CONDITIONS FOR ATTENDING THE RETREAT

1. To do this retreat, it is necessary to be a Buddhist, i.e., one must have taken formal refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
2. It is essential to have attended a complete lamrim meditation course, such as the one-month November course at Kopan Monastery, or have completed the full Discovering Buddhism Course as offered by FPMT.
3. Although not obligatory, it would be good to have received a Vajrasattva initiation (also known as a jenang in Tibetan or subsequent permission in English). At Kopan, this initiation is currently given by the abbot of Kopan Monastery at the end of every one-month November course, and in the past it was conferred by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
4. You must commit yourself to stay for the entire three-month retreat, irrespective of whether you have a commitment or not to complete 100,000 Vajrasattva mantras or a three-month Vajrasattva retreat.
   You must commit yourself to abide by the retreat discipline as set out by the retreat leader. This retreat is not a holiday! It is hard and intensive mental and emotional work, and you need a firm motivation for doing the retreat and a strong determination that will enable you to cope with the difficulties that will inevitably arise.
5. If you have a personal Dharma teacher, it would be good to ask him/her whether he/she thinks that you have sufficient background in the Dharma and are psychologically strong enough to do the retreat at this time.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is not possible to do this retreat at Kopan if you have a history of mental problems. This is because, due to the nature of the retreat, there is a real risk that your mental problems will worsen, and Kopan does not have trained personnel who could provide you with appropriate support.

RETREAT PLACE AND ROOMS

The retreat takes place in the Vajrasattva Gompa, a spacious room on the floor below the Chenrezig Gompa. It is equipped with a beautiful altar containing statues of Vajrasattva and the Seven Medicine Buddhas along with photos of our principal lamas. Large and small cushions are provided but if you have your own personal ones, and will be more comfortable with them, please bring them along. Yoga mats are available for prostrations.

You will be allocated rooms in a location reserved for Vajrasattva retreaters, possibly in the same building as the Chenrezig Gompa.

RETREAT STRUCTURE

Retreat Leader
A retreat leader will guide the four daily sessions for the first ten days of the retreat. Thereafter, the retreaters take turns leading the sessions, while the retreat leader remains available to answer questions, to help with any difficulties that may arise, and to provide personal support. The retreat leader will also guide additional practices such as bimonthly Vajrasattva Tsog Offering and occasional and concluding Dorje Khadro fire pujas.

Schedule
The retreat will start on the afternoon of January 8, 2026. Prior to that, there will be three days of preparation with ample time to do personal shopping in town.

During the retreat, there will be four sessions of Vajrasattva meditation and recitation a day. For the first ten days of the retreat, the four sessions will each be 90 minutes long. For the rest of the retreat, each session will last for two hours. The first session usually starts at 5:30 AM and the last session usually ends about 8:00 PM. There will be a group meeting with the retreat leader once a week throughout the first and third months of the retreat where you can get your questions answered and get help to resolve any problems that may arise during the retreat.

The Eight Mahayana Precepts will be taken throughout the retreat. This involves abiding in eight precepts with a bodhicitta motivation to support your purification practice. Please note that one of these precepts involves refraining from eating after noon. Please check with the retreat leader if you think this will be a problem for you (e.g., due to a medical condition).

For more information on the benefits of the Eight Mahayana Precepts, please read The Unmistaken Method by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, published by Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive (LYWA) and available on lamayeshe.com.

KEEPING SILENCE

For the entire 1st and 3rd months, participants are asked to keep silence from the end of the last session of the day until the beginning of lunch the next day. Communication is restricted to other members of the retreat, the retreat leaders, and the Kopan office staff. Participants keep strict silence for the whole of the second month of the retreat, refraining even from talking to each other. To support the practice of keeping silence, you must leave your mobile phone with reception from the first day of the retreat until the last.

EXPECT INITIAL DIFFICULTIES WHEN DOING THE RETREAT

It would be very helpful to familiarize yourself with the long hundred-syllable Vajrasattva mantra prior to the retreat. Doing so will make it possible to easily and quickly recite the mantra right from the very beginning of the retreat. This is highly recommended because it is the experience of most people that during the first weeks, the mantra count seems very slow, and it is difficult to imagine that one can complete the required number of mantras in the time allotted.

However, even without previous familiarization with the mantra, as the retreat progresses your mantra recitation will become quicker. In fact, it is rather unusual for someone to not be able to complete 100,000 mantras in the three months. So please be prepared to not accomplish a lot of mantras in the first weeks of retreat, and do not become concerned or anxious about this. Lama Zopa Rinpoche often stressed that the other parts of the session—the motivation, the visualizations, and the accompanying prayers—are just as important and should not be forgotten in the rush to finish the mantras.

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE DOING A GROUP RETREAT

We ask people doing this retreat to remember that you have chosen to participate in a group retreat. It is expected that there will be some inevitable personality clashes when living and practicing so closely with others. A big part of this retreat is learning to be relaxed and to give yourself and others the space and support to do the practice at a comfortable level for each person. There are many advantages to doing this retreat as a group, including the support received through sharing the experience with others.

The retreat leader is available during the retreat if you need to discuss anything. There are usually other monks, nuns, and older students available to talk to and to ask for advice. Although much of the retreat will be in silence, it does not mean you cannot seek out a qualified person to speak to if you need.

RECOMMENDED READING LIST

It is a good idea to read at least some of the books on the recommended reading list before coming to the Vajrasattva retreat, so you have a better idea of what to expect, and particularly more awareness of why it’s so beneficial to do this retreat and how to get the most benefit from it.

Particularly, before coming to the retreat we recommend reading Becoming Vajrasattva: The Tantric Path of Purification by Lama Yeshe. While several copies will be available to retreaters, having your own copy of the book during the retreat is highly recommended. In addition, the book Teachings during Vajrasattva Retreat by Lama Zopa Rinpoche provides much essential advice for getting the most out of a Vajrasattva retreat.

The books on the following reading list are all available in the Kopan library. Kopan has a very extensive library, but you may also want to bring a few books with you on topics such as lamrim or thought transformation (lojong).

Retreaters will be provided with the Vajrasattva practice book, a photo of Vajrasattva, and a prayer book with all the prayers needed during the retreat.

Recommended Books:

• Lama Thubten Yeshe, Becoming Vajrasattva: The Tantric Path of Purification, Wisdom Publications
• Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Teachings during Vajrasattva Retreat, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive (available as a free pdf from lamayeshe.org)
• Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, The Door to Satisfaction, Wisdom Publications
• Lama Thubten Yeshe & Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Wisdom Energy, Wisdom Publications
• Lama Thubten Yeshe, Introduction to Tantra, Wisdom Publications
• Lama Tsongkhapa, Preparing for Tantra, Classics of Middle Asia
• Pabongka Rinpoche, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, Wisdom Publications

RETREAT DISCIPLINE

• Retreaters must attend all sessions of the retreat unless sick. The retreat leader must be informed if you are unable to attend.
• Come to all sessions on time.
• Be kind and sensitive in your behavior toward fellow retreaters.
• Do not do practices other than the Vajrasattva practice during session times.
• It is not permitted to go down to Boudha or Kathmandu during the retreat (please settle all travel arrangements, calls, etc. before the retreat begins), except in real emergencies.
• Couples wishing to do this retreat are encouraged to remain as separate from each other as possible. Retreat is an individual process, and only by distancing oneself from one’s partner can the maximum benefit be gained.
• To help the retreat be a deeper experience with as few distractions as possible, we ask retreaters not to receive or send letters or emails during the retreat. If you know it is absolutely necessary to receive mail, please ask the person sending it to mark it as “Urgent,” and we can make sure you receive it. Otherwise, letters will be kept until the end of the retreat.
• No singing or playing music.
• Please be very aware of how you dress – this is a monastic environment, and wearing tight clothes, shorts (also men), revealing T-shirts, etc., is not appropriate.
• No sunbathing or otherwise exposing one’s body.
• Keep silence around rooms.
• If a person’s behavior becomes disturbing to the group, the management has the right to ask them to leave.

WHAT TO BRING

• You will need a matching set of vajra (in Tibetan, a dorje) and bell for the retreat. (These can be bought in Boudha at a very reasonable cost)