Special
Courses for All
VERY SPECIAL EVENT!
Kadampa Retreat with Lama Zopa Rinpoche
December 2008 / January 2009 (awaiting confirmation)
Pre-registration is required once retreat is confirmed! 
A Buddhist Master who embodies the qualities of compassion and wisdom to which Buddhists aspire, Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the Spiritual Director of the FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition), a network of 150+ meditation centers and social service projects in more than 30 countries. Rinpoche is the reincarnation of the yogi Kunsang Yeshe (the Lawudo Lama) and devotes his life to teaching to his thousands of students around the world. It is a great privilege and honour to receive Rinpoche’s teachings at Root Institute this year.
This retreat will include teachings and meditations from the Kadampa Masters and an optional initiation of the Buddha of Compassion Chenrezig. The Kadampa Masters (of the 10th – 12th century) were famous for their teachings on lojong (mind training or thought transformation) as well as their simplicity and very down-to-earth, direct approach to the teachings. Believing that everything the Buddha taught can be put into practice in our daily lives, they especially teach us how to strengthen our courageous mind of bodhicitta (altruism) and destroy our selfishness. Lama Zopa Rinpoche is truly a living example of a modern day Kadampa Master.
Pre-requisites
- To attend the retreat there are NO pre-requisites except commitment to attend all sessions of the daily schedule.
- We have requested Rinpoche to give a Lama Tsong Khapa initiation. If this eventuates, there will be some pre-requisites and practice commitments for students who wish to attend. These will be explained further during the Kadampa Retreat.
- Students new to Buddhism are strongly encouraged to attend a 10-day Introduction to Buddhism course in order to be best prepared for the Kadmapa retreat. Root Institute will offer such a course 13-22 December.
Registration and Accommodation
Pre-registration is required! When retreat dates have been confirmed on this website , please complete the on-line registration form. No deposit is required.
The Retreat can be attended residentially or non-residentially. ALL students (residential and non-residential) are expected to attend all sessions of the daily schedule and must check-in at Root Institute no later than 3pm on the first day .
Please be aware that we will note the room preference you list on your registration form but unfortunately we can not confirm specific room bookings until you arrive at Root Institute. Single and double rooms are already fully booked. Most retreaters will be accommodated in dormitories (most of which contain only three beds).
Previous (2007) Kadampa Retreat Schedule Example (very subject to change!)
Please note: all students are expected to attend the full retreat programme
| 23rd December | |
| 8.30 – 11.30am & 1.30 – 3.30pm | Check-in at Root Institute |
| 4 - 5pm | Orientation to Root Institute |
| 5.30pm | dinner |
| 7 - 9pm | Teaching and meditation with Retreat Leader Ven. Thubten Dondrub |
| 24 - 29 December | |
| 6.30 - 7.30am | Meditation (for newer students) |
| OR 5 - 7.30am | Eight Mahayana Precepts (optional) & Combined Jorcho and Lama Chopa practice (for the more experienced students) |
| 7.30am | breakfast |
| 9 - 11am | Teaching and meditation with Ven. Thubten Dondrub |
| 12pm | lunch |
| 2 - 3.30pm | Teaching and meditation with Ven. Thubten Dondrub |
| 3.30pm | tea break |
| 4 - 5pm | Discussion group (or personal time at the Mahabodhi Stupa using Rinpoche’s meditation instructions) |
| 5.30pm | dinner |
| 7pm (or 8pm) - ? | Teachings with Lama Zopa Rinpoche (including Initiation last 2 days). Please be aware that Rinpoche often teaches late into the night. |
About Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, the Spiritual Director of Root Institute and the FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition), is the reincarnation of the yogi Kunsang Yeshe, the Lawudo Lama.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche was born in 1946 in Thami, not far from the cave Lawudo, in the Mount Everest region of Nepal, where his predecessor meditated for the last twenty years of his life. Rinpoche left Thami when he was 4 years old to become a monk and pursue traditional Buddhist education in Tibet. In 1959, Rinpoche escaped from Tibet and continued his studies in Sera Jhe monastery in Buxa Duar, in the north of India, where he met Lama Thubten Yeshe.
Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche's contact with Westerners began in 1965 in Darjeeling when they met Princess Zina Rachevsky from Russia. She became the Lamas’ first Western student. In 1969 they founded the Nepal Mahayana Gompa Center at Kopan, above Boudhnath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal—a traditional Buddhist monastery for Tibetan and Nepali monks. At the persistent request of Zina Rachevsky the Lamas started to also teach courses on Buddhism for Westerns at Kopan.
After their courses at Kopan, many of these Western students established centres in their home countries in order to continue their study of Buddhism. By 1976, twelve centers had started and the growing worldwide organization was named by Lama Yeshe 'the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition' (FPMT). The FPMT is an organization devoted to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Currently there are more than 140 FPMT centers and social service projects in more than 30 countries worldwide. Rinpoche spends his time traveling to and teaching at these various centres to his thousands of students around the world.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is a Buddhist Master who embodies the qualities of compassion and wisdom that Buddhists aspire to actualize. It is a great privilege and honour to receive his teaching at Root Institute this year.
For more information about Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the FPMT, please visit www.fpmt.org
About Retreat Leader Ven. Thubten Dondrub
Ven. Thubten Dondrub, from Australia, has been a Buddhist monk and teacher for 30 years. Regarded as one of the best Dharma teachers in the West today, Ven. Dondrub has taught in more than a dozen countries around the world, including five of the famous one-month Kopan November Courses, and is well-loved for his sincerity, humility, wise compassion and strong emphasis on using the Buddha’s teachings in one’s daily life to truly change one’s mind.
