ONLINE 2023 Event Schedule
Summary of Online Events
SCROLL DOWN TO READ MORE ON EACH EVENT
*ONLINE Arya Tara and Janchok for Deceased/ June 11
EVENTS TO COME IN 2023
If Registration is Required for Online Retreats it’s indicated.
All In Person Retreats
Require Registration opening dates will be posted
ONLINE ONLY RETREATS
*Jewel Ornament of Liberation Ongoing Series/ Khenpo Tenzin
*Mindfulness Meditation Ongoing Series/ Khenpo Tenzin
*Nyune Ne / April 4 -6 / Lama Bu Nima / Must register
*Long Life Event / April 12 -15 / H.E. Garchen Rinpoche and Visiting Lamas
*Mahamudra Teachings / April 16 -17 / H.E. Garchen Rinpoche
*Tara Blessing Retreat / May 12 -14 / H.E. Garchen Rinpoche, Khenpo Samdup, Khenpo Tenzin and GBI Lamas
* Teachings TBA / September 3 -7 / H.E. Garchen Rinpoche
IN PERSON and ONLINE Retreats
*Saga Dawa Nyung ne / June 3-5 / Garchen Institute Lamas
*Summer Retreat / June 17 -21 / H.E. Garchen Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsering Tashi, Khenpo Tenzin, Kathleen Davis
*Cakrasamvara Drubcho / July 1 -5 / Drupon Rinchen Dorjee
*Cakrasamvara Intensive / July 7 -26 / Drupon Rinchen Dorjee
*5 Fold Path of Mahamudra / August 1 -6 / Nupa Rinpoche (tentatively scheduled)
*Vajrakilaya Drubchen / September 23 – October 1 / H.E Garchen Rinpoche and Lamas
*True Nature Retreat / October 12 -15 / H.E Garchen Rinpoche, Khenpo Tenzin, Krishna Das and more!
*Amitabha Retreat / November 10 -12 / H.E Garchen Rinpoche and Lamas
*Ngondro Retreat / October 24 – December 24 / Venerable Khenpo Tenzin
*Mani Drubcho / December 29 – 31 / H.E Garchen Rinpoche and Lamas
* Winter Teachings / December 29 -January 4 / H.E Garchen Rinpoche and Lamas
Donations
We offer all our live-stream Dharma programs for free. If you would like to make a donation to Garchen Buddhist Institute it would be greatly appreciated. Your donations will be used to help support the Institute in its various offerings and activities for the benefit of all beings.
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Join us online

Jewel Ornament of Liberation
with
Venerable Khenpo Tenzin
Next class: June 6
10am – 12pm PDT (UTC-7)
Next Question and Answer session: TBA
1:30pm – 2:45pm PDT (UTC-7)
Click here to login to Zoom session
ID : 218 378 3697
Password: Ratna88
We are delighted to offer a new online teaching series on this invaluable teaching by Gampopa, the father of the Kagyu tradition in Tibet and principal disciple of Jestun Milarepa.
“For more than eight centuries, this text has provided a complete foundation for Buddhist study and practice – covering the initial entry into the path and continuing through to the achievement of Buddhahood. It includes teachings on Buddha-nature, finding a spiritual master, impermanence, karma, the cultivation of bodhicitta, the development of the six perfections, the ten Bodhisattva bhumis, Buddhahood, and the activities of a Buddha.”
Gampopa masterfully outlines the entire path to enlightenment, speaking to practitioners at all levels, whether you are just beginning or have been studying and practicing for many years!. His timeless advice is remarkably relevant in today’s challenging world.
Venerable Khenpo Tenzin’s clear and inspired explanations will illuminate the meaning of this profound text and guide us on to how to practice these precious instructions. The English translation used by Venerable Khenpo Tenzin is Ornament of Precious Liberation translated by Ken Holmes and can be purchased here. Purchase of the text is optional.
Each Tuesday Khenpo Tenzin will teach from 10am -12pm. We encourage you to email your questions after each class during the week to registration@garchen.net. Only when another event is scheduled will the Tuesday class be postponed. Be sure to check the specific class dates below.
Khenpo Tenzin will answer the questions in a zoom session on some Sunday afternoons from 2pm – 3pm. See dates listed below.
SCHEDULE
Tuesday 10am -12pm /Jewel Ornament of Liberation
Sunday 1:30pm -3pm / Zoom Questions and Answers sessions dates – May 15
Log in information for the zoom sessions/ Questions and Answers
ID : 218 378 3697
Password: Ratna88
DONATIONS
We are offering all of our online dharma programs for free. However we are only able to do so because of the generosity of the sangha. Donations cover the offerings to Khenpo Tenzin and costs to provide this programing. Donations of any size are gratefully accepted.
Join us for this excellent opportunity to deepen
your Dharma knowledge, understanding and experience.
MAY ALL BEINGS BENEFIT!
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Join us online
To participate via livestream
CLICK HERE


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Join us online
To participate via livestream
CLICK HERE
Texts
Each Sunday we will use the texts in the following order:
- Yellow Prayer Book – opening prayers
- White Tara Sadhana with inserts OR Lama Chöpa
- Weekly Additional Practice –
here we will practice one of the texts marked with an * - Summoning Good Fortune
- Blue Prayer Book – dedication prayer
- Yellow Prayer Book – long life prayers
Yellow Prayer Book:
View
Download
White Tara Sadhana:
View
Download
Praise of the 21 Taras
View
Download
Benefits of Praises to 21 Taras
View
Download
* Dharma Protectors (Dharmapalas):
View
* Lama Chopa – Chinese
View
Download
*Serkhangma Prayer
View
Download
* Burning Away Afflictions (Jangchok for the Living and/or the Dead):
View
Download
Dzambala – Summoning Good Fortune
(page 63 of this text):
View
Download

Meditation Series on Mindfulness
with Venerable Khenpo Tenzin
Next Class: May 28
3pm -4pm PDT (UTC-7)
Classes Every Sunday
when there is no other event
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Join us online
To participate via livestream,
CLICK HERE

SUMMER RETREAT
*Teachings on King of Noble Prayers
*Meditation and Discussion Groups
*Tibetan Qigong
H.E. Garchen Rinpoche
Khenpo Tsering Tashi
Khenpo Tenzin
Kathleen Davis
June 17 -21
In person and online
We are delighted to announce our Summer Retreat and welcome you all to attend in person or online. The King of Noble Prayers Aspiring to the Deeds of the Excellent describes the aspirations of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas as the greatest benefit to all beings. This prayer challenges our persistent ignorant dualistic perceptions dissolving them into the boundless ultimate reality of the awakened mind.
We are very blessed to receive commentary from H.E. Garchen Rinpoche on the King of Noble Prayers. Earlier in his life Garchen Rinpoche was in prison with one of his teachers named Adeu Rinpoche who was a highly revered Drupa Kagyu lama. Adeu Rinpoche hand wrote the entire King of Noble Prayers and added his notes, in a very small booklet.
Adeu Rinpoche gave this small booklet to Garchen Rinpoche who brought it to America over 20 years ago. For the first time Garchen Rinpoche has decided to share this extraordinarily powerful profound prayer and notes from Adeu Rinpoche with his students.
We are very fortunate to be able to announce that our visiting lama Khenpo Tsering Tashi, a great scholar, will be leading Q and A and discussion groups during this summer retreat. Venerable Khenpo Tenzin will also lead discussion groups each day to help deepen our understanding and experience of this essential aspirational prayer.
The lineage of Tibetan Qigong comes directly from Garchen Rinpoche’s root guru the great Dzogchen Master Khenpo Munsel Rinpoche who taught it to Qigong Master Zhi Sheng Wang. Kathleen Davis is a student of Master Zhi Sheng Wang and will guide us in the powerful qigong practice. It is a standing meditation form which helps us to gather fresh, elemental energies with which to heal and to support us on our path to understanding and experiencing our true nature. It is simple to learn and yields profound results with practice.
We will livestream the teachings and discussion groups.
We invite you all to attend this powerful retreat offered for the first time!
ONLINE Click Here
DONATIONS
We are offering all of our online dharma programs for free. However we are only able to do so because of the generosity of the sangha. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated and needed. Click to Donate
Join us online




Medicine Buddha Puja
To Help End The Pandemic
Garchen Institute Lamas
Next practice: TBA
9am-10am PDT (UTC-7)
Message from H.E. Garchen Rinpoche
To all my dharma friends in the world,
I request you all to begin the accumulation of 100 million Medicine Buddha mantras on the occasion of H.H. the Drikung Kyabgon Chokyi Nangwa’s 80th Birthday Celebration.
Also now it seems that unless we perform many strong pujas and practices it will be very difficult to stop the pandemic in the world. And if we cannot stop it, then a lot of precious human lives get wasted and it’s very difficult to end it because of the karma and obscurations of sentient beings. If we were to recite 100 million Medicine Buddha mantras that would help bring an end to the pandemic.
In brief anyone who wishes to stop the spread of this deadly disease should recite the Medicine Buddha mantra. It doesn’t matter what lineage or faith you practice or who you are – the person or the lineage makes no difference. When you recite the Medicine Buddha mantra then ideally you will not get the disease and even if you get it, you will not die from it. So that is how the mantra recitation makes a difference. So please keep this in mind.
When you submit your mantra accumulations it is like putting money in your bank. If you only have your personal bank account the interest that is earned is small. However by everyone submitting their mantras together it is like putting all our money in the same bank account and then more interest is earned and the merit becomes much more powerful.
Some people do not know how to dedicate their virtuous activites. However if you submit your mantras all together, then your merit will be dedicated properly and never be exhausted. Just like a small river can dry up but a vast ocean will never dry up.
The Garchen Institute will host a Medicine Buddha Puja once a month.
Be sure to keep submitting your mantra accumulations!
Calling on the worldwide sangha to come together to help extinquish the pandemic!
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Texts / Resources
- Gar Monastery Blessed Gong Audio
- Yellow Prayer Book – opening prayers
- Medicine Buddha Sadhana – A Deep Blue Stream of Lapis Lazuli
- Serkhama Prayer
- Rainfall of Benefit and Happiness
- Blue Prayer Book – dedication prayer
Gar Monastery Blessed Gong Audio
Download
Yellow Prayer Book (2022 new version)
View
Download
Medicine Buddha Sadhana
View
Download
Join us online
To participate via livestream,
CLICK HERE
For links to translations in Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, Polish & Spanish
CLICK HERE
Medicine Buddha Mantra Accumulation


Cakrasamvara Empowerment, Teachings
& Drupcho – CANCELLED
Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche
and
Garchen Institute Lamas
July 1 -5, 2023
Arrival date June 30
Cakrasamvara Drupcho: Empowerment, Teachings and Practice
Cakrasamvara is highest yoga tantra practice in the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition. Cakrasamvara is the main yidam of all Kagyu lineages, and the central deity practiced in the Fivefold Path of Mahamudra of the Drikung Kagyu Lineage. Cakrasamvara is centered around using bliss and emptiness to recognize and rest in our true nature or Buddha essence.
It is the path that has been relied upon by the hundred of siddhas of India and Tibet. It is the swift path for those with faith, diligence, and wisdom. It is the heart nectar of the Buddha’s teachings.
Yidam practice is a very special tantric path in which one transforms one’s normal, samsaric experience of reality into an extraordinary experience of the true state of all phenomena.
Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche will bestow the profound Cakrasamvara empowerment, lead practice sessions and give teachings.
Cakrasamavara practice sessions will be led by Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche and the Garchen Institute Lamas.
Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche is a master teacher of the Cakrasamvara practice and three-year retreat master at the Garchen Institute. Click Here for longer bio.
REQUIRED COMMITTMENT
Anyone who wants to receive the Cakrasamvara empowerment and do the practice must commit to the samaya. The samaya is to never lose your love and to recite 100,000 Cakrasamvara mantras in your lifetime. The mantra for accumulation
ༀ་ཤྲཱི་བཛྲ་ཧེ་ཧེ་རུ་རུ་ཀཾ་ཧུཾ་ཧཱུྂ་ཕཊ་ཌཱ་ཀི་ནཱི་ཛཱ་ལ་སཾ་ཝ་རཾ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།
OṀ ŚRĪ VAJRA HE HE RU RU KAṂ HUṂ HŪṀ PHAṬ ḌĀKINĪ JĀLA SAṂVARAṂ SVĀHĀ
EMPOWERMENT
You will need a blindfold. Typically a red cloth, wide enough to cover your eyes and hook over each ear is used.
DONATIONS
We are offering all of our online dharma programs for free. However we are only able to do so because of the generosity of the sangha. All donations of any size are gratefully accepted. Click to Donate
RETREAT INTENSIVE
July 7-26, 2023. In-Person ONLY. Drupcho attendance required.


2023 ONLINE Retreat Program:
Preliminary Practice Retreats
So many students have the aspiration to put into practice the extraordinary teachings that H.E. Garchen Rinpoche has tirelessly given over the last 20 years in the West. Whether you are new to Buddhism or have recieved many teachings and empowerments, the preliminary pratices are profoundly essential on the path of awakening.
Garchen Institute is pleased to continue our Preliminary Practice Retreat Program Online to help students fulfill their aspirations. These online retreats of varying lengths encompass the scope of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and, in particular, those of the Drikung Kagyu tradition as taught by H. E. Garchen Rinpoche.
We will begin by offering preliminary practice retreats, also called ngöndro retreats, in the spring of 2023. These retreats provide structure and support and are the method for developing the foundation of all practice. The full program of preliminary practice retreats are designed to build on each other.
This program gives you the flexibility to accomplish your Ngondro as your life and schedule allow. Each participant will customize their own retreat schedule according to their individual circumstances. Accumulations of 100,000 are required for each preliminary.
An Introduction to the Preliminary / Ngondro Practices will be livstreamed on our YouTube channel. No registration required. Click here to watch the livestream on February 28th from 10am-12pm
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN
I. Refuge and Prostration: March 4 – June 10, 2023 – Registration is open
II. Vajrasattva: June 17 – September 23, 2023 – Registration is open
III. Mandala Offerings: September 30 – November 18, 2023 – Registration is open
IV. Guru Yoga: November 25 – December 30, 2023 – Registration is open
Venerable Khenpo Tenzin will guide participants with a live Zoom opening teaching and one additional live question and answer Zoom session. All other weeks a prerecorded video link(s) of Khenpo Tenzin leading the practice and giving instruction will be sent to each participant. Registration is required and participants must commit to doing the entire retreat and watch all video links for each retreat. This retreat will be restricted for the particpants and will not be accessible on our YouTube channel for the public.
We are offering all of our online dharma programs for free. However we are only able to do so because of the generosity of the sangha. The suggested donation of $200 for each ngondro retreat will help cover the offerings and costs to provide this programing. Please know that this is only a suggestion and donations of any size are gratefully accepted. Click to Donate
If you are interested in attending the future ngondro retreats please email registration@garchen.net
The length of each ngondro retreat is longer than usual because Khenpo Tenzin recognizes that each person’s conditions will vary and some may work full time, part time, or be retired. You will be required to do a minimum of one session of practice everyday for each ngondro retreat.
We encourage anyone who has been wanting to dive deeper into practice to take advantage of this unique opportunity!



Year-round Nyungne / Nyingne Practice
Led by Venerable Lama Bu Nima
April 4-6, 2023
H.E. Garchen Rinpoche has given this specific message regarding the Nyungne practice series:
“Geshe Ngawang Phuntsok Rinpoche said: “The Nyungne ritual is simple but has great benefits.” As said in The Benefits of the Mahayana Sojong Vows, “Completing this practice even just once, one could take rebirth in the human or god realm; one could gain a precious human body that leads to temporary happiness and, ultimately, to enlightenment.”
This practice is now available online, and those who join may receive great merits.
Lama Bu Nima attended the first Nyungne I led in Gargon in 1982, and he has done many more since. He continues to conduct this practice in the traditional way. And now he is responsible for leading this monthly Nyungne retreat.”
This event is hosted by Garchen Dharma Society (GDS)
- Email: GDSNyungNe@gmail.com
- Register for participation by Zoom — Registration will be closed one week before the practice date.
- Online Guide of NyungNe/NyingNe Retreat(線上紐涅/捏涅指南)
Registration closes one week prior for each NyungNe/NyingNe Retreat.
SCHEDULE FOR 2023
January 5 -7
February 4 -6
April 4-6
DONATIONS
To make offerings to Lama Bu Nima click here , choose general donation and indicate in the note box that it is a pass through offering for Lama Bu Nima. (Pass through offerings to individuals are not tax deductible)
To make offerings to Ani Dagme go to paypal and use this name to send her offerings: @namoguru
To make an offering to Garchen Dharma Society (GDS) please email them directly for instructions. GDSNyungNe@gmail.com
To make an offering to Garchen Buddhist Institute click here. All donations are tax deductible.
All Donations are greatly appreciated and allow us to continue to offer Dharma programs for free.
ONLINE SUNDAY PRACTICES
Sunday Practice with H.E. Garchen Rinpoche and Garchen Institute Lamas
10am – 12pm
Guided Meditation Series with
Venerable Khenpo Tenzin
3:00 -4:00pm
This Sunday program is only available when there is not another event scheduled at the Institute.
Click our Event Calendar for more clarity on the schedule.
Each Sunday we will do a different practice on a rotating basis. That rotation will look like this:
- Arya Tara & Jangchok for the Living (Burning Away Afflications, prayers for the living)
- Arya Tara & Jangchok for the Dead (Burning Away Afflications, prayers for the dead)
- Lama Chopa and Dharmapalas (Dharma protectors)
- Arya Tara & Jangchok for the Living and so forth.
Click the Texts for Sunday Practicenbelow to view or download all the texts you will need.
To submit names for the Jangchok for the Living or the Dead, please email your list of names to: dedications@garchen.net
- Please group your names by Living or Dead, clearly stated.
- Names are listed by commas or semicolons if needed, for example: Jane Smith, Julio Lopez, Pham Duc Lam… it helps us tremendously if you list your dedication names similarly.
- You are welcome to submit names in your native language character or type.
- Dates, locations, relationship are not included in the list
Thank you so much. May all beings benefit, and be relieved of suffering and its causes!
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Join us online
To participate via livestream,
CLICK HERE
All Texts for Sunday Practice
Each Sunday we will use the texts in the following order:
- Yellow Prayer Book – opening prayers
- White Tara Sadhana with inserts OR Lama Chöpa
- Weekly Additional Practice –
here we will practice one of the texts marked with an * - Summoning Good Fortune
- Blue Prayer Book – dedication prayer
- Yellow Prayer Book – long life prayers
Yellow Prayer Book:
View
Download
White Tara Sadhana:
View
Download
Praise of the 21 Taras
View
Download
Benefits of Praises to 21 Taras
View
Download
* Dharma Protectors (Dharmapalas):
View
* Lama Chopa – Chinese
View
Download
*Serkhangma Prayer
View
Download
* Burning Away Afflictions (Jangchok for the Living and/or the Dead):
View
Download
Dzambala – Summoning Good Fortune
(page 63 of this text):
View
Download

VAJRAKILAYA
Teachings and Drupcho
Recording with
His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche
Drupon Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche
Lama Thubten Nyima
Garchen Institute Lamas
Recorded November 13 -17, 2021
OPEN FOR ONGOING REGISTRATION
Throughout time and space, Buddhas annd Bodhisattvas have been called to initiate the hearts and minds of their students. Come great ones and with your vajra thunderbolt of wisdom and your hinderance demolishing phurba to once and for all dispel the samsaric seeds of unknowing. Lord of Death, with your spear and trident pierce the veil of ignorance to free us from the path of karmic repetition.
Wrathful Vajrakilaya is the yidam deity who embodies the enlightened activity of all the Buddhas. Vajrakilaya is a wrathful manifestation of Vajrasattva, the Buddha of Purification. This practice focuses on removing intense inner and outer obstacles to peace, happiness, and enlightenment within oneself, the environment and the world at large.
The samaya (sacred promise to your teacher) for taking this empowerment is to never to lose your love for others and ideally do a daily practice of Vajrakilaya or at mininmum recite the Vajrakilaya mantra daily.
This is a wonderful opportunity to practice in this amazingly powerful mandala, for the benefit of all beings.
ATTENDANCE
This online retreat was recorded and is available on an ongoing basis. Click here for required registration.
Vajrakilaya empowerment and practice sessions on YouTube, mantra recordings, and texts are available only to those who have registered for the retreat. Video links will be emailed to you for full access.


Manjushri YAMANTAKA
Online Empowerment and Retreat in our YouTube Library
H.E. Garchen Rinpoche
and Garchen Institute Lamas
* It is possible to receive this empowerment and do this practice after our 2023 online Yamantaka Drupcho in February. We encourage you to participate live at that time. Signup will be posted in the coming weeks. Click here for more info.