Wisdom Rising: Journey into the Sacred Masculine - VIRTUAL RETREAT

A Tara Mandala Virtual Retreat 

The Mandala of the Five Buddhas is for all of us who long to integrate the awakened, sacred, and wise masculine within ourselves. Buddhism sees the enlightened masculine as the capacity to act skillfully and with wise compassion. These are capacities that must be nurtured by all of us, regardless of our gender identity. The Jungian understanding of the psyche tells us that we each have both feminine and masculine aspects of ourselves, which he calls the anima and the animus. The work of healing and moving towards wholeness involves drawing forth and cultivating the positive aspects of each; otherwise, the hidden agenda of our anima or animus can be destructive and self sabotaging. With the Mandala Training we offer a sublime method to work with the anima in the Dakini Mandala, the animus in the Mandala of the Five Buddhas, and the union of the two in the YabYum Mandala. The Mandala of the Five Buddhas offers a practical method to awaken the enlightened masculine in all of us by empowering us to bring into balance the mutually supportive inner feminine-masculine unity. It is this inner union that allows us to find strength and clarity within so that we may become “in-powered” and effective change agents in the world.

During this retreat you will experience transformation through the power of the mandala—a universal map of inner wholeness and embodiment. The mandala is a template of wholeness with a universal structure of the center and four directions, represented here by five families connected to elements, colors, seed syllables, emotions, psychological types, and wisdoms. This training offers a journey into the Mandala of the Five Buddhas practice developed by Lama Tsultrim Allione to bring emotional transformation into alignment with the spiritual path.

In this experiential retreat, you will have the opportunity to:

• Learn the Mandala of the Five Buddhas, embodiments of sacred masculine and wisdom, and a daily meditation practice.
• Focus on one of the Five Buddha Families to explore more deeply your encumbered patterns and learn how to transform those patterns into the wisdom of that particular family.
• Practice three enhancement methods:
  • The 5-step practice of Feeding Your Demons®
  • Guided Journey with the Buddhas
  • Art through Mandala Work with your Hands

• Integrate with the elements through meditation (outdoors if weather permits).
• Further personal and dyad work relating to the Five Families.

Who Should Attend? 

• This is open to everyone.

To prepare for this retreat, we encourage you to:

• Read Wisdom Rising and Feeding Your Demons by Lama Tsultrim Allione.

What is a Virtual Retreat?

Virtual Retreats are Tara Mandala At-Home intensive retreats, teachings and in-depth workshops during which practitioners receive dharma teachings, engage in guided practice, experience hands-on learning, and connect with other participants through an easy-to-use online platform (Zoom) during consecutive days (with few exceptions) and daylong offerings. This modality of learning is appropriate for practitioners who are able to create a practice container of their own, setting aside a dedicated retreat space, removing themselves from social media, and taking care of necessities with the mind of compassion in action for the specific dates and times that the teachings occur. 

Virtual Retreats are meant to be attended live given that direct transmission (Tib. lung) may be given. However, access to recordings of the sessions are available for additional viewing for various timeframes specified by the price level selected.

Tiered-Prices

Tara Mandala offers tiered pricing for all virtual retreats to allow participants the opportunity to consider offering additional financial support for Tara Mandala while gaining greater access to the recordings of the teachings post-retreat. These are difficult times for everyone, and Tara Mandala is no exception. We encourage you to select at the highest level within your capacity to assist Tara Mandala in covering the costs to offer these wonderful teachings. We thank you in advance for your support and your practice!

$528 – Tier 1 (includes access to recordings of all sessions for up to 7 days from the end of the retreat)
Registration at this level covers the basic costs of holding this specific retreat. 

$644 – Tier 2 (includes access to recordings of all sessions for up to 30 days from the end of the retreat)
Registration at this level covers basic costs of this retreat and supports the year round staff at Tara Mandala.

$713 – Tier 3 (includes access to recordings of all sessions for up to 1 year from the end of the retreat)
Registration at this level covers basic costs for this retreat, supports year around staff as well as facilities maintenance and other critical operational needs.

Choosing Tier 2 or Tier 3 levels will allow Tara Mandala Retreat Center to continue to operate, be a repository for wisdom literature, a center for translation, a beacon for the feminine in Buddhism, and an active dharma center that provides refuge for deep practice and transformation.

There are many ways to support and engage with Tara Mandala’s activities. Click here to learn more. We appreciate your support and generosity! 

Offering dana to the teacher: The practice of offering dana, which means “generosity,” is the traditional offering the student makes to the teacher as a symbol of appreciation, gratitude, and reciprocity for receiving the precious teachings. Information on offering dana to the teacher will be provided during the virtual retreat. To learn more about dana and suggested dana ranges, please click here.

Note: Tara Mandala has two scholarship funds and offers deferred payment plans as resources for anyone with financial limitations. For more information and to apply, visit our Scholarships and Financial Assistance Page. 

VIRTUAL RETREAT SCHEDULE
Listed times are the online portions of the retreat. All times are Mountain Time.
Please use this link to see how this daily schedule translates into your timezone.

Tuesday, July 13:
4:00-5:00pm MT: Opening Gathering

Wednesday, July 14:
10:00am – 12:00pm MT: Teachings
2:00pm – 4:00pm MT: Teachings
5:00pm – 5:45pm MT: Practice

Thursday – Sunday, July 15 – 18:
8:00am – 8:45am MT: Practice
10:00am – 12:00pm MT: Teachings
2:00pm – 4:00pm MT: Teachings
5:00pm – 5:45pm: Practice 

Monday, July 19:
10:00am – 12:00pm MT: Closing Session and Tsog (Ritual Feast)