Join us for our thirty-fourth program of summer retreats!

Medicine Buddha Practice May 27-29 Tibetan mantras and visualizations that evoke the healing blessings of the Medicine Buddha have been used for centuries to effect cures and increase well-being. This workshop offers instructions in traditional Medicine Buddha practices along with meditations that bring peace of mind. Held at Ratna Ling Retreat Center. Cost: $270. Instructors: Lama Palzang and Pema Gellek.

Silent Retreat May 31 - June 4 Retreat begins Tuesday at 10AM and concludes on Saturday at 5PM. This week's practices will be done in silence with instructions for meditation and study given individually to each participant. The retreat is designed to allow participants to deepen their spiritual practice in the protected environment of the Nyingma Institute. Cost: $450 (residential); $290 (nonresidential). Instructors: Sylvia Gretchen and Jack Petranker. Honoring the Buddha June 5 - 11 Retreat begins Monday at 10:30 AM and ends Sunday night. This retreat is a means of deepening meditation and touching the sacred realm of the Buddha's blessing. Prayers and practices will evoke the power of the Awakened Ones and celebrate the Buddha's enlightenment and our capacity for stillness and bliss. Cost: $600 (residential); $420 (nonresidential). Instructors: Sylvia Gretchen and Jack Petranker

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The Art of Happiness : three weeks that can change your life Like master artists, we create the rich inner landscape of our thoughts, feelings, and senses. In the "Art of Happiness" retreats, you learn how to calm the mind, revitalize the body, and open the senses.

The first week's retreat:
focuses on meditations that bring serenity and peace of mind.
The second week's retreat:
works with gentle Kum Nye (Tibetan Yoga) practices that relax physical and emotional tension as they revitalize the body.
The third week's retreat:
Kum Nye practices also form the core of this week which focuses on introspective exercises that open the senses to beauty, drawn from Tarthang Tulku's new book, Joy of Being.

Students may attend the retreats as a sequence or take any of the week-long retreats separately.
These programs are suitable both for those new to Tibetan Yoga or meditation, and for those wishing to deepen their practice.

Meditations to Calm the Mind June 26 - July 1 Tranquility and soothing inner peace can be found through meditation practice. This retreat utilizes the techniques of the Tibetan tradition to help participants reach a state of tranquil ease. Participants will receive a meditation practice tailored to their individual needs that they can use after the retreat. Includes the "Healing and Pain" workshop taught by Sylvia Gretchen. Cost: $550 (residential); $360 (nonresidential). Primary instructors: Sylvia Gretchen and Jack Petranker. Tibetan Yoga to Revitalize the Body July 3 - 8 Tibetan Yoga practice helps release the tension that builds up in our bodies and minds. You will be led through a series of Tibetan Yoga movement, breathing, and massage practices that release stress and awaken the body's natural vitality. Includes the "Restoring Inner Vitality" workshop taught by Jack van der Meulen. Based on Tibetan Relaxation Cost: $550 (residential); $360 (nonresidential). Primary instructors: Donna Morton and Santosh Phillip.

Tibetan Yoga to Open the Senses July 10 - 15 Our bodies are expressions of the creativity and vitality that course through all forms of life. They are endowed with senses that allow us to experience ecstatic beauty and bliss and make it available to others who have not yet seen that this is possible. Tarthang Tulku, Joy of Being. Begin a process of inner alchemy that transforms ordinary sights, sounds, tastes, and feelings into unimaginable beauty and joy. Kum Nye movement, breathing, and awareness exercises open the senses to deep feeling and sensitivity, increasing delight, and penetrating clarity. Includes the "Embodiment of Beauty" workshop taught by Jack van der Meulen. Based on Tibetan Relaxation and Joy of Being. Cost: $550 (residential); $360 (nonresidential). Primary instructors: Sylvia Gretchen, Donna Morton, and Santosh Phillip.

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Buddhist Studies Retreat: Awakening Mind We nurture seeds of truth through listening, reflecting, and realization. In this two-week retreat, we listen to the ancient wisdom teachings found in the Bodhicharyavatara, the Prajnaparamita Sutras, and the King of Samadhis Sutra. We reflect on their words and meanings and apply powerful meditative techniques that foster realization.

Mornings will be devoted to meditation and study;
afternoons and evenings will focus on lecture and discussion.

We will begin the retreat at the Nyingma Institute, living within a vibrant Buddhist community. On August 14, we will travel to our new country center, Ratna Ling, where we will stay in comfortable cottages nestled within its forested hills until the conclusion of the retreat on the afternoon of August 24.

Week One: Invitation to Awaken July 17 - 22 This favorable moment, so hard to obtain, has arrived, leading to the achievement of man's well-being. If it is not utilized advantageously now, will the opportunity ever come again? - Shantideva, Bodhicharyavatara. We deepen our aspiration toward enlightenment through mindfulness, purifying the senses, and guarding the heart of awareness. Meditation practices introduced this week are taken from the King of Samadhis Sutra, the Path of Heroes, and Practices on the Buddhist Path. We will study the first five chapters of the Bodhicharyavatara and selections from the Prajnaparamita. The week ends with the workshop "Nagarjuna's Verses on Wondrous Possibilities."

Week Two: Wings to Enlightenment July 24 - 29 The way of enlightenment can be traveled with a fraction of the effort required to survive endless suffering in samsara. from Ways of Enlightenment. At the heart of Mahayana Buddhist practice is a beautiful vision of thirty-seven wings of enlightenment that bear one to awakening. In this week of retreat, we learn about the teachings of the thirty-seven wings to enlightenment and how they lead to the perfection of generosity, ethical action, patience, vigor, meditation, and wisdom. Includes the "Ten Topics of Expert Knowledge" workshop. Prerequisites: This advanced two-week retreat is designed for Nyingma Institute faculty members and for those who are graduates of the Opening to the Dharma or Nyingma Education programs. Students may attend just one week with instructor's consent. Cost: $550 (residential); $360 (nonresidential) per week. Primary Instructor for both retreats: Sylvia Gretchen.

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Compassion Retreats A loving heart filled with compassionate understanding is the foundation for all spiritual growth and development. Practices in the first week move us toward loving acceptance of ourselves and of others. The second retreat is for those who are ready to deepen their ability to access unconditioned love with every breath.

Week One: Loving Yourself and Loving Others July 31 - August 5 We cultivate loving feelings and thoughts through specific visualization and meditation practices. We give this love first to ourselves and then share it with others. Visualization practices emphasize opening the heart and expanding joy, equanimity, love, and compassion. Includes the "Sustained by Joy" workshop. Cost: $550 (residential); $360 (nonresidential). Primary Instructor: Sylvia Gretchen. Based on Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Part I.

Week Two: Breathing Compassion August 7 - 12 A week to breathe deeply, envisioning that with each in-breath you take away the suffering of living beings. Every out-breath sends the blessing of peace and happiness to all. This practice, known as Tong Len, deepens meditative concentration and compassionate love. We begin the retreat by merging awareness with breath, using practices such as "sky breath" and "joyful breath", gradually developing the Tong Len practice. The retreat concludes with the "Conquering Fear" workshop. Based on Path of Heroes. Cost: $550 (residential); $360 (nonresidential). Instructors: Sylvia Gretchen and Jack Petranker.

 

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