Vajrapani Institute
P.O. Box 2130
Boulder Creek, CA 95006
(831) 338-6654 

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Vajrapani Institute History

A walk down memory lane by John Jackson, Valerie and Chuck Thomas, Tom Waggoner, Lennie Kronisch, Richard Prinz and Elaine Jackson.  

Click Here to see the Vajrapani History Slideshow

Vajrapani Institute started back in 1975. Back then  Dick and Merideth Robinson organized the first American course with Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. It was held at Lake Arrowhead, California (east of Los Angeles) and was similar to the month-long courses offered at Kopan Monastery. During the retreat, Lama was asked what would be a good name for a center in California. Lama immediately said "Vajrapani Institute for Wisdom Culture."   

After the course, Vajrapani slowly began to develop with courses being given in Venice (in the Los Angeles area) and then in Santa Barbara.  In 1977, in the desert of southern California, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave their second month-long American course at a place called Yucca Valley. Inspired by the Lamas and the teachings, Janet and Ross Brooke called their land partners, James and Miriam Kent and Tom and Harriet Post, in northern California and asked if they would like to donate 30 of their 80 acres to build a Buddhist retreat center. They thought it was a splendid idea. So, Vajrapani, the retreat center, was born.   

The donated land was located in the Santa Cruz Mountains about sixty miles south of San Francisco. Covered with redwood and live oak trees, the newly acquired land was secluded and quiet. Deer wandered through the mountains, and during the rainy season, water rushed down the creek that bordered the property. It was a beautiful place, full of potential.  

John and Elaine Jackson were the first to arrive in their Volkswagen bus with their two small children. Shortly thereafter, Ani-la Ann McNeil arrived to be the retreat center’s first director. Soon, Chuck Thomas, John McKay, Chris and Barbara Vautier, and Tom Waggoner arrived. They were followed by Bev Gwyn, Rich Prinz, Shasta Wallace, Ashley Walker, Age Delbanco, Rick Crangle, Jackie Keeley, Jody Ezell, and Andy Robbins. Lennie Kronisch showed up with her gypsy wagon a few years later. These individuals became the core group of Vajrapani, with many of them living at the center for many years. To this day many of them still live on the land.  

The first ‘buildings’ which were raised were tipis and makeshift cabins with carpet walls. The first winter, we built the “Jackson Kitchen,” which was just a frame with mylar walls. We communicated by shortwave radios, cooked on a wood stove, ate our meals together, and had Lam Rim discussions over tea after dinner. A second kitchen sprang up on the other side of the land as more people came to help. Lama Yeshe called us the “bushy people.” We were.  

County red tape created numerous obstacles in the beginning. It was two years before we had a permit to build our gompa. We purchased a sawmill to mill our own lumber and slowly began the work of building the center. Because our builders also worked at construction jobs in town to pay the bills, it was a slow process.   

Not having proper facilities did not deter us from inviting the Lamas to come. In 1979, Chris Vautier became the director and we organized and sponsored a visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the University of California at Santa Cruz. We also organized a course on the Seven Point Mind Training with His Holiness Zong Rinpoche during which Lama Zopa Rinpoche translated.

In those early days, Vajrapani was a community of dharma brothers and sisters with their families. The Brooke’s and Jackson’s had babies born on the land and families with children shared the responsibility of chauffeuring them to school each day. The children played together and careened down the mountain trails on their big wheels. On Friday afternoons, during the summer, we would go to the beach to swim and picnic. Sometimes there would be 20 to 30 of us enjoying the California sun.

His Holiness Zong Rinpoche came back to Vajrapani in early 1981 and gave the Vajrapani Hayagriva Garuda initiation and the commentary in the “Jackson Kitchen” to a handful of students. In Boulder Creek at Lennie Kronisch’s house, we received teachings and initiation from Serkong Rinpoche. Later that year, His Holiness Deshung Rinpoche bestowed Bodhisattva vows to a group of students under a “parachute gompa” on the ridge.

As money would allow, we bought additional parcels of land; eventually growing Vajrapani to its current 70 acres. But it was not easy to keep the retreat center functioning. Finally, after repeated requests for a resident teacher, Geshe Lobsang Gyatso arrived and took up the position. From 1981 through 1983, Venerable Sogyal Rinpoche brought his students to Vajrapani for meditation courses in sometimes very difficult conditions of rain and cold. It was through Rinpoche’s kindness that we were able to generate money in the early years to keep the center alive and make progress in our building program.  

By 1983, we finished building our gompa, complete with a commercial kitchen, dining room, offices, and library. That summer we had the blessing to receive the last teachings from our precious Lama Yeshe. Lama gave a month long course on the Six Yogas of Naropa and Vajrasattva Tsog. The gompa was packed with students and Lama inspired us with his amazing teachings. Afterwards, His Holiness Zong Rinpoche arrived to give the initiation and commentary on the Heruka Body Mandala. Overall, this was a remarkable year for Vajrapani.

One day, during Lama’s visit, we had a picnic at the beach with our resident teacher Geshe Lobsang Gyatso and our precious Lama Yeshe. Lama wore a long red caftan over a pair of yellow swim trunks. Although he did not know how to swim, he was keen to “ride the waves.” Surrounded by a group of nervous students, Lama climbed onto an air mattress and rolled around in the white water at the edge of the shore. So much laughter ensued. It was a magical day.  

In 1984, Lama returned to Northern California showing the aspect of being quite ill, but he always said, “I am fine, dear” and was more concerned about others than himself. A group of Vajrapani students helped to nurse Lama for a few months until he was eventually moved to a hospital in Los Angeles. Following his passing, his holy body was returned to Vajrapani. Almost miraculously, we obtained the necessary permits to hold his cremation at Vajrapani on very short notice. Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Geshe Sopa, Geshe Tsondru, Geshe Gyeltsen, Geshe Sopa, Lama Yeshe’s brother Geshe Thinley, and His Holiness Zong Rinpoche came quickly and joined our Geshe Lobsang Gyatso to perform the cremation. It was surreal as the cremation site was prepared, pujas were recited, and 175 students arrived from around the world. We were in a state of shock.

During one all night puja, just at the time of the offering to the Vajra Master, the gompa door flew open and Lama Zopa Rinpoche entered. He manifested as the Vajra Master, climbed onto the throne, accepted the offering, and departed. The following day, Lama’s holy body was driven in a procession up the road to the ridge where the cremation took place. The depth of sadness was palpable. It was a day we will never forget and a loss we will always mourn.  

During the next few years, we began to build a stupa to commemorate the selfless life of our precious Lama. Supervised by Venerable Lati Rinpoche, we followed his instructions, building and filling the stupa according to Tibetan tradition. There was tremendous excitement when Lama’s incarnation was announced. In 1986, hundreds of students gathered to greet the two-year old Lama Osel, who arrived to preside over the consecration of the stupa with our precious Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lati Rinpoche. In many ways, Lama Osel showed that He was no ordinary two year old as he toured Vajrapani and seemed completely at home. Many students told stories of His behavior that gave them faith that this WAS our holy Lama. Now we would pray to live long enough to receive teachings from Him again!

Following the consecration of the stupa, we continued to offer courses each summer and slowly worked to make the gompa more comfortable. Then in October of 1989, we sponsored a visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Vajrapani, shortly after he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Seated outside around the stupa, about 650 people received teachings on The Song of the Four Mindfulnesses, a teaching originally bestowed on Lama Tsong Khapa by Manjushri.  

In 1994, we completed six new retreat cabins and a bathhouse on the ridge near Lama Yeshe’s cremation site. Over the last ten years, the buildings have been slowly fine-tuned and our cabins are filled with meditators.

Besides the teachings mentioned earlier, we have had the pleasure of offering teachings from many Tibetan lamas including Tara Rinpoche, Lati Rinpoche, Geshe Dhargye, Zasep Tulku, Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, Geshe Sopa, Geshe Gyeltsen, Lama Kunga, and Jetsun Kuchula.

We have many plans on the horizon. Most important is the completion of Lama Yeshe’s Memorial Shrine – a sacred place of pilgrimage in memory of our beloved teacher. Jim Westbrook, one of Lama’s disciples, recently completed an amazing life-sized statue of Lama Yeshe that will be placed in the Shrine. It is uncanny how Jim was able to capture Lama in bronze. We look forward to completing the Shrine and placing Lama Yeshe’s statue inside as a symbol of his selfless work and compassion for all sentient beings.

Wishing all beings freedom and may peace prevail.