Register for Residential — Vajrayana Retreat: Igniting the Flame of Wisdom: Exploring the Terma Teachings of Guru Rinpoche

This is the residential component of the hybrid annual NDF Vajrayana retreat. For the online component, click here.

Sorry! Registration is closed.

There is an ancient saying in Tibetan Buddhism that “When the flames of the dark age rage rampantly, the teachings of the vajra vehicle of Secret Mantra will blaze forth like wildfire.”

While the flames of the dark age seem to be raging, now is indeed the time prophesied by this phrase so many hundreds of years ago. Please join the leaders of the NDF Vajrayana Track as we explore the martri (the personal advice) given by the great Mahasiddha Guru Rinpoche to his closest disciples, including the yogini Yeshe Tsogyal. As the conveyer of the Vajrayana teachings to Tibet, Guru Rinpoche stands out in Tibetan Buddhist history as a second Buddha. The practices, teachings, and yogic instructions he imparted to the people of Tibet have been passed down to us today through an unbroken stream of lineage transmissions and connections.

In this retreat, we will explore Guru Rinpoche’s terma instructions for practicing the Vajrayana through a close reading of Advice from the Lotus Born, a collection of secret teachings revealed by different treasure revealers that details the attitudes, approaches, instructions, and insights originally taught by Guru Rinpoche in the seventh and eighth centuries in Tibet. Entering the magical world of this text, we will discover the “timeless time,” the space of openness, clarity, and compassion that continually issues from the words of these teachings, which transcend our concepts of time and space, speaking to us as directly and accurately as if we were present at their original evocation.

This retreat will include substantial time for group and individual practice, both for onsite and for online participants.

Open to current NDF Vajrayana practitioners only.  Those eligible to attend have received a special link to use for registration. If you need that link, please email retreats@wonderwellrefuge.org.

Required Text: Advice from the Lotus Born: A Collection of Padmasambhava’s Advice to the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal and Other Close Disciples, Rangjung Yeshe Publications. This book can be purchased via Amazon and other book sellers. It is also available as an E-book.

SCHEDULE – All times are Eastern Time

June 11
7:00 – 8:30 pm             Opening Session

June 12 – 14
7:00 – 8:00 am             Individual Morning Practice Session (Thun I)
8:00  – 9:30 am            Breakfast and Break
9:30 – 10:30 am           Dharma Talk
10:45 am – 12:00 pm   Group Meditation Practice Sessions (Prostrations, Vajrasattva, Mandala, Guru Yoga, Vajrayogini Sadhana) (Thun II)
12:00 – 2:00 pm           Lunch and Break
2:00 – 3:00 pm             Group Reading Session
3:15 – 3:45 pm             Contemplative Meditation Session
4:00 – 5:15 pm             Group Meditation Practice Sessions (Prostrations, Vajrasattva, Mandala, Guru Yoga, Vajrayogini Sadhana) (Thun III)
5:30 – 7:00 pm             Dinner and Break
7:00 – 8:30 pm             Individual Evening Practice Session (Thun IV)

June 15
7:00 – 8:00 am             Individual Morning Practice Session (Thun I)
10:00 –11:00 am          Group Reading Session
11:15 – 11:45 am         Contemplative Meditation Session
12:00 – 12:30 pm         Closing Session
12:30 pm                      Lunch and Departure

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT 2022 RETREATS AT WONDERWELL

Information about pandemic safety protocols in place can be found on this page of our website. For details about Wonderwell itself, registration procedures, pricing, cancellation policy, and other FAQs, please use this link.

SHARED ROOMS: If you register for a shared room, you are agreeing that you accept that you may be sharing it with someone you don’t know. If you are not willing to make that agreement, please do not register for a shared room.  Note:  Men and women who don’t know each other will never be assigned to the same room.

Retreatants may always register for a shared double room with someone they know, as long as space is available. There is a box on the registration to indicate who you’d like for a roommate, and we’ll do the best we can. You may want to consider registering for the commuter option instead. Scroll down on this page for information about nearby accommodations. 

VACCINATION REQUIRED: All onsite retreatants must be *fully vaccinated* and will need to present proof of vaccination at check-in. We cannot admit you to Wonderwell without this proof. Per CDC guidance, people are considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine. In addition, NDF defines “fully vaccinated” as 2 weeks after having received an eligible booster shot. We will accept youyr original COVID card or a a photo as proof of vaccination.

TESTING: A negative COVID-19 test result is required before admittance to the retreat. Please test within 24 hours prior to your expected arrival at Wonderwell, using either a PCF test or a rapid (at-home) test kit. Please bring a rapid test kit with you to Wonderwell. We will have a limited number of test kits available for during-retreat testing.

MASK REQUIREMENTS: We are continuing to monitor this ever-changing situation and will adjust our mask policy accordingly. For the time being, we require that all retreatants and staff wear masks, preferably K(N)95, indoors during all programs. Masks must be worn in all public areas of the building, including the meditation hall. Exceptions: when retreatants are in their room or when actively eating or drinking. Teachers can be unmasked while on the teacher’s seat, as long as they can maintain a physical distance of at least six feet from retreatants.

SCHOLARSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Wonderwell Mountain Refuge strives to offer retreats in a manner that is inclusive for persons of all means. If the full retreat cost would create an undue financial burden, we encourage you to apply for a scholarship. Please visit this page on our website learn more about financial aid.

Depending on the type of work that you do, you may be eligible for a Hemera Contemplative Fellowship. Please click on this link for more information.

CANCELLATION POLICY

Wonderwell charges a $75 cancellation fee for residential (onsite) retreat cancellations more than 4 weeks before the start of a retreat. Any cancellations between 4 weeks to 11 days prior to the program are charged a $150 cancellation fee. For any cancellations 10 or fewer days prior to the start date of the program, no refunds are offered. However, if you are feeling ill or have concerns about exposure to the COVID virus, please cancel your attendance at any Wonderwell retreat even at the last minute. In this case, we will provide a full refund of your payment.

USER ACCOUNTS & RESOURCES

The user account feature of our website provides a secure place where materials from your retreats can be posted and accessed. If you don’t have an account already, you’ll want to set one up as soon as you register.

• Paid resources – retreat recordings and other retreat materials – will only be available in the dashboard of your user account.
• If you haven’t already created an NDF user account, please visit our website to Create an account as soon as possible.
• User accounts are manually synced with the retreat 7–10 days after the retreat. Please be aware that this does not happen automatically with registration. It is a separate, manual operation.

Please visit the Technical FAQ page on our website for useful information about user accounts, helpful tutorials, as well as answers to many other questions. You can contact support@naturaldharma.org with questions about your user account.

Wonderwell Mountain Refuge Full Calendar