This is a paid event and will be available both Online and In-person.
8 Shambhala Dharma Kings Empowerment with Khentrul Rinpoche
Khentrul Rinpoche will bestow his mind terma of the 8 Shambhala Dharma King Empowerment at the Boulder Shambhala center. This is a rare opportunity for establishing a direct connection with the Rigdens of Shambhala. Rinpoche will also give an introductory teaching and a Q&A session after the empowerment as well as oral transmission of the mantras and the text.
About the Kings of Shambhala
The Kalki Kings are the Dharma Kings of the Sublime Realm of Shambhala who were able to skillfully unite their entire realm through the Kalachakra teachings. Their effort went much more beyond only alleviating biased differences like races, conflicting religious approaches, classes etc. They helped propagate and make the Kalachakra teachings in such a way, that their realm transformed into a pure Bodhisattva realm, happy and peaceful, where spiritual practice flourishes. Differently from wordly kings which are focused on protecting and expanding their territories, the Kalkis are Kings of the dharma, bodhisattva beings who manifest as great leaders out of their compassion and wisdom.
“In general we say that the Kalki Kings are inseparable from the 8 great bodhisattvas and the 10 wrathful dakas. They are incredibly powerful. For me, the Shambhala kings are much more special because of their particular connection with our own world. The Bodhisattvas and dakas possess a subtle body form, like a body of a being of the god realm, and so, only some individuals can connect with them. But the Shambhala Kings and Kalkis appeared in Shambhala as human beings, so that many people could benefit through connecting with them. And, of course, they manifest themselves not as an ordinary human being, but as an exceptional, extraordinary human being.
I have been dedicating myself intensively to prepare for this empowerment. I feel a strong connection with the Kalkis and I have no doubt that they are the greatest hope of our world for the manifestation of the Second Golden Age of Peace and Harmony.” (Khentrul Rinpoche)
WHO IS THIS FOR or HOW TO PREPARE MYSELF?
There are no prerequisites at all. It is suitable for all levels of practitioners. If you want to prepare yourself, you can do the online course Introduction to the Ngöndro available at our learning center. If you are already practicing dharma, you may benefit from the oral commentaries Rinpoche gave about his Shambhala prayers; they can be accessed in his official Youtube Channel. For knowing more about Shambhala and the Kalki Kings, we suggest the book “The Realm of Shambhala” by Rinpoche.
Schedule by Timezone
Boulder, Colorado
SATURDAY September 21, 2024
10:00 AM — Empowerment and Teaching
1:00 PM — Oral Transmission and Practice
HOW THE ONLINE EMPOWERMENT WILL WORK
1) Register for each attendee that will be receiving the empowerment. You will be added to the course on learn.dzokden.org
2) You must receive the empowerment online in real-time. We do not record the empowerments.
3) You will receive access to the zoom for each of the sessions. They will NOT include any oral transmissions or Empowerments.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?
Email [email protected]
This is a paid event and will be available both Online and In-person.
Included in the event:
– Empowerment of Marichi Tara
– Oral Transmission of 2 Marichi Sadhanas
– Teachings on Marichi and Shambhala
The Goddess Marichi, 21st Tara and the Dharma Proctor of Shambhala
The radiant Goddess Marichi is the 21st Tara, blazing ahead of the sun. She is the Dharma protector of Kalapa at the center of the pure land of Shambhala. In Jetsun Taranatha’s teachings on the Taras she is at the completion stage of the Tara practice. Very powerful, she is the color of the sunset, a wondrous, glowing orange. She comes ahead of the dawning sun of great bliss and, like the sun, her blessings pervade everywhere.
She is worshiped all across Asia in many traditions. In Chinese astrology she is known as the Mother of the Big dipper, the goddess of astrology and of all 9 planets. In Japan the Ninja warriors worshiped her for her magical power of invisibility, a power the Ninja desire to possess.
Khentrul Rinpoche’s Personal Dharma Protector
Marichi (also known as Marīcī and Özer Chenma) came to Rinpoche’s life when he was a young boy herding yak cattles in Tibet. Without fences, it was quite difficult to take care of them. Some yaks hide themselves from the boy Rinpoche under rocks, and so used to spend the night in danger of being attacked by wolves. To help protect them, his family shared with him the Marichi mantra and the faith in her when he was still very young.
“I do not know exactly why, perhaps because of having no doubt when doing this or because of a special connection, when I recited her mantra and did the ritual according to the traditional manner of protecting the yaks, I have 100% guarantee that the yaks would be safe during the night. I never had problems with yaks being killed by the wolves since then, really never. So I kept that in mind and I recited innumerable mantras, many times, when I took care of them. So, afterwards, anytime when we had an obstacle I always relied on her.”
“So this is why the Tibetan says that praying for Marichi helps. But, of course, it does not help everyone individually, as it depends for example on the individual connection and on the level of faith. You must have no doubt at all. I have indestructible faith in Marichi since my childhood, so this helped me to develop many connections with her during my life.”
WHO IS THIS FOR or HOW TO PREPARE MYSELF?
There are no prerequisites at all. It is suitable for all levels of practitioners. Previous Buddhist study and practice are helpful but not mandatory.
Kalachakra Practitioners – She is the protector of the pureland connected to Shambhala.
Dzokden Practitioners – This empowerment helps your Drolmi Kazug Wishfulfilling Vase Practice
SCHEDULE BY TIMEZONE
Boulder, Colorado
SUNDAY September 22, 2024
10:00 AM — Empowerment and Teaching
1:00 PM — Oral Transmissions, Shambhala Teachings Marichi Practices
HOW THE ONLINE EMPOWERMENT WILL WORK
1) Register for each attendee that will be receiving the empowerment. You will be added to the course on learn.dzokden.org
2) You must receive the empowerment online in real-time. We do not record the empowerments.
3) You will receive access to the zoom for each of the sessions as well as the recordings after the event for everything except for the oral transmissions and empowerment.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?
Email [email protected]
This is a paid event and will be available both Online and In-Person.
This page is for Online registration only.
PRACTICAL TEACHING INCLUDES
-Understand the Bardos from the Kalachakra Perspective
-What to do when you or a loved one dies
-How to spot opportunities for liberation in the Bardo of dying
Who is this course for?
Open to anyone who wants to understand how to prepare for your own or someone else’s death.
What will you learn?
You will learn an overview of the 6 bardos, focusing on how the bardos dying and the the bardo before rebirth.
How will this benefit you?
Death is one of the best opportunities. This series of teachings helps you understand how to prepare best for it.
Course Curriculum
In this practical teaching, Khentrul Rinpoche will discuss the step by step instructions for what to do for our loved ones at the time of death, through their dying process and the subsequent prayers and practice we can do once our loved one has passed away. We do not have to be an incredible yogi to benefit from these teachings. Everyone can create conditions in this life, for their loved ones to have a peaceful death and a beneficial future rebirth.
Schedule by Timezone
Washington DC, USA
SATURDAY September 7, 2024
3:00 PM — Session 1: 2024 Sacred Transition: Dying, Death and the Bardo
5:00 PM — Session 2: 2024 Sacred Transition: Dying, Death and the Bardo
SUNDAY September 8, 2024
3:00 PM — Session 3: 2024 Sacred Transition: Dying, Death and the Bardo
5:00 PM — Session 4: 2024 Sacred Transition: Dying, Death and the Bardo
QUESTIONS?
Email [email protected]
Online and in-person in Austria at Dzokden Kalapa. In English with the potential of live translation in other languages (TBA).
This page is only for the FREE public teaching which will open the weekend teaching retreat.
If you would like to register for the ONLINE weekend retreat, please click here.
Or if you would like to register to attend the weekend retreat IN-PERSON, please click here.
We are delighted to announce that Rinpoché accepted our request to present his exciting new tantra book, ”The Tantric Path of Desire” in Austria.
Preconceptions and misunderstandings about tantra have spread everywhere. Both in Western countries, as well as Asian countries where these teachings originated. Lost amidst extreme views and with a lack of proper clarification, it is difficult for practitioners to reach the essence of the tantric teachings.
For Rinpoché, there is no doubt that different types of persons, including lay devotees, monastics, and non-religious ones, have the potential to learn the essence of tantric practice. This is because the tantric approach is closely aligned with our existing nature.
“In the tantric path, nothing that is naturally present in our mind needs to be eliminated. Instead, we learn means for putting these mental phenomena to work for us. When all these phenomena are subjugated by the brilliance of pure and true reality, they become our friends.” (Khentrul Rinpoché).
In this public teaching, Rinpoché will introduce the topic in general in preparation for the weekend retreat that will follow.
Schedule by Timezone
Vienna Time (CEST) — FRIDAY July 26, 2024 / 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM – Session 1: Free Public Teaching: Tantric Path of Desire
Melbourne, Australia — SATURDAY July 27, 2024 / 3:00 AM – 4:30 AM – Session 1: Free Public Teaching: Tantric Path of Desire
Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mongolia, Singapore and Taiwan — SATURDAY July 27, 2024 / 1:00 AM – 2:30 AM – Session 1: Free Public Teaching: Tantric Path of Desire
Romania — FRIDAY July 26, 2024 / 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM – Session 1: Free Public Teaching: Tantric Path of Desire
São Paulo, Brazil — FRIDAY July 26, 2024 / 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM – Session 1: Free Public Teaching: Tantric Path of Desire
East Coast USA, Toronto — FRIDAY July 26, 2024 / 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM – Session 1: Free Public Teaching: Tantric Path of Desire
West Coast USA — FRIDAY July 26, 2024 / 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM – Session 1: Free Public Teaching: Tantric Path of Desire
Zoom Information
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81521103621?pwd=RFRCbWRHNjB6QWxzUGlaY3llRlF5Zz09
Webinar ID: 815 2110 3621 Passcode: 108108
Questions?
Please email [email protected] or [email protected].
This event is available both In-person and Online.
This page is for Online registration only. If you wish to register for the In-person event, please click here.
Learn the Most Powerful Spiritual Protection Practice Done before the Kalachakra Empowerment
Vajra Vega, the wrathful form of Shri Kalachakra and the King of the Wrathful Deities, is the protector aspect in Kalachakra. There are many benefits to establishing a connection with Vajra Vega. The essence of Vajravega is that he represents the non-conceptual primordial wisdom that arises when the winds enter the central channel. This is the method by which the root ignorance of conceptuality is cut. It is also the basis or container where the precious six vajra yogas arise. When we establish a wheel of protection with Vajra Vega, we are symbolically stopping the arising of dualistic appearances and abiding within the non-conceptual wisdom. Vajra Vega is considered the King of Spiritual Protection, and his 60 retinues are incredibly powerful.
Khentrul Rinpoche has never before agreed to bestow this practice on students before keeping it to a very limited number. This powerful practice forms a vajra-protective sphere containing Vajra Vega and 60 protectors. It is performed at the start of a Kalachakra empowerment ceremony to secure the space. It is also done in some of the extensive Kalachakra Sadhanas. Robert Thurman requested the VajraVega Jenang and other special practices on the mind Mandala. For this reason, Yeshe Wangmo requested Rinpoche grant this wheel of protection practice that is so special and rare. Khentrul Rinpoche agreed to give this specific practice especially due to Robert Thurman’s initial request for Vajra Vega.
Who is Vajra Vega?
For those joining in person, there will be several in-person-only activities. Retreatants will be a part of creating the empowerment mandala and tormas of the retinues as well as a King of Kalachakra Fire Puja, among other exclusive offerings.
It is very important and special for us to connect with this aspect of Kalachakra in our lifetime to benefit from the connection in the Bardo state after death. While we must do our best to create karmic propensities to realize our own sacred truth during this life, if we do not then in the Bardo state after death, we may be able to recognise Vajra Vega in the sea of wrathful Deities and be liberated. For this reason, we also have several smaller practices that can help increase our connection and familiarity with Vajra Vega.
Mudra and ritual instruction classes will be led by Yeshe Wangmo.
Included in the Retreat both Online and In-Person
– Vajra Vega Jenang (wrathful Kalachakra) Blessing Empowerment
– Oral Transmission and practice text of Praises of Vajra Vega
– Oral Transmission and practice text of Short Practice of Vajra Vega
– Oral Transmission and practice text of Vajra Vega’s Wheel of Protection Sadhana
– Khentrul Rinpoche will give a short Commentary on the Wheel of Protection Sadhana
– Teaching by Bob Thurman
– Teaching on Dharma Protectors and the importance of their rituals
– Lesson in how to make the torma and tea offering to Dharma Protectors
– Specific Mudras related to Vajra Vega and the Wheel of Protection
and the 12 Kalachakra Offerings according to Jonang
– Instruction on how to perform the ritual with the mudras are lead by Yeshe Wangmo
Included In-person Retreat Only
– The King of Kalachakra Jinsek Fire Puja
– Torma Making Class – Vajra Vega’s Retinue and Vajra Vega’s Torma
– Sand Mandala Construction
WHO CAN COME
In-Person students must have already taken the Kalachakra Empowerment (wang) or plan to take it in the future. The participant must already believe that the Kalachakra tantra is an important practice they wish to continue with in this life. Khentrul Rinpoche is being generous in offering the in-person attendees the opportunity to attend this retreat even just with the intention to take it in the future, rather than insisting on prior initiation as is customary
Online participants must have already taken the Kalachakra Wang before.
OPTIONAL SUPPLIES TO BRING
-Damaru
-Bell and Dorje
-Serkyem (Golden Tea Offering Set)
HYBRID FORMAT
This workshop will be online and in person. Oral transmissions and empowerment must be received in real-time (i.e. not via video replay). Recordings will be added to learn.dzokden.org after the retreat. Everyone enrolled in person or online will be able to access the course.
ABOUT KHENTRUL RINPOCHE
Shar Khentrul Jamphel Lodrö Rinpoché spent the first 20 years of his life herding yak and chanting mantras on the plateaus of Tibet. Inspired by the bodhisattvas, he left his family to study in various monasteries under the guidance of over twenty-five masters in all the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Due to his non-sectarian approach, he earned himself the title of Rimé (unbiased) Master and was identified as the reincarnation of the famous Kalachakra Master Ngawang Chözin Gyatso. While at the core of his teachings is the recognition that there is great value in the diversity of all spiritual traditions found in this world, he focuses on the Jonang-Shambhala tradition. Thought to be extinct by many Western scholars, he found it held the most advanced teachings of Kalachakra (wheel of time), containing profound methods to harmonize our external environment with the inner world of body and mind.
Since 2014, he has traveled to more than thirty countries, guiding students to realize their own sacred truth of limitless potential through a clear, systematic step-by-step presentation of the Kalachakra Path to enlightenment. By teaching people how to cultivate a flexible mind and remove bias, Khentrul Rinpoché aspires to create compassion-based communities, transforming this world into a golden age of global peace and harmony.
Schedule by Timezone
EAST COAST USA, TORONTO
*Below is the complete schedule for the Retreat. Schedules listed in italicized are Online sessions.
MONDAY August 19, 2024
3:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Arrival & Check-in
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Dinner
7:30 PM – Welcome Teaching on Kalachakra, the Path and how Vajra Vega and Protectors fit in (Robert Thurman & Khentrul Rinpoche) (online)
TUESDAY August 20, 2024
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM – Early Morning Yoga (Yeshe Wangmo)
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Breakfast
9:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Making Vajravega Tormas, Sand Mandala, Hall Set up
12:30 PM- 1:30 PM – Lunch
1:30 PM – 4:00 PM – Free Time for Spa Treatments, Relaxation, etc.
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Making Vajravega Tormas, Sand Mandala, Hall Set up
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Dinner
7:30 PM – Teaching on Vajravega, Protector Deity, and Forms of Protection on the Spiritual Path (online)
WEDNESDAY August 21, 2024
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM – Early Morning Yoga (Yeshe Wangmo)
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Breakfast
9:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Vajra vega Initiation (Khentrul Rinpoche) (online)
12:30 PM- 1:30 PM – Lunch
1:30 PM – 4:00 PM – Free Time for Spa Treatments, Relaxation, etc.
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Intro to the Mahayana Philosophical Support for Kalachakra and the Role of Kalachakra as Vajravega (Robert Thurman) (online)
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Dinner
7:30 PM – Practice Session and Oral Transmission of Praises of Vajravega and on the Short Sadhana (Khentrul Rinpoche & Yeshe Wangmo) (online)
THURSDAY August 22, 2024
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM – Early Morning Yoga (Yeshe Wangmo)
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Breakfast
9:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Oral Transmission and Intro to the Vajravega Wheel of Protection Commentary (Khentrul Rinpoche) (online)
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM – Lunch
1:30 PM – 4:00 PM – Free Time for Spa Treatments, Relaxation, etc.
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Vajravega Sadhana Practice and Lesson on Making Torma and Tea Offerings (Robert Thurman/Yeshe Wangmo) (online)
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Dinner
7:30 PM – Jangchub Choeling Nunnery gives a Talk and Traditional Tibetan Dance
FRIDAY August 23, 2024
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM – Early Morning Yoga (Yeshe Wangmo)
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Breakfast
9:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Continued Commentary on Vajravega Wheel of Protection (Khentrul Rinpoche) (online)
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM – Lunch
1:30 PM – 4:00 PM – Free Time for Spa Treatments, Relaxation, etc.
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Vajravega Sadhana Practice (Robert Thurman/Yeshe Wangmo) (online)
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Dinner
7:30 PM – Jangchub Choeling Nunnery Chöd Practice
SATURDAY August 24, 2024
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM – Early Morning Yoga (Yeshe Wangmo)
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Breakfast
9:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Kalachakra Royal Jinsek Fire Puja (Khentrul Rinpoche)
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM – Lunch
1:30 PM – 4:00 PM – Free Time for Spa Treatments, Relaxation, etc.
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Wheel of Protection Practice (Robert Thurman/Yeshe Wangmo) (online)
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Dinner
7:30 PM – Kalachakra, Peace and the Golden Age (Khentrul Rinpoche/Robert Thurman) (online)
SUNDAY August 25, 2024
7:00 AM – 11:00 AM – Check Out of Rooms by 11am
7:00 AM – 8:00 AM – Early Morning Yoga (Yeshe Wangmo)
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Breakfast
9:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Final Practice Session (Khentrul Rinpoche/Robert Thurman/Yeshe Wangmo) (online)
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM – Lunch & Departure
*Please note that the schedule is subject to change at any time.
Financial aid for online attendance
Email [email protected] to request further financial aid. You must clearly state your financial reasons for needing the scholarship and your qualifications, as this is a supplementary practice as well as very unusual if not unheard of to be offered.
QUESTIONS?
Please email [email protected]
