This retreat is an offering of great benefit both to beginning and committed students. It provides a base of study and practice that will create a firm foundation for the serious practitioner. Following the historical development of Buddhism, beginning with the life of the Buddha, this retreat will cover the Vehicles (Yanas) as they developed. Participants will receive guidance in the meditation practices related to each vehicle.

The first two sessions will follow the tradition of noble silence as taught by the Buddha, with the exception of discussions during Dharma talks and a voluntary oral exam. Each day will include meditation, teachings, study and a work period. Debra will offer individual meditation instruction and a private interview with each retreatant.

Participants who cannot attend the entire month-long retreat may attend individual sessions.

Session 1: August 4 - 11
Sutrayana: Life and Teachings of the Buddha
This session will offer a foundation in Buddhist practice, beginning with the life of the historical Buddha and the mindfulness practices he taught: sitting and walking meditation. Lessons will include the philosophical schools that developed after the Buddha.

Session 2: August 12 - 19
Mahayana: Vast View and Awakened Heart
This session focuses on the teachings of compassion and emptiness as they developed in the Mahayana tradition exploring the four immeasureables, the six paramitas, the opening of the compassionate heart, and the nature of mind itself through practice, Dharma talks and discussion. We will work with the classic mind trainings (lojong), loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity, as well as the emptiness teachings of Prajña Paramita and the sky-like mind.

Session 3: August 20 - 30
Vajrayana: White Dakini Drub Chen

Fees: Sliding scale fees allow participants to pay according to individual means. Your payment above the low end directly benefits our scholarship fund.
Session 1 or Session 2
Double: $1,275 - $895
Queen Double: $1,375 - $995 - SOLD OUT
Single: $1,495 - $1,150 - SOLD OUT
Camping: $795 - $575

Feeds for Session 3 (Drub Chen)

Fees for entire month:
Double: $2,775 - $1,985
Queen Double: $3,055 - $2,265 - SOLD OUT
Single: $3,445 - $2,695 - SOLD OUT
Camping: $1,795 - $1,550

Suggested Dana per session: $160 - $320

Accommodation descriptions can be found here.

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

Session 1 (Sutrayana) registration form (PDF)
Session 2 (Mahayana) registration form (PDF)
Month-long registration form (PDF)

Debra Q. Travis has been on the Buddhist path for almost thirty years. She has a firm foundation in the Theravadan tradition and, while living in Asia in 2005 and 2006, she began her study and practice of Vajrayana. Over the past fifteen years she has taught many meditation classes to students in a variety of settings, including in her private psychotherapy practice, in hospitals, universities, at professional conferences, and in prisons. Ms. Travis is a student of Lama Tsultrim Allione who has authorized her to teach. Lama Tsultrim is the founder and Spiritual Director of Tara Mandala Buddhist Retreat Center in southern Colorado where Ms. Travis studies and practices and where she recently completed a three month solitary retreat. This summer (2010) Ms. Travis is teaching the Sutrayana and Mahayana sections of the annual Three Yana Retreat and will become Tara Mandala’s new Program Manager on September 1st of this year.