The rare White Dakini Drub Chen (Great Accomplishment Ceremony) from Do Khyentse’s Dzinpa Rangdröl (Self-Liberation from Clinging) treasure cycle will be performed. This lineage comes directly from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche to Vajra Master, Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche. The process and practice of the White Dakini mandala will include a traditional empowerment given by Tulku Sang-ngag. This practice is the union of Machig Labdrön and Yeshe Tsogyel surrounded by the dakinis of the four Buddha families. Lama Tsultrim and Khenpo Ugyen will spend the first two days teaching the sadhana, mudras, and chants. Participants will experience deep immersion in the Vajra world, including the building of a mandala, traditional music and dance, daily feasts, continual mantra recitation, and the conclusion with five simultaneous fire pujas. This strictly closed retreat requires intensive practice and ability to hold the container. Mipham Rinpoche said, ”One Drub Chen is equal to seven years of solitary retreat.”

Fees: Sliding scale fees allow participants to pay according to individual means. Your payment above the low end directly benefits our scholarship fund.
Double: $1,375 - $995
Queen Double: $1,475 - $1,095 SOLD OUT
Single: $1,795 - $1,550 SOLD OUT
Camping: $925 - $695
Suggested Dana: $160 & up

Accommodation descriptions can be found here.

Sliding scale fees allow participants to pay according to individual means. Your payment above the low end directly benefits our scholarship fund.

Sustaining Sangha discounts range from 10%-20% based on your membership level and are calculated at registration.

Detailed information about retreats at Tara Mandala
Travel Information (booking flights, shuttles, hotels)
Register securely online: 50% of course cost due at registration
Financial aid available
Registration form (PDF)

Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche, the sixth Gochen Tulku, is an incarnation of Gyalwa Chokyang, one of the close disciples of Padmasambhava. Recognized at the age of three, Rinpoche began learning religious rituals and liturgies, as well as traditional Tibetan medicine, at an early age. Rinpoche met his root guru, Tulku Orgyen Chemchok, in a Chinese prison where he was held for nine years. Here he received teachings and secret transmissions. Upon release, Rinpoche met his other root teacher, H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, with whom he traveled, studied, and practiced intensively for nearly fourteen years. Rinpoche teaches worldwide and oversees his two retreat centers in Pharping: Yuloko Nunnery and Phurpaling, a dharma center in Taiwan and his U.S. retreat center, Ewam Sang-ngag Ling, located in Arlee, Montana.

Lama Tsultrim Allione, author and international teacher, founded Tara Mandala in 1994. Inspired by the vision of a Western retreat center while living in the Himalayas in the 1970s, Lama Tsultrim founded Tara Mandala with her husband David Petit, where she is now the spiritual director and resident teacher.

Lama Tsultrim was one of the first American women to be ordained as a Tibetan nun in 1970 by the 16th Karmapa. At the age of 26, after four years as a nun, she returned her monastic vows, married, and raised a family of three. Lama Tsultrim earned a Master’s degree in Buddhist Studies and Women’s Studies from Antioch University. She is the author of Women of Wisdom, a groundbreaking book on the lives of great female Tibetan practitioners.

Lama Tsultrim also authored the recently published Feeding Your Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict, which connects the knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism with the modern psyche, addressing major cultural issues and the roots of our suffering. This National Bestseller is based on Lama Tsultrim’s pioneering technique using five steps to nurture the parts of ourselves we usually fight.

Lama Tsultrim has for many years focused her teachings on the lineage of Machig Labdrön, the 11th century Tibetan yogini who founded the Chöd lineage. In 2007, while leading a pilgrimage to Tibet, she was recognized as an emanation of Machig Labdrön by the resident Lama of Zangri Khangmar (Machig’s monastery in Tibet). In 2009 she was selected by an esteemed committee of scholars and practitioners to receive the international Outstanding Woman in Buddhism Award given in Bangkok, Thailand.

Lama Tsultrim’s teachings arise from the blessings of her many wonderful Tibetan Buddhist teachers, her 40-year dedication to the Buddhist teachings, and her experience as a Western woman.