2024 Winter Retreat: Resting in the Wonder of the Natural Mind 

with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche 

December 27, 2024–January 4, 2025
[Weekend option ~ December 27–29, 2024 click here]

Welcome to a dzogchen retreat open to everyone! In winter, nature turns inward to renew itself before the emergence of spring. As in nature, we, too, benefit from taking time to turn inward—to reflect, meditate, and nourish ourselves in community. As we find our centeredness through resting in stillness, silence, and spaciousness, we discover the sacred expanse of our own being and the rich resource of those who gather in this way. We rest, renew, and generate fresh visions for our lives. We activate our aspiration to benefit others. 

For this 2024 Winter Retreat, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche warmly invites you to join him for nine days of dzogchen meditation. Our traditional six-day retreat has expanded in length as a support to deepen our practice together. 

Dzogchen teachings, known as the teachings of “great perfection,” are considered the highest teachings in Bön and Tibetan Buddhism. The teachings hold the view that each of us and all of  reality is inherently complete and perfected as it is. Nothing needs to be transformed or renounced, simply recognized for what it truly is. Without accepting or rejecting any of our experiences, thoughts, or emotions, the essential dzogchen practice is a practice of allowing everything to be just as it is, without the elaboration of our habitual patterns or the conceptual mind. In this natural space of openness, we abide, fully present with wisdom and compassion. 

In this retreat, Rinpoche will present and guide a selection of dzogchen practices from the ancient Bön text of the Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung, the core of Rinpoche’s teaching at our winter retreats for the last 30 years. Experienced practitioners who have attended any of the 5-year cycles of the Experiential Transmission, as well as those who are new to dzogchen meditation are warmly welcomed. If you are new to these teachings and practices, Rinpoche strongly encourages you to register for two free courses prior to attending the winter retreat:

•  Starting a Meditation Practice through Ligmincha Learning, and
•  Focusing and Calming Your Mind: The Tibetan Practice of Zhiné, through Glidewing

Time will be dedicated for a morning walk with Rinpoche. These walks are a beautiful opportunity to connect to others, with Rinpoche, and with our visiting resident lamas. We bring care and attention to the health of the body, get good sleep, and enjoy nutritious food—all supporting our ability to deepen and stabilize our meditation. 

Live translation into German, Polish, Russian, and Spanish will be available on Zoom.

A weekend option from December 27-29, 2024 is available for commuters.
Onsite accommodations are available for those attending the full retreat.
Weekend Commuters who want to stay on campus can join a waitlist for rooms. 

Tentative Schedule (New York time)
link to your local time zone

December 27, 2024
4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. Onsite Registration/Check-in
6:00 p.m.–6:45 p.m. Dinner
7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. Teachings

December 28, 2024
7:40 a.m.–8:45 a.m. Walk/Circumambulate
8:15 a.m.–9:15 a.m. Breakfast
9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Teachings
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Practice
1:00 p.m.–1:45 p.m. Lunch
3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. Teachings
5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. Practice
6:15 p.m.–7:00 p.m. Dinner

December 29–30, 2024
7:00 a.m.–7:40 a.m. Practice
7:40 a.m.–8:45 a.m. Walk/Circumambulate
8:15 a.m.–9:15 a.m. Breakfast
9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Teachings
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Practice
1:00 p.m.–1:45 p.m. Lunch
3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. Teachings
5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. Practice
6:15 p.m.–7:00 p.m. Dinner

December 31, 2023
7:00 a.m.–7:40 a.m. Practice
7:40 a.m.–8:45 a.m. Walk/Circumambulate
8:15 a.m.–9:15 a.m. Breakfast
9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Teachings
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Practice
1:00 p.m.–1:45 p.m. Lunch
3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. Du Dok (end of year ritual)
4:30 p.m.–6:00 p.m. Teaching
6:15 p.m.–7:00 p.m. New Year’s Eve Dinner

January 1, 2025
7:00 a.m.–7:40 a.m. Practice
7:40 a.m.–8:45 a.m. Walk/Circumambulate
8:15 a.m.–9:15 a.m. Breakfast
9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Sang Chӧd & Teachings
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Practice
1:00 p.m.–1:45 p.m. Lunch
3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. Teachings
5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. Practice
6:15 p.m.–7:00 p.m. Dinner

January 2–3, 2025
7:00 a.m.–7:40 a.m. Practice
7:40 a.m.–8:45 a.m. Walk/Circumambulate
8:15 a.m.–9:15 a.m. Breakfast
9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Teachings
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Practice
1:00 p.m.–1:45 p.m. Lunch
3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. Teachings
5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. Practice
6:15 p.m.–7:00 p.m. Dinner

January 4, 2025
7:00 a.m.–7:40 a.m. Practice
7:40 a.m.–8:45 a.m. Walk/Circumambulate
8:15 a.m.–9:15 a.m. Breakfast
9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Final Teaching
& Close of Retreat
12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. Tsok
1:00 p.m.–1:30 p.m. Khata offering
1:30 p.m. Lunch