The Courage to Awaken: Meeting the New Year (Online Retreat)

This is the ONLINE component of the retreat. If you’d like to register for the RESIDENTIAL component, please click here.

Daily movement and meditation guidance offered by Katie Fabac

The beginning of a new year offers a precious opportunity to pause, reconnect with our heartfelt aspirations, and deepen our engagement with the path of awakening. Gathering in spiritual friendship and guided by Yogi Acharya Lama Gursam, we will explore how the timeless teachings of the Buddha can help us draw upon our innate capacity for wisdom and compassion, meeting life’s joys and challenges with greater openness, courage, and ease.

What does it mean to take refuge in an uncertain world? How can we respond to suffering with an open heart rather than turning away? And how might our deepest aspirations become living commitments, expressed through our relationships with one another and the world around us?

Please join us to:

• Begin the New Year with spiritual community and auspicious blessings.
• Deepen your practice through meditation, Dharma teachings, and guided movement.
• Participate in NDF’s annual Refuge, Bodhisattva, and Ecosattva Vow Ceremony.
• Explore refuge, bodhicitta, and the courage of compassion.

Through meditation, Dharma teachings, and contemplation, Yogi Lama Gursam will guide us in exploring the foundational Buddhist teachings on refuge and bodhicitta—the aspiration to awaken for the benefit of all beings. Drawing on the teachings of Patrul Rinpoche, Gampopa, and the Seven-Point Mind Training (Lojong), including Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s commentary, Enlightened Courage, we will explore how to draw upon the deep well of compassion and wisdom within us, transform difficulties into opportunities for awakening, and bring the teachings into our daily lives. Through practice, we will investigate how cultivating the awakened heart can help us respond to suffering with loving-kindness and offer genuine support to others.

Daily guided movement sessions with Katie Fabac will offer opportunities to integrate the teachings through embodied awareness and practice. (Please bring comfortable clothing suitable for yoga and movement practice, or have it available if joining online). Participants, both onsite and online, will also have the opportunity to participate in a practice interview with Lama Gursam. 

A central part of the retreat will be NDF’s annual Refuge, Bodhisattva, and Ecosattva Vow Ceremony on Sunday morning, offering an opportunity to take or renew these commitments in the presence of the sangha. Taking vows is entirely optional, and retreatants are welcome to attend the ceremony without taking vows or to spend this time in personal practice. The ceremony will also be open to members of the broader community who are not participating in the full retreat.

The retreat will conclude with a special ceremony, Summoning Good Fortune, excerpted from The White Zhambala, led by Yogi Lama Gursam to invoke auspicious blessings for the year ahead.

Whether you are new to Buddhist practice or have been practicing for many years, we invite you to begin the New Year rooted in the wisdom of authentic Buddhist lineage, finding refuge in practice and community as we deepen our capacity to meet the world with an open, courageous, and compassionate heart. 

This retreat is open to everyone, including beginners.

Recommended Readings

To support and deepen engagement with the retreat’s teachings, Lama Gursam recommends the following readings:

• Patrul Rinpoche, Words of My Perfect Teacher — Sections on Refuge and Bodhicitta.
• Gampopa, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation — Sections on Refuge and Bodhicitta.
• The Seven-Point Mind Training (Lojong) — Root text transmitted through Atisha and compiled by Geshe Chekawa Yeshe Dorje, together with Enlightened Courage, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche‘s commentary on these teachings.

These readings are encouraged but not required, and all are welcome to participate in the retreat regardless of their familiarity with these texts.

Noble Silence and Device Use

Retreat offers a rare opportunity to step away from the distractions of daily life and give ourselves fully to practice. To support this, we encourage online participants to limit unnecessary device use and, to the extent possible, set aside periods of each day for silence and uninterrupted practice. We recognize that practicing from home comes with different responsibilities, and invite you to find what is possible within your own circumstances. Even brief periods of silence and freedom from distraction can help us rest deeply and be fully present with ourselves, the teachings, and the natural world.

Typical Retreat Schedule

(All times are Eastern time zone)

First Day — Opening session begins around 7:00 pm.

Full-Day Schedule — Morning meditation 7:00 am; Breakfast break 8:00-9:30 am; Lunch break 12:00-2:00 pm; Dinner break 5:30-7:00 pm.

Last Day — The closing session typically ends by 12:00 pm.

These times are just for reference. An expanded schedule will be provided in pre-retreat information emailed during the week prior to the event.

Zoom Link

The Zoom link will be sent several days before the retreat to all those registered. If you register after that date, you’ll receive the link with your confirmation email shortly after submitting your registration. If you don’t see an email from Natural Dharma Registrar or Wonderwell Mountain Refuge, it may have mistakenly gone to your spam folder or to Promotions or Updates in Gmail.

Important: Please put these this email address in your Contact or Safe-Send list to make sure you receive our emails:

• register@naturaldharma.org

Program Cost

Our program fees provide essential support to our non-profit operations and NDF’s mission to spread the Dharma in accessible, relevant, and creative ways. Our goal is that no one misses out on our events due to lack of funds. Thanks to our generous donors, we are able to offer tiered pricing and additional support to fit varied financial situations: 

• May All Beings Benefit! *– supporting access for all and general support for NDF operations
• A Middle Way – covering the base cost
• Held in Sangha Loving-kindness – offering ease when financial resources are limiting

If the lowest cost tier creates an obstacle to your attendance, please see our financial support options on the registration page. The process is simple and does not require extensive information. Financial aid is immediately approved using discount code options that allow you to contribute the most you are able while honoring your particular resources.

* The difference between the May All Beings Benefit! tier and the Middle Way tier will be considered a tax-deductible donation and will be acknowledged as such in writing. Contributing at this level helps us offer financial aid to other participants. Thank you!!

Access to Recordings

NDF offers unlimited access to recordings, which are available in your user dashboard (more information about user accounts provided in pre-retreat materials). If you have a user account, please register with the same email you use to log into your dashboard. If not, an account will be created for you using your registration address.

Availability will vary depending on the type of event and the backlog for our precious resource volunteers. Thank you for your patience.

Natural Dharma Fellowship Full Calendar