Three-Year Retreat at Karme Ling Retreat Center
Located 90 minutes from Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in the rolling hills of the western Catskills, Karme Ling is the site of a traditional 3-year 3-month meditation retreat in the Karma Kagyu tradition. The Retreat Program at Karme Ling was established in the early 1990s by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche following the request of the 16th Karmapa as a way of training serious practitioners in the core teachings and practices of the Karma Kagyu Lineage.
In 2008 the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje visited Karme Ling for the first time, blessing the retreat buildings and consecrating the land. On subsequent visits in 2011, 2015, and 2017, the Karmapa gave private audiences to the retreatants.
Permission To Do Retreat at Karme Ling and How To Apply:
People wishing to undertake the traditional Three Year Retreat must first get permission to do the retreat from your (M/F) Retreat Master in an interview. If you are interested in doing retreat, please review all the information on this page and download and submit the application found here (Word format):
Tibetan Language
All the retreat practices are done in Tibetan and there are no transliterated texts available to retreatants. Retreatants need to be able to read Tibetan quickly before they come to the pre-retreat training. Although comprehension is not required, the more basic vocabulary and grammar skills a retreatant has, the better.
Communication
During retreat retreatants will not be allowed to use the phone or internet or to see anyone outside of the retreat.
Pre-Retreat
This is a two-month period for learning the rituals, music, and torma making used during the retreat, and receiving teachings needed to begin the retreat. The schedule is similar to the retreat schedule (below), with teachings and/or Tibetan reading practice during the second session, ritual/music training during the third session and torma making in the fourth. Green Tara puja replaces Sojong during this training period.
Costs
Retreatants are responsible for raising the retreat fees. The current fee for a Three Year Retreat is $36,000. The retreat fees must be paid in full by the end of the retreat. The fee pays for room and board for the entire three years. It also covers the cost of chanting texts and transcripts of the teachings. Of course there will be other personal expenses.
Daily Schedule During Retreat
4:00 am to 7:30 am ~ first session
7:30 to 8:15 ~ breakfast break
8:15 to 9:15 ~ Sojong group practice
9:30 to 12:00 ~ second session
12:00 to 1:45 ~ lunch break
1:45 to 4:15 ~ third session
4:25 to 5:45 ~ Mahakala group practice
5:45 to 6:45 ~ dinner break
6:45 to 9:15 ~ fourth session
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Three Year Retreat
Q: What are some of the rituals we will learn in retreat?
You will learn rituals for personal practices, daily group practices, and occasional big pujas. Among these are:
- Torma making
- Playing the various instruments: damaru, cymbals, drum, shrine keeping, gyaling, and radung
- Chant leader for daily group practices and big pujas
- Mudras, music, chanting sequences, etc.
Q: What are the requirements for someone who would like to do the retreat?
(1) The ability to chant Tibetan fast (comprehension is not necessary)
(2) The completion of 111,111 repetitions of the four foundations of Ngondro
(3) Good physical and mental health
(4) $25,000 retreat fee
(5) The ability to read, write, and speak English fluently
(6) Permission from the Retreat Master
(7) Letter of recommendation from main teacher
Q: Is there any recommended reading before entering retreat?
We actually require the reading, contemplation, and as much integration into daily activities as possible, of books on two topics:
- Lojong (Mind Training): either (or both)
- The Great Path of Awakening by Jamgon Kongtrul
- The Practice of Lojong by Traleg Kyabgon
- The Thirty-seven Practices of a Bodhisattva
Recommended reading:
- Retreat Manual by Jamgon Kongtrul
- Mountain Dharma by Karma Chagme
Q: Are all the practices in retreat done in Tibetan?
Yes.
Q: Are there teachings/instructions and English translations on the practices?
Yes. The teachings on the practice texts were given by Ven. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche during the second retreat (1996-2000) and translated by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso. Since then the retreatants have relied on recorded videos and transcripts of the teachings. Practice and ritual instructions are given by retreat masters.
Q: Who are the retreat masters?
The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje is in charge of the retreats at Karme Ling. The men’s retreat master is Lama Tsultrim Gyaltsen, and the women’s retreat masters are Lama Lodro Lhamo and Lama Lodro Zangmo. All of them were appointed by Khenpo Rinpoche and have completed multiple retreats. They are serving under the guidance of the Karmapa.
Q: Should I have completed the Ngöndro before entering the retreat?
Retreatants must have completed the full Ngöndro practice of 111,111 repetitions of prostrations/refuge, Vajrasattva mantras, mandala offerings, and guru yoga repetitions before the retreat begins.
Q: When does the retreat begin?
It begins on the 22nd day of the ninth Tibetan month (the Lhabap Düchen) every four years (2016, 2020, …) and lasts for three years and four months, plus a two-month pre-retreat training. In 2020, pre-retreat will begin on September 7 and retreat on November 7.
Q: What are the practices done in retreat?
- Ngöndro (four months)
- Mahamudra (one month)
- Karma Pakshi (one month)
- White Tara (one month)
- Guru Yoga of one of the following: Marpa, Milarepa, or Gampopa (three months)
- Vajrayogini (nine months)
- Six Yogas of Naropa (seven months)
- Chakrasamvara (seven months)
- Amitabha (two months)
- Gyalwa Gyamtso (six months)
Q: What is a typical day like in retreat when doing mantra practice?
In each of the four 2.5-hour sessions each day, very roughly speaking,
- About 25% of the time is chanting in Tibetan, and
- About 75% if the time is reciting mantra and visualizing.
Of all your activities, these two could be said to comprise the heart of the retreat.
- During lunch break the most regular activity is torma making.
Q: What practices are NOT done in retreat?
There is not a great emphasis on sitting meditations of shamatha, vipashyana, nature on mind, mahamudra, and so forth, per se. These practices are actually built into all of the practices enumerated above, but aside from one month of mahamudra practice, they are not practiced separately, on their own.
Q: What are some of the rules in retreat?
- Retreatants will remain in silence except for functional talking during lunch break.
- No phone calls or long distance faxes are allowed.
- No drinking coffee.
- No personal computers, phones, ipods or the like.
- Retreatants do not leave their rooms during practice sessions except to go to the bathroom.
Q: Are retreatants required to sit in their meditation box while sleeping at night?
Yes.
Q: What are the commitments connected with the retreat?
- There is a commitment to complete the retreat once you have started it. Leaving retreat constitutes breaking retreat samaya and has serious karmic consequences.
- Although retreatants are not allowed to go out of retreat, in the case of serious illness, they are permitted to seek external medical care.
- Retreatants are required to wear monastic robes and behave like ordained sangha for the duration of retreat.
- After completing the retreat, Ngöndro, the short daily practices of all the yidams practiced in retreat, and Mahakala and other daily practices become lifelong practices.
Q: What is the major adjustment one has to make after entering retreat?
For most people it is adjusting to the structured daily time schedule and lack of leisure time. Retreat life is nothing like the mundane life. Practices run from early in the morning, throughout the day, until late at night. There are no days off. It takes a lot of self-discipline and perseverance to continue this way of life for more than three years.
Q: (Asked of a current retreatant) What is your biggest regret about your preparation for retreat?
I didn’t do enough Tibetan study, particularly in chanting quickly. Now that I am in retreat there is little chance to catch up.
Q: What should I bring to retreat?
The retreat provides practice texts, transcripts of teachings and some practice instruments. The following list gives some basic items that will be needed, though it is not exhaustive.
Dharma items:
- bell and dorje w/ a mat
- damaru
- mala
- offering bowls
- butter lamp
- kapalas
- Chaptor set
(The last four above are optional, as the retreat has functional versions of them.)
- Toiletries
- Blanket
- Meditation cushion
- Winter jacket
- Winter boots/shoes
- Pens, pencils, markers, and so on
- 17 inch long pecha holder
We strongly recommend keeping personal possessions to a minimum. This includes books and texts. Exceptions to this would be inspirational books such as The Songs of Milarepa, and The Rain of Wisdom, and texts such as Calling the Guru from Afar.
Q. How are meals organized?
Each house has a resident cook who prepares two simple, nutritionally-balanced meals — breakfast and lunch. Retreatants prepare whatever light evening meal they wish, either from leftovers or other simple foods provided. A hotplate, toaster oven, microwave oven, and refrigerator are available to retreatants outside the kitchen for this purpose. Access to the kitchen is not permitted. Retreats are strictly vegetarian with vegan options as requested.
Q: Will the retreat cook shop for the retreatants’ personal needs during retreat?
Yes.