Heart Sutra Retreat

Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche coMmemoration

13 APRIL 2024

15 TO 20 APRIL 2024

Commentary by Khenrinpoche Geshe Chonyi - Kopan Monastery Abbot

Meditations by Venerable Steve Carlier

The Heart Sutra is one of the most popular and well-known sutras in Mahayana Buddhism. It belongs to a larger collection of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras that explicitly explain emptiness and being the five Mahayana paths to enlightenment, it's hidden meaning. In Sanskrit, it is called Arya Bhagavati Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra, which means, “The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra." Thus, it represents the pure distillation of the Buddha’s teachings on wisdom, or prajna. The sutra unfolds as a brief conversation, inspired by the Buddha, between two of his most illustrious disciples, Avalokiteshvara and Shariputra. Here, Avalokiteshvara explains to Shariputra how all phenomena - the five aggregates, the twelve sources, and the eighteen constituents - are empty of, or lacking in, inherent existence.

Being the heart or essence of the much longer Perfection of Wisdom in a Hundred Thousand Lines, the profound meaning of the Heart Sutra is not readily accessible. This will be elucidated during the retreat by Khenrinpoche Geshe Chonyi, abbot of Kopan, in his clear and engaging teaching style; participants will be guided to meditate on the meaning of the Heart Sutra by Ven. Steve Carlier, a long-time student of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and many other important teachers in the Gelug tradition.

It was Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche's wish for the FPMT to offer this retreat.

This is an intermediate retreat, for students who have a basic knowledge of the topic of emptiness or have already done an introductory course to Buddhism within the Tibetan lineage.

PROGRAM

- 12th April: Arrival to Kopan

- 13th April: Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche ~ One Year Commemoration - All day puja at Kopan Monastery's main gompa

- 15th to 20th April: Heart Sutra Retreat

Mornings: Commentary by Khenrinpoche Geshe Chonyi, translation by Ven Steve Carlier.

Afternoons: Meditations lead by Ven Steve Carlier.

- 21st to 22nd April: Extensive Offering Practice & Pilgrimage to Boudha Stupa.

- 25th April to 9th of May: Anniversary Pilgrimage to Lawudo (please read details below).

DETAILS

COST: US$ 350 in a dormitory - from 12th to 20th of April

- What is included: this price includes the retreat facility fee, all meals, and accommodation at Kopan Monastery in a dormitory. The price covers the practical expenses of hosting the retreat, it is not charging for the teachings.

- Accommodation: students can stay in a dormitory or in single, double and triple rooms with private or shared facilities. There is an extra charge for rooms that are not a dormitory, please click here and use the red column to know the daily room charges, you will need to add these room charges to the Flat Fee of US$ 350. The booking spreadsheet will give you three room options. We cannot guarantee you will be accommodated in your first room choice, rooms are allocated by order of booking and are confirmed upon arrival, we cannot confirm before. Please be aware that we have very limited single rooms, please book with this in mind, check if you will be willing to accept the room that has been allocated to you upon arrival.

- Monastic Monks & Nuns: receive 20% discount of the total amount.

- Deposit: once student's bookings have been accepted, they will be asked to make a non-refundable deposit of US$ 150 to secure their place. Information about the deposit will be sent by email.

- Payment: The rest of the full payment can be done upon arrival, we accept Nepalese Rupees, US$ and credit cards. There is an ATM cash machine just outside the monastery.

HEART SUTRA RETREAT SCHEDULE

- The retreat will start on the 15th of April at 5.30pm with introductions to the retreat.

- From 16th to the 19th of April:

5.30 to 7.30am: Lama Choepa Practice

9.30 to 11.30am: Heart Sutra Commentary by Khenrinpoche translated by Ven Steve Carlier

3 to 3.45pm / 4.15 to 5pm / 5.45 to 6.30pm: Meditation sessions by Ven Steve Carlier

7.30 to 8.15pm: Videos on emptiness by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, followed by short a Vajrasattva practice & dedications

- The retreat finishes on the 20th of April at 11.30am

- Silence is kept from 9pm until lunch the next day.

- Participants are required to attend all sessions.

ARRIVAL / DEPARTURE

- Our reception opens at 9am and closes at 5pm, arrivals and departures are due to be done only within these times.

- Check-in: is on the 12th of April from 9am to 5pm. Students are welcome to come one or two days earlier, to check the extra cost for these extra days please click here.

- Check-out: is on the 20th of April from 1pm to 5pm. Students are welcome to stay two or three days later, to check the extra cost for these extra days please click here.

PILGRIMAGES

- 21st & 22nd April: Extensive Offering Practice & Pilgrimage to Boudha Stupa. Students who would like to join this pilgrimage can stay at Kopan and pay the extra charges. To check the extra cost for these extra days please click here. Bookings for this pilgrimage can be done upon arrival.

- 25th April to 9th May: Anniversary Pilgrimage to Lawudo for Lama Zopa Rinpoche's swift return. Priority will be given to Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Sangha and to students in good health that have served the FPMT organization for more than 7 years and are attending the Heart Sutra Retreat. Students are expected to be physically fit to trek in high mountains. Lawudo can only accommodate 30 people. Those who would like to join this pilgrimage can stay at Kopan until the 25th of April and pay the extra charges, to check the extra cost for these extra days please click here. For more information please email Ven Khadro: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Group bookings

Please note that we don't take group bookings, each individual is to do their own individual booking.

Notice from FPMT Budget Policy

Monastic Monks & Nuns and students should never be prevented from attending teachings because they cannot afford to. Please let us know if you cannot afford the retreat facility fee, we will find alternative ways for you to contribute to Kopan.

Notice for Sangha

Need based financial support for room and board costs is available for FPMT sangha through the generosity of the International Mahayana Institute (IMI).

For more information contact Drolkar: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Retreat Material

Participants will need the 2020 edition of the Retreat Prayer Book, it's available digitally on the FPMT Foundation Store website, you can find it here.

Kopan can make available hard copies for those who don’t have digital devices. Please click this option in the booking form. The price will depend on demand, the Retreat Prayer Book will be handed to you upon arrival in our reception and you can pay for it then.

If you have hard copies of the Retreat Prayer Book from previous years, you will need to print and bring with you the errata sheets to update your text: (A5, spread)

For those needing the below translations, once you book and are accepted into the retreat, we will put you in contact with the translator of your specific language so they can inform you about the retreat material in your own language.

Translations

We will be offering translations in these languages only, if you need translation please bring a manual FM radio:

- Spanish

- Italian

Covid Policy

- You do not need to be vaccinated.

- Even if you are vaccinated, please have a rapid test (RAT) done one hour before arriving to Kopan. If you test positive kindly refrain from coming until you test negative.

- Please bring a rapid test (RAT) from your country of origin, they are very difficult to get them in Nepal.

- We recommend medical insurance - Medical services in Nepal if required are expensive for foreigners.

Important extra information

- Please follow our strict dress code, check if you are dressed appropriately for a monastic environment.

- Follow our course discipline.

- Sorry, the kitchen is not able to cater for special dietary needs, please check our meals page.

- Arriving to Nepal/Kopan, visas, what to bring, etc

- What to do at Kopan

Who can apply

This is an intermediate retreat, for students who have a basic knowledge of the topic of emptiness within the Lam Rim or have already done an introductory course to Buddhism within the Tibetan lineage. A 10 day Vipassana course is not sufficient preparation to attend this retreat.