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As a retreat center with more than 30 years experience, we have found Buddhist teachings and practices to be the best methods for gaining the inner peace and practical knowledge necessary to make life meaningful.
We have created a user-friendly system to categorize our events with the aim to help students decide which events meet their spiritual needs. Please keep in mind though, these are merely labels to help guide individuals to find what is right for them and are in no means solid unchangeable rules.
Program Structure:
We offer 4 main types of programs with different ratios of teaching, discussion, and practice. The ratio of these elements depends on the retreat leader, the retreat topic, and the retreat length and can vary depending on what the teacher feels is best.
The four main types of programs we offer are:
- Courses: Intensive teaching programs on particular topics within the Gelug Buddhist tradition. Their purpose is mainly for the study of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and concepts. These events will consist of about 70% teachings, 20% discussion, and 10% meditation.
- Retreats: Learn about a various Tibetan Buddhist Topics while also gaining practice and knowledge of those topics through meditation. These events will consist of about 30-50% teachings and 50-70% meditation.
- Contemplative Retreat: Go inwards and work various techniques to train the mind on a deeper level. These events will consist of about 80% meditation and 20% instructions. Complete silence is usually kept.
- Retreat Plus: Combined “in house” retreat and online continuation program developed to help students bring the retreat experience home and develop a daily practice. The features of the continuation program will vary for each retreat. See specific event’s page for details.
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Program Levels:
You are the best judge of which program is right for you. Please call us and ask if you have any doubts or questions. As a helpful guide, our programs are categorized into the following experience levels :
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Introductory: Most suitable for those who haven’t received teachings before and have little to no experience with meditation. These programs are also great for those who want to do an introductory review.
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Intermediate: Most suitable for those with at least a cursory understanding of lam-rim and some basic experience with meditation.
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Advanced: Most suitable for those with a good understanding of lam-rim or tantra, and considerable meditation experience.
Levels of Silence:
We have found the practice of maintaining silence helps individuals go deeper in the retreat experience by helping to create a contemplative container. While we do encourage full silence during most retreats, the level of silence maintained in a retreat can vary at the discretion of the retreat leader. The following silence levels therefore help to give you a general idea of silence held per retreat.
- Full: Silence is held for the full retreat. Depending on the retreat, there may be talking during discussion groups or during the sessions with the teacher, but during all break times, meals, mornings and evenings, silence is held.
- Partial: The amount of silence held can vary in amount, but generally consists of half day silence where silence is held from after the last session in the evening until after lunch.
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as a helpful guide
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