Join us at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center on Saturday, July 19th from 9:30 a.m.ET as Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche offers his first ever initiation ceremony. The initiation is open to everyone and is being offered both in person at the center and online. 

Tsewang Rikdzin is known as the “King of Longevity” and is the long life deity of the Bön tradition of Tibet. Practitioners use his rituals and practices to heal the soul, strengthen life force, and remove obstacles to a long and fulfilling life. 

An initiation, also known as an empowerment, or wang in Tibetan, is a ceremony that activates our potential for self-realization – stimulating our Buddha-nature by transforming our ordinary body, speech, mind, actions and good qualities into those of a Buddha. The initiation supports our developing these “seeds” in daily life and in our meditation. Even if we do not learn the formal practices of the deity, initiation establishes a connection with the lineage of teachers and living spiritual tradition. 

COURSE

Discovering Your Inner Wisdom: The Journey to Ultimate Liberation

with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Formerly titled The Truth That Sets You Free

“The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.”
– Albert Einstein

This workshop is about becoming liberated from fear and other disturbing emotions so you may live more fully and genuinely in all aspects of life. Ultimately, it’s about achieving final liberation, or enlightenment.

Nearly all of us feel strongly attached to our physical body and to our sense of identity as a professional, a spouse, a son or daughter, for example. But our genuine self is far simpler, and more profound, than any of these. Through the practice of sleep yoga and other guided meditations, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche helps you to discover the truth of who you are: a sense of spacious awareness that is beyond the ego-based identity and which is eternal, changeless, indestructible, and serene. Realizing this truth is what liberates us from the fear and negative emotions that have trapped us in suffering. It can help us overcome fear even during the most challenging moments, including the time of our own death.

The meditations taught in this workshop include daytime contemplative practices from the Dzogchen, or “Great Perfection,” tradition of Tibetan Bön Buddhism; as well as sleep yoga practices of the night, from the Bön Mother Tantra, which offer helpful support for one’s dzogchen practice. Dzogchen is considered the path of self-liberation and the highest form of teaching and practice in the Bon Buddhist tradition. For practitioners, it offers the potential for liberation during a single lifetime and within a single body. Its practices transport the practitioner directly into the nature of mind, which is our true essence.

Workshop Features:

• Three-week teacher-guided online workshop
• Step-by-step class instructions via streaming video
• New material released twice a week
• Six hours of video instruction and guided meditations
• No set class times — review video instruction anytime and as often as necessary throughout the workshop
• Downloadable guided meditations for your practice
• Continual personal support and individualized advice from Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche via workshop forums and messenger
• Easy to use and navigate course site

 

Website: GlideWing (https://www.glidewing.com/twr/liberation_home.html)

 

About the Retreat

When we realize the boundless openness and pure awareness that naturally dwell within each of us, this recognition manifests as five qualities of wisdom.

During this two-day retreat, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will transmit the traditional teaching of the Five Wisdoms, guiding us with the depth of his experience.
Early registration is strongly encouraged.

The Five Wisdoms in the Bön Dzogchen Tradition

In the Tibetan Bön Dzogchen tradition, the word Wisdom has a unique meaning: it refers to recognizing the natural state—our true nature.
This wisdom is not something acquired over time, with age or experience; it is awakened by directly recognizing the complete perfection of each moment.

Five Wisdom Qualities – Five Pure Lights

When we realize the open and luminous nature of the mind, this recognition manifests as:

• The Wisdom of Emptiness
• Mirror-like Wisdom
• The Wisdom of Equanimity
• Discriminating Wisdom
• All-Accomplishing Wisdom

These correspond to the Five Pure Lights, the aspects of primordial luminosity. They are also known as the rainbow energies of the single sphere of existence.

When we remain caught in delusion or ignorance, these lights appear as negative emotions. However, when we realize their pure essence, they transform into the Five Wisdoms and the Five Buddha Families.

The Retreat with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

With his characteristic clarity and warmth, Rinpoche will present these ancient, profound teachings in a way that is accessible and applicable in daily life—helping us live with more awareness and inner harmony.

By practicing these teachings, we can increase our presence in every moment, promote greater health and well-being, and ultimately recognize the true nature of our mind, leading to liberation.

The retreat will include both teaching and guided meditation sessions to support direct experience and integration.

This retreat is open to everyone, regardless of prior experience.

In-person only
No prerequisites. Open to beginners and advanced practitioners alike.

Language

Teachings will be given in English with simultaneous French translation.

Venue

Salle des fêtes Pierre Chambaud
450 rue de la Grange Magnien
01960 Péronnas (near Bourg-en-Bresse)

Free parking is available in front of the venue.
Accessible by bus: Line 3 from Bourg train station → Stop “La Chênaie” in Péronnas.

Carpooling: Free shuttle service between Bourg and Péronnas may be arranged on request. Contact Dominique & Roland at +33 6 45 37 52 88. Lunch: Picnicking on site is possible (please bring your own meal)

Retreat Schedule

Saturday, August 30

• Arrival & check-in from 8:30 AM
• 9:30 AM–12:30 PM & 2:30–5:30 PM: Teaching with Rinpoche
• 6:00–8:30 PM: 10th Anniversary Celebration of Ligmincha France

Sunday, August 31

• 9:30 AM–12:30 PM & 2:00–4:00 PM: Teaching with Rinpoche
  Please arrive 10–15 minutes before each session begins.

Participation Fee

• Non-members (2 days): €140 / CHF
• Ligmincha France Members (2 days): €112 / CHF (20% discount for members with valid 2024–2026 membership)

Registration

Spots are limited, so early booking is advised.

Registration: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/ligminchapronnas/1689082

 

Contact & Organization

This retreat is organized by the Ligmincha Bourg-en-Bresse team: Christelle, Sylvia, Véronique, and Roland. A heartfelt thanks to them!

For questions or assistance, contact Dominique & Roland:
📧 roland.cadoz@orange.fr | 📞 +33 6 45 37 52 88

Experiencing Our Authentic Being Through the Teachings of the Six Lokas (Continued)

In 2023/24, Rinpoche combined the teachings on the Six Lamps with breathing exercises from the Tummo, demonstrating the benefits of both aspects of knowledge and practice for experiencing the nature of mind. Rinpoche also began teaching the Six Lokas in this context and will continue this year. Participation in the retreat is not dependent on previous year’s attendance. Anyone can register.

Lamps illuminate our path in the darkness, and they simultaneously illuminate themselves. The Instruction on the Six Lamps is an important Dzogchen work and one of the root texts of Zhang Zhung Nyengyü. This teaching describes the principles of recognizing the natural state and shows how they can be experienced by the practitioner. The text describes Trekchö and Thögal practices as revealed by Tapihritsa to Gyerpung Nangzher Löpo.

Negative emotions such as anger, greed, and pride cause suffering in our lives. According to Tibetan spiritual traditions, these emotions keep us trapped in the endless cycle of cyclic existence: samsara. The teachings of the six realms, or six lokas, give us the opportunity to fundamentally recognize these negative emotions, clarify them, and transform them into positive qualities that can strengthen and enrich our lives.

The retreat will be translated from English into German.

Date | August 11 – August 17, 2025

Time | Arrival and registration on site from 3 p.m. on Monday, end on Sunday around 2 p.m.

Location | Buchenau Castle, Hermann-Lietz-Straße, Eiterfeld

Costs | see table [all prices per person/week and on-site in the BUCHENAU price, including vegetarian meals ]

	Zoom	On-site at Buchenau Castle including meals 428,00 €
Regular price*	395.00 €	788.00 €
Discount*	295.00 €	688.00 €
Discount for students aged 16 and over, unemployment benefit recipients and pensioners*	195.00 €	588.00 €
Children (4-15)	– €	428.00 €
Children (under 4)	– €	– €

* Discount available for early payment (receipt of money before 30.06.2025): 20 EUR discount only for bank transfer (NOT for Paypal payments)

Accommodation | please do not transfer this amount to us together with the retreat price / Payment for accommodation on site at the castle: 226 EUR double room with shower/WC, 78 EUR tent pitch, pitch for motorhome [all prices per person/week]

Registration | click here

Organizer | Ligmincha Germany

Further information

• Hygiene concept Schloss Buchenau ( the rules for “hotel overnight stay” apply to all participants of the retreat )
• Conditions of participation and cancellation
• Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche on “Becoming a Vegetarian”

FREE EVENT

24-Hour Full Moon Practice: Finding Refuge Within

On August 8, 2025, join us online for a 10 a.m. meditation guided by Marcy Vaughn, followed by a 24-hour session of silent contemplation alternating with periods of guided meditation. Our online gathering offers a sacred space in which we acknowledge personal pain and societal challenges while abiding within the open, clear, warmth of presence — who we truly are. Discovering this space of inner refuge is the ultimate sense of protection and supports genuine compassion to emerge to meet the challenges we face individually and collectively.

Each month the 24-hour session begins with a guided meditation at 10 a.m. New York time on the day of the full moon and continues unbroken until 10 a.m. the following day. We are supported by Ligmincha International’s global community of practitioners. Unlike Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s CyberSangha® Facebook Live broadcasts, the 24-hour full moon practice takes place via Zoom. Its simple group meditation is open to anyone regardless of one’s religious or spiritual background. There is no cost to participate, but registration is required.

Learn more and register — click here

To stay informed of future 24-hour full moon practice sessions, subscribe to the CyberSangha Announcements email list.

 

 

Rinpoche’s teaching will focus on the Dzogchen practices of trekchö and tögal in the Bön tradition. Rooted in the ancient Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition, Dzogchen, or the “Great Perfection,” is a profound practice that focuses on recognizing and resting in the natural state of mind, often described as naked awareness or luminous clarity. Dzogchen has the power to transform ordinary perceptions of the world and our self from a fragmented, anxious outlook to one of unity and tranquility.

As in the Buddhist traditions, “trekchö” and “tögal” are both advanced meditation practices of the Dzogchen teachings. Trekchö serves as the foundational practice that cuts through mental elaborations to help recognize one’s innate awareness, while tögal relates to clear light and the visions that can arise from that state, supported by the practices of sky gazing, sun gazing and dark retreat. This Dzogchen teaching is open to all. Rinpoche will be teaching at Shambhala in lieu of teaching in Crestone, Colorado, where his Chamma Ling Colorado center has cabins available for solitary retreat including dark retreat.

FREE EVENT

The Mystery of Tukdam: Exploring Advanced Meditative States at Life’s End

With Drs. Tawni Tidwell and Tenzin Namdul, hosted by Alejandro Chaoul, Ph.D.

Join us for a special dialogue exploring tukdam, a rare meditative state described in Tibetan Buddhism and Bön. In tukdam, the body of a realized practitioner shows minimal signs of decomposition for days or even weeks after clinical death. This phenomenon is believed to reflect a profound mastery of meditation, merging consciousness with the Clear Light of the mind’s primordial nature.

This timely broadcast brings together leading researchers to illuminate the intersection of science and spirituality, following the recent passing of H.E. Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, the revered, most-senior teacher of the Tibetan Bön tradition. As His Eminence entered parinirvana on June 12, 2025, he remained in the tukdam meditative state for eight days.

•  Options to join the chat: View on Facebook | View on the Community App | Explore or join the app now.

• Or, view on the CyberSangha website — click here

• About the presenters — click here

Across many cultures, the primordial feminine is honored as the source of life itself. In the ancient Bön Buddhist tradition, this energy is embodied in Sherap Chamma — the Mother of Wisdom and Love — a source of deep healing, timeless wisdom, and unconditional compassion.

In this special retreat, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will guide us in a simple, beautiful meditation practice to directly connect with the loving, divine energy in our own hearts. Through visualization, mantra, and deep inner stillness, the practice of Sherap Chamma helps us awaken our innate wisdom and promote healing on the physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual levels.

We’ll also explore how breath and awareness can support us in releasing stress and anxiety, improving sleep, deepening our connections with others, and cultivating a greater sense of loving-kindness.

Whether you’re just beginning or have an established meditation practice, you are warmly invited to join Rinpoche for this heart-opening weekend of wisdom, compassion, and inner renewal.