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| Third Year Anniversary of Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche's Parinirvana (Dechö )
March 28 - April 3 10:00 am - 12:30 pm 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm PST
April 4 9:30 am -12:30 pm 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
In person and on Zoom
Lunch and dinner will be offered free to all on-site participants — see below for details.
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Once you register, you'll receive a confirmation email with further information . |
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| As with all of our programs, no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. Please contact us at orgyendorjeden@gmail.com should you need assistance. |
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We look forward to practicing with you to gather merit, purify negativity, and honor our precious guru at this sacred time! Each day we will perform the Extensive Kunzang Nyima Vajrasattva Practice (learn more about Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche's special connection to this practice here. |
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| If you are attending on Zoom and feel inspired and wish to make an offering of gratitude to our Lamas, Ritual Support Team or Orygen Dorje Den, you may do so by clicking the link below. If you are attending in person, we encourage you to follow the tradition of making your personal offering directly rather than using the online link.
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| Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche has said "Whatever you wish for, be it something good in a worldly context or smooth progress on your dharma path, either way you need to eliminate negativity and create merit. There is no other way."
One way to create merit is to fully engage in this Dharma practice, with your body, speech and mind. For those attending in person, by volunteering to help, you can generate merit for yourself and for all those who benefit from the existence of ODD, which is pretty much everyone!
Please click the link below to sign up for one of the daily duties necessary to run this retreat: |
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| Important Tsog Offering Information To bring our practice more in line with the advice of many high lamas of our age, such as Dungsei Thinley Norbu Rinpoche and Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche, during our daily Ganachakra tsog feast offerings, we will only offer and receive a small portion of beef as meat and a few drops of the tsog chang as alcohol. Since the temple will provide these substances, we are requesting of all sangha members: Please do not bring any meat or alcohol offerings to the retreat. Of course, offerings of other delicious food and drink are welcome (or you can simply make a donation HERE towards tsog offerings). Please note that all tsog food should be ready-to-eat. (*Please avoid bringing foods that contain peanuts!) Uncooked rice, raw grains, or other raw substances are not suitable as tsog offerings, although those items are welcome if you'd like to make donations for the food bank. Canned soup, tuna, nut butters and so on are also acceptable food bank donations.
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Sangha Meals
Lunch and dinner will be offered to all in-person attendees every day.
Meals are planned to accommodate a variety of dietary requirements and preferences—
- Lunch each day will include both meat and vegetarian options.
- Dinners will be vegetarian soups, salads, and sides.
- Organic produce and other products are used wherever they are available and within our budget.
- Gluten free and dairy free options will always be available; anything containing gluten or dairy will be clearly marked as such.
- If you have further dietary restrictions, we can provide ingredient lists for our menus so you can see if they will work for you.
- Refrigerator space and microwave use will be available if you need to supplement the available menus or make your own food arrangements.
We hope everyone will be able to find plenty that is nourishing, hearty, and delicious among these options!
Sponsoring meals for the sangha is a well-known way to accumulate merit. If you would like to sponsor a sangha meal,
Click Here
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| Call for Stories about Gyatrul Rinpoche
Dear Students of Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche,
In celebration of his life and enlightened activities, Vimala Archives is compiling stories about Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche that we can read aloud at the upcoming Anniversary, at future Anniversaries, and to be placed in the Archives and used for future projects.
If you have a story, anecdote, or teaching from Rinpoche that you would like to share, please write it down and email it to vimalateachings@gmail.com. Please include your name (or note that you wish to remain anonymous) and an approximate date or year that the story happened. Please do not include the names of others in your story; rather, refer to them obliquely, such as "a young man who was there at the time" or "one of Rinpoche's students".
We look forward to hearing from you, and thank you for helping us remember and honor our precious guru!
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| Daily Schedule and Order of Practice Please Download Here
The program schedule will list both the PRINTED text and DIGITAL text pages for these practices. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the order of practice before the first day of the practice!
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Final Day Program Schedule Please Download Here! The program schedule will list both the PRINTED text and DIGITAL text pages for these practices. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the order of practice before the final day!
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Special Activity at the First Session: Personal Offering to our Karmic Creditors
On the first day of this retreat, it is traditional for all retreatants to make a lenchag, or dough offering, to appease our obstacle makers and karmic creditors, so that they would not make obstacles for our practice. In-person AND Zoom participants, please see this explanation of the lenchag.
How to Make a Lenchag |
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What You Will Need for This Practice |
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In order to participate in this practice, you will need: |
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- The Kunzang Nyima Vajrasattva Retreat Manual: ODD's Bookstore will have a limited number of copies for purchase. There will also be some copies available in the shrine room as loaners, but it is best that students purchase their own copy of the text so that they may study it ahead of time, take notes and deepen their understanding of the practice. See link below for more information.
- Riwo Sang Chod, the Mountain of Burnt Offerings: This practice will be done on the final day. We will have a few copies to share, but you may want to purchase your own copy (see below).
- The Additional Prayers Packet (download below).
- A bell, vajra and damaru, if you have them. All three are used by students in this practice.
- Don't forget to register and make offerings for tsok or other offerings, as you wish to do so.
- Most importantly, just bring yourself, with your precious human birth, your love for the dharma, and your courageous wish to benefit others! Grief and sorrow are also welcome and acknowledged as part of this mandala of remembering our precious guru.
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Kunzang Nyima Vajrasattva Retreat Manual (a few copies may be available in ODD's Bookstore)
This is the extensive practice for Dzongter Kunzang Nyima's Vajrasattva cycle. Dzongter Kunzang Nyima, the speech emanation of Dudjom Lingpa, revealed 60 volumes of treasures in Tibet and was a highly realized and respected treasure
Purchase Hard Copy Text Purchase Digital Text |
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Riwo Sang Chod, The Mountain of Burnt Offerings
The Mountain of Cleansing Fire Offerings text is an instruction taken from Lha Tsun's "Vidyadharas - Achievers of Life Force."
Purchase Hard Copy Text Purchase Digital Text |
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| Additional Daily Prayers Packet
Please take a moment to download this packet! You will need this Additional Prayers Packet to supplement the main text during this year's Dechö practices. |
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Prepare for the Retreat: Study Groups
In 2024, Keith LaCoste and Ila Reitz held 4 study groups to prepare for this extensive practice. These study groups focused on the specifics of performing the sadhana, including mudras and when to play the instruments.
Last year, they followed up with two more study groups, focusing on Vajrasattva, the visualization and meaning. Click here or on the image to view recordings of all the study groups. |
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Talks and Teachings from Dechö 2025 and 2024
During the Dechö practices at Orgyen Dorje Den in 2025 and 2024, Lama Sonam Rinpoche and Lama Drimed Rinpoche gave teachings . Ila Reitz also read past teachings given by Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche. Click here for a review of these past teachings.
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If you would like to make General Offerings or offerings for food, Tsog or Tea , please click the button below. |
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If you would like to make an offering and add a name to the Prayer List, please click the button below. |
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If you are looking to Share Accommodations or Transportation to ODD, please click the button below. |
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More About this Vajrasattva Practice |
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| In 2008, as Tulku Theglo Rinpoche completed his historic visit to the U.S. where the Kunzang Nyima cycle of empowerments was first granted in this land, Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche requested Tulku Theglo to give instruction on how to perform the extensive version of the Vajrasattva practice to a small group of students present at Palri Pema Od Ling in Austin, Texas. From this intensive instruction, the retreat practice manual was created along with documentation of the melodies, tormas and ritual activity of the practice, and the practice was maintained there for several years. Now, according to Gyatrul Rinpoche's heartfelt wish that this practice would be upheld, we will be performing it in an 8-day retreat to honor the 1st Anniversary of Gyatrul Rinpoche's Parinirvana.
Our aspiration is to establish a yearly tradition of practicing the Extensive Kunzang Nyima Vajrasattva by gathering in person and online as one worldwide sangha.
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Orgyen Dorje Den is the physical manifestation of our gurus' aspirations and wisdom activity, and of many disciples' hard work, devotion and generosity. Thanks to all who offer their positive motivation, effort and resources to this remarkable place that brings such benefit to so many.
www.orgyendorjeden.org Orgyen Dorje Den is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization |
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