Online & In-person: Chöd Empowerment and Retreat with Khentrul Rinpoche

online and in-person in Austria
This page is for registration to attend in person only. If you would like to register to attend the event at Dzokden Kalapa, please click here.

About the Practice of Chöd
Our attitude of self-cherishing is one of the main obstacles on our spiritual path. Although this attitude fuels biased feelings and the many afflictions, we can approach this challenge using either direct or indirect means. Indirect methods work with the conditions of self-cherishing, preventing them from arising in the future, whereas direct methods work with the actual mind of self-cherishing to remove its capacity to harm us. To this end, the practice of Chöd is universally recognised as one of the best ways to eradicate the self-cherishing mind. This unique practice lineage can be found in all of the major Tibetan traditions.

The Tibetan yogini Machik Labdrön developed her unique practice of Mahamudra Chöd. A chöd pa (Chöd practitioner) can cut through anything. Throughout Buddhist history, female practitioners have embodied the qualities of leadership in virtuous conduct, meditation and practice. Machik Labdrön is an extraordinary example of a highly realized female practitioner. Shar Khentrul Rinpoche has an aspiration to cultivate more realized female practitioners around the world, and we hope that this practice will support more female masters to manifest prominently.

Rinpoche has received the Chöd transmissions and practiced it in multiple traditions, including the Nyingma, Kagyu, Jonang, and Gelug traditions. He had the honor to receive a transmission directly from the 9th Kalka Jetsun Dhampa—former spiritual head of Mongolia, who is also considered to be a reincarnation of Jetsun Taranatha—and to practice a Chöd retreat with him.  

Khentrul Rinpoche with the 9th Kalka Jetsun Dhampa.

About the Empowerment and Retreat
This is a rare and precious empowerment of Chöd from the primordial mind of master Jetsun Taranatha. You will receive a booklet to follow along throughout the whole empowerment. Part of the text includes inspiring stories about Machik Labdrön’s life. 

This event includes the following:

1. Introductory Teaching
2. Preparatory Practice to the Empowerment
3. “The Chöd Empowerment that Opens the Gates to the Sky” written by Jestun Taranatha 
4. Oral Transmission of “Subduing Through Splendour” (a traditional Chöd Sadhana of the Jonang Tradition) 
5. Oral Transmission of “A Brief Practice of Object Severance” (a condensed Chöd Sadhana written by Shar Khentrul Rinpoche)
6. Translated Texts of the Empowerment Booklet and Sadhanas 
7. Daily group and individual practice sessions with senior students
8. Chöd Teaching with Rinpoche, including Taranatha’s Commentary on Chöd 
9. Q&A session with Rinpoche 

Participants online are encouraged to take part in as many live sessions as possible. However, all the teachings and the scheduled practice sessions will be recorded, and can be accessed later in our online learning center. As usual, the empowerment and oral transmissions must be attended live and will not be recorded.

Who can attend?
This event is open to all. There are no formal prerequisites to attend. However, previous Buddhist study and practice (such as the Ngöndro) are very helpful. If you are new to the Buddhist path, you may also like to study beforehand Khentrul Rinpoche’s course titled “What’s Real?” in our learning center and to read Books One and Two of Rinpoche’s trilogy “Unveiling Your Sacred Truth”. 

Schedule 

Optional extras for practice
To enhance your practice, you can purchase some additional items as suitable. Our Dzokden store is run by volunteers, and all purchases directly support Rinpoche’s altruistic projects. Although you can take and receive the empowerment and participate in the retreat even without any of these items, they are recommended as traditional supports for Chöd practice.
If you are attending online, you can order Chöd supplies from the international Dzokden store based in the USA.
If you are attending in-person, you can order and reserve your implements online beforehand and pick it up upon arrival.

• Chöd Drum (2 sizes)
  Made by artisans in Nepal. Each ritual drum comes with a brocade case and tail. This high-quality drum is made of Sengdeng wood.
• Kangling Thigh Bone Trumpet (made out of wood)
  Made by artisans in Kathmandu, Nepal. Naturally, obtaining a Kangling made of real bone is very difficult in these modern times. As an alternative, many people worldwide use trumpets made from wood. Comes with a case. 
• Vajra and Bell (Small or Large Size)
  Made with metal by artisans in Dehradun India. The color of the brocade case may vary from the one shown in the image. 

HOW THE ONLINE EMPOWERMENT WILL WORK
1) Register for each attendee that will be receiving the empowerment. You will receive a confirmation email. All of our online events use the Dzokden learning center where you will find everything. If you do not already have an account, you will be invited to learn.dzokden.org. 

2) Before the empowerment, you will receive information on some simple supplies you should get to help make the experience as authentic as possible. However, don’t worry if you are not able to get them all. They are symbolic, and you can still receive the empowerment. Most importantly, you must understand what is happening. Just attending an empowerment does not mean you receive it. You must know what is going on. To ensure that everyone receives the empowerment, we will provide an instruction booklet as an eBook so you can follow along and know exactly what is happening. You are not allowed to share the booklet with anyone else or give others access to the empowerment. This document is private, and is for your personal use only. Rinpoche typically allows the eBook to be uploaded the night before the empowerment.

3) You will receive access to the Zoom webinar for each of the sessions, and you will be able to watch any of the recorded sessions later on learn.dzokden.org. The empowerment and oral transmissions must be received in real time; no recordings will be available.

DANA for KHENTRUL RINPOCHE
Beyond the empowerments, Khentrul Rinpoche has kindly agreed to give teaching sessions and to support the retreat leaders which will guide the practice sessions. If you wish to show your generosity to Rinpoche’s precious teachings and to his immense efforts, you can do it in-person at the end of the retreat or, if you are attending online, offer Dana for Rinpoche on the Dzokden website here.