Shravasti Meditation Retreat:  July 11-12

Ven. Khenmo Sonam Choenzin is a remarkable practitioner, scholar, and teacher in the Drikung Kagyu tradition. She has been a practicing nun since 1995 and is currently one of only six women in the monastic lineage of the Drikung Kagyu to have received the degree and title of Khenmo — an honorific reserved for accomplished scholars of Tibetan Buddhist Studies, bestowed upon her in 2023.

Khenmo Sonam’s training has been both deep and extensive. She completed her primary monastic studies and foundational studies in Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan literature, and grammar at Samtenling Nunnery in Dehradun, India. She went on to earn her undergraduate (Shastri) degree in Buddhist Studies at Kagyu College, followed by the equivalent of roughly two PdDs in Higher Buddhist Studies. Throughout her academic career, she also served in administrative roles, leadership positions, and as a teacher of foundational Buddhist philosophy and literature at Samtenling Nunnery.

In 2020, Khenmo Sonam entered strict solitary meditation retreat, completing the traditional Three Year Meditation Retreat in the Fivefold Path of Mahamudra under the guidance of His Holiness Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Rinpoche. Prior to her retreat, she also served as sacred objects curator and manager for the Private Office of His Holiness.

Khenmo Sonam brings with her a rare combination of rigorous scholarly training, deep meditative experience, and a lifelong commitment to the monastic path. We are truly grateful and fortunate to welcome a teacher of her caliber and dedication to White Lotus.

The Retreat

In the midst of busy lives filled with noise, distraction, and relentless activity, we rarely give the mind the space it needs to truly settle. The Shravasti Meditation Retreat offers just that, a supported, gentle container in which to turn inward, reconnect with the breath, and touch the natural stillness that is always already present.

 The word Shravasti refers to the ancient grove where the Buddha taught some of his most celebrated discourses on mind and awareness. It was also the place where the Buddha and his followers returned every year to spend the traditional rains retreat, a season set apart from other activities, devoted entirely to practicing mindfulness and meditation. In that same spirit, this weekend retreat invites practitioners of all backgrounds to step out of the stream of ordinary activity and spend two days cultivating genuine stillness.

Guided by Venerable Khenmo Sonam Choenzin, the retreat draws on the Anapanasati Sutra, the Buddha’s foundational teaching on mindfulness of breathing, presented through the lens of the Drikung Kagyu Vajrayana tradition.

The Daily Schedule Saturday and Sunday

9:00-10:00  am      Tsa-Lung – Each morning opens with Tsa Lung — Tibetan yogic breathwork — to loosen the body, settle the nervous system, and prepare the mind for sustained sitting practice.

Teaching and Meditation:

10:15 am – 12:30 pm   Session 1 Teaching and Meditation

Lunch – you may bring your lunch or go out

2:00-5:00 pm – Session 2 Teaching and Meditation

Registration

Registration for this retreat is offered on a donation basis, and no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. The suggested rate is $165-$500 for the full retreat.

We warmly invite you to give as generously as you are able. Hosting these events involves significant costs — texts, logistics, airfare for two, and offerings for our lamas and translators — as well as the ongoing expenses of maintaining the center and sustaining its programs throughout the year. Your generosity makes all of this possible, and it is through your kindness and support that the Dharma continues to flourish here. Thank you.

To Register Click Here:

https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/HUBWBF45MCM6C