The Buddha Path Spring Retreat
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Dzogchen Retreat Center USA
Teachings and Trainings on The Buddha Path
Saturday, May 27 through Sunday, June 4, 2017
Last updated: December 4, 2017
The Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation is pleased to announce our 11th annual Spring Retreat. The retreat will be under the guidance of Venerable Archarya Kunzang Lama and Venerable Archarya Lama Wangmo, as authorized by His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche. This one-week retreat will be held at the beautiful Dzogchen Retreat Center USA and will run the last week of May and into June. This retreat presents an ideal opportunity to deepen your understanding and experience of the teachings of the Dzogchen Lineage.
The 2017 Buddha Path Spring Retreat will commence at 3 PM on Saturday, May 27, 2017 and conclude at 3 PM on Sunday, June 4, 2017.
The curriculum includes in-depth teaching on the fundamental principles of Buddhism as presented in Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche’s practice text The Buddha Path. This program's engaging approach is designed to give students real-world skills for coping with the stressors of modern life by laying out a solid foundation for Dharma practice, on and off the cushion.
Seating is limited, so please register early.
About the Teachers
American-born Venerable Archarya Lama Orgyen Zangpo (Kunzang Lama) has studied and practiced Buddhism since the age of seventeen. His journey began with a thorough investigation of the Japanese Soto Zen meditation tradition over the course of several years.
In 2003, Orgyen Zangpo had the good fortune to meet his root teacher, Great Perfection of Wisdom Lineage holder Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche. Since that time he has devoted his practice to the vast and profound teachings of the Dzogchen Lineage.
He has received extensive Dharma teacher training as a student and as retreat director during numerous Buddhist retreats and extended Dzogchen Lineage Internships. Orgyen Zangpo has also served as the guiding Dharma tutor of the Dzogchen Dharma Center of Eugene, Oregon. He is authorized by Khenpo Choga Rinpoche as a Dharma Teacher of The Buddha Path and has taught the fundamental principles of Buddhism in the United States and Asia.
Orgyen Zangpo is recognized for his clear and direct teaching style with an emphasis on making the Dharma accessible and practical for modern students. His compassion and kindness shine through every moment of his teaching. He has dedicated his life to preserving and propagating the authentic teachings of the Buddha for the benefit of all beings.
Affectionately called "Kunzang Lama" within the Sangha, Orgyen Zangpo is a long-time permanent resident of the Dzogchen Retreat Center. There he engages in many Dharma activities, including teaching week-long seasonal retreats and helping Khenpo Rinpoche with the composition and editing of his book projects, including the 3rd edition of The Buddha Path.
Amanda Simons, now known as Lama Wongmo, was born, raised, and educated on the East Coast of the United States. She is an inspirational Dharma practitioner who transmits her insightful joy and enthusiasm in Buddhism to all those she meets.
For more than a decade, she has studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism with many excellent teachers, especially H.E. Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, with whom she has spent the last ten years as his personal assistant. During this time, she has transcribed thousands of hours of Rinpoche's precious teachings in session and has participated in Rinpoche's writing and translation projects every day. She has also traveled with Rinpoche around the world supporting his various Dharma activities.
Lama Wongmo has attended ten Dzogchen Lineage Internships and numerous Dharma retreats and trainings with Rinpoche. Since 2014, when she was recognized as a Buddha Path Lama, she has lovingly given many Dharma teachings in various places. She always has a joyful personality and sincerely serves our precious Sangha and Dharma Organization every day, at the Dzogchen Retreat Center USA and throughout the world.
About the Lineage
Since Khenpo Choga will be involved in teaching and writing projects during this time, he has requested that Thabkey Lama lead the 2017 Buddha Path Spring Retreat.
A vibrant and dynamic teacher, Khenpo Choga is a 33rd-generation lineage holder of the Buddhist wisdom lineage of Dzogchen, a lama of Dzogchen Monastery, and professor of the Dzogchen Shri Singha University. Khen Rinpoche has more than seven years of solitary cave meditation experience in the high Tibetan holy mountains and embodies the qualities of a realized practitioner and yogi. He is a published author of numerous Tibetan and English books, including The Buddha Path, a practice book that encompasses all of Buddha's teachings, and which is now available in English, Chinese, Russian, and German. It is soon to be released in Nepali, Japanese, and Spanish.
More about Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche »
Retreat Pricing
As always the teachings and ceremonies themselves are offered free of charge, but it is traditional in Buddhism for the student to make an individual offering to the teacher during the retreat. You may voluntarily make an offering to the teacher at anytime during the retreat. It is most auspicious to do this at the beginning of the retreat at the end of the opening ceremony.
The retreat fees listed below are used to pay for food, supplies, utilities and maintenance of the facilities.
- Adult (18–64) ~ $560
- Senior (65 and up) ~ $450
- Monastic ~ $400
- Teen (ages 13–17) ~ $350
- Youth (ages 8–12) ~ $300
- Child (ages 0–7) ~ contact Retreat Director
NOTE: If you also plan to attend the 2017 Dzogchen Internship, then $100 of this retreat's fees can be credited toward your Internship fee.
When making your travel plans, please plan your schedule so that you arrive at the retreat center after lunch, and depart the retreat center after lunch on the dates listed above. You are welcome to come earlier or stay after the retreat to help us with preparations and clean-up of the retreat center. It is $20 per day to stay at the retreat center outside of the scheduled Spring Retreat. The $20 per day includes your meals and accommodations. Accommodations do not include blankets, sheets or towels.
Please Read About the Details
We have a separate page with all of the details about the retreat that you should read prior to applying. Please carefully review the Retreat Details, Conditions and Policies before registering. Everyone is welcome to apply by clicking here.
If you have any questions about anything, don’t hesitate to Contact Us.
How to Register
Because space is limited, we may have to decline some applicants, so you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. The application period will close on May 3, 2017. Once you apply, we will contact you to confirm your registration.
Please carefully review the Retreat Details, Conditions and Policies before registering. Everyone is welcome to apply by clicking here.
How to Make Payments
Payment is due in full at the time of acceptance of your application. There will be no refunds after the close of the application period. Learn more on the Retreat Payment Options Page.
The Great Merit of Supporting Retreats
Even if you will not be able to attend this retreat, you or anyone else you know may earn tremendous merit by supporting those in retreat. If you would like to contribute financially or with your time, contact us immediately. There are a variety of different projects underway intended to support the retreat experience, including maintenance of the facilities and grounds. Funding for our scholarship program is also greatly needed.
There are three ways you can help:
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Come to the retreat center prior to the Spring Retreat and get the unique benefits of a work retreat.
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Offer donations for raw materials and supplies.
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Sponsor students and volunteers who want to perform work retreats.
If you would like to help or would like more information, please contact the retreat director.
Heartfelt Dharma Aspiration Prayer
As you may know, Khenpo has requested that all Sanghas and individual students practice the, “Heartfelt Dharma Aspiration Prayer for the Dzogchen Lineage Internship” as much as possible. There are three important times Rinpoche has requested we practice this prayer:
- Daily, on an individual basis
- Weekly, with your Sangha, whenever you get together for practice.
- Monthly on the full moon. Try to plan accordingly within your Sangha and get together to practice for all beings!
Khenpo has stressed that for the benefit of all beings it is imperative we generate the positive energy necessary to organize and plan a successful Dzogchen Lineage Internship. Without such success, it will be much more difficult to train teachers for this world and preserve the Buddha’s teachings. We therefore encourage you to practice this prayer, the "Preliminary Practice" in The Buddha Path, and Visualization of Buddha Shakyamuni as much as possible for the benefit of all beings! Always know that your positive practice is the root of all beneficial activities and the root of world peace!
We rejoice in your good practice!
Namo Buddhaya!
Download a printable PDF of the Dharma Aspiration Prayer
Join the Circle of Compassion
Support the Dzogchen Retreat Center Project
For the peace and happiness of all beings, the Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation USA is asking for your support to ensure the future of the Dzogchen Retreat Center USA, under the spiritual guidance of Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche.
Your help is urgently needed to ensure the preservation, practice, and transmission of the unbroken Dzogchen Lineage tradition for increasing personal happiness and creating lasting world peace. Please visit our website where you can donate online and join our ongoing giving program, the Circle of Compassion, or make a one-time donation to the Dzogchen Retreat Center USA Project. "Generosity is the root of wealth and prosperity."
Learn more at: www.dzogchenlineage.org/giving
The Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation USA is an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
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