January 2023 with Kadam Morten
If you are planning to join the retreat without having attended the introduction session on Tuesday, January 3, please contact our support team first at [email protected].
Starts Tuesday evening, January 3 with an introductory talk, 7:00 - 8:30pm
Weekday Session Times: 8:00 - 9:30am, 10:30 - 12:00pm, 4:00-6:00pm (includes Wishfulfilling Jewel) - please note, on Tuesday there is no session offered at 10:30am due to GP class and the third session on Fridays will be 3:00 - 5:00pm
Weekend Session Times: 8:00 - 9:30am, 3:00 - 5:00pm (includes Wishfulfilling Jewel)
Offered in Person
$8 per session, free for supporting members
For those wishing to complete the entire retreat from KMC NYC, please write to [email protected] as soon as possible to reserve your place.
Please note: the timing needed to complete the retreat will vary for each individual. For those wishing to participate in the close retreat, we recommend allotting three weeks to count 100,000 mantras and 4-5 days for the Vajradaka Burning offering which involves counting 10,000 mantras.
For the first time at KMC NYC we will be offering the opportunity to engage in a close retreat in which we recite the mantra of a specific Buddha, in this case Guru Sumati Buddha Heruka, 100,000 times. Engaging in such a traditional retreat is a very profound and beautiful practice. It is called a close retreat because when engaged in skillfully with wisdom, faith and the pure motivation of compassion, we naturally draw close to that Buddha, deepening our connection and enabling his or her enlightened qualities to grow stronger within us.
This retreat can be done as an actual close retreat, in which you must at least take part in two sessions a day, or you can participate in the retreat in a less formalized manner as part of your preliminary guide practice of Guru Yoga.
As such this retreat is open to all.
Following is some helpful inspiration on this retreat:
At the 2022 NKT-IKBU International Spring Festival in Malaga, Gen-la Kelsang Dekyong shared an important instruction from Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. He asked Gen-la Dekyong to give the transmission and commentary of the mantra of Guru Sumati Buddha Heruka, requesting practitioners of all New Kadampa Tradition centers to engage in retreat to collect 100,000 recitations of this mantra, as well as 10,000 Vajradaka mantras with burning offerings.
Gen-la Dekyong explained how this mantra is the very essence of the guru yoga of Guru Sumati Buddha Heruka. By reciting this mantra with faith, a pure motivation, and strong conviction in the law of cause and effect we will place very strong potentials within our mind to easily accomplish all spiritual attainments. Venerable Geshe-la said, "This is magical."
This year you will have the opportunity to fulfil Venerable Geshe-la’s request and join a Guru Sumati Buddha Heruka counting retreat at Kadampa Meditation Centre NYC. Not only will you receive great benefit for yourself, but as Venerable Geshe-la said, this retreat is a wishfulfilling jewel for the development of Kadam Dharma internationally.