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.
Discover the Mandala’s Hidden Wisdom and Its Deep Feminine Essence
Join us for a powerful week of tantric practice, lineage-based visualization, and spiritual empowerment led by two extraordinary teachers—Khentrul Rinpoche, Kalachakra master and Jonang lineage holder, and Robert Thurman, world-renowned scholar and interpreter of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist wisdom.
This retreat is not merely contemplative—it is immersive, designed to awaken your inner mandala and help you embody the transformative reality of Kalachakra’s sacred architecture. Whether you are deepening generation stage practice or receiving these empowerments for the first time, you’ll find rare access to teachings that unite spiritual rigor with visionary insight.
A Practice Upgrade Rooted in the Jonang Kalachakra Tradition
This retreat will center on the use of a special practice text by the Jonangpa grand meditator, the legendary Dolpopa. As we progress through the text, we will systematically refine the visualizability and occupy ability of the full body, speech, and mind mandala palaces, cultivating an immersive experience of the generation stage within the Kālachakra system. Lama Khentrul Rinpoche’s team will guide participants through this rare Jonangpa text, while presenting unique visual slide decks that depict each deity, including their postures, ornaments, and implements, and illustrate their precise placement within the vast memory palace of the mandala.
To support and enrich the practice, we will draw from several English-language sources, including detailed references to Edward Henning’s Kalachakra Mandala, noted for its vivid architectural illustrations and comprehensive chapter on the creation/generation stage. These will be further supplemented by private translations of key passages from the generation stage sādhana manual of the Seventh Dalai Lama, Kelsang Gyatso.
As we all know, maintaining daily advanced practice outside the retreat setting can be challenging, especially amid the demands and disruptions of our rapidly transforming world. During this retreat, we will focus on finding ways to remain mindful of the mandala’s sacred reality by learning tools that will help us to integrate its stabilizing presence into our everyday lives. By aligning more fully with the mandala’s alternative reality, we can work on transforming our experience, even as we navigate the complexities of modern living.
Empowerments for Purification and Inner Wisdom
Heruka Vajrasattva Empowerment (Saturday, September 6)
Khentrul Rinpoche will bestow this rare Kalachakra-specific form of Vajrasattva, empowering you to purify karmic obscurations and reconnect with the pure, unstained nature of your mind.
“Vajrasattva practice allows you to uncover the reality of your Buddha-nature, which is currently hidden as a result of defilements created by attachment, aggression, and delusion. Our current situation is like a dirty piece of glass. This practice provides you with a powerful method to wash away the dirt while being confident that underneath there is crystal clear glass, which is completely pure and unstained. Through the practice of Vajrasattva, this confidence will steadily grow as you come closer and closer to discovering the innate purity of your most profound nature.”
Vishvamata Empowerment
Enter the generation stage of Kalachakra through the empowerment of Vishvamata, the Universal Mother and consort of Kalachakra. She is the embodiment of prajña (wisdom) and the gateway to the inner dimension of the mandala and the Yoginis.
What You Will Take Away
-Practice authorization for Heruka Vajrasattva, Kalachakra’s wrathful purifying deity
—Empowerment into Vishvamata, granting access to generation stage practice
-A deeper understanding of the Mind Mandala, including its deities and symbolism
-A generation stage sadhana practice focused on the Mind Mandala from the Jonang lineage, never before bestowed by Khentrul Rinpoche
-Tools to help stabilize sacred perception and carry the mandala into your daily life
Teachings with Robert Thurman: The Mandala as Living Psychology
Throughout the retreat, Robert Thurman will offer inspired lectures and Q&A sessions that weave the Kalachakra’s esoteric teachings into a psychological and symbolic framework. His deep experience and lucid explanations make the mandala not only accessible, but vibrantly relevant in our world today.
Featured Text: A Visual Guide for Practitioners
Kalachakra Mandala: The Jonang Tradition
by Edward Henning, edited by Robert Thurman
(Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences, 2023)
This retreat draws significantly from Henning’s illustrated masterpiece, based on Bamda Gelek Gyatso’s Jonang transmission. With vivid detail and practical insight, the book maps the three-tiered mandala and its hundreds of deities—offering clarity for visualization and spiritual resonance for deepening your practice.
“A crown jewel of Indo-Tibetan tantra, the Kalachakra mandala is a memory palace of the awakened mind. Henning’s contribution brings clarity, precision, and artistic insight—an invaluable companion for both scholars and meditators.
Who This Retreat Is For
This retreat is ideal for:
-Students who have previously received Kalachakra empowerment and want to deepen their practice
-Practitioners engaging in or entering the generation stage
-Spiritual seekers drawn to sacred feminine wisdom and the mandala as meditative architecture
-Anyone wishing to deepen their Kalachakra mandala understanding with authentic guidance
Schedule by Timezone
East Coast USA, Toronto
THURSDAY September 4, 2025
7:30 PM – 9:00 PM — SESSION 1: Welcome Teaching on the Kalachakra Mandala (Khentrul Rinpoche & Bob Thurman)
FRIDAY September 5, 2025
9:30 AM – 12:00 PM — SESSION 2: Heruka Vajrasattva Empowerment & Oral Transmission of Praises to Kalachakra (Khentrul Rinpoche)
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM — SESSION 3: Praises to Kalachakra and Introduction to the Mandala (Yeshe Wangmo)
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM — SESSION 4: The Meaning of the Kalachakra Mandala (Bob Thurman)
7:30 PM — 9:30 PM — SESSION 5: Explanation on Dolpopa’s Commentary on Praises to Kalachakra (Khentrul Rinpoche)
SATURDAY September 6, 2025
9:30 AM – 12:00 PM — SESSION 6: Vishvamata Empowerment & Oral Transmission of Sadhanas (Khentrul Rinpoche)
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM — SESSION 7: Vishvamata and 9 Deity Mandala Practice (Yeshe Wangmo)
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM — SESSION 8: The Mind Mandala Teaching and Practice (Bob Thurman and Yeshe Wangmo)
7:30 PM — 9:30 PM — SESSION 9: Harmonizing our Heart, Mind and World with Kalachakra (Khentrul Rinpoche)
SUNDAY September 7, 2025
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM — SESSION 10: Final Practice Session and Celebratory Kalachakra Tsok (Khentrul Rinpoche/Bob Thurman/Yeshe Wangmo)
Scholarship Applications
If you require a scholarship because you are monastic or unable to afford the offering please email [email protected].
QUESTIONS?
Email [email protected]
This event is available both Online and In-person.
About the Practice of Chod
Chod is a powerful practice of accepting willingly what is undesirable, cutting through our concepts, reducing our self-cherishing nature, leading us closer to our own true nature. The main obstacle to our own enlightenment is our clinging to our own ego, our own existence. When fear, fixation, and self-clinging are cut through, giving rise to the awareness of the pure nature of emotions and the emptiness of mental obscurations.
Machig Labdron is the creator of a unique form of Mahamudra chöd practice. She is the manifestation of Prajnaparamita, the Great Mother who gives birth to realisation of emptiness. Furthermore, Machig Labdron is also the manifestation of Arya Tara, who gives birth to compassion. A chod practitioner can cut through anything and therefore his or her main intention should be to unify understanding of emptiness and loving kindness and compassion, just as Machig Labdron did.
Khentrul Rinpoche has received the Chod transmission in multiple traditions such as the Nyingma Kagyu, Jonang and the Gelug traditions. He had the pleasure of practicing Chod Retreat and receiving transmission from Kalka Jetsun Dhampa considered to be a reincarnation of Taranatha and the spiritual head of Mongolia.
Throughout Buddhist history, female practitioners have been models of leadership in virtuous conduct, meditation, discipline and practice. Machig Labdron is an extraordinary example of a highly realised female practitioner. One of Rinpoche’s aspirations is to cultivate more realised female practitioners around the world and we hope this practice inspires the prominence and proliferation of more female Buddhist masters.
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 — “The Chöd Empowerment that Opens the Gates to the Sky” written by Jestun Taranatha
2 — Oral Transmission of “Subduing Through Splendour” (a traditional Chöd Sadhana of the Jonang Tradition)
Participants online are encouraged to take part in as many live sessions as possible.
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 by Timezone
Central Europe and South Africa
SUNDAY, June 29, 2025
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM: Chöd Empowerment Part 1
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Chöd Empowerment Part 2
Offer Dana for Khentrul Rinpoche
If you additionally wish to show your generosity to Rinpoché’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 you can offer Dana for Rinpoche here. This is completely voluntary.
Questions?
Please email [email protected].
This event is available both In-person and online.
Kalachakra Empowerment for Global Peace with Khentrul Rinpoche
Join Khentrul Rinpoche as he bestows the Kalachakra empowerment—a powerful blessing to awaken inner peace and foster global harmony. Held over several days in a serene, meditative environment, this rare and profound ceremony includes sacred prayers, ritual dances, and the unveiling of a stunning 3D Jonang Kalachakra Mandala.
Each session will guide you step-by-step through the empowerment, helping you deeply understand and connect with what you’re receiving. Through teachings, discussion, meditation, mantra, and offerings, you’ll cultivate a powerful sense of inner harmony and universal compassion.
About Kalachakra
Kalachakra, the «Wheel of Time,» is a path to peace within and around us. It aligns our body, mind, and environment with the rhythm of the cosmos and the enlightened state. Unlike many teachings, Kalachakra offers detailed methods for awakening that are accessible to people of any background or belief system. It empowers us to break through limitations and discover our boundless potential for love and compassion.
A Complete Path to Enlightenment
The Jonang lineage of Tibetan Buddhism preserves a rare, complete system of enlightenment known for the Six Vajra Yogas. It has rarely been taught in its entirety to lay (non-monastic) practitioners in the West. Most of the Jonang Yogis have decided to remain practicing in their caves and monasteries in the Himalayas. Khentrul Rinpoche has dedicated his life to making these teachings available in the West—in clear, accessible modern languages. His mission is to help both householder men and women integrate these profound teachings into everyday life.
Kalachakra for World Peace
The Kalachakra Tantra, first taught by Buddha Shakyamuni to the Kings of Shambhala, includes a prophecy of a future Golden Age of peace on Earth. By receiving this empowerment, you help create the conditions for that age to arise.
Khentrul Rinpoche is a deeply authentic teacher committed to transforming the heartfelt aspirations of his students. With clarity and compassion, he makes this vast wisdom approachable for all, empowering people to live with greater purpose, peace, and harmony.
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Tricycle Magazine about our 3D Printed Kalachakra Mandala House
Free Teachings on Soundcloud
Free Teachings on Youtube
Kalachakra Booklet
Just attending empowerment does not mean you receive it. You must know what is going on. To ensure everyone will receive empowerment, Rinpoche will kindly make his instruction booklet available to you as an eBook so you can follow along so you know exactly what is happening. You are not allowed to share this program book with anyone else or give them access to the empowerment. This is private for your personal use.
We will provide online registrants with an eBook to follow along with step-by-step which is available in English, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Vietnamese, German, Romanian, Mongolian, Slovenian, Russian and French.
How the Online Empowerment Works
-Register each participant receiving the empowerment and choose your language. You’ll get a confirmation email and access to our online learning platform at learn.dzokden.org.
-Prepare with a short list of symbolic items to enhance your experience. Don’t worry if you can’t get them all—what matters most is understanding the empowerment. Just attending isn’t enough; you must be aware of what’s happening. To support this, Rinpoche will provide an eBook guide (typically the night before). Please don’t share it—it’s for your personal use only. If reading an eBook while on Zoom is a challenge, let us know in your registration.
-Attend the pre-teaching on Wednesday and Thursday or watch the recordings
-Attend the empowerment sessions via zoom. While all sessions are important, we’ve marked which ones are absolutely required. Rinpoche strongly encourages full participation. Empowerments and Oral Transmissions are never recorded.
OFFERING DANA TO RINPOCHE
It’s customary at the end of empowerment for students to make an offering of Dana to the guru. As this is an online event, you can make the offering of Dana to Rinpoche here.
DETAILED SCHEDULE BY TIMEZONE
Khentrul Rinpoche would like you to come to every session that you can. None of the actual empowerment sessions will be recorded. It is only available Live. If you want empowerment you must receive it live. Some other sessions will be recorded to accommodate people in a variety of time zones. Because we can not answer emails from everyone who has a schedule conflict, we have indicated the sessions that you absolutely must be present to receive this empowerment as “REQUIRED LIVE”.
Additional Event = This will be part of another event. Those not registered for this can see the recording in the learning center before the empowerment.
Private = This is only available in Zoom. Only registered attendees can view this event.
Schedule by Timezone
West Coast USA
PRE-EMPOWERMENT PUBLIC EVENTS
WEDNESDAY October 1, 2025
SESSION 1 — 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM: Opening Rituals and Teaching
THURSDAY October 2, 2025
SESSION 2 — 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM: Pre-empowerment Rituals and Teaching
FRIDAY October 3, 2025
SESSION 3 — 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM: Pre-empowerment Rituals and Teaching
EMPOWERMENT REGISTERED ATTENDEES ONLY
SATURDAY October 4, 2025
SESSION 4 — 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Preparation Prayers to Receive the Empowerment
SESSION 5 — 10:00 AM — 1:00 PM: Kalachakra Empowerment part 1“REQUIRED LIVE”.
SESSION 6 — 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM: How to Practice Kalachakra and Prepare for the Empowerment
SESSION 7 — 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM: The Perfection of Love and Courageous Nature — Becoming a Bodhisattva Warrior
SUNDAY October 5, 2025
SESSION 8 — 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Preparation Prayers to Receive the Empowerment
SESSION 9 — 10:00 AM — 1:00 PM: Kalachakra Empowerment part 2 “REQUIRED LIVE”.
SESSION 10 — 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM: Kalachakra Tsok
SESSION 11 — 5:00 PM — 7:00 PM: Post Empowerment Ritual — Offering to the Water
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?
email [email protected]
This event is available both In-person and online.
Khentrul Rinpoche has graciously agreed to bestow Karma Lingpa’s Zhitro Hearing Liberation empowerment and lead a Purification Puja to honor and benefit our departed loved ones. He iwll also give teachings on the Bardo and death.
This rare and powerful “hearing liberation” teaching belongs to the highest yoga tantra. Khentrul Rinpoche has a profound connection with this practice, having received this empowerment many times. It includes liberation prayers and various sacred rituals, requiring extensive preparation—making public performances rare. However, its blessings are immense, supporting life, the transition of death, the bardo journey, and rebirth. It is especially meaningful for expressing gratitude to our parents and ancestors.
The Nyedren Purification and Liberation Puja helps those who have passed away, whether recently or long ago, by guiding them beyond the bardo and the six realms of existence into the awakened state of Samantabhadra. Through prayers and ritual offerings, the consciousness of the deceased merges with the enlightened wisdom of the hundred deities. As a final act of dedication, we will burn name tablets of both the living and the departed.
Khentrul Rinpoche has undertaken the extensive preparations for this ceremony out of his boundless compassion. This is a rare and precious opportunity—seize the moment to participate and offer your heartfelt prayers. Life is uncertain, but through this sacred practice, we can bring profound benefit to our loved ones and ourselves.
ABOUT ZHITRO
Zhitro, meaning “peaceful and wrathful,” denotes the assembly of forty-two peaceful and fifty-eight wrathful deities and was buried by Guru Padmasambhava in the eighth century. The teaching was revealed as terma in the 14th Century by the terton Karma Lingpa. These Buddhas are alternatively referred to as the bardo deities. The term ‘bardo’ signifies an ‘intermediate state,’ one of six such states, with the reference here being to the bardo of dying – the transitional phase between death and rebirth. During this phase, the one hundred Zhitro deities manifest themselves to the deceased to facilitate their liberation from the bardo. At some stages in the Bardo state, people need peaceful Deities; in other stages, people need wrathful ones to benefit their journey of awakening.
The teachings of Zhitro, as imparted by Guru Padmasambhava, establish a direct conduit for practitioners to engage with the bardo deities through dedicated practice and supplication. This empowerment is a blessing in our lives and prepares us for liberation in the bardo following our death. As per the Bardo Thodrol, a seminal text on the bardo in Vajrayana Buddhism (widely known as The Tibetan Book of the Dead), bardo deities present themselves to the deceased over a period of forty-nine days while the deceased is in the bardo. Initially, the peaceful deities appear, and if the deceased fails to recognize and attain liberation through these peaceful deities, the wrathful deities subsequently manifest. If the deceased cannot connect with the deities during this forty-nine-day period, their consciousness is drawn back into rebirth within one of the six realms.
Course Information
This first section will provide you with general information about the course that you will need to participate in. This includes:
- Overview: If you ever get lost, this page will help you remember where everything is and how to access what you need.
- Online Checklist:To join the live practice sessions for this course, you must ensure that all necessary technologies are installed and ready to use. For this reason, we have compiled a short guidebook for setting up Zoom and preparing for the various sessions.
- Live Session Schedule: This page provides all of the links for the live webinar sessions. The schedule is available in a variety of time zones so that you can be sure not to miss anything.
- Gratitude and Generosity: Here we take a moment to thank those who have made this event possible and to provide details for how to offer Dana or give support so that we can all benefit from future activities.
Access the Teachings Later
The live teaching sessions will be recorded and made available in this course afterward. Please return next week, and the teachings will be made available. We ask you to attend as many of the live courses as you can. This will allow you to participate in the question-and-answer sessions and practice with our community simultaneously. Oral Transmissions and Empowerment are not recorded. You must sign in at the broadcast time to receive the empowerment and oral transmission.
SPONSOR THE PUJA
Many people enjoy watching various Pujas online performed by Lamas believing they are receiving a huge benefit. It is also common in the West for people to ask a lama to pray for them without making any offering or having a personal connection. While, as one of all sentient beings, you are connected to the results of the Puja made for the benefit of all sentient beings, the karmic connection is incredibly weak, and therefore so is the result. Normally during certain times in one’s life when a Puja or prayers are required to clear various karmic debts, obstacles, or karmically-based illness, it is customary to make financial offerings to the Lama for prayers and Pujas. This creates a stronger Karmic connection to the Puja, which creates a stronger karmic result.
Zhitro Hearing Liberation Puja Tablet Sponsorship and Offer Candles for Loved Ones
Schedule by Timezone
Budapest, Hungary (Central Europe and South Africa)
SATURDAY August 23, 2025
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Session 1 — Zhitro Empowerment and Teaching
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Session 2 — Zhitro Empowerment and Teaching
SUNDAY August 24, 2025
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Session 3 — Zhitro Neydren Puja and Teaching
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Session 4 — Puja and Teaching
Questions?
Please email [email protected]
This event is available online only.
Please register to receive the Zoom information for this event.
Every day, we pass through countless small transitions—tiny deaths and rebirths in each moment. Yet, when the final transition of this life comes, we struggle, even though our old selves have already dissolved and reformed countless times. Death is not separate from life—it is an essential part of our journey. Whether you or a loved one is facing death now or many years from today, it is vital to understand how to live and die with awareness.
Khentrul Rinpoche will guide us through the profound teaching of the bardos—the transition phases between one life and the next. These moments hold immense potential for spiritual transformation if we recognize them as opportunities rather than obstacles. Through teaching on karma, the causes and conditions we create, and their deep connection to death and rebirth, Rinpoche will illuminate how we can shape our future beyond this life.
Related Event
Karling Zhitro Empowerment and Puja offered this coming weekend.
For those who are inspired from the talk and wish to purify karma in the bardo and create the conditions for liberation, we invite you to join us this weekend for a special Karling Zhitro Hearing Liberation in the Bardo empowerment and puja at Tar in Tara Templom. This is especially beneficial for those who may not be able to practice regularly as just hearing this empowerment is a seed for your liberation. The puja on Sunday is a powerful way to support the journey of the deceased through the Bardo.
WHO CAN ATTEND
There are no prerequisites. This talk is open to everyone.
Schedule by Timezone
Budapest, Hungary – FRIDAY August 22, 2025 / 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Melbourne, Australia – SATURDAY August 23, 2025 / 2:00 AM – 4:00 AM
Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mongolia, Singapore and Taiwan – SATURDAY August 23, 2025 / 12:00 AM – 2:00 AM
Hanoi, Vietnam – FRIDAY August 22, 2025 / 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM (SATURDAY August 23, 2025)
Central Europe and South Africa – FRIDAY August 22, 2025 / 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Sao Paulo, Brazil – FRIDAY August 22, 2025 / 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
East Coast USA, Toronto – FRIDAY August 22, 2025 / 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
West Coast USA – FRIDAY August 22, 2025 / 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Questions?
Please email [email protected]
