Solitary Retreats

In December 2010, after finishing our Protector Chapel, The Buddha Master transmitted to me a special dharma that must be practiced there with other Dharmas while on retreat. Only those who have this Dharma are even allowed to enter the chapel. I believe that this Dharma can be used by anyone on retreat. However, it was only recently as I pondered what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and with the Holy Vajrasana Temple that I was able to see what I needed to do with this Dharma. Very few people have been able to practice in the Chapel. However, some who did had some extraordinary experiences.

I have felt the need to strengthen my own practice and help others find a way to create more intense types of practice and was delighted to hear H.E. Denman Tsemang urge us to do so at the Holy Birthday Celebration in Glendale earlier this summer. What he was telling us to do, sounded very much like what I was wanting to do at the Holy Vajrasana Temple. First I needed to do a longer retreat myself. I found a couple of students who were willing to help and do the retreat with me for the first week of August. I was still not sure how we would share the cooking and care of the temple while we did this when suddenly someone appeared who also wanted to be able to do longer retreat and was willing to stay at the temple and help us and to hopefully be able to do such a retreat herself in the future.

Since the Protector Chapel is a non-insulated canvas yurt with a quite large skylight, it is not suitable for habitation during much of the year, except for very early in the morning during our triple digit summer heat and mid-day after a warming sun in the winter. We can have no power, heat or artificial light in the Chapel–the Dharma Protectors do not allow it, but those who have practiced there have seen lights. Our other structure suitable for a solitary retreat is another small chalet-like cabin that does have power and can be used for longer periods. I have removed the bunk beds from one of the dorm rooms in the temple creating a third space also suitable for such retreats. I plan on selling the trailer and replacing it with another single occupancy cabin and am considering offering glamping style bell tents for even more such spaces, should their be a demand.

At present I have two goals: to offer an opportunity to take a solitary retreat in complete silence with no phones or internet connection for at least seven days and to teach those who come to do these retreats the method of doing such a retreat at home as taught me by our Buddha Master, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. My third goal is to do this myself. The Buddha Master has said on several occasions that it cannot really be called a retreat if it is for less than seven days. It takes that long to achieve the full benefits, but one day a month or whatever can certainly help you intensify your practice and with a plan and a program, many of you could negotiate such a time and place in your busy lives. I know that there are many students who have been confused about how to set up their practice–what to keep and what to eliminate. I believe the Retreat Dharma given me by the Buddha Master can help. Those of you who have done this yourselves could still benefit by having a place where you can cut off all outside diversions and focus just on your practice for a few days. I will be providing more detail on how this might work and would appreciate hearing what might interest you and how we can use the Holy Vajrasana Temple as a true retreat and place to intensify holy practice. As our dear friend Gesang told us, we must continue our cultivation as there is no time for delay.

Originally posted July 19, 2023. CLICK for article on Xiuxing Practice Program and the Solitary Retreat.