The 2017 Dzogchen Autumn Retreat
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Dzogchen Retreat Center USA
Teachings and Trainings on The Buddha Path
Sunday, October 22 through Sunday, October 29, 2017
Last updated: June 24, 2017
The Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation is pleased to announce our annual Dzogchen Autumn Retreat under the guidance of His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche. This week-long retreat will be held at the beautiful Dzogchen Retreat Center USA. This year presents an ideal opportunity to deepen your understanding and experience of the teachings of the Dzogchen Lineage.
The 2017 Autumn Retreat will commence on Sunday, October 22th and conclude on Sunday, October 29. This year’s seven days and seven nights of teaching and training will include in-depth and direct teachings on the sacred text The Buddha Path, the Buddhist fundamentals, and will include many practices including mantra recitation, reciting sacred text, visualizations, music making, light offerings, and food offerings.
Seating is limited, so please register early.
About the Teacher
Upasaka Bodhisattva Zangshod (Marc Baldwin) is an authorized Dharma Teacher under the guidance of H.E. Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche.
Zangshod, a longtime Buddhist practitioner, has spent more than seven years studying closely with Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche. He is a passionate and inspiring teacher in the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingthig Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.
About the Retreat
What to Expect at the Dzogchen Autumn Retreat
Morning bells ring in the crisp autumn air, calling you to meditation in our colorful shrine, where all retreatants practice The Buddha Path together. Dharma exercises and classes follow, with a full day of indispensible Buddhist teachings on how to put positive thinking into practice.
"Retreat" means withdrawing your body, speech, and mind away from busy, meaningless, and negative activities, freeing yourself to focus on helping all beings. Away from worldly distractions, you can wholeheartedly train your mind in the Way of True Happiness. In retreat you will practice Dharma with more joy, depth, and intensity than you have likely experienced before and the results may surprise you. By training your mind using the skillful means of the Dzogchen Lineage you will take steps toward your own awakening.
"Dzogchen" translates as "the Great Perfection" or "the Great Inclusion" because it contains all of Buddha's teachings, including both sutra and tantra. The nature of mind is pure, luminous, and blissful, yet until we rid ourselves of negative thinking, we will generate suffering for ourselves and provide the conditions of others' suffering. Through the practice of Dzogchen one can become Buddha in a single lifetime and never again be a negative condition for any being.
The Dzogchen Autumn Retreat is one week of diligent learning, contemplation, meditation, prayer, and discussion surrounded by precious sangha and experienced Dharma teachers. It is a unique opportunity to increase your love, compassion, and wisdom. During this week you will learn how to increase your happiness, causes of happiness, and the happiness of all beings, while decreasing the suffering and causes of suffering of all beings. By committing to spend a week practicing to this end, your mind will be transformed and you will have a more positive effect on your loved ones and all beings.
About the Dzogchen Retreat Center
The Dzogchen Retreat Center is situated on 160 pristine acres in the beautiful coastal mountains of Oregon. The property is replete with native forests, lush meadows, beautiful valleys, peaceful ponds, and the powerful Suislaw River connecting us to the Pacific Ocean.
All teachings at the Retreat Center are given free of charge. Retreat fees pay for Dharma activities and the operation of the facilities, including meals and maintenance. Retreat cabins sleep two, perfect for couples or friends coming together. There is also a heated women's dormitory with bunk beds.
Accommodations are limited, so please register early.
We welcome practitioners of all levels. Whether you are completely new to Buddhism or have been practicing for many years, you will find valuable instruction, guidance, and support. For students sincerely interested in following an authentic Buddha Path, transmitted by an authentic Vajra Master in the unbroken Dzogchen Lineage, there is no better way to start than with a Dzogchen Lineage Retreat.
About the Lineage
It is extremely precious to study under an authentic master, one whose lineage can be traced all the way back to Buddha Shakyamuni. Our precious Vajra Master, H.E. Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, is a thirty-third generation lineage holder of the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingthig and the Dzogchen Khadro Nyingthig lineages, selected by previous Dzogchen Lineage Masters in Tibet because of his profound knowledge and realization. With more than seven years of solitary cave meditation experience in the high Tibetan holy mountains, Rinpoche truly embodies the qualities of a realized practitioner and yogi. Also a vibrant and dynamic teacher and scholar, Rinpoche is a lama of the Dzogchen Monastery and professor of the Dzogchen Shri Singha University. He is a published author of numerous books in both Tibetan and English, including The Buddha Path, a practice book that encompasses all of Buddha's teachings. The Buddha Path is available in English, Chinese, Russian, and German, and is soon to be released in Nepali, Japanese, and Spanish.
Just as great master of the past, Atisha, was revered for always teaching refuge, Khenpo Choga Rinpoche is revered for always training teachers. His heartfelt effort to train knowledgeable, wise and compassionate teachers has reached a critical juncture, and he has authorized authentically trained and certified Dharma Teachers of The Buddha Path to teach under his guidance. Rinpoche has requested that Upasaka Bodhisattva Zangshod (Marc Baldwin) lead this retreat.
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
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 later at the retreat center to volunteer to help us with preparations and clean-up of the retreat center. It is $30 per day to stay at the retreat center as a volunteer outside of the scheduled Autumn Retreat. The $30 per day includes your meals and accommodations. Accommodations do not include blankets, sheets or towels.
Please Read the Fine Print
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.
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 October 19, 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 providing facilities for those on retreat. If you would like to contribute financially or with labor, contact us immediately. There are a variety of different projects underway intended to support the retreat experience, including maintenance of the shrine tent and cabins, weatherproofing our facilities, and refinements of the kitchen and dining areas.
There are three ways you can help:
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Come to the retreat center prior to the Autumn 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.
Providing immediate assistance will help facilitate improvements in time for Autumn Retreat. If you would like to help or would like more information, please contact the retreat director.
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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