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.

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.

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• Or, view on the CyberSangha website — click here

• About the presenters — click here

FREE EVENT

24-Hour Full Moon Practice: Finding Refuge Within

On September 7, 2025, join us online for a 10 a.m. meditation guided by Alejandro Chaoul, 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.

In many indigenous spiritual traditions the five elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space pervade all of life and as the essential components of our existence. Our soul (Tibetan: “la”) is composed of the living qualities of the elements at a very subtle level — and when we experience trauma, shock, or prolonged emotional pain, parts of our la—the soul’s vital essence—can become lost, damaged or stolen.

Soul retrieval is one of the most powerful methods for restoring vitality, joy, and spiritual harmony. The practice of Soul Retrieval offers a way to compassionately call these aspects home and integrate them for healing at every level. The shamanic ritual of soul retrieval calls on the living essence of the elements — the elemental energies or spirits — to balance and heal what has been lost or harmed. Lama Kalsang will perform the soul retrieval ritual for all in attendance in person and online.

Soul Retrieval is a practice taught by the enlightened being, Tsewang Rikdzin, the long life deity of the Tibetan Bön tradition. This practice reaches back centuries and is and can facilitate healing at physical, energetic and spiritual levels. Everyone is welcome to attend, and anyone approaching the sacred ceremony with an open mind can benefit.

Time: 12:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET

Uza Rinchen Sal was an uneducated Tibetan woman who lived many centuries ago in a small village. She became ill, died, and travelled through the bardo of death visiting all of the hell realms as well as many buddha-fields and the lands of the khandro, or sky-walkers. Just before her body was to be burned, Uza Rinchen Sal came back to life. She was a transformed person. Her experiences were found to be perfectly in accord with all the teachings of the Bön tradition, and her narrative was written down for the benefit of practitioners.

Come hear the author and scholar Dr. Sangmo Yangri discuss her translation of this important work. Sangmo-la will share more about its history and how this tale can serve as a guide to living a life of dharma and practice. Sangmo-la is not only a scholar and an author but she is a deeply experienced practitioner who comes from a long line of dharma practitioners. She has spent many years working to reclaim the narratives of women in the Tibetan Bön tradition.

Suggested reading: The Lamp of Uza Rinchen Sal

Sangmo (Yangri), Ph.D, scholar, teacher, and translator, is the first Tibetan woman to receive a Ph.D In Tibetan Bon philosophy studies. A recipient of the Jwaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund grant, she won the Prime Minister Award from the Tibetan Government in Exile in India in 2013.

After completing her PhD, she was asked by His Holiness the 33rd Menri Trizin Lungtok Tenpe Nyima Rinpoche to teach at the dialectic school at the Redna Menling Nunnery in Dolanji.

She taught at Lishu Institute in India both in site and online the Bon teaching to western students. She has also translated from Tibetan to English various teachers from Lishu Institute and from Menri Monastery.

Sangmo-la’s first book in English is: Escape from Darkness: The spiritual journey of the Buddha Tonpa Shenrab Miwo’s daughter ShenzaNechung. This book is a translation of a chapter of the biography of Buddha Shenrab Miwo. Her second publication in English is The Lamp of UZa Rinchin Sal, a Delog story from the Bön tradition. She has also translated the Zhang Zhung Nyengyud Ngondro: The preliminary Practices to Dzogchen according to the Oral Transmission of Zhangzhung from the Tibetan teaching of PonlobTsangpa Tenzin Rinpoche in Shenten from the Tibetan to English. She is the editor of the Palden Tsultrim’s “A Commentary on the Three Ornaments of Poetry” book.

Learn more about Dr. Sangmo Yangri: https://uzarinchensal.com/

Schedule – New York Time

Link to your local time zone

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

A Silent Retreat with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Silence is a powerful tool. Sitting in stillness and resting in silence, the mind can grow more calm and our awareness more luminous. Silence helps us to open the heart and let go of the stresses of daily life. It is not always an easy practice, but it is a powerful tool for personal transformation and expanded awareness.

Come join Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche for his first silent retreat in many years! He will support us in finding a deep connection to our inner stillness, silence and spaciousness. This is not a strictly silent retreat. Once per day Rinpoche will provide instruction and there will be opportunities to ask questions about practice, and there will be time for connecting with other retreatants on the last day. The rest of our time in and out of the meditation hall will be spent in nobel silence.

We offer special pricing on this retreat for anyone who wants to also attend our Serenity Ridge Dialogues. Save $230 on your registration when you register for both events!. You will also receive free lodging on Sunday and Monday nights, between the end of the silent retreat and the start of the Serenity Ridge Dialogues as well as breakfast on those days.

For those on a spiritual path, moments of transition provide potent opportunities for self-transformation, and no transition more than the moment of death! Join us in a discovery of spiritual practices that help prepare for the moment of death and that can support others in their time of dying.

Our mornings teachings and practice are with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, who will guide us in the practice of Powa, the transference of consciousness at the moment of death. In the afternoons are talks, conversation and guided practices providing a broad perspective on the process and moment of dying from different perspectives and traditions. Dr. Leslie Blackhall, Dr. Nikki Mirghafori, and Father Francis Tiso are presenters at this year’s Dialogues. One of the defining aspects of this event is the opportunity to join in as our presenters and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche engage in conversation around topics close to their own hearts and practice, participating in the conversations through active Q&A sessions.

All practices are taught in a way suitable to any level of experience. All are welcome to join!

About Our Special Guests:

Dr. Leslie Blackhall

Dr. Blackhall is the section head for Palliative Care at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She is a nationally known expert in cross-cultural, ethical and clinical aspects of end-of-life care. She did her undergraduate degree at Yale University, went to New York University for medical school and residency training at Boston University. Her involvement in Tibetan medicine spans her career. In medical school Dr. Blackhall received a fellowship in Philosophy and Medicine where she compared Tibetan and Western views on health and illness and later spent a month in Dharamsala, India studying Tibetan Medicine with Dr. Yeshe Dhonden. Following her residency she received a Masters in Theologic Studies at Harvard Divinity School where she studied medical anthropology, the history of medicine, bioethics and Tibetan language. She works with the largest group of Tibetan Physicians in China, and has brought several to UVA as visiting professors. She has served as a visiting professor at the TsoNgon (ch: Qinghai) University Tibetan Medical College.

Dr. Nikki Mirghafori

Dr. Mirghafori is a Buddhist teacher and Artificial Intelligence scientist. She is a lineage holder in the Theravada tradition, empowered by the Burmese meditation master Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw, with whom she practiced the jhanas and detailed analytical (Abhidhamma-style) vipassana.  She also received empowerment from the Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Insight Meditation Society, Insight Meditation Center, and is a Stanford-trained compassion cultivation instructor.

Additionally, Nikki has been a researcher and inventor in AI, holding multiple patents and co-author of 40+ scientific research articles.  She has directed international research programs as the Principal Investigator, mentored post-docs and PhD students, taught graduate courses at UC Berkeley, and been a scientific advisor to Silicon Valley technology startups.

Nikki serves as a Stewarding Teacher and on the Board of Directors at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA and as a Teacher at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. Nikki is Iranian-American, has taught contemplative practices internationally, and aspires to serve as a champion for wisdom and compassion, as well as ethical AI in our zeitgeist.

Tenzin Namdul, TMP, PhD

Dr. Tenzin Namdu, an Assistant Professor of the Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota, is a medical anthropologist and a Tibetan Medicine doctor, driven to understand mind-body relationship in studying aging and memory through the lens of biocultural and Tibetan medical paradigms. He incorporates his wide array of training into translational science to examine how cultural values and practices shape the ways in which individuals age and die and care for others who are dying. His doctoral research examines how Tibetan medical doctors, Buddhist practitioners, and lay people’s perspectives about death and dying translate into their care for dying individuals and their own dying process. Specifically, he explores the Tibetan Buddhist contemplative practice called tukdam—a meditation an adept practitioner indulges in after a clinical death—through ethnographic study and shows how it informs and shapes both the sociomoral fabric of life and the sense of wellbeing at the time of dying among Tibetan refugees in southern India.

Dr. Namdul’s current research investigates factors associated with cognitive and physical resilience and how they influence aging and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias among Tibetan Buddhist monks in southern India.

Father Francis Tiso

Father Francis Tiso holds the A.B. in Medieval Studies from Cornell University, a Master of Divinity degree (cum laude) from Harvard University and a doctorate from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary where his specialization was Buddhist studies. Fr. Tiso translated several early biographies of the Tibetan yogi and poet, Milarepa and has led research expeditions in South Asia, Tibet and the Far East. His teaching interests include Christian theology, history of religions, spirituality, ecumenism and interreligious dialogue.

Father Tiso was Associate Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2004 to 2009, where he served as liaison to Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Sikhs, and the Reformed (Calvinist) Churches. Since 1988, Father Tiso has been a priest of the Diocese of Isernia-Venafro, Italy, where he now serves as chaplain to the migrant communities in the Province of Isernia. Father Tiso is the author of Liberation in One Lifetime (2014) and Rainbow Body and Resurrection (2016). He is the recipient of grants from the American Academy of Religion, the American Philosophical Society, the Palmers Fund in Switzerland, and the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, CA.

The Invocation of Tapihritsa is one of the most important prayers in the Bön dzogchen tradition. Tapihritsa, a historical person of the early 8th century, achieved full realization and manifested the rainbow body as an expression of that realization. Inseparable from Kuntu Zangpo (Samantabhadra), he represents the union of all masters, especially one’s own root master. It is this prayer that H.E. Yongdzin Rinpoche recited during his final days and moments, fully abiding in the natural state of mind and self-arising wisdom.

The Invocation of Tapihritsa is not only beautiful, but also a profound expression of the natural state. Not only does it reveal all the qualities of our own enlightened nature, it reveals the path and fruit for a practitioner intent upon enlightenment in this very lifetime.

Over the course of two 90-minute sessions, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will explain the meaning of this prayer and how it can lead us to recognizing our own ranjung yeshe, or self-arising wisdom. This half-day teaching will be invaluable for all those who attended his summer retreats this year, in which the Invocation was recited in almost every session, and those interested in attending the Serenity Ridge winter Dzogchen retreat in January. It is also a wonderful opportunity to deepen our connection to Yongdzin Rinpoche, who held it especially close to his heart throughout his life, and especially at the time of his dying.

Come practice Dzogchen meditation with a true master of the Bön tradition! Drupdra Khenpo Rinpoche is the Abbot of the meditation school at Triten Norbutse in Nepal. He is an exceptional teacher and practitioner, recognized for his deep knowledge and dedication to the practices of Tsalung and Trulkhor. Drupdra Khenpo Rinpoche will be supported by Marcy Vaughn as our retreat’s umze, and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will join by zoom every other day to provide additional instruction and comments on the teachings.

Our focus this year is twofold. Our initial weekend will be oriented around the Invocation of Tapihritsa, a prayer of great beauty that describes and praises the qualities of the natural state. In the second phase of our retreat, Drupdra Khenpo will teach from the 21 Nails, among the most succinct and profound articulations of the natural state (the clear light of awareness) in any spiritual tradition. He will draw from this sacred text to support our recognition and resting in the nature of mind.

Attend this as a 2-day retreat. All participants will arrive on Friday, January 2, the day for checking in, settling into your room (if you are staying onsite), a light dinner and a guided practice. Our weekend guests will join us for teachings on the Invocation of Tapihritsa. Those continuing with the longer retreat will continue on. Beginning on January 03, the Drupdra Khenpo will begin to draw on the 21 Nails to guide our meditations. For those unable to attend in person, both options will be offered online via Zoom.

This is Rinpoche’s first visit to the United States.

If you are interested in staying onsite, please contact Johannah at sr.registration@ligmincha.org or Shelly at sr.office@ligmincha.org to be placed on the waitlist for lodging. We will do our best to accommodate room requests.

About Drupdra Khenpo

Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche’ was born in the Hor’ region of East Tibet (Kham’), in 1968 to a Bönpo family of nomadic cattle herders. As a boy, he tended his family’s sheep and yaks, and learnt reading and writing from his grandfather. At nineteen, he entered Lungkar Monastery. During this time, Tsultrim Tenzin completed the traditional preliminary practices and studied Tibetan grammar and poetry as well as Bönpo philosophy. Tsultrim Tenzin served as umze, or chant master, for three years in the Lungkar Monastery.

At the age of twenty-five, he went to Menri’s Monastery in Central Tibet to study with Pönlob Kalzang Nyima’ from whom he received teachings on Denö Dzö’ authored by Shardza Trashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche’ (1859-1935) and the A-Thril’ Bönpo Dzogchen manual. At this time he also gained the experiential understanding of Great Perfection.

In 1993, Tsultrim Tenzin made the arduous journey to Triten Norbutse Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, to study intensively with his root Master, Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, under whose guidance he deepened his knowledge of Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen. He also learnt astrology, traditional Tibetan medicine, and Sanskrit. While studying, Tsultrim Tenzin served as the monastery’s chant master for six years, and as gekhöz (disciplinarian) for three years. After completing the 14-year study programme, he passed the Geshe examination in 2001 and received his degree.

In 2002, Tsultrim Tenzin was appointed by Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche as Drubdra Khenpo – Abbot of the Meditation School – in Triten Norbutse Monastery. Since then he has been teaching Dzogchen in the meditation school there as well as giving instructions on Sutra, Tantra, Dzogchen, astrology and mandala and painting in the monastic dialectic school.

Alongside teaching, Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche practices Dzogchen meditation and Magyu tsalung, thrulkhor and tummo for two hours every morning. He sometimes travels to Tibet, China, Japan, Europe and England to teach Dzogchen, Tantra and tsalung. This is Rinpoche’s first visit to the United States.

Come practice Dzogchen meditation with a true master of the Bön tradition! Drupdra Khenpo Rinpoche is the Abbot of the meditation school at Triten Norbutse in Nepal. He is an exceptional teacher and practitioner, recognized for his deep knowledge and dedication to the practices of Tsalung and Trulkhor. Drupdra Khenpo Rinpoche will be supported by Marcy Vaughn as our retreat’s umze, and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will join by zoom every other day to provide additional instruction and comments on the teachings.

Our focus this year is twofold. Our initial weekend will be oriented around the Invocation of Tapihritsa, a prayer of great beauty that describes and praises the qualities of the natural state. In the second phase of our retreat, Drupdra Khenpo will teach from the 21 Nails, among the most succinct and profound articulations of the natural state (the clear light of awareness) in any spiritual tradition. He will draw from this sacred text to support our recognition and resting in the nature of mind.

Attend this as a 2-day or a 7-day retreat. All participants will arrive on Friday, January 2, the day for checking in, settling into your room (if you are staying onsite), a light dinner and a guided practice. Our weekend guests will join us for teachings on the Invocation of Tapihritsa. Those continuing with the longer retreat will continue on. Beginning on January 03, the Drupdra Khenpo will begin to draw on the 21 Nails to guide our meditations. For those unable to attend in person, both options will be offered online via Zoom.

About Drupdra Khenpo

Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche’ was born in the Hor’ region of East Tibet (Kham’), in 1968 to a Bönpo family of nomadic cattle herders. As a boy, he tended his family’s sheep and yaks, and learnt reading and writing from his grandfather. At nineteen, he entered Lungkar Monastery. During this time, Tsultrim Tenzin completed the traditional preliminary practices and studied Tibetan grammar and poetry as well as Bönpo philosophy. Tsultrim Tenzin served as umze, or chant master, for three years in the Lungkar Monastery.

At the age of twenty-five, he went to Menri’s Monastery in Central Tibet to study with Pönlob Kalzang Nyima’ from whom he received teachings on Denö Dzö’ authored by Shardza Trashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche’ (1859-1935) and the A-Thril’ Bönpo Dzogchen manual. At this time he also gained the experiential understanding of Great Perfection.

In 1993, Tsultrim Tenzin made the arduous journey to Triten Norbutse Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, to study intensively with his root Master, Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, under whose guidance he deepened his knowledge of Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen. He also learnt astrology, traditional Tibetan medicine, and Sanskrit. While studying, Tsultrim Tenzin served as the monastery’s chant master for six years, and as gekhöz (disciplinarian) for three years. After completing the 14-year study programme, he passed the Geshe examination in 2001 and received his degree.

In 2002, Tsultrim Tenzin was appointed by Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche as Drubdra Khenpo – Abbot of the Meditation School – in Triten Norbutse Monastery. Since then he has been teaching Dzogchen in the meditation school there as well as giving instructions on Sutra, Tantra, Dzogchen, astrology and mandala and painting in the monastic dialectic school.

Alongside teaching, Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin Rinpoche practices Dzogchen meditation and Magyu tsalung, thrulkhor and tummo for two hours every morning. He sometimes travels to Tibet, China, Japan, Europe and England to teach Dzogchen, Tantra and tsalung. This is Rinpoche’s first visit to the United States.