THOSAMLING Buddhist Nunnery & Institute Winter Retreat 2018

Thosamling Winter Retreat 2018

The Buddha—and the great commentators and mahasiddhas ever since—emphasized that the effortless stability and vividness of mind achieved with shamatha is essential before experiential wisdom can flourish. The serenity and solitude of Thosamling provides the ideal conditions for an undistracted exploration of what Tsongkhapa calls, “the fusion of shamatha and vipashyana.”

An Invitation from the Nuns at Thosamling

Join the Nuns at Thosamling for an immersive two-month retreat with Doug Veenhof at their beautiful nunnery in Northern India. The retreat will begin with basic Shamatha meditation practices before gradually introducing the Dzogchen view of consciousness. The retreat aims to uncover new levels of relaxation, stability, and clarity with which to investigate the true nature of reality.

This is a two-month retreat (although you can register for 2 weeks, one month or for the full two month period). The retreat is open for both men and women and is structured to benefit both beginners to the practice as well as experienced students.

The retreat is structured in a progressing gradual manner starting with:

• Shamatha basic practices (first 2 weeks of the retreat)
• fusion of shamatha and vipashyana meant to explore the pliancy of shamatha and how that relates to wisdom (weeks 2-4)
• onto the Dzogchen view of consciousness and how it relates to shamatha and vipashyana based on Düdjom Lingpa teachings, in the way it’s presented by Alan Wallace (weeks 4-8).

The gradual structure of the retreat accommodates both those who are new to the practice and would like to experience and explore Shamatha meditation practices a, as well as long time practitioners, who would like to dive into a prolonged retreat and re-acquaint themselves with the practices in a quiet supportive environment under the guidance of an experienced teacher.

Course Description

This two-month retreat will provide an immersion in a full range of practices for cultivating shamatha and then apply those skills to the close observation of our experience of the world and of ourselves.

Retreat leader Doug Veenhof will guide participants through a systematic progression of shamatha techniques drawn from many months of retreat with his teacher, renowned shamatha authority Alan Wallace.

The progression begins with a variety of breath meditations to break the incessant flow of the chattering mind and moves into a powerful sequence of practices taught by Padmasambhava for Taking the Mind as the Path.

All Buddhist traditions emphasize, however, that achievement of the effortless stillness and vividness of shamatha is not an end in itself. The close observation of individual moments of experience combined with inquiry can reveal experiential insights about the nature of the self, the mind, and the world of phenomena that has greater transformational power than conceptual analysis alone.

The retreat is divided into two-week segments that each provide instruction on a full range of shamatha techniques and their application in vipashyana practices drawn from Dzogchen and Mahamudra.

The full two months of retreat provides ample time for individual practice, but even if you can attend only two weeks or a month, and regardless whether you are a long-time practitioner or an absolute beginner, this approach will provide a comprehensive practice to take home with you.

For a tentative daily schedule of the retreat click here

Accommodation

During the Winter Retreat some of the sessions and practices can be done in one’s own room.
Participants in the course will be hosted in Single rooms (either with attached bathroom or with shared bathroom) to allow their practice to evolve with minimum distractions. The option of shared rooms will be offered only for those joining the course for a period of 2 weeks only. The organisers will do their best to accommodate your wishes and provide you with your room of preference, all subject to availability of rooms.

For a view of our accommodation options, meditation hall and overall look of Thosamling click here

Conduct in a Buddhist nunnery
Please read the following explanation about the Winter Retreat – conduct in a Buddhist nunnery – before signing up to the course.

Info and Registration
For more information and registration please email: thosamling@gmail.com

Thosamling Nunnery

Thosamling Nunnery and Institute, Temple Road, Thehr, Himachal Pradesh, India

When

December 5th 2018 to February 4th 2019

You can register for 15 day, 30 days or 60 days

Where

Thosamling Nunnery and Institute – near Norbulingka, Sidhpur Dharamsala, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh 176057, India

Cost

The Cost of this retreat has been kept exceptionally low to ensure that price is not an obstacle.

The following prices are in US dollars and include accommodation and food:

Single Bedroom with Ensuite

15 days $250
30 days $450
60 days $750

Single Bedroom with Shared Bathroom

15 days $225
30 days $400
60 days $700

There are no additional costs other than your airfare but there is no fee included in these prices for the teacher. Like many dharma teachers Doug survives on donations. Any Dana (donation given) for the teacher is completely up to individual students.

Thosamling Website

Doug Veenhof

Doug Veenhof is a former mountain guide, an award-winning journalist, author, and long-time Buddhist practitioner. He studied for twenty years with esteemed Gelugpa teachers and now devotes himself to the study and practice of Shamatha and Vipashyana in the Dzogchen tradition with Lama Alan Wallace. Doug is a certified trainer of ‘Cultivating Emotional Balance’, a program created at the request of H.H. the Dalai Lama by Lama Alan Wallace and psychologist Paul Ekman. He lives on Cape Ann, Massachusetts but travels much of the year leading CEB trainings and Shamatha and Vipashyana retreats. He is also a designer and builder of long-term retreat facilities and is currently collaborating with Lama Alan Wallace on the Center for Contemplative Research in Tuscany, a project enthusiastically endorsed by H.H. the Dalai Lama.

Walking to Thosamling Nunnery

• Take a taxi to Norbulingka or a bus that passes through Fatehpur.
• Go off the main road at the “Sacred Heart High School”. If you are on a bus, this is where you get off the bus. If you are in a taxi, the taxi will turn left at this intersection. You can recognize the intersection by the sign of the school, the bus-stop across the street from it, and the “Punjab National Bank” on the other side of the intersection.
• Drive (or walk) down the road that leads to Norbulingka (the map is not proportionate, so this part of the road is a bit longer than it looks on the map). You will pass the “State Electricity Board” on your right, and soon after that, you will see on your right a big pink building with a yellow “Thosamling Institute” sign pointing to your left. A small side-road leads off from the road you are on, between two buildings, and there is a green sign that says “Youthok Menling” in front of it. Take this side-road.
• After following this road for a bit, the road will take a sharp right turn. To your right there is a small tea-shop, and you will see another yellow “Thosamling Institute” sign pointing to your left. Do not take this right turn. Instead, go off the paved road to the dirt road that leads to your left, crossing over a small bridge. If you are in a taxi, the driver might complain that the road is bad for his car – but don’t worry – we take taxis this way all the time – they just have to go very slowly over the small bridge.
• Now the dirt path winds a short way between the houses, until you come to another bridge that crosses a small river. At this point, even a taxi cannot continue, and you must cross the bridge by foot.
• After you have crossed the bridge, continue on the cement foot-path through the fields. After a few minutes, you will pass a small building – the cement foot-path winds around to the left of this house.
• After a few more minutes of walking through the fields, you will see another yellow “Thosamling Institute” sign, with Tibetan prayer-flags next to it; on your right.
Congratulations, and Welcome! This is the entrance to Thosamling!