This is a Free, Pay It Forward Retreat!

There are no fees for this retreat. 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

“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

If you feel drawn to Tibetan Buddhism, but haven’t yet managed to take the plunge and explore what it’s all about, or if you have attended a few teachings and are eager to learn more about the Buddhist path to enlightenment, this could well be the ideal course for you!

Comprising a combination of daily teaching and meditation sessions, as well as group discussions and opportunities for Q and A with a highly experienced course leader, this retreat is based on the time-honored “Stages of the Path to Enlightenment” (Lamrim) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. As the name suggests, the “Stages of the Path to Enlightenment” offers a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to the Tibetan Buddhist teachings on the journey to full awakening. It is a synthesis of all the main topics addressed in the Buddhist Sutras (canonical scriptures).

This class will also teach you the fundamentals of Buddhist meditation, and give you the tools you need to begin or to further develop a daily meditation practice. Throughout the week, you will learn about the theory and practice of meditation, and will also be led in guided meditations using proven techniques of concentration, visualization, 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
• Developing Loving-Kindness and Compassion
• The Mind, Emotions, and Karma
• Death, and Rebirth
• Impermanence
• The Awakening Mind (bodhicitta)
• The Wisdom of Emptiness – The Nature of Reality
• Concentration and Analytical Meditation

We are thrilled to announce that Don Handrick will be returning to Vajrapani Institute this March to lead our Kopan West Retreat! Don is a respected touring teacher for the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and his years of dedicated dharma practice shine through in his approachable and grounded teaching style.

In 2015, Don received a high honor when Lama Zopa Rinpoche selected him to lead the renowned November Course—a one-month meditation and teaching retreat at Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. We are deeply fortunate to welcome him to Vajrapani for this transformative experience.

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 many 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

March 1st

Course Schedule

• Day 1 – Check-in, welcome talks, course introduction
• Day 2 to 5 – Meditations, teachings, and discussion 
• Day 6 and 7 – Dedicated guided meditation days in full silence
• Day 8 – Check-out day, including final talks, and teacher offerings

Silence

Partial Silence – 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

How Does a “Pay it Forward” Retreat Work?

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 your 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 all the 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 who are not financially able to attend our regular-priced retreats.

The true cost of an 8-day retreat in the dorms is $972.  A donation of the true cost of the retreat would be incredibly appreciated if you are fortunate enough to be in a financial position to do so.  The normal retreat fees cover accommodation, 3 meals a day, and facility costs such as upkeep of the land and operating expenses. Retreat fees cover about 40% of our costs while 60% is covered through donations. All donations are non-refundable.

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

If you are interested in serving as Course Liaison for this retreat, please apply here. 

About Vajrapani Institute

Vajrapani Institute for Wisdom Culture was one of the first Tibetan Buddhist Retreat Centers in America.  Vajrapani aims to provide a friendly and peaceful 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.