Dear All,

We are happy to inform you that the dates for the Sphere of Refined Gold retreat at Gomde Pyrenees are fixed (March 2nd—April 10th, 2018) and the retreat is now open for registration.  Under the guidance of Lama Tenzin Sangpo, we will focus on the practice of mingling the threefold sky from the Sphere of Refined Gold, which was taught most recently by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche at Gomde Pyrenees in July, 2017.  

Retreat Schedule (subject to change):

4am: wakeup practice
4:30-6am: individual meditation session
6:15am-7:15am group Vajrasattva and Sang puja
Breakfast
8:15-9:45am: individual meditation session
10:00-11am: time for other daily practice commitments
11:15-12pm: teaching session
Lunch and personal time
2:30-4pm: individual meditation session
4:30-5:15pm: group dharma protector session
Time for yoga etc,
6pm Dinner
7-8:30pm individual practice session
Sleeping practice and bedtime

Prerequisites:

Ideally, participants should have received teachings specifically on The Sphere of Refined Gold, or participated in the inaugural seminar Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche offered at Gomde Pyrenees in July, 2017.  At the very least, participants must have received Dzogchen teachings on Trekchö from a qualified Buddhist master, and, ideally, also instructions on the practice of Mingling the Threefold Sky.  Moreover, it would be beneficial to have already received a Vajrasattva empowerment.

Registration for the retreat is now open and will close on Nov 28th.  Please respond early as this is a closed retreat and rooms are limited.  To register, please fill out the attached form, sign it by hand, and return a scanned copy or clear picture image of each page to springretreat2018@gmail.com.  

Application form:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TCfteJCZ5Y6CnnFSJN9pd5jfQ_Io4Bw6/view

As space is limited rooms will be assigned upon receiving the application form and the down payment of €100.  Please send your application to springretreat2018@gmail.com before making a deposit payment to confirm that we still have rooms!

This can be made via this website page by clicking on the appropriate ticket below. If you prefer, you can also send a bank transfer to the following account:

Ass Rangjung Yeshe Gomde

IBAN: FR76 1027 8072 0900 0202 0600 101

SWIFT: CMCIFR2A.  

If you have trouble with the deposit please contact rygomdefrance@gmail.com 

Our apologies that we do not have a fixed amount for the costs for the retreat yet.  We estimate that the fee will be around 840€, and individual offerings to our teacher and translator at the end of retreat will be additional to that.  Please understand that actual costs are still under investigation and depend on the types of housing we can offer as well as the number of participants.  The cost of housing is a not yet known, but will be greater for indoor rooms, less for outdoor huts/caravans, and very little for teepees.  If you are able to help sponsor costs for a participant in need of financial support, this is greatly appreciated. To do so, please reply to the email above.

Rooms in the main house will be filled on a first come first serve basis.  We also plan to build small mobile retreat cabins and tepees as extra rooms and will definitely need help with construction and funding for theses structures!  Please email per above if you are available to help in person with the renovations.  Donations can be made via the Gomde Pyrenees website http://gomde.fr/wp/en/donations-2/, please specify “retreat cabins” in the notes.

Insurances:

We are also pleased to inform you that we have just extended our insurance contract coverage with two new protections: body accidents and personal assistance.

This means that each of us, our volunteers and our event participants will now be covered in case of an accident happening at Gomde Pyrénées. Nevertheless, for this particular insurance to apply, one first needs to be a member of the French association Rangjung Yeshe Gomde. 

To become a member, it is very easy, one simply needs to add an insurance option below of 10 euros (or 30 euros for benefactor membership) for 2018 (and 2017 for those of us who plan to go to Gomde before the end of the year). 

We are very much looking forward to hearing from you,

Sincerely,

Spring Retreat 2018 team