The Retreat Project

A Brief Outline of the Pema Köd Project

Tulku Orgyen P'huntsok proposes an immediate plan for the reconstruction and maintenance of the very sacred Pema Köd retreat land and repair of the Yoldong Deden Tashi Choling temple and its sacred statues in order to preserve and propagate the Buddhadharma and to support its practitioners.

Phase I:

The completion of retreat land projects presently underway will take place within a year. These projects include the reconstruction of five retreat cabins that in the last thirty years have fallen into ruins. The constuction project will include a main prayer hall; a kitchen and bathroom; a perimeter fence; and the installation of plumbing and irrigation systems on the land.
When Tulku Orgyen visited the retreat land in late 2003—early 2004, he asked his people to initiate the first phase of the reconstruction project. Currently under construction are five retreat cabins in five significant locations around the land. Each cabin will be equipped with all the necessary ritual objects, especially for long-term retreatants.

With the assistance of the Indian State government, an irrigation and plumbing system that will ensure an adequate water supply for resident practitioners as well as visiting dharma practitioners in the future is also currently under construction.

When the retreat cabins are complete at the end of year 2005, the reconstruction of the main prayer hall where the temple once stood will commence. The construction of a new kitchen, bathroom facilities and a fence enclosing the perimeter of the retreat land to keep domestic animals out will also be completed in 2006.

Phase II:

This crucial phase will be focused on the reconstruction of the existing old temple, Yoldong Deden Tashi Choling, with a complete restoration of its interior facilities. Because of its old age, the temple is in a state of deterioration that has left it quite fragile. Reconstruction should begin as soon as possible to prevent further deterioration. Interior work will include repairing old statues that hold sacred objects received from H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche and rehabilitating ritual instruments.

The Pema Köd Meditation Retreat Programs

Comprehensive retreat programs from one to three weeks, six months, and three years will be established. Each of these programs will be a complete stand-alone program. The programs will be designed for those who are not fully under the domination of the eight worldly concerns. Participants will already have some degree of altruism and a wholehearted, pure interest in pursuing the path of liberation. It is one of my highest hopes that my friends who visit this land, particularly those interested in participating in any of the retreat programs, will have some of these qualities from the onset. Once our retreat practice starts, much emphasis will be placed on all participants becoming pure Dharma practitioners for the rest of their lives.

Within the different programs as I envision them, practitioners will be offered a specific curriculum of study and practice tailored specifically to the program they are undertaking, so as to be most effective for them. In order to meet our fundamental spiritual needs and affect true inner transformation, it is essential that we be able to apply and integrate the essence of Buddhadharma into our innermost being through its practice in our lives. In other words, philosophical theory alone, however interesting, is not sufficient to affect transformation.

In summary, many masters of the past have attained enlightenment, varying degrees of realization, and at least some level of transformation in their experience of everyday phenomena. May all practitioners, by sincerely following in their footsteps, find fruition in their pure practice of the Buddhadharma.

Long-Term Drubda Retreat

Tulku Orgyen proposes the establishment of a renewed program of very extensive practice and study in Pema Köd as in the days of Togden Sithar. The program will entail the complete support of all resident practitioners in retreat who sincerely undertake the pure practice of Buddhadharma on this land. After the temple reconstruction has been completed, Tulku Orgyen will revitalize ongoing dharmic activities in the temple and transfer the obligations for its care to practitioners of the new generation.

Finally, as a separate venture, Tulku Orgyen intends to one day return to Togden Sithar's retreat land in Powo, in southern Tibet. There, perched upon the spectacular slope of Mount Yuri, Tulku aspires to undertake the same solitary retreat accomplished in his previous lifetime as Togden Sithar, and to reestablish a wide range of Buddhadharma practices and practitioners in that region, just as he did in his past life.

Tulku Orgyen counts all of these plans among his highest aspirations. He wishes most fervently that they one day become a reality. Whatever dharmic activities he may undertake beyond these, he considers his further contribution to spreading the Buddhadharma.

MONTHLY SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE

1) Monthly stipends for the temple and retreat land caretakers will be provided to enable them to support themselves. Thus far, Tulku Orgyen's students have made the maintenance of the temple and retreat land a "karma yoga" practice in order to accumulate merit. While in times past, compensation of some sort may have been deemed unnecessary, in today's economy, Tulku Orgyen feels that some financial support is necessary to the well-being of these practitioners who have dedicated their lives to the preservation of the Buddhadharma on this land.

2) Long-term retreatants will need a monthly allowance to support their food, medicine and tsok offerings. A small donation of $25.00 per month will adequately provide their monthly needs.