29 October 2022 (Saturday) - 6 November 2022 (Sunday)
Teachings and Trainings on The Buddha Path
There will also be an Autumn Internet Training Program hosted virtually that will run concurrently for the first five days. For more details click here.
The Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation is pleased to announce our annual Dzogchen Buddha Path Autumn Retreat under the guidance of His Eminence Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche. This week-long retreat will be held at the beautiful Dzogchen Retreat Center USA. This year presents an ideal opportunity to deepen your understanding and experience of the teachings of the Dzogchen Lineage.
The 2022 Autumn Retreat will commence on Saturday, October 29 and conclude on Sunday, November 6. This year’s nine days of teaching and training will include in-depth and direct teachings on the sacred text The Buddha Path, the Buddhist fundamentals, and will include many practices including mantra recitation, reciting sacred text, visualizations, music making, light offerings, and food offerings.
To protect the residents of the DRC and the attending sangha, there is a mandatory five day quarantine period prior to the start of retreat. To facilitate this, all attendees must be at the retreat center no later than Monday, October 24th at 12pm PDT, please arrive earlier if you can.
There is limited seating and we need time to contact each applicant, so please register early. The deadline to register is Monday, October 17th. This allows us to appropriately coordinate everyone’s arrival and prepare for quarantine.
About the Retreat
What to Expect on a Dzogchen Buddha Path Autumn Retreat
Morning bells ring in the crisp autumn air, calling you to meditation in our colorful shrine, where all retreatants practice The Buddha Path together. Dharma exercises and classes follow, with a full day of indispensable Buddhist teachings on how to put positive thinking into practice.
“Retreat” means withdrawing your body, speech, and mind away from busy, meaningless, and negative activities, freeing yourself to focus on helping all beings. Away from worldly distractions, you can wholeheartedly train your mind in the Way of True Happiness. In retreat you will practice Dharma with more joy, depth, and intensity than you have likely experienced before and the results may surprise you. By training your mind using the skillful means of the Dzogchen Lineage you will take steps toward your own awakening.
“Dzogchen” translates as “the Great Perfection” or “the Great Inclusion” because it contains all of Buddha’s teachings, including both sutra and tantra. The nature of mind is pure, luminous, and blissful, yet until we rid ourselves of negative thinking, we will generate suffering for ourselves and provide the conditions of others’ suffering. Through the practice of Dzogchen one can become Buddha in a single lifetime and never again be a negative condition for any being.
The Dzogchen Autumn Retreat is one week of diligent learning, contemplation, meditation, prayer, and discussion surrounded by precious sangha and experienced Dharma teachers. It is a unique opportunity to increase your love, compassion, and wisdom. During this week you will learn how to increase your happiness, causes of happiness, and the happiness of all beings, while decreasing the suffering and causes of suffering of all beings. By committing to spend a week practicing to this end, your mind will be transformed and you will have a more positive effect on your loved ones and all beings.
During a recent Dzogchen Internship and Buddha Path Retreat. Photo by Bhadra.
About the Teacher
Bodhi Lama Zangshöd, a longtime Buddhist practitioner, has spent more than a decade studying closely with Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche.
He is a passionate and inspiring teacher in the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingthig Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. His devotion is to fulfill the aspirations of H.E. Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche and preserve the precious teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni in this world.
About the Dzogchen Retreat Center
The Dzogchen Retreat Center is situated on 160 pristine acres in the beautiful coastal mountains of Oregon. The property is replete with native forests, lush meadows, beautiful valleys, peaceful ponds, and the powerful Siuslaw River connecting us to the Pacific Ocean.
All teachings at the Retreat Center are given free of charge. Retreat fees pay for Dharma activities and the operation of the facilities, including meals and maintenance. Retreat cabins sleep two, perfect for couples or friends coming together.
Accommodations are limited, so please register early.
A rainbow over the Mandala Garden at the DRC in October 2011. Photo by Bhadra.
We welcome practitioners of all levels. Whether you are completely new to Buddhism or have been practicing for many years, you will find valuable instruction, guidance, and support. For students sincerely interested in following an authentic Buddha Path, transmitted by an authentic Vajra Master in the unbroken Dzogchen Lineage, there is no better way to start than with a Dzogchen Lineage Retreat.
About the Lineage
It is extremely precious to study under an authentic master, one whose lineage can be traced all the way back to Buddha Shakyamuni. Our precious Vajra Master, H.E. Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche, is a thirty-third generation lineage holder of the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingthig and the Dzogchen Khadro Nyingthig lineages, selected by previous Dzogchen Lineage Masters in Tibet because of his profound knowledge and realization. With more than seven years of solitary cave meditation experience in the high Tibetan holy mountains, Rinpoche truly embodies the qualities of a realized practitioner and yogi. Also a vibrant and dynamic teacher and scholar, Rinpoche is a lama of the Dzogchen Monastery and professor of the Dzogchen Shri Singha University. He is a published author of numerous books in both Tibetan and English, including The Buddha Path, a practice book that encompasses all of Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha Path is available in English, Chinese, Russian, and German, and is soon to be released in Nepali, Japanese, and Spanish.
Just as great master of the past, Atisha, was revered for always teaching refuge, Khenpo Choga Rinpoche is revered for always training teachers. His heartfelt effort to train knowledgeable, wise and compassionate teachers has reached a critical juncture, and he has authorized authentically trained and certified Dharma Teachers of The Buddha Path to teach under his guidance. Rinpoche has requested that Upasaka Bodhisattva Zangshod (Marc Baldwin) lead this retreat.
More about Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche »
Retreat Pricing
As always the teachings and ceremonies themselves are offered free of charge, but it is traditional in Buddhism for the student to make an individual offering to the teacher during the retreat. You may voluntarily make an offering to the teacher at any time during the retreat. It is most auspicious to do this at the beginning of the retreat at the end of the opening ceremony.
The retreat fees listed below are used to pay for food, supplies, utilities and maintenance of the facilities.
- Adult (18–64) ~ $550
- Senior (65 and up) ~ $430
- Monastic ~ $400
- Teen (ages 13–17) ~ $350
- Youth (ages 8–12) ~ $300
- Child (ages 0–7) ~ contact Retreat Director
In addition to the retreat fees, there is a daily fee for each day on the property outside of retreat days. The cost is $30/day or $25/day with 5 hours of volunteer work each day.
When making your travel plans, please plan your schedule so that you arrive at the retreat center before 12PM on the first day of quarantine, and depart the retreat center after 3PM on the dates listed above. You are welcome to come earlier or stay later at the retreat center to volunteer to help us with preparations and clean-up of the retreat center. It is $25 per day to stay at the retreat center as a volunteer outside of the scheduled Autumn Retreat. The $25 per day includes your meals and accommodations. Accommodations do not include blankets, sheets or towels.
Retreat registration
Go to the registration link and fill out the form. You will be contacted soon by one of the Autumn Retreat Committee members to talk about next steps.
Please Read the Fine Print
Please carefully review the Retreat Details, Conditions and Policies before registering.
If you have any questions about anything, don’t hesitate to contact us at autumn.retreat.USA@thebuddhapath.org
How to Register
Because space is limited, we may have to decline some applicants, so you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. The application period will close on October 17, 2022. Once you apply, we will contact you to confirm your registration.
Everyone is welcome to apply.
How to Make Payments
Payment is due in full at the time of acceptance of your application. There will be no refunds after the close of the application period.
After your application has been approved, payment instructions will be sent to you.
The Great Merit of Supporting Retreats
Even if you will not be able to attend this retreat, you or anyone else you know may earn tremendous merit by providing facilities for those on retreat. If you would like to contribute financially or with labor, contact us immediately. There are a variety of different projects underway intended to support the retreat experience, including maintenance of the shrine tent and cabins, weatherproofing our facilities, and refinements of the kitchen and dining areas.
There are three ways you can help:
- Come to the retreat center prior to the Autumn Retreat and get the unique benefits of a work retreat.
- Offer donations for raw materials and supplies.
- Sponsor students and volunteers who want to perform work retreats.
Providing immediate assistance will help facilitate improvements in time for Autumn Retreat. If you would like to help or would like more information, please contact the retreat director.
Join the Circle of Compassion
Support the Dzogchen Retreat Center Project
The Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation USA is an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
For the peace and happiness of all beings, the Dzogchen Shri Singha Foundation USA is asking for your support to ensure the future of the Dzogchen Retreat Center USA, under the spiritual guidance of Dzogchen Khenpo Choga Rinpoche.
Your help is urgently needed to ensure the preservation, practice, and transmission of the unbroken Dzogchen Lineage tradition for increasing personal happiness and creating lasting world peace. Please visit our Giving Section to learn more and donate online. Join our ongoing giving program, the Circle of Compassion, or make a one-time donation to the Dzogchen Retreat Center USA Project.
Generosity is the root of wealth and prosperity.
