28.12.25-01.01.26 Amitabha Retreat with Sur Offering for the Deceased
Course Schedule:
Begins: Sunday, December 28th, at 7 PM (dinner starts at 5:30 PM)
Ends: Thursday, January 1st, after lunch
Course Fee:
200 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
For bank transfers please state name of participant and course number (12.01)
Amitabha Buddha is the meditation deity associated with the divine realm of Sukhavati (tib: Dewachen). He is called “Buddha of Limitless Light”, because his activity permeates all clouded states of our being and clears away all suffering.
By doing Amithaba practice – reciting mantras, prayers and practising the sadhana – we can support those who have departed this life on their further path, clear away states of suffering in ourselves and others, and help to create an auspicious compassionate foundation for the coming year. Those of us who have lost someone dear can dedicate the positive merit of the retreat to them, as well as to all other sentient beings.
If you would like to have deceased persons or animals be included in the prayers and the practice, you can send us the names to include in our list.
13-18.02.26 Great Mahakala Puja and Losar Festivities
Course Instructor:
Lama Kunga Dorje
Course schedule:
Begins: Friday, 13th February at 4:30 PM
Ends: Wednesday, 18th February after lunch
Course fee:
250 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
For bank transfers please state name of participant and course number (02.01)
Losar is the Tibetan New Year, a time of auspicious beginnings. Traditionally this holiday is preceded by Mahakala puja. Through the purifying and pacifying powers of the chief Dharma Protector of the Kagyu order, we clear away the negativities of the past year and pray for good luck and the removal of any obstacles in the new.
Mahakala is the wrathful form of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion; he provides support for the auspicious development of dharma activities, dharma centers and dharma practitioners everywhere. A short version of the Mahakala puja is one of the daily practices in the Halscheid Retreat Center.
The long Mahakala practice phase starts on Friday Feb 13th at 4.30 pm and ends on Feb 16th with the burning of the tuntor and a traditional oracle soup in the evening.
We begin celebrating Losar on Feb 17th at 10 AM with a fire offering puja for the happiness and peace of all sentient beings in the world. We close the evening with a meditation on Avalokiteshvara.
We finish the festivities on Sunday Feb 18th with butter tea and saffron rice and then a delicious Losar lunch, enjoying each other’s smiles and best wishes for a happy and joyous new year.
27.02.-01.03.26 Milarepa Guruyoga
Course Instructor:
Lama Kunga Dorje
Course schedule:
Starts: Friday February 27th at 7 PM (dinner at 5:30 PM)
Ends: Sunday March 1st after lunch
Course fee:
180 Euro [includes all meals and accommodation]
For bank transfers please state name of participant and course number (02.02)
Guru Yoga is one of the most profound and transformative devotional practices in Vajrayana Buddhism. This centuries-old practice not only develops and increases devotion to our guru, but also literally ‘mixes’ our mind with that of the enlightened mind of our teacher.
The renowned Tibetan yogi and poet Jetsun Milarepa provides us with an example of the extraordinary power of the stream of blessings caused by the devotion to the guru. In his youth Milarepa committed murderous evil deeds and practiced black magic before undergoing deep remorse and a desire for repentance. His subsequent lifelong devotion to his teacher Marpa helped give him the strength and ability to achieve enlightenment in one lifetime.
Milarepa is not only an extraordinary example of discipline in the practice of meditation, but his profound and poetic teachings demonstrate the unshakable link between the power of devotion in the student and the grace of compassion in the teacher. This link is made manifest in the practice of Guru Yoga.
19-22.03.26 Nyung Ne Retreat
Course Instructor:
Lama Kunga Dorje
Course schedule:
Begins: Thursday, March 19th at 7 PM (dinner at 5:30 PM)
Ends: Sunday, March 22nd after lunch
Mahayana vows will be given on Friday morning, 7 AM. Therefore, participants have to arrive on Thursday evening in order to attend the retreat.
Course fee:
210 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
For bank transfers please state name of participant and course number (03.01)
The Nyung-Ne practice is a fasting ritual with great purification potential, which is widely practiced in Tibetan Buddhism, also amongst lay practitioners.
This practice of the 1000-armed Avalokitesvara was introduced by Gelongma Palmo. She was born around the 10th century as a princess in an Indian empire located in today’s Kashmir region. Instead of living a life in luxury she decided to become ordained during early adulthood. She studied dharma sincerely and deeply, and therefore her teacher soon appointed her as abbot of a monastic community.
Not long after this, she developed leprosy, which worsened more and more. She lost her fingers and her feet, so she could not hide her condition any longer and was forced to leave her monastic community. Despite of her misfortune, she did not loose her faith in dharma. She was deeply motivated to achieve bodhicitta, and soon she had a vision of the 1000-armed Avalokiteshvara. For many years she performed his practice, which involved fasting and keeping silence, and finally she was cured of her leprosy.
02-06.04.26 Easter Retreat Konchog Chidu – Guru Rinpoche Practice
Course Instructor:
Lama Kunga Dorje
Course schedule:
Starts: Thursday April 2nd at 7 PM (dinner at 5:30 PM)
Ends: Monday April 6th after lunch
Course fee:
250 Euro [includes all meals and accommodation]
For bank transfers please state name of participant and course number (04.01)
The Guru Rinpoche Practice „Konchog Chidu“ („The Essence of the Three Jewels„), is a Terma text (treasure text) discovered by the great Terton (treasure finder) Rigdzin Jatson Nyingpo. It has extraordinary power to remove any kind of hindrance.
The special blessing of this sadhana is described in the „Prayer which Radiates the Light of Blessing„, a prayer of devotion to Guru Rinpoche:
„… However – in this degenerate time (these teachings) are a jewel that is poised on the head of a poisonous snake. If I, in these unclear and dark times, make a heartfelt promise with strong longing that stirs the depths of the vajra samaya of the deities of the Three Jewels and the Three Roots, then the extraordinary power of the Lamas – the Holders of the Three Kinds of Transmission, the Yidams and the multitude of the Dakinis, and the ocean of Dharma protectors, as well as through the power of the unchangeable, the truth, the nature and independence of phenomena – will allow the richness of the essential teachings to shine brightly, as the sun and moon bring light into the darkness, and bring to an end the darkening of unjustified attacks. May their victory secure this tradition of deep truth!
The excellent tradition, transmitted by Orgyen Rinpoche and the wisdom holders, has power over the three worlds and subdues the three kinds of existence. It is universally victorious and transgresses all appearances of phenomena. May it spread everywhere!“
30.04.-03.05.26 White Tara – Long Life Practice
Course Instructor:
Lama Kunga
Course schedule:
Begins: Thursday, April 30th, at 7 PM (dinner starts 5:30 PM)
Ends: Sunday, May 3rd, after lunch
Course fee:
210 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
For bank transfers please state name of participant and course number (04.02)
White Tara, (Skrt. Cintachakra “Wish-fulfilling Wheel”) is the female Bodhisattva Tara who embodies long life, healing and serenity. With her seven wisdom eyes in head, hands and feet, she sees the suffering of beings in all realms of existence and the three times, and like a loving mother comes to the aid of all who need and call to her. As a focus for tantric deity yoga, the practice of Tara can be traced back to Yeshe Tsogyal and Padmasambhava, and to this day is widespread in all Dharma schools in Tibet. Many of the great masters of Vajrayana Buddhism have chosen her as their personal yidam, including the present Dalai Lama.
13-17.05.26 Amitabha Retreat with Bardo Puja
Course Instructors:
Lama Kunga
Course Schedule:
Begins: Wednesday, May 13th, at 7 PM (dinner starts at 5:30 PM)
Ends: Sunday, May 17th, after lunch
Course Fee:
250 euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
For bank transfers please state name of participant and course number (05.01)
Amitabha Buddha is the meditation deity associated with the divine realm of Sukhavati (tib: Dewachen). He is called “Buddha of Limitless Light”, because his activity permeates all clouded states of our being and clears away all suffering.
By doing Amithaba practice – reciting mantras, prayers and practising the sadhana – we can support those who have departed this life on their further path, clear away states of suffering in ourselves and others, and help to create an auspicious compassionate foundation for the coming year. Those of us who have lost someone dear can dedicate the positive merit of the retreat to them, as well as to all other sentient beings.
If you would like to have deceased persons or animals be included in the prayers and the practice, you can send us the names to include in our list.
03-07.06.26 Ngondro – Preliminary Practices
Course Instructor:
Lama Kunga Dorje
Course schedule:
Begins: Wednesday, June 3d at 7 PM (dinner starts 5:30 PM)
Ends: Sunday, June 7th after lunch
Course fee:
250 Euros [includes all meals and accommodation]
For bank transfers please state name of participant and course number (06.01)
Ngondro is a series of practices for deep purification of the practitioner in preparation for the general Vajrayāna practice, for Mahamudra and for Dzogchen practices. It entails the „Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind“ as common preliminaries, followed by the uncommon preliminaries with going for refuge, prostrations and developing bodhicitta, the Vajrasattva hundred-syllable mantra, mandala offering and guruyoga. Through this practice, karmic hindrances of body, speech and mind stemming from negative deeds are purified that would otherwise block the path to enlightenment.