This is a Free, Pay It Forward Retreat!

There are no fees for this retreat. That’s right. No fees. The retreat is donation-based and offered freely to anyone who participates. It’s an experiment we started at 2012’s Kopan West – Lam Rim retreat in the spirit of making the Dharma (Buddha’s teachings) freely available to all. Your retreat is paid for by the generosity of previous Kopan West students who donated or “Paid It Forward” to support others in having the same heart-opening experience they had. This course is modeled after the famous 10-day Intro to Buddhism course at Kopan Monastery in Nepal.

About this Retreat

All sentient beings want to be happy but what is happiness? We often confuse lasting happiness with temporary sense pleasures. If eating chocolate made us truly happy, then more chocolate would make us even happier, but instead, it makes us feel sick to our stomach. We are also confused about the nature of true happiness, thinking it can be found somewhere in the future: in the next relationship, on a trip we are taking, or when we finally have the house, the kids, and the dream job. We try to find joy in our phones, shopping, or watching TV, but those pleasures are also temporary, leaving us dissatisfied. 

“Happiness and suffering are dependent upon your mind, upon your interpretation. They do not come from outside, from others. All of your happiness and all of your suffering are created by you, by your own mind.” -Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Why is happiness so elusive and impermanent and how can we find a path to true, stable, and lasting happiness that does not depend on constantly changing outer conditions? 

Join us for this 9-day experiential and heart-opening retreat, which will give an overview of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy that will answer these fundamental questions, along with exploring the stages of the path to enlightenment (lamrim), and provide practical instruction to help you apply this ancient wisdom to increase happiness, peace, and compassion in your daily life.

This retreat includes teachings, practical exercises, discussion groups, and sessions using proven techniques of concentration, visualizations, and analytical meditation, to open our hearts. This famous course is known to be incredibly transformative and many past retreaters have been deeply moved by what they experienced at this course, all set on our peaceful land in a beautiful redwood forest. 

Retreat topics include:

• The Life of the Buddha
• The Four Noble Truths
• The Mind, Emotions, and Karma
• Love and Compassion
• The Wheel of Life
• Concentration and Analytical Meditation
• The Wisdom of Emptiness – The Nature of Reality

This November, we are delighted and honored that Geshe Thubten Sherab will be returning to Vajrapani Institute to lead this Kopan West Retreat. The title “Geshe” is an advanced monastic degree conferred after the successful completion of many years of extensive and rigorous study. But if you are reading this and feeling intimidated, please don’t worry! Geshe-la teaches in English and is known for his warmth, kindness, and humor while tailoring the teachings to meet student needs – no matter their background.

Who is it for?

Students of any experience level will have an amazing opportunity to learn and grow from this course. Newcomers to Buddhism will benefit from the concise overview of the entire Buddhist path and have ample opportunities to ask questions. More experienced students will find it a valuable way to deepen their understanding and practice, especially with such a prestigious teacher.

Registration Closes

November 17th

Course Schedule

• Day 1 – Check-in, welcome talks, course introduction
• Day 2 to 6 – Meditations, teachings, and discussion groups
• Day 7 and 8 – Dedicated guided meditation days in full silence
• Day 9 – Check out day including final talks, Q&A, teacher offerings, and a special community “Thanksgiving” lunch with the local and founding community – our yearly “Friendsgiving” tradition!

Silence

Mostly Silent – there will be specific times where strict silence is kept, and other times allocated to facilitate discussion and conversation for students to bond and learn together. Silence is a wonderful, and rare, opportunity to help move these new concepts from head to heart. 

Suggested reading

• Becoming Enlightened, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Simon & Schuster Publications)
• Wisdom Energy, by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche (Wisdom Publications)

Is there a deposit?

A $200 deposit is required to reserve a space for all accommodation options. There are no refunds for cancellations. If you attend the full retreat and would like the deposit refunded, you can visit the office on the last checkout day, making the retreat free for attendance. You may also decide to donate your deposit amount and “pay it forward” towards the cost of another student’s retreat. The donation of your deposit, along with donations made during registration or at the end of the retreat, is how the Kopan West Pay-It-Forward from previous years has helped make this retreat possible for students like you. 

Additional Information

• Please plan on arriving between 3:00 and 5:00 PM on the first day of the retreat
• Please plan on departing at approximately 2:00 PM on the last day of the retreat
• You can see information about our accommodations in the registration process
• For more detailed information, please see our FAQ

About Vajrapani Institute

Vajrapani Institute for Wisdom Culture was the first Tibetan Buddhist Retreat Center in America.  Vajrapani aims to provide a friendly and conducive environment for people of all nationalities to learn, put into practice the teachings of the Buddha, and connect with other Dharma practitioners.  Located on 70 acres of secluded land within the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz mountains, Vajrapani Institute has been an immersive space for people of all backgrounds to find and deepen their spiritual practices, with the main goal of bridging the gap between the head and heart of the practice.

Teacher’s Fees

Traditionally, spiritual teachings are considered priceless; the remuneration of our teachers is not included in the fee information detailed on this page. Instead, we invite you to consider bringing a cash donation with you to express your gratitude for the teachings. 

The Buddha encouraged the practice of generosity as it develops non-attachment, loving-kindness, and compassion and deepens the awareness of our interconnectedness. Offering Dana to our teachers, a Pali word for “generosity,” is said to benefit both the giver and the receiver, helping the giver to practice generosity and the receiver to practice acceptance. Your offering of Dana can be whatever feels generous to you in your heart and your particular financial situation. If you can’t afford to give a cash offering as Dana, a thank you note is perfectly generous.

Participants will get a chance to present a cash offering to the teachers on the last day of the retreat and this is supplemented by a donation from Vajrapani Institute. Please note that we don’t offer a credit card option for Dana.