Vajra Family Gathering
Dzokden Students, Friends, and Supporters Gather at Kalapa:A joyful community time for prayer, reflection, connection, art and nature.
After multiple requests from Dzokden sangha members worldwide for more opportunities for in-person gatherings outside formal retreat and work settings, we are launching the Vajra Family Gathering for the first time. You are welcome to join!
It will take place in person at Kalapa on August 24–25, between the Second and Third Vajra Yoga Retreats.
The event is open to all students of Shar Khentrul Rinpoche and supporters/volunteers, as well as to Dzokden Kalapa Association members:
- Practitioners on in-person retreats before or after the event can extend their stay at Kalapa or in the surrounding area to participate.
- Other students of Rinpoche, volunteers, supporters, and association members can also join.
- Students, volunteers, supporters, and association members can bring friends or relatives with them to participate (see conditions below).
Schedule & Overview
August 24
14:30 – 16:00 — Arrival and Check-in
Please do not arrive earlier on the day unless you were requested to do a volunteering task. If you wish to stay overnight at Kalapa on the day(s) before, that is possible (contact [email protected]).
16:30 – 18:00 — Kālachakra Tsok in the Temple with Rinpoche
(with live transmission worldwide for those not able to attend in person: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86513841921 Meeting-ID: 865 1384 1921 — all other activities are in-person only)
18:30 – 20:00 — Sangha Group Exchange in the Yoga Room, guided by Tamás Schieszler, Kalapa Board President.
Topic of this year: “Dharma Practice & Family” — participants are invited to exchange and discuss challenges and solutions regarding combining serious Dharma practice and family life.
20:30 – approx. 22:00 or later — Open Celebration in Rinpoche’s style
Each participant can prepare (in advance) a personal talent to share with the Sangha (music, poetry, art, dance, story, a joke, cake, etc.).
Note for August 24 evening:
No formal dinner will be served. A Tsok buffet with snacks and drinks blessed in the ritual will be available in the Dining Hall and some also in the Yoga Room. You are welcome to bring Tsok food and drinks items to be blessed in the afternoon ritual.
August 25
06:30 – 07:30 — Two Program Options (you can choose which one to attend):
Program option A: Marichi Practice in the Temple
For removing obstacles to Sangha activities.
Program option B: Qigong Session led by Taiji & Qigong Teacher Thubten Wangmo at the Open Terrace or in the Yoga Room.
08:00 – 09:00 — Short Walk with Simple Breakfast Picnic
in nature near Kalapa.
09:00 – 12:30 — Continuation of the Walk in Nature & Bathing in the Waterfall.
If this longer walk is difficult for you, it is possible to go by car or taxi.
For those preferring to return to Kalapa: no program, with free space for further exchange, study, practice, etc.
13:00 — Lunch in the Dining Hall
13:30 – 15:00 — Wrap-up, Rooms Cleaning, and Departure
Please make sure to check out by this time, unless you have a specific volunteer task for the event. If you wish to stay additional nights at Kalapa, that is possible (contact [email protected]).
13:45 – 14:15 — Kalapa Shop open
Volunteer Opportunities
Informal Volunteer Opportunity: If you would like to help the organizing team in person during the event (preparation, running, or wrap-up), please contact us as soon as you have decided to attend.
Formal Volunteer Opportunity: If you would like to volunteer as the main cook for this short event, including the days before and after, there is a formal EAP role open, totaling 50 EAP hours.
How to get to Kalapa?
How to get to Kalapa? Dzokden Kalapa Retreat Center, Garanas 41, Bad Schwanberg, zip code 8541, Austria, Südweststeiermark. The nearest airport is in Graz, Austria.
By car: From the Graz-West motorway junction (A2/A9), get on the A2 towards Klagenfurt/Italy and take the Lieboch exit. Then, continue on Federal Road 76 towards Eibiswald. After about 30 km, you will reach Bad Schwanberg. At the end of the main square in Bad Schwanberg, turn left towards Garanas. After the bridge, keep the right side towards Garanas and follow the signs to “Kalachakra Kalapa Center” uphill for about 8 km to reach the center.
By train: To travel to Kalapa by train, start at the main train station in Graz. From there, take the S6 or S61 S-Bahn towards Wies-Eibiswald for about an hour to the Bad Schwanberg station. (timetable information) To travel from the Bad Schwanberg train station to the retreat center, we will send additional info via email some weeks before the event.
Registration
This event is donation-based. Details:
In-person attendance with overnight: If you would like to stay overnight at Kalapa on August 24, we suggest a donation of 30 EUR (or 25 EUR for a tent spot). However, you can freely choose the amount you want to offer (this is an exception for this event). If you are a member of the association, you can use your yearly free day stay at Kalapa.
Additionally, you can choose any donation amount for general food costs (suggested 20 EUR per person, but you are free to choose how much you wish to offer).
Online Tsok Attendance on August 24: Donation on a basis of your own choice.
Donation Options
- Free Registration Option
- 20 EUR Donation
- 25 EUR Donation
- 30 EUR Donation
- 45 EUR Donation
- 60 EUR Donation
- 108 EUR Donation
- 360 EUR Donation — Sangha Supporter
Register below.
Note: If you would like to donate a different amount than the listed options, that is possible by donating here: https://kalapa.org/generosity If you choose this alternative option, you nevertheless must register at this event page here, so that we have your info properly registered (you can choose the option Free Registration Option).
Speakers
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Shar Khentrul RinpocheSpiritual Director, Rimé Teacher, Kālachakra Vajra Master, AuthorShar Khentrul Rinpoche Jamphel Lodrö is the founder and spiritual director of Dzokden and Dzokden Kalapa. Rinpoche is the author of Unveiling Your Sacred Truth, The Great Middle Way: Clarifying the Jonang View of Other-Emptiness, A Happier Life, and The Hidden Treasure of the Profound Path. Rinpoche spent the first 20 years of his life herding yak and chanting mantras on the plateaus of Tibet. Inspired by the bodhisattvas, he left his family to study in a variety of monasteries under the guidance of over twenty-five masters in all the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Due to his non-sectarian approach, he earned himself the title of Rimé (unbiased) Master and was identified as the reincarnation of the famous Kālachakra Master Ngawang Chözin Gyatso. While at the core of his teachings is the recognition that there is great value in the diversity of all spiritual traditions found in this world, he focuses on the Jonang-Śhambhala tradition. Kālachakra (Wheel of Time) teachings contain profound methods to harmonize our external environment with the inner world of body and mind, eventually bringing about the Golden Age of Peace and Harmony (Dzokden).
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Rafa Lobsang DorjeProgram Director, Retreat Leader, EditorRafa Lobsang Dorje began his connection with Buddhism in 2008, after practicing other spiritual traditions in his homeland of Brazil. In Europe, India, Nepal, Mongolia, and Tibet, he had the precious opportunity to receive teachings, transmissions, and empowerments from masters of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as from the Theravāda tradition, and he participated in both group and solitary retreats.
In 2015, while in Austria, he was fortunate to meet his Root Guru, Shar Khentrul Rinpoche, from whom he has since received a vast and profound wealth of Dharma, ranging from foundational subjects to the Kālachakra Vajra Yogas. Since 2016, he has been teaching Lu Jong (Tibetan Healing Yoga). In 2018, Rinpoche authorized and encouraged him to teach the Dharma.
In 2020, he significantly reduced his professional work as a composer in order to dedicate himself full-time to serving Rinpoche’s altruistic vision. He currently serves the Dzokden Saṅgha as an Editor and Editorial Coordinator of new translations, and at Kalapa as Program Director and Retreat Leader.
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Tamás SchieszlerCompassion Cultivation Training Instructor | Dzokden Kalapa Board PresidentTamás, in his daily life, works as a coach and consciousness cultivation mentor. In this role, his primary aspiration is to support his clients in their self-transformation journeys. Tamás aims to help individuals unfold their capacity for compassion, allowing them to elevate their consciousness gradually. His belief in the importance of compassion as a core aspect of humanity has been shaped by nearly 15 years of study and practice in Vajrayāna Buddhism, leading to his appointment as board president of the Dzokden Kalapa Association in 2024.
As an ICF Master Coach and mentor, Tamás has helped hundreds of clients transform their inner subconscious narratives through compassion, fostering growth in their consciousness. His participation in the CCT™ Teacher Training program was driven by a desire to incorporate group work into compassion cultivation and self-transformation processes within a secular, methodologically sound framework.
Before starting his coaching career in his early forties, he gained extensive experience as a systems architect, team leader, and senior executive. This background also led to the co-founding of an organizational development and consulting company. -
Thubten WangmoTaiji & Qigong Teacher, Translator & Website Translation Manager