Practice and Their Key Distinctions" from The Vajra Essence: From the Matrix of Pure Appearances and Primordial Consciousness, a Tantra Self-Emergent from the Nature of Existence.
Prerequisite Requirements to Purchase Program
By purchasing you acknowledge that you have satisfied the retreat prerequisites of listening to both the 2020 and 2021 8-week retreats on The Vajra Essence and will listen to Lama Alan’s oral commentary to TheVajra Essence in its entirety and have had an empowerment or will receive the recommended empowerment.
If you have not received the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment from Lama Alan, then you should not listen to Yangchen's teachings on the sadhana (which began after the empowerment was granted during the 2022 8-week retreat on May 11, 2022). We do hope that at a future date the empowerment will be available again.
This year we are offering multiple pricing options as you will see below when you select Choose An Option.
If you need a scholarship, you can apply here.
Please read all of the details below under description.
Sadhana classes from the 2022 8-week retreat with Yangchen Ösel (Eva Natanya), which followed the Lake-Born Vajra Empowerment offered by Lama Alan Wallace.
Yangchen offers 15 sessions to guide you in your sadhana practice. Her clear elucidation of these profound practices will enhance your understanding and practice. There are nine meditations and four videos, including a short teaching from Lama Alan on the 6-Session Guru Yoga and Yangchen's explanation of this teaching, the Lake-Born Vajra Sadhana with Gaṇacakra, as well as the complete Lake-Born Vajra Sadhana with Tibetan Recitation.
This is available only if you have received the Lake-Born Vajra Empowerment in the Düdjom Tersar Lineage, whether from Lama Alan or another qualified guru.
If you received the Lake-Born Vajra empowerment but did not follow the 2022 8-week retreat it is highly recommended that you receive these teachings from Yangchen Ösel.
If you wish to receive teachings on the Lake-Born Vajra sadhana in this lineage of teachings from Lama Alan and Yangchen Ösel, we strongly encourage you to register for the whole of the 2019 8-week retreat, or else follow the entire sequence of the 2020-2022 Vajra Essence retreats.
For your convenience, you can stream, download or listen to the teachings on your podcast app.
Weekend Virtual Meditation and Teachings with Drub-la Tsampa Karma in Santa Barbara
Audio Download Only $108
Video Online Streaming Only - $148
Both Audio Download and Video Stream - $220
Once you have made the payment, links to download the audio and/or Video view link will be emailed.
Recorded on August 8 & 9, 2020
Sponsored by Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies (SBI). We are delighted to announce that Alan has personally requested Drub-la Tsampa Karma to offer online teachings. Drupla Tsampa Karma will teach from the Collection of Dharmas on Identitylssness: Twenty-one Points of Crucial Advice by Kama by Kamalarāja. The teachings will be translated by Khenpo Sonam into English.
Topic: Four Immeasurable (held Oct. 24 and Nov. 21) and Practical Advice from The Ocean of Enlightened Activities to Benefit Being” by Karma Chagme ( held Nov. 21 and Dec. 19, 2020).
This retreat is available for video streaming and audio download - select your option below.
Shamatha Teachings with Drupla Tsampa Karma
Translated by Khenpo Namchak Dorji
Recorded in October 19 and 20, 2019 (one and a half day retreat)
Once you have made the payment, links to download the audio will be emailed.
The Heart Sutra is perhaps the most popular text in the Buddhist world. Known both for its profundity and brevity, this work quickly made its way from India to China, Japan, Korea and Tibet. It is recited daily in an array of languages around the world. The principle theme of the Heart Sutra is "sunyata" or emptiness. This retreat, led by Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi, focuses on the study and practices that emerge from this profound discourse on sunyata delivered by the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara to Venerable Shariputra at Vulture Peak. What insights rise from this text? How can this text help us to transform our minds and hearts, recognize our potential for enlightenment, and help us liberate ourselves from samsara? In this retreat, goddess Prajnaparamita beckons us to engage on these reflections.
The four-disc DVD set chronicales the weekend retreat held in September 2010 at Santa Barbara's historical Old Mission.
The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi is the founding director of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has a graduate degree in Comparative Philosophy of Religion from Harvard University and is an Integral Honors Scholar in Philosophy and Science. At the age of ten, he entered a Buddhist Monastery in Rajgir and was subsequently ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who is his spiritual Mentor. Venerable Tenzin lectures internationally and is also President of The Prajnopaya Foundation, a worldwide humanitarian organization. For more information on him and his work, vist www.iMonk.org.
Over 15 sessions Glen Svensson will introduce the practice of shamatha, the practice of cultivating a calm, clear and focused mind.
Each session includes discussion, guided meditation and Q&A. This program is suitable for those new to this practice and also those who are already well established in shamatha practice.
These teachings were originally part of 2020 8-week retreat.
Please see below for additional information.
The Seven Preliminaries according to the Revelations of Düdjom Lingpa
Teaching, translations, and oral transmission by Eva Natanya (Yangchen Osel) from the 2020 8-week Retreat
Eva Natanya presents previously untranslated material on the Seven Uncommon Preliminaries (or Ngöndro) as they
appear in the revelations of Düdjom Lingpa and in key commentaries from the Düdjom Lineage.
See below for additional information.
