27 September 2024 (Friday) - 20 October 2024 (Sunday)
A Month of Intensive Dharma Training
at the Golden Light Palace Temple in Taiwan
2024 One-Month Dzogchen Buddha Path Internship with One-Week Retreat Option
One-Month Internship: Friday, September 27th through Sunday, October 20th, 2024
One-Week Retreat: Friday, September 27th through Friday, October 4th, 2024
An International Dzogchen Buddha Path Teacher Training Program conducted by our Holy Vajra Master, Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche.
This one-month Internship is the International Grand Buddha Path Teacher Training Program, an annual assembly of the International Dzogchen Buddha Path Lineage students. This program helps students to further understand that progress in Dharma requires comprehensive training and continuous diligence in the three methods of learning, contemplation, and meditation.
Qualification: Attendees of this program are required to have attended at least one seasonal retreat within the Dzogchen Buddha Path Lineage or be tutored by an authorized Teacher who can help applicants prepare for the Internship. See additional prerequisites below. Those who have not attended a Dzogchen Buddha Path one-week retreat can apply for the one-week retreat option. Upon successful completion of the one-week retreat, participants may apply to stay for the duration of the internship program.
Registration Deadline: In order to attend the 2024 Dzogchen Lineage Internship in Taiwan, you must register no later than Friday, September 20th.
Traveling Guidelines:
Regardless of which program they attend, interns can arrive as early as Tuesday, September 24th, and must arrive by Thursday, September 26th. One-week retreatants may depart on Saturday October 5th or Sunday, October 6th.
One-month Interns may depart no sooner than Monday, October 21st and must depart by Tuesday, October 22nd.
Retreatants and interns are responsible for providing their own transportation to and from the Golden Light Temple. The event team will help to coordinate.
***Special Notice: There may be some optional pilgrimage or tourism events occuring after the internship. Please contact the internship committee for details.
Note regarding extended stay: If individuals want to come early or stay on as volunteers or for personal retreat, they must request the Internship Director in advance and receive prior approval. A daily fee is also required for days before September 24 and after October 22nd.
Note Regarding Purchasing Airline Tickets: Please DO NOT purchase plane tickets until you have registered for this event and received approval from the retreat committee.
Please note: those who have smoked marijuana within 100 days of the start of the retreat or who are addicted to any legal or illegal substance may not attend.
Registration is limited, so be sure to fill-out the online registration as soon as possible.
Click here to register!
Internship Requirements
It is important that prospective Interns understand the demands of this internship and are willing to meet certain requirements.
Prior Retreat Experience
Please contact the Internship Director using the addresses below if you need any clarification on the following prerequisites:
Prerequisites for the 2024 Dzogchen Buddha Path Internship:
- Applicants are required to have taken Blessing Refuge within the Dzogchen Buddha Path Lineage
- Applicants must have attended at least a one week retreat within the Dzogchen Buddha Path Lineage OR have received 10 tutoring sessions by an authorized Dharma Teacher of The Buddha Path
- Applicants must be evaluated by and have permission to attend from the Internship Director
- Applicants must arrive by September 26th, 2024 and promise to remain in at the Golden Light Temple until October 21st 2024
- Applicants must be fluent in one or more of the following languages: English, Chinese, Russian
These prerequisites DO NOT apply to those attending the one-week retreat. If you are uncertain if you meet these qualifications, please contact the Internship Director.
Registration is limited, so be sure to fill-out the online registration as soon as possible.
Our Kind Vajra Master
We are extremely happy to announce that our Holy Vajra Master His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, a meditation master, professor of Dzogchen Shri Singha University, and Dzogchen Lineage Holder, will lead this Dzogchen Lineage Internship and provide daily instruction to all students during the entire Internship. This program is an extraordinary opportunity to receive profound instructions directly from a living Vajra Master born and trained in Tibet.
His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche in 2024. Photo by Dharma Acharya Pei Ling Shu.
Biography of His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche
Additional Information
Expectations
Minors must be accompanied by parent(s) or legal guardian(s) and provided with full-time care if they are not attending the sessions. All students must be of sound mind and body. Students must commit to attend this program in its entirety, and plan to forgo other obligations or distractions during that time. Students can expect to have limited contact with the outside world and should prepare their friends and families accordingly. Students will have limited or no access to the Internet during the Internship.
Students will live at the rural and secluded Golden Light Temple, where they will study and practice in groups and individually for approximately sixteen hours a day on a rigorous and dynamic schedule. Students will be expected to obey all local laws as well as the rules of the retreat center and the specific rules and schedule of the Internship.
Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche teaches all courses in English, drawing upon his knowledge of Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese when appropriate. Internship translators and tutors facilitate discussion and understanding of each days’ teachings in English, Chinese, and Russian.
Is the Dzogchen Lineage Internship Right for Me?
This internship is intended for those who sincerely want to benefit others and realize wisdom and compassion in this lifetime. It is for students who have faith in the Dzogchen Lineage and who understand that progress in Dharma, the root of happiness, requires comprehensive training and continuous diligence in the three techniques: learning, contemplation and meditation.
As Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche teaches us, “Human life is precious. Life is impermanent. If you realize in this life that your top priority is teaching Dharma to others for the sake of world peace, then the Dzogchen Lineage Internship program is for you.”
Based on the belief that lasting change must come from within, the Dzogchen Lineage Internship serves to create Dharma teachers with a firm foundation in Buddhist fundamentals. Throughout the course of this internship, students will train in increasing renunciation, compassion, faith, love, and wisdom. This training promotes positive change in the students so that they might better serve others.
The intensive and comprehensive approach to the teachings used in this internship is specifically intended to help students to become tutors, guides, and teachers of the Dharma, as well as Dzogchen Lineage Holders.
Retreat Preparation
In order to prepare our minds for these auspicious teachings and practice,
please recite the following mantras before the program begins:
21,000 Tara Mantras
ཨོཾ་ཏཱ་རེ་ཏུཏྟཱ་རེ་ཏུ་རེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།
Om Taré Tuttaré Turé Swoha
12,000 Guru Padmasambhava Mantras
ཨོཾ་ཨཱཿཧཱུྃཿབཛྲ་གུ་རུ་པདྨ་སིདྡྷི་ཧཱུྃཿ
Om Ah Hung Badzra Guru Padma Siddhi Hung
600 Buddha Shakyamuni Mantras
ཨོཾ་མུ་ནི་མུ་ནི་མ་ཧཱ་མུ་ན་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།
Om Muni Muni Maha Muna Ye Swoha
Students must prepare for the internship in advance by completing the specific preparatory exercises and study program outlined in the 2024 Internship Handbook, which will be distributed electronically to all admitted applicants.
Admission
Admission to the Internship will be based on an application process. We welcome applications from all who would like to attend. The Internship Application Committee will review all applications. Attendance is limited, so please apply early if you think you want to participate.
We encourage all sincere and well intentioned Buddhist students to learn more about this program by referring to this internship website, contacting us, and asking any questions they have.
Registration is limited, so be sure to fill-out the online registration as soon as possible.
Application Process
The application process is as follows:
- Applicant fills out the online registration form.
- The Internship Director acknowledges the receipt of the application and sends more information.
- The Internship Director interviews the applicant over the phone.
- The Internship Director presents the applicant to the Internship Committee for approval.
- If approved, the Internship Director asks the applicant to sign the Internship Agreement and return it with a 25% non-refundable down payment.
Program Fees
For the benefit of participating students, Internship fees reflect a built-in discount because there is no profit motive. Fees have been minimized to cover only the projected operating expenses, including food, lodging, and all utilities. Dharma teaching itself is provided free of charge. Donations to the teacher are optional, but encouraged. Students must support themselves financially during the internship and are expected to cover the costs of their health care and any personal necessities. Students may be required to purchase required books in advance. Due to the progressive nature of the instruction, students who leave the Internship for any reason will not be allowed to return. No refunds will be made for any reason after the Internship has commenced.
One-Week Internship: $1,080 USD (one thousand eighty US dollars)
(Discounts may apply, see below.)
One-Month Internship: $2,100 USD (two thousand one hundred US dollars)
(Discounts may apply, see below.)
This is an amazing opportunity to train at the Golden Light Palace Temple in Taiwan and receive university quality Buddhist education. This fee covers your accommodations, three meals per day, and educational resources.
Important policy note: There is no partial fee option. If an individual leaves early, they must still pay the complete fee.
Discount Options
Any one of the following discount options can be applied to your Program fees. The following discount options cannot be combined in order to obtain a deeper discount:
One-Month retreatant discounts:
- International travel support (for those with flights longer than 10 hours)
- Child discount
- Return Reward Discount for participants of the Taiwan Retreat and Pilgrimage Program
International Travel Support:
Students flying 10 or more hours may apply for international travel support up to $200 by submitting financial reasons. (Approval and amount of support will be determined by local and regional Dzogchen Lineage Internship director and the International Dzogchen Internship committee.)
Child Discount:
Instead of the flat $2,100 rate, children 5-12 years of age will be charged $1 per year old per day.
For example, a 12 year old who resides 10 days at the Golden Light Temple will be charged $12 x 10 = $120 USD.
Children under 5 years old have their fees waived.
Return Reward Discount
Students who completed the Taiwan Retreat and Pilgrimage Program in either 2023 or 2024 may apply for a discount up to $50 USD.
To apply for discounts, contact the Internship Director.
Contact Information
International Dzogchen Lineage Internship Directors
Dzogchen Internship Event Director: Bodhi Lama Lau Kin
Email: dzogchen.lineage.internship@thebuddhapath.org
Overview of the Dzogchen Lineage Internship
Celebrating Over Ten Years of Dzogchen Lineage Internships
Since 2008, the annual Dzogchen Lineage Internship Program has been an intensive course of study and training in the view, meditation, conduct, and result of Buddhist Sutras and Tantras. This program integrates scholastic methods with personal instruction and meditation techniques to allow students to progress infallibly and swiftly from a logical understanding of the Dharma to the unwavering realization of Dzogchen. This internship program is a rare and precious opportunity for modern students to study and train in the methods of the Dzogchen Lineage.
Dzogchen Lineage Internship Curriculum
The Dzogchen Lineage Internship is an intensive course of study and training in the view, meditation, and conduct of the authentic Buddhist Sutras, Tantras, and Shastras. Our curriculum also includes elements of the five minor sciences of characterization, performance, astronomy, matrices, and poetics. These classes ensure that students receive a comprehensive education in authentic Buddhist view, meditation, and conduct with special emphasis on firmly grounding that education in the fundamental ground, path, and result principles of Buddhism.
Our teaching and training methods and curriculum are based on the time-tested tradition of Dzogchen Shri Singha Five Sciences University of Tibet, Nalanda University, Odantapuri Temple, and Oddiyana Mandala City of ancient India. For thousands of years, these methods of training have led many Buddhist practitioners to attain the supreme result of enlightenment and become holders of the Dzogchen Lineage.
An Immersive Training Experience
Dzogchen Buddha Path Interns stay sequestered at a designated Internship site for the duration of the Internship program. All Interns are required to attend every session and activity of the Internship program, which consists of a daily twenty-four hour schedule of training.
A typical daily Internship schedule begins and ends with at least an hour of group practice. The interim is centered on a minimum of six hours and up to twelve hours of in-class study with the Guiding Vajra Master, Dharma teachers, and senior Dharma tutors. These class sessions cover topics of the traditional Buddhist major sciences of art, medicine, linguistics, philosophy, and especially the Buddhadharma, which is learning, contemplating, and meditating on the teachings and shastras of the Vinaya, Sutra, and Abhidharma in general, and the Vajrayana Tantras and the Dzogchen Tantras in particular.
In addition, classroom sessions include training in meditation techniques, academic research, translation, composition and editing, teaching and public speaking, pedagogy, debate, leadership, counseling, conflict resolution, healing techniques, miracle powers, parapsychology, yoga, ritual ceremony, nutrition, and other practical knowledge, skills, and competencies. Interns must also demonstrate ability in self-guided study through reading and writing assignments, memorization, media presentations, speeches, and teachings.
An Internship program also functions as a practicum. Periods in between the main sessions are utilized to further train Interns in the context of team roles, individual and group projects, committee participation, event organization, and management positions.
Interns are directed to utilize the principles they have acquired throughout all periods of the daily schedule by meditating on enlightenment, reminding themselves and others to embody Buddhist principles, practicing Buddhist visualization, reciting Buddhist mantras and teachings, and acting and speaking in accord with Buddhist guidelines for conduct. Students are also taught techniques for transforming mundane daily activities such as sleeping, waking up, tending to personal hygiene, walking, eating, drinking, and even physical work into Buddhist enlightened practice.
Dzogchen Buddha Path Internships provide one of the most complete and holistic programs of Buddhist learning and training in the world. Graduates of these programs receive a breadth and quality of education that is difficult to quantify. Many past and present Interns have described their participation in these programs as the single most important activity and defining experience of their lives, transforming their entire view and approach to living. Those who attend multiple Internships progressively deepen their understanding, experience, and realization of Dharma. Dzogchen Buddha Path Interns graduate as students grounded in Buddhist principles, Buddhist practitioners on the path to enlightenment, and teachers who are benefiting their families, communities, and the world at large.
Gaining Credit Hours and Achieving Awards
Those who successfully complete this Dzogchen Lineage Internship will receive 4 academic credits.
The Dzogchen Buddha Path Authentication Committee (the Committee) was formed in the U.S. in 2013 by members of the Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation USA and international Dzogchen Buddha Path lineage for the purpose of developing criteria for verifying those Dzogchen Buddha Path students who have achieved a sufficient level of Dharma learning, contemplation, and meditation to receive academic awards.
The Committee recognizes the value of integrating traditional educational models with modern academic standards. Accordingly, these criteria incorporate the modern system of standards following the guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Education. This system awards course credit hours based on both contact (in-class) and assigned (out-of-class) study.
The Committee believes that by establishing criteria that combine the rigorous requirements of these respected educational models, recipients of Dzogchen Buddha Path certificates, diplomas, and degrees can be trusted as knowledgeable teachers of Buddhist principles. These criteria far exceed those normally used for determining expertise in a field of study. The criteria especially emphasizes identifying those students who have both knowledge and faith in authentic Buddhism. Thus, the Committee unreservedly recognizes award recipients for their accomplishments in authentic Buddhist training.
The Committee encourages and authorizes all certificate holders to teach Buddhist principles in general, and to teach The Buddha Path in particular to all mankind for the True Happiness of all beings. However, these awards do not support recipients as qualified Dharma teachers if they do not properly uphold Buddhist principles, including moral conduct. If this moral contract is broken, then these certificates and awards will be invalidated.
Registration is limited, so be sure to fill-out the online registration as soon as possible.
The Great Merit of Supporting Dharma
Your assistance is necessary and greatly appreciated. Even if you are unable to attend this internship, tremendous merit can be earned by supporting those who do attend. As Internship fees do not cover the cost of running the program, your financial contributions provide an invaluable condition for the success of this Internship. We also accept donations of property and stocks. As we are a non-profit organization, your donations are tax deductible in accordance with the laws of your country. Supporting Buddhist education generates great merit for the donor. If you would like to contribute financially or with your time, please contact us immediately.
There are many ways you can help:
- Offer donations of money, property, or stock
- Sponsor students or other volunteers
- Volunteer at the retreat center before or during the Internship
- Recite the Heartfelt Dharma Aspiration Prayer
- Encourage your friends to sponsor or participate
