MEDICINE BUDDHA & NAGARJUNA RETREAT

WITH GESHE MICHAEL ROACH October 11-20, 2024

translated by google, please forgive any error made

Diamond Mountain Retreat Center and Asian Classics Institute present

MEDICINE BUDDHA & NAGARJUNA RETREAT

 Online and In-Person @ Diamond Mountain
October 11-20, 2024

The special sauce that makes Medicine Buddha prayers and mantras work is emptiness! We will fire up our understanding of this important Buddhist idea with our ongoing study of Nagarjuna’s Wisdom, possibly the most important text ever written on emptiness.

Even if you’ve been to other Medicine Buddha retreats, there are many new things to learn at this year’s event. There will be new teachings and special classes with certified ACI teachers and guests. Medicine Buddha is beloved among Buddhists everywhere, because he helps us bring healing to a troubled world, torn by strife and war, reeling from natural disasters and too much hate. This year we will focus on ways to bring both peace and healing to our world, much needed these days. We will plant the seeds for a better future, as well as one with more and more engaged people who have a bodhisattva’s way of life.

We will continue our study of the King of the Lords of Wishing Jewels: A Practice of Presenting Offerings to the Medicine Buddha, by Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, known as the Great Fifth.

The retreat will feature classes with Geshe Michael, special ceremonies such as an empowerment, an Offering to the Teachers, a serene Butter Lamp Ceremony, and a Fire Offering to plant seeds for peace. There will be live meditations and yoga. Additionally, we will have three days of silent retreat built into the program for personal practice and integration of these great ideas. Silence is incredibly rare in our modern times and giving yourself the gift of retreat can set you up to plant some incredibly powerful seeds and actualize your current seeds for fast ripening.

If you’re joining us at Diamond Mountain, we will be providing you with all the guidance and support you need for these three days, including creating protection boundaries and offering cakes. The power of doing retreat together with 120 other people in our secluded retreat valley in Arizona cannot compare to any other experience in the world. 

 

What choices do you have for participating?

and suggestions for beginners

REGISTRATION FEES & ACCOMMODATION CATEGORIES (ONSITE)

Retreat Registration fees for Main Retreat, Oct 11-20, 2024
include housing (including linen and towels), 3 meals/day, access to the recordings and materials of the lapis lazuli online package

Private Cottage

  • *** SOLD OUT *** PREMIUM Cottage: USD 2,221
  • *** SOLD OUT *** DELUXE Cottage: USD 2,072
  • *** SOLD OUT *** MODEST Cottage: USD 1,825

Private Cottages accommodate 1 guest. Kitchen and bathroom facilities are not shared with anyone else. If you want to sleep with your spouse/friend in a queen bed, please add “additional person in queen bed during registration.

Private Room

  • *** SOLD OUT *** PREMIUM Private Room: USD 1,825
  • *** SOLD OUT *** DELUXE Private Room: USD: 1,540

Private Rooms accommodate 1 guest. Kitchen and bathroom facilities are shared with your housemate(s). If you want to sleep with your spouse/friend in a queen bed, please add “additional person in queen bed during registration.

Other

  • Shared Room: USD 1,324
    (Accommodate 3-4 guest and have Twin or Twin XL beds, kitchen and bathroom facilities are shared with your housemate(s))
  • Camping: USD 899
    (we can provide tents, and sleeping bags)
  • Commuter Ticker USD 899
    (you get a hotel nearby and come for the teachings and meals to Diamond Mountain) – Hotel NOT included.
    We recommend Willcox which is a 45-minute drive away, or Safford which is about a 60-minute drive.
  • Additional Person in Queen Bed: USD 1,009
  • DAY PASS: USD 99
    (stop by for a day of teachings, including meals, does NOT include housing)

 

Apply here if you need support for attending the retreat. Or join our “ARE YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW FOR RETREAT?” program to plant the seeds for joining.

COTTAGE INFORMATION

Most of our eco-friendly houses retreat include 12-volt solar electricity, composting toilets and passive solar design which allows them to naturally stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Please check out our houses here.

NEED HELP PREPARING FOR YOUR RETREAT AT DIAMOND MOUNTAIN?

Here are a few helpful links to prepare:  come prepared, what does off-grid mean,  directions

SAMPLE DAILY SCHEDULE
  • 5:15 am: shuttle to temple and grab a cup of coffee or tea
  • 5:45am – 6:15 am: guided meditation in temple
  • 6:30am – 9:30am Classes with Geshe Michael Roach in the temple
  • 9:30am: Breakfast
  • 10:45 – 11:45: Symposium classes with ACI Senior teachers
  • 12am: Yoga
  • 1pm Lunch and take-out Dinner
  • 2pm: Shuttle to cottage
  • Practice in your cottage (recommended schedule will be provided), hike, sleep, … 🙂
EMPOWERMENT? WHY DO I NEED ONE?

Also, you will need a Medicine Buddha empowerment to fully participate in the retreat. Not to worry!

We will be holding an empowerment during the first full day of the event, in person and streamed online. (If you received an empowerment in a previous Medicine Buddha retreat, there is no need to take it again, although you are welcome to if you wish. It’s a wonderful way to recommit to your purpose and practice with everyone present.)

Why do you need empowerment to attend the retreat?

The Medicine Buddha practice is divided into two parts. There is one part which we call the open practice. Everybody can study and use this beautiful practice in daily life. And then there is a secret part which you can only study if you receive a blessing or empowerment from the lama. So we will start our Medicine Buddha retreat with two ceremonies. The first one instills in us the motivation that we are not only striving for our own goals, but we are developing the wish in our hearts to help everybody. And the second is a blessing—or empowerment—that permits you to study the secret texts of Medicine Buddha. They are very deep, and you need the empowerment to study them. Just as a solid understanding of emptiness makes your Medicine Buddha mantras actually work, receiving the empowerment will make your Medicine Buddha practice much more powerful.

CANCELLATION POLICY

Registration fees are refundable:

  • 50% refundable up to 3 months  (before July 15, 2022)
  • 25% refundable from 3 months – 1 month (between July 15, 2022 and September 15, 2022)
  • 0% for the last month (after September 15, 2022)

You are welcome to request an exception to this policy.

DIAMOND MOUNTAIN RULEBOOK

We would like you to know the rules, the Do’s & Don’ts. Please let us know if you have any questions, we are happy to answer, and if there are any concerns from your side – maybe we find a solution! Let’s talk.

QUESTIONS?

If you still have questions about the retreat or your registration please let us know by clicking here

Terms and Conditions