Annual Iron Knot Ranch
December 16, 2011 through January 1, 2012
We’re very happy to announce that H.E. Lingtrul Kadak Chöying Dorje (Lingtrul Rinpoche) will join our Vajrakilaya Retreat for the final week, serving as vajra master through the end of the retreat. Lingtrul Rinpoche is the eighth head of Tra Ling Monastery in Golok, Tibet, and has founded centers for Vajrayana study in Oakland, California and Qualicum Beach, British Columbia. As announced earlier, Thupten Lungtok Rinpoche, a close student of H.H. Dodrupchen Rinpoche, will join us for the entire retreat and will serve as vajra master until Lingtrul Rinpoche’s arrival. We rejoice in our great good fortune!
Iron Knot Ranch’s annual Vajrakilaya practice retreat will take place December 16, 2011, through January 1, 2012. The final four days—December 28th until January 1—will be a drubchod, in which the accumulation of merit and wisdom and purification of obscurations are intensified through longer and more elaborate practice sessions.
We’re very happy to announce that Thupten Lungtok Rinpoche, a close student of H.H. Dodrupchen Rinpoche, will once again serve as vajra master for the retreat. Rinpoche’s depth of experience with Vajrakilaya practice, as well as his humorous and profound stories of the Buddha and of masters and students who encounter obstacles on the path, have brought a great power of blessing to past retreats. We’re also very pleased that Lama Jamie will once again serve as chant master (umdze) for the duration of the retreat. Lama Jamie’s insights and his unique and delightful methods of sharing them have made our Vajrakilaya retreats of the past several years unforgettable.
The wrathful practice of Vajrakilaya is an extremely powerful means to remove obstacles of any kind, including obstacles to health, longevity, activity, spiritual practice, and, ultimately, to realization of enlightenment.
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Please note that participants are welcome to attend and leave as their schedules permit. The drubchod taking place in the final four days is also open in this way, though we want to stress that the greatest benefit will derive from attending the drubchod in its entirety. Still, one can attend any portion of the ceremony up until it concludes with the final acceptance of siddhis, spiritual accomplishment and blessing, on January 1st.
Also, for those who wish to attend but have not received Vajrakilaya empowerment, Lama Shenpen will offer practice instruction for participation. Texts will be available for purchase at the retreat.
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We will be offering tsog and butterlamps each day during this auspicious time. If you would like to be a part of our accumulations and dedications of merit, please email prayers@ironknot.org about your offering, including your written dedication. Please specify whether your offering is for butterlamps or tsog or both.
Registration
The cost for the retreat, which covers food, facilities, camping or dorm-style accommodations—will be $35 - $55/day (sliding-scale based on ability to pay and accomodations). The cost for the drubchod will be $40 - $60/day (sliding-scale based on ability to payand accomodations). Chagdud Gonpa Foundation and Iron Knot Ranch sponsors’ discounts apply. We will do whatever we can to make this event financially feasible for everyone who wants to participate through partial scholarships, work trade and payment plans.
In order to keep costs as low as possible and to support practitioners’ accumulation of merit, we will ask that everyone to join the ranch staff in a daily work session.
Please register no fewer than 10 days before your arrival so we can be sure to have enough food on hand for all our guests each day. Your early registration is a great help to us in planning, and there will be no penalty if you need to cancel. To register, or for further information, please email events@ironknot.org or call (510) 315-1960.
May all beings benefit!