Online Soul Retrieval: Teaching and Ritual
with Lama Kalsang Nyima
September 20, 2025
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 traumatic events or other kinds of shock to the body, mind or heart can cause our soul, or a fragment of it, to break, be lost, or otherwise damaged.
The shamanic ritual of soul retrieval (la gu) calls on the living essence of the elements — the elemental energies or spirits — to balance and heal what has been lost or harmed. At this retreat, Lama Kalsang will teach about the purpose of soul retrieval in the morning and he will perform the soul retrieval ritual for all in attendance in the afternoon.
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.
If interested in staying the night please contact sr.registration@ligmincha.org or Shelly at sr.office@ligmincha.org
Schedule
12:00 p.m.–12:30 p.m. Registration / Check-in
12:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Event (Specific Schedule to follow)
Teacher
Lama Kalsang Nyima is a resident lama of Ligmincha Mexico. He is well known as an artist and thanka painter of the Bön tradition. Previously a resident lama for Ligmincha Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia, he now lives at the Great Bön Stupa for World Peace in Valle de Bravo, Mexico. Born in 1970 in the village of Tad, in the province of Dolpo, Nepal, he is connected to Bön through his father’s Dong lineage, and to Buddhism through his mother’s Nyel lineage. At age 9, Lama Kalsang became a monk at Samling Monastery, the oldest and most important monastery in Dolpo, where his grandfather, Lama Lhagyep Rinpoche, was head teacher. There, he trained intensively for 12 years in the many methods of sutra and tantra, finished his ngöndro (foundational practices) and completed many personal retreats, including a traditional three-year closed retreat. At age 21, Lama Kalsang spent a month walking from Dolpo to Kathmandu to study at Triten Norbutse Monastery with H.E Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche. During his four years of study, in addition to traditional Bön teachings he also learned techniques of traditional thangka painting. Lama Kalsang then spent five additional years studying thangka painting at Tulku Urgyen…
Learn more about Lama Kalsang Nyima