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"Inner fire is the root of success in all completion stage practices … the perfect method for awakening our very subtle consciousness … to comprehend the totality of nonduality wisdom.” -- Lama Thubten Yeshe

Registration Update (6-11-08): SOLD OUT.

It's extremely rare to be able to receive teachings on Inner Fire (Tummo in Tibetan) from a fully qualified Tibetan Lama. These teachings come from the Six Yogas of Naropa and are designed to help one to generate great bliss in union with the wisdom realizing the ultimate nature of reality in order to gain enlightenment most quickly to benefit others.

This will be a five day, experiential retreat on Inner Fire. Khensur Rinpoche will teach the relevant meditation techniques and yogic exercises in detail, and there will be time to practice the meditations under Rinpoche’s guidance and to ask questions. Khensur Rinpoche himself specifically advised that this be a residential retreat so that people can not just learn the theory of the yoga of inner fire but can also gain direct experience.

Each day of the retreat will include two sessions of teachings by Khensur Rinpoche, at least two tunmo meditation sessions to practice what Rinpoche has taught, and time to meditate on one’s own as well. A detailed schedule will be emailed to registrants and posted on the website shortly.

Gyume Khensur Rinpoche Losang Jampa is incredibly kind in accepting the center’s request to teach and lead a retreat on this subject. Khensur Rinpoche is the former abbot of Gyume Tantric College in India and a senior teacher at Sera Monastery. Khensur Rinpoche is one of a very limited number of living masters of these profound tantric teachings. Meet the translator, Tenzin Bhuchung.

Ven Tashi will teach students how to prepare all the ritual offerings for the retreat and how to arrange the altar. He will lead morning and evening prayer sessions.

"One uses the inner heat technology from the very beginning in order to collect the subtle life-sustaining energies into the central channel, and thereby arouse innate great ecstasy. This is the actual basis upon which all practices rely and upon which all later completion stage yogas are founded." -- Lama Tsongkhapa


Schedule:
  • Arrive on Thursday, June 26 in the mid-afternoon
  • Depart on Monday, June 30 in the mid-afternoon

Pre-requisites: As this practice comes from the completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra, to attend this retreat one must have previously received a full Initiation of Highest Yoga (such as Chakrasamvara, Hevajra, Kalachakra, Guhyasamaja, Yamantaka, or Kalachakra). One must also have a sincere faith in the Buddha’s teachings in general and in Buddhist tantric practices in particular. Also, as there are a limited number of spaces for this retreat, preference will be given to those who register to attend the full retreat.

An Additional Restriction: FPMT is currently creating a new policy on that issue in accordance with the wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama regarding the Dorje Shugden practice. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has expressed the wish "not to have a guru-disciple relationship with anyone who is practicing Shugden." Likewise, Gyume Khensur Rinpoche has recently made a commitment at Sera Monastery with respect to the Shugden issue. Therefore, those who are doing this practice are requested not to attend any initiations or tantric teachings with Rinpoche. As we did not list this restriction previously, if anyone must withdraw from the retreat for this reason, then please let me know right away--so long as you let me know by or before May 31, your full deposit will be refunded.

Location: Am Kolel Sanctuary & Renewal Center, Beallsville, MD. We are renting out this whole facility for the length of the retreat; location is closest to Dulles airport and is about an hour from Washington, D.C. [Directions available at above link.]

Costs:

  • Residential
    • Lodging: $220 (charged by Sanctuary retreat center)
    • Food: $200
    • Donation: $255-310 (to help cover lodging and food for Khensur Rinpoche, translator and attendant; offering to Rinpoche; stipend to translator; advertising; insurance; etc.)
    • ---Total cost if residential Retreat: $675-730
  • Camping
    • Camping fee: $140 (charged by Sanctuary retreat center)
    • Food: $200
    • Donation: $255-310 (to help cover lodging and food for Khensur Rinpoche, translator and attendant; offering to Rinpoche; stipend to translator; advertising; insurance; etc.)
    • ---Total cost if camping: $595-650
  • Commuting:
    • Commuter fee: $100 (charged by Sanctuary retreat center)
    • Food: $160 (if you will not be having breakfasts at the center — otherwise $200)
    • Donation: $255-310 (to help cover lodging and food for Khensur Rinpoche, translator and attendant; offering to Rinpoche; stipend to translator; advertising; insurance; etc.)
    • ---Total cost if commuting: $515-$610

Included in these costs: Participation in all aspects of the retreat; dinner on Thursday; breakfast, lunch & dinner on Friday thru Sunday; breakfast & lunch on Monday; coffee, tea & light snacks throughout the retreat; lodging, a camping site, or commuter fee covered (note that lodging within the Sanctuary Retreat facility is 2-4 people per room); hand-out of pages to aid in visualization; helping to cover costs for translator, etc. as noted above. All meals will be vegetarian. Participants will be asked to help out with light tasks such as clearing and washing the dishes.

In ancient India and Tibet, disciples often had to undergo many hardships and trials to receive teachings such as those on Inner Fire. Marpa the translator had to climb the Himalayas a number of times, wandering through Tibet, Nepal and India to receive these teachings from Naropa. Milarepa famously bore many difficulties to receive just these teachings from Marpa. Even today, some lamas require their students to do three year retreat in order to receive these teachings on Inner Fire, which are almost never given in the West. So, for serious students of Tibetan Buddhism, this is a very precious opportunity for study and practice with a genuine tantric Buddhist master.


Registration: Spaces are limited for this retreat and filling quickly. Please reserve your place by registering early.

To register, mail the completed registration form along with your deposit of $200 for residential participants and $150 for campers or commuters to:

Guhyasamaja Center
P.O. Box 1511
Centreville, VA 20122

Download the registration form (PDF)

Registration questions? Email Terry Ladner: RetreatRegistration_at_guhyasamaja.org (replace the "_at_" with "@", or call 703-774-9692.

Note: As space is limited for this retreat, if you make a deposit and then cancel after May 1st, then your deposit will only be refundable if someone else takes your place on the retreat. If more people attempt to register than we have space for, then we will keep a waiting list for spaces.

"Inner fire meditation is far more effective than ordinary deep meditation. It quickly grows into an explosion of nonduality wisdom, an explosion of telepathic power, an explosion of realizations. It is the key to countless treasures." --Lama Thubten Yeshe

Suggested Readings:

Available through Snow Lion Publications. Buying books and other products from Snow Lion Publications using our affiliate link helps support our center.
  • The Bliss of Inner Fire, by Lama Thubten Yeshe, Wisdom Publications.
  • TsongKhapa's Six Yogas of Naropa, by Glenn Mullin, Snow Lion Publications.
  • The Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa trans by Glenn Mullin, Snow Lion Publications.

last updated: May 27, 2008
 

The Guhyasamaja Center, P.O. Box 1511, Centreville, VA 20122, (703) 774-9692
The Guhyasamaja Center is a religious non-profit 501(c)(3) organization registered in the State of Virginia.
Copyright @ 2007 The Guhyasamaja Center