"Through the power of recitation and visualization, and through receiving Vajrasattva’s blessings, we will gradually purify our mind and our actions. In this way we can improve our qualities as a human being, and eventually become a special holy being."

– Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche's teachings on Vajrasattva, 1993.

 

This retreat is a powerful method for purifying our negative karma. By deepening our reliance on Buddha Vajrasattva in this retreat, we will cleanse our mind of delusions, negativities, and obstacles that both cause us suffering and hold us back from reaching our full inner potential.

 

There will be various sessions a day, (guided and self-guided), and the practice is accomplished within the sadhana of 'Offering to the Spiritual Guide'. Each session consists of time to study, meditate, and do some prayers. Study materials are provided for the unguided sessions, and advice is always on hand. Click here for the schedule.

 

What are the Preliminary Guide Retreats?

 

The following explanation, given by Geshe Kelsang in 1993, applies to the preliminary guide (or "preliminary practices") retreats, which are held in four separate weeks throughout each year at the Center. They are usually a week in length, various sessions a day, a mixture of guided and self-guided, allowing practitioners to gain deeper experience of an essential Buddhist practice. They are an integral part of the Teacher Training Program (TTP), but are also open to everyone else. You may attend any number of sessions. Dates and schedules of upcoming preliminary guide retreats will be posted for each retreat.

 

"Buddha taught many different meditations. The realizations attained through these meditations are the path to liberation. Liberation from suffering therefore depends upon making progress in meditation, and progress in meditation depends upon engaging sincerely in preliminary practices. Buddha taught four principal preliminary practices. These are normally called the ‘four great guides’ because they are the methods by which we are guided into the actual path to liberation. Meditation itself is like the main body, and the four great guides are like four limbs; just as without limbs our body cannot move and function, so without preliminary practices meditation alone cannot work."

– Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, 1993.