Being Present to the Moment of Death

How can spiritual practice and the healing traditions guide us through the dying process, both as caregivers and as companions?

This year, Serenity Ridge welcomes spiritual teachers, physicians, and scholars from the Tibetan, Buddhist, academic, and contemplative-care traditions for a five-day retreat exploring the mystery of death, dying, and the bardo. Together, we’ll share practices, insights, and wisdom to support the journey of consciousness beyond death.

What You’ll Experience

• Morning teachings and practice with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche on bardo—the transference of consciousness at the time of death.
• Dialogues with international experts on on the bardo, Tibetan medicine, end-of-life spiritual care, advanced meditation after death (tukdam), and what it means to live and die with dignity and purpose.
• Practical tools and practices to help you navigate the dying process with clarity, awareness, and peace.

Who Should Attend

This retreat is open to everyone, whether you’re preparing for your own transition, supporting a loved one, or simply curious about the death and dying process.

An Opportunity to Deepen Your Journey

These will be Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s final teachings of 2026. For a deeper journey, consider pairing this retreat with the 5-day silent Dzogchen meditation retreat immediately preceding it — an ideal preparation for heart and mind.

This retreat will be recorded. Recordings will be available for 30 days post retreat.

About Our Special Guests

Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche is a celebrated teacher and author recognized for his profound knowledge of the Bön Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Born in Amritsar, India, and trained by respected masters, Rinpoche established the Ligmincha Institute to share the transformative teachings of Bön. Known for making ancient spiritual practices accessible to the modern world, he guides students toward self-realization and healing through meditation and mindfulness, empowering individuals to embrace a life of joy, compassion, and wisdom.

Menpa Phuntsog Wangmo — Presenter

Menpa Phuntsog Wangmo is a doctor of traditional Tibetan medicine with over 30 years of experience in clinical practice as well as teaching. She received her advanced degree from the Lhasa University School of Traditional Medicine and is the director of the Shang Shung Institute School of Tibetan Medicine, where she was instrumental in founding and developing its programs. She organized and instructed its four-year Menpa training program — the first full-length, traditional Tibetan medicine training program offered in the Western world — and teaches Tibetan medicine programs around the world.

At the Dialogues she will present on the bardo through the perspective of Tibetan medicine — offering both scholarly insight and a deeply personal reflection on the passing of her uncle, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche.

Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim, Ph.D. — Presenter

Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim is a Professor Emerita of History (University of London) who has worked on Eurasian transmissions of medical knowledge, publishing extensively on the multicultural aspects of Tibetan medicine, the transmission of medical knowledge along the Silk Roads, and the links between early Jewish medicine and other traditions. Her book ReOrienting Histories of Medicine: Encounters along the Silk Roads* (2021) analyses Eurasian medical encounters through manuscripts found in Dunhuang, Kucha, the Cairo Genizah, and Tabriz.

She co-leads the MIT Global Humanities pillar on Medicine & the Healing Arts and is writing a book for a general audience titled Lost Knowledge: How the Past Can Teach Us to Live and Die Better. At the Dialogues she will explore academic perspectives on death, dying, and the bardo — and share personal reflections on the recent passing of family members through the lens of Jewish tradition.

Susan Bauer-Wu, Ph.D., R.N. — Presenter

Susan Bauer-Wu is a clinician, researcher, and mindfulness teacher with over four decades of experience in health care and contemplative science, and is the former President of the Mind & Life Institute. At the Dialogues she will speak about her clinical work in palliative care, her training in Buddhist approaches to dying, and what drives her current focus on helping people live — and die — with dignity and purpose. She is the author of Leaves Falling Gently: Living Fully with Serious Illness through Mindfulness, Compassion & Connectedness.

Leslie Blackhall, M.D. — Moderator

Dr. Blackhall is the Section Head for Palliative Care at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and a nationally known expert in the cross-cultural, ethical, and clinical aspects of end-of-life care. She earned her undergraduate degree at Yale, attended medical school at New York University, and completed residency at Boston University. Her involvement in Tibetan medicine spans her career: she received a fellowship in Philosophy and Medicine comparing Tibetan and Western views on health, studied Tibetan medicine with Dr. Yeshe Dhonden in Dharamsala, and later earned a Master’s in Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School. She works with the largest group of Tibetan physicians in China and has served as a visiting professor at TsoNgon (Qinghai) University Tibetan Medical College.

Alejandro Chaoul, PhD — Moderator

Alejandro “Ale” Chaoul is a scholar, researcher, author, and teacher with a Ph.D. from Rice University focusing on Tibetan mind-body practices and their applications in contemporary health environments. He has studied in the Tibetan traditions since 1989 and for over 30 years in the Bon tradition, and has taught at the Ligmincha Institute throughout. For over twenty-five years he has researched and taught mind-body techniques to support wellbeing, including at MD Anderson’s Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine. He is the author of three books, including Tibetan Yoga: Magical Movements of Body, Breath, and Mind.

There will also be a Silent Dzogchen Practice Retreat led by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche from [CONFIRM DATES]. This option includes both the Practice Retreat and the Dialogues.