Dewachen World Peace Sanctuary

You will have a meaningful time while your visit in Dewachen. A quality life will be depend on how you spend your time.

I learned more about how to meditate in this two-day silent retreat than in almost a previous decade of Buddhist practice and study.. Lama Dorje taught the 16 steps of mindfulness in such a way that I have been able to take it home with me and integrate it into my daily practice. I am always so grateful for his translator, Carolina, who doesn't miss a beat and communicates it all so clearly and fluidly. I was inspired and put at ease by both Lama Dorje and Carolina's delightful and light-hearted personalities, which made it easier to keep up with the rigorous training. Carolina was a lot of fun as she taught tsa lung first thing in the morning.

The site itself is amazing. It is remote and the last half-hour drive is challenging. The 20 minute walk down from our lodging to the beautiful meditation hall and dining room is beautiful ... I stopped frequently along the way to view pastures of wild flowers, locate a woodpecker high up the trees, admire a cow and its calf resting in the grass, pick ripe guavas, listen to a stream rushing by ... One night, the weather cleared and we were fortunate to have a ceremony outdoors with a full moon and bonfire, celebrating the historical Buddha's birth.

This was my second retreat at Dewachen. I hope to attend many more.

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I had never done an online retreat before. I found the experience to be much better than expected. While of course I would have loved to attended in person, being able to attend online made the retreat accessible for me given current health limitations, financial challenges, and work schedule.

I particularly loved how attending this online retreat gave me the opportunity to optimize my home meditation set up. Normally, I don't meditate for four hours a day while also attending dharma lectures from my meditation seat. So, doing this retreat made me realize that I could make my meditation seat far more comfortable. Now, I am much more attentive to having my meditation seat be sustainable for my body. And doing so has made my practice much more enjoyable, which means I want to practice more, and I enjoy practicing more and for longer when I do.

Also, typically when you attend a retreat somewhere, there is a difference from your home life before retreat, entering the retreat space, and then returning home to normal life again. I was able to more easily continue my normal practice in addition to the retreat activities. This would have been more challenging to do if I was on site. So, this gave me a greater continuity with bringing my normal practice into a retreat environment.

I also felt a great continuity when the retreat ended and my normal home practice resumed in the context of my daily schedule. The energy of the retreat more seamlessly carried over to my home practice in daily life as I had already been enjoying my home life as a sacred retreat environment.

While entering the retreat environment physically is such a powerful experience, and I'm very much looking forward to attending in-person retreats at Dewachen someday, I'm so glad I got to attend virtually. I look forward to attending more retreats at Dewachen!

The steady climb up the steep mountain roads is the beginning of a journey that you started many years ago. Making your way to Dewachen is not just an expression of how far you have come, but of having finally arrived.

There are thousands of retreat centers to choose from, and thousands of teachers to learn from. They all have their place, and they have all contributed in some important way to the momentum that is taking place. I believe that Dewachen is one of the most important centers of that movement, and that one day it will be the most recognizable meditation sanctuary in the world.

It is not just because of where it is situated, but because the vision is being shaped by two people who embody everything they teach. Lama Dorje has spent his entire life studying the inner workings of the human mind, and he is also the most joyful human being I have ever met. Carolina is not only translating the words of Lama Dorje, she is also working tirelessly to create the opportunity for our own awakening, so that we may each do our part in spreading this beautiful gift to the rest of the world.

The knowledge that you gain is very well organized and extremely dense. I am also enrolled in one of their online classes, and there is no shortage of information. This is not an organization that is simply attempting to provide enough content to justify the fee. They are providing as much knowledge as they can.

It is hard to explain how different everything now looks after just one weekend at Dewachen. I truly hope that everyone reading this post has an opportunity to experience the same.

Drupon Lama Dorje recently held the Noble Silence and Saga Dawa Retreat at the Dewachen World Peace Sanctuary. This gathering was at the Lama’s beautiful grounds in the cloud forest mountains of southern Costa Rica. It was an honor to be with Lama Dorje at his sacred temple and garden.

Garrison M