Dark retreats

Post Reply
nameless
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2011 4:15 pm

Dark retreats

Post by nameless »

http://dzogchen-retreats.com/ It will be launched after Tibetan New Year.
The prices will be as low as possible depending on service at the dark retreat. Location Scandinavian countries.
I would expect that all places will be very remote and accessible only by boat.
The idea is that any one who wants to do dark retreats for 49 days are able to do so.

I will update the web site within 4 weeks and those who have interest find there the details

Cheers
User avatar
kalden yungdrung
Posts: 4606
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2010 10:40 pm

Re: Dark retreats

Post by kalden yungdrung »

nameless wrote:http://dzogchen-retreats.com/ It will be launched after Tibetan New Year.
The prices will be as low as possible depending on service at the dark retreat. Location Scandinavian countries.
I would expect that all places will be very remote and accessible only by boat.
The idea is that any one who wants to do dark retreats for 49 days are able to do so.

I will update the web site within 4 weeks and those who have interest find there the details

Cheers

Tashi delek N,

I have so the feeling we know each other.....

That sounds great !

Your link is not working / functioning, therefore some questions.

- Where is it situated , Finland, Sweden or Norway ?
- What are the conditions to get inside?
- How does it look like, the rooms ? I guess there are many mosquitoes buzzing around, especially in Finland.
Heating is also a serious thing as well the volunteers who will serve the retreat.
- Can people get in there for free ? I mean is there a fund for the not so wealthy Dzogchenpas?
- Is there a vegetarian kitchen possible ?
- Can one interrupt the retreat and start again for the same price ?
- Is there a Dzogchen Master present ?

If there is something i can do , for help, let me know.
I am from Holland and within short in the Scandinavian countries.

Mutsuk Marro
KY
The best meditation is no meditation
User avatar
Ayu
Global Moderator
Posts: 13256
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:25 am
Location: Europe

Re: Dark retreats

Post by Ayu »

The site is under construction. It will be working, when they've finished it.
User avatar
Caoimhghín
Posts: 3419
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:35 pm
Location: Whitby, Ontario

Re: Dark retreats

Post by Caoimhghín »

Out of curiosity, what is "dark" about a dark retreat? Are there light retreats?
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
User avatar
kalden yungdrung
Posts: 4606
Joined: Sun Aug 01, 2010 10:40 pm

Re: Dark retreats

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Coëmgenu wrote:Out of curiosity, what is "dark" about a dark retreat? Are there light retreats?

Tashi delek C,

Well dark in dark retreat is just there there is no light in the room.

I can elucidate this with an example.

I have met an American man in 2009 in Germany, whose brother was imprisoned in Alcatraz.
Sometimes these boyz were punished and the punishment was to be locked up in the basement were there was no light at all.
But i have heard from this man that his brother did not care at all to be there for 3 weeks or more.
His brother saw there in the dark nice things and he could not give an explanation about that experience.

Light retreats are also there, then one looks beside a source of light like the sun or a candle.

Both are methods in Dzogchen practice when i may say this here of course...... :shock:

Hope this helps

Mutsuk Marro
KY.
The best meditation is no meditation
nameless
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2011 4:15 pm

Re: Dark retreats

Post by nameless »

Hello

I will continue the project as soon as possible. I will just provide the dark retreat (inspected) places->caves, nothing else.
So there will be no costs if one can do everything one self. All places are in North Norway and North Sweden.
Schrödinger’s Yidam
Posts: 7885
Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 6:13 am

Re: Dark retreats

Post by Schrödinger’s Yidam »

A white retreat is just the normal lighting.

A yellow retreat is where you have normal lighting between meditation sessions but you do your practices in the dark. It helps with the visualizations.

A dark retreat is where you are in total darkness 24/7. Food is brought to you but you do not see or interact with the cook. Samye Ling in Scotland has a facility but it costs a good bit. It is also sound proof. Usually people there do Bardo practices there for 49 days. Or at least they try to do that. Usually after a handful of days they can't stand it and leave.

Just my $.02
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
User avatar
Grigoris
Former staff member
Posts: 21938
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 9:27 pm
Location: Greece

Re: Dark retreats

Post by Grigoris »

nameless wrote:http://dzogchen-retreats.com/ It will be launched after Tibetan New Year.
The prices will be as low as possible depending on service at the dark retreat. Location Scandinavian countries.
I would expect that all places will be very remote and accessible only by boat.
The idea is that any one who wants to do dark retreats for 49 days are able to do so.

I will update the web site within 4 weeks and those who have interest find there the details

Cheers
Will there be a lama available to guide the retreat and give the necessary empowerments?
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
nameless
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2011 4:15 pm

Re: Dark retreats

Post by nameless »

The thread can be deleted. Google find it when it is ready. Thanks
User avatar
Adamantine
Former staff member
Posts: 4027
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:09 am
Location: Space is the Place

Re: Dark retreats

Post by Adamantine »

Grigoris wrote:
nameless wrote:http://dzogchen-retreats.com/ It will be launched after Tibetan New Year.
The prices will be as low as possible depending on service at the dark retreat. Location Scandinavian countries.
I would expect that all places will be very remote and accessible only by boat.
The idea is that any one who wants to do dark retreats for 49 days are able to do so.

I will update the web site within 4 weeks and those who have interest find there the details

Cheers
Will there be a lama available to guide the retreat and give the necessary empowerments?
This is a good question: many have gone crazy in dark retreat historically, so a qualified Lama on location seems like a good plan.. also a vetting of applicants to make sure they are at the right stage of their practice to do it.. are those two things in place?
Contentment is the ultimate wealth;
Detachment is the final happiness. ~Sri Saraha
Post Reply

Return to “Europe”