Three Year Retreat Schedule
Three Year Retreat Schedule
Moderator note: This was a necropost that I broke into a new thread. Please familiarize yourself with the Posting Rules
Welcome to the forum!
Please can someone tell me what the schedule for the 3 year retreat is
eg month 1-6 4 preliminary guides
etc
is there lamrim mediation? Generation stage? Completion stage? Is there more completion stage towards the end?
Thank you
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
It depends on where you do the retreat, what lama leads it.kandarohi wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 5:24 pm
Moderator note: This was a necropost that I broke into a new thread. Please familiarize yourself with the Posting Rules
Welcome to the forum!
Please can someone tell me what the schedule for the 3 year retreat is
eg month 1-6 4 preliminary guides
etc
is there lamrim mediation? Generation stage? Completion stage? Is there more completion stage towards the end?
Thank you
/magnus
"We are all here to help each other go through this thing, whatever it is."
~Kurt Vonnegut
"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
~Kurt Vonnegut
"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
What does it matter? Ask your lama if you want to do 3YR. Then pay money.kandarohi wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 5:24 pm
Moderator note: This was a necropost that I broke into a new thread. Please familiarize yourself with the Posting Rules
Welcome to the forum!
Please can someone tell me what the schedule for the 3 year retreat is
eg month 1-6 4 preliminary guides
etc
is there lamrim mediation? Generation stage? Completion stage? Is there more completion stage towards the end?
Thank you
- conebeckham
- Posts: 5714
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:49 pm
- Location: Bay Area, CA, USA
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
Here is just one example. Different places have different schedules and programs, but this is pretty typical for Kamtsang. Check out the rest of the site, there is s Shangpa retreat schedule as well.
http://www.bokarmonastery.org/mod/karma ... FjdGljZQ==
http://www.bokarmonastery.org/mod/karma ... FjdGljZQ==
དམ་པའི་དོན་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ཆེ་བ་དང་།
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།
"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།
"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
Ah thank you so much for this! Conebeckham!conebeckham wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 9:01 pm Here is just one example. Different places have different schedules and programs, but this is pretty typical for Kamtsang. Check out the rest of the site, there is s Shangpa retreat schedule as well.
http://www.bokarmonastery.org/mod/karma ... FjdGljZQ==
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
Then you can''t do a traditional three year retreat. Anyway you need the support of a lama to do it if you are serious.
/magnus
"We are all here to help each other go through this thing, whatever it is."
~Kurt Vonnegut
"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
~Kurt Vonnegut
"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
- conebeckham
- Posts: 5714
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:49 pm
- Location: Bay Area, CA, USA
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
^This.
One does not just do a solitary 3 year retreat.
དམ་པའི་དོན་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ཆེ་བ་དང་།
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།
"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།
"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
-
- Posts: 7885
- Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 6:13 am
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
I’ve been told that Lama Norlha didn’t give permission for any of his people to do solitary retreats. Apparently he thought you needed other irritating people around to demonstrate to yourself the limitations of your practice. Without them you might think you’re making a lot more headway than you really are.One does not just do a solitary 3 year retreat.
Having said that, obviously solitary retreats are done quite often in the Tibetan tradition. So Cone, are you just saying you can’t do your initial retreat alone? I’m confused.
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
It is a question of logistics, teachings, empowerments and pith instructions should be delivered at the right moment. Solitary retreat is for those that already have experience and no need for a teachings and so on. Also a solitary retreat can be any length so no need for the three year format. Read Jamgon Kongtrul's Retreat Manual.Schrödinger’s Yidam wrote: ↑Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:28 amI’ve been told that Lama Norlha didn’t give permission for any of his people to do solitary retreats. Apparently he thought you needed other irritating people around to demonstrate to yourself the limitations of your practice. Without them you might think you’re making a lot more headway than you really are.One does not just do a solitary 3 year retreat.
/magnus
"We are all here to help each other go through this thing, whatever it is."
~Kurt Vonnegut
"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
~Kurt Vonnegut
"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
- conebeckham
- Posts: 5714
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:49 pm
- Location: Bay Area, CA, USA
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
I agree with all of this, too. 3 year retreat is sorta like "college" in our lineage. It's a training ground and requires supervision at various points.heart wrote: ↑Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:54 amIt is a question of logistics, teachings, empowerments and pith instructions should be delivered at the right moment. Solitary retreat is for those that already have experience and no need for a teachings and so on. Also a solitary retreat can be any length so no need for the three year format. Read Jamgon Kongtrul's Retreat Manual.Schrödinger’s Yidam wrote: ↑Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:28 amI’ve been told that Lama Norlha didn’t give permission for any of his people to do solitary retreats. Apparently he thought you needed other irritating people around to demonstrate to yourself the limitations of your practice. Without them you might think you’re making a lot more headway than you really are.One does not just do a solitary 3 year retreat.
/magnus
also, some of the practices require more than one person, really--I can't imagine someone doing some of the drupchos on their own. You just can't cover all the necessities.
དམ་པའི་དོན་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ཆེ་བ་དང་།
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།
"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།
"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
It all depends on the kind of three year retreat.conebeckham wrote: ↑Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:33 pmI agree with all of this, too. 3 year retreat is sorta like "college" in our lineage. It's a training ground and requires supervision at various points.heart wrote: ↑Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:54 amIt is a question of logistics, teachings, empowerments and pith instructions should be delivered at the right moment. Solitary retreat is for those that already have experience and no need for a teachings and so on. Also a solitary retreat can be any length so no need for the three year format. Read Jamgon Kongtrul's Retreat Manual.Schrödinger’s Yidam wrote: ↑Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:28 am
I’ve been told that Lama Norlha didn’t give permission for any of his people to do solitary retreats. Apparently he thought you needed other irritating people around to demonstrate to yourself the limitations of your practice. Without them you might think you’re making a lot more headway than you really are.
/magnus
also, some of the practices require more than one person, really--I can't imagine someone doing some of the drupchos on their own. You just can't cover all the necessities.
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
Unfortunately, some people have to sleep in a box.
Virgo
Virgo
-
- Posts: 7885
- Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 6:13 am
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
I've often likened a 3 year retreat to undergraduate school.I agree with all of this, too. 3 year retreat is sorta like "college" in our lineage. It's a training ground and requires supervision at various points.
But not everybody goes to college. So why do a 3 year retreat at all? I'm told Situ R. has said that you can get enlightened with NgonDro. It might be slow, but it's pretty straightforward. HHK often gives the quote about Indian practitioners that master one yidam while Tibetans unsuccessfully attempt 100. A 3 year retreat is important if one wants to become a Lama, but you can evolve spiritually with less practices.
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
Not only that, if you want to reach realization, the 3 year retreat is actually a terrible way to do it. Anytime you feel like you're getting to know a practice, you already have to learn the next one and complete all the related accumulations.Schrödinger’s Yidam wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:26 amI've often likened a 3 year retreat to undergraduate school.I agree with all of this, too. 3 year retreat is sorta like "college" in our lineage. It's a training ground and requires supervision at various points.
But not everybody goes to college. So why do a 3 year retreat at all? I'm told Situ R. has said that you can get enlightened with NgonDro. It might be slow, but it's pretty straightforward. HHK often gives the quote about Indian practitioners that master one yidam while Tibetans unsuccessfully attempt 100. A 3 year retreat is important if one wants to become a Lama, but you can evolve spiritually with less practices.
Most people I know who have done it, spent a lot of time afterwards on their own on a single practice. After the busy schedule, it felt like they finally got some rest and could really settle down. It's one of the reasons many people quit during the 3 year schedule.
'I will not take your feelings seriously, and neither will you' -Lama Lena
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
Unless, like myself, you focus on one sadhana.
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
Most of these Vajrayana paths require group practice for accomplishment, which is what you find at a 3 Year Retreat. You can practice alone if you have a transmission which does not require group practices. But then you also don't necessarily need three years or a particular schedule. The transmission will say what time commitment to expect as well as signs of progress and accomplishment so you will know if you are off track. Before going off on a long solitary retreat it will help a lot to know your transmissions inside and out.
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
This is strictly a Kagyu and Nyingma thing, and a late development as well. Sakyapas and Gelukpas do these solo, after having received the complete transmission for everything needed to accomplish the retreat. Of course they have consulting teachers who guide them through the material.Crazywisdom wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:32 pm Most of these Vajrayana paths require group practice for accomplishment, which is what you find at a 3 Year Retreat.
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
The Guhyagarbha is not a late development.Malcolm wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:59 pmThis is strictly a Kagyu and Nyingma thing, and a late development as well. Sakyapas and Gelukpas do these solo, after having received the complete transmission for everything needed to accomplish the retreat. Of course they have consulting teachers who guide them through the material.Crazywisdom wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:32 pm Most of these Vajrayana paths require group practice for accomplishment, which is what you find at a 3 Year Retreat.
Re: Three Year Retreat Schedule
But I agree it's better to focus on one sadhana or transmission. It's hard enough to master one.Crazywisdom wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:41 pmThe Guhyagarbha is not a late development.Malcolm wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:59 pmThis is strictly a Kagyu and Nyingma thing, and a late development as well. Sakyapas and Gelukpas do these solo, after having received the complete transmission for everything needed to accomplish the retreat. Of course they have consulting teachers who guide them through the material.Crazywisdom wrote: ↑Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:32 pm Most of these Vajrayana paths require group practice for accomplishment, which is what you find at a 3 Year Retreat.