Vajra-Familie 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).
Referenten
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Rafa Lobsang DorjeProgrammdirektor, Retreat Leiter, HerausgeberRafa Lobsang Dorje begann seine Verbindung mit dem Buddhismus im Jahr 2008, nachdem er zuvor andere spirituelle Traditionen in seiner Heimat Brasilien praktiziert hatte. In Europa, Indien, Nepal, der Mongolei und Tibet hatte er die kostbare Gelegenheit, Unterweisungen, Übertragungen und Ermächtigungen von Meistern aller Schulen des tibetischen Buddhismus sowie der Theravāda-Tradition zu erhalten und sowohl an Gruppen- als auch an Einzel-Retreats teilzunehmen.
2015 begegnete er in Österreich seinem Wurzelguru Shar Khentrul Rinpoche, von dem er seither einen weiten und tiefgründigen Schatz an Dharma empfängt, von den Grundlagen bis hin zu den Kālachakra Vajra Yogas. Seit 2016 unterrichtet er Lu Jong (Tibetisches Heil-Yoga). Im Jahr 2018 erhielt er von Rinpoche die Autorisierung und Ermutigung, den Dharma zu lehren.
Im Jahr 2020 reduzierte er seine berufliche Tätigkeit als Komponist erheblich, um sich ganz der altuistischen Vision Rinpoches zu widmen. Derzeit dient er der Dzokden Saṅgha als Herausgeber und Koordinator neuer Übersetzungen sowie in Kalapa als Programmdirektor und Retreat-Leiter.
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Shar Khentrul RinpocheSpiritueller Leiter, Rime-Lehrer, Kālachakra-Vajra-Meister, AutorIn den Bergen Tibets geboren, verbrachte Shar Khentrul Rinpoche die ersten 20 Jahre seines Lebens damit, Jaks zu hüten und Mantras zu rezitieren. Inspiriert durch Bodhisattvas verließ er seine Familie, um in verschiedenen Klöstern unter der Leitung von über fünfundzwanzig Meistern aller tibetischen Traditionen zu studieren. Wegen seines Nicht-sektiererischen Ansatzes erhielt er den Titel Rime (unvoreingenommen) Meister und wurde als Reinkarnation des berühmten Kālachakra Meisters Ngawang Chözin Gyatso identifiziert. Er wird als eine Emanation des Bodhisattvas Akashagarbha angesehen. Während das Herzstück seiner Belehrungen auf der Erkenntnis beruht, dass die Vielfalt aller spirituellen Traditionen dieser Welt von großem Wert ist, fokussiert er sich dennoch auf die Jonang-Śhambhala Tradition. Obwohl von vielen westlichen Gelehrten angenommen wurde das diese Tradition ausgestorben ist, erkannte Rinpoche das die am fortgeschrittensten Belehrungen von Kālachakra (Rad der Zeit) tiefgreifende Methoden beinhalten, um unsere externe Umwelt durch die innere Welt von Körper und Geist zu harmonisieren. Seit 2014 reiste Rinpoche in mehr als dreißig Länder, um Schüler*innen in aller Welt anzuleiten. Durch seine systematische und stufenweise Darlegung des zur Erleuchtung führenden Kālachakra-Pfades, lehrt er sie, ihre innere Wahrheit und ihr grenzenloses Potenzial zu verwirklichen. Er lehrt Menschen wie sie einen flexiblen Geist kultivieren können und Voreingenommenheit beseitigen und dadurch inspiriert er mitgefühlbasierende Gemeinschaften zu erschaffen, die diese Welt in ein Goldenes Zeitalter von globalem Frieden und Harmonie führen.
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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