The Shambhala community is invited to help support Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche's three-year retreat center in Crestone, Colorado

The Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche were contemporaries whose monasteries were close to each other in Nangchen, East Tibet. They were dear friends and vajra brothers from a young age, having taken monastic vows together from the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa. In Tibet they shared some of the same teachings, empowerments and root teachers.

The Vidyadhara and Thrangu Rinpoche studied at the shedra (monastic college) at Shechen Monastery, though most of the time under the direction of different khenpos. Thrangu Rinpoche was among the earliest Tibetan lamas to visit our community, and he did so frequently at the invitation of the Vidyadhara.

Thrangu Rinpoche was the first learned master (in addition to the Vidyadhara and Lama Ugyen Shenpen) to provide essential guidance for the Nalanda Translation Committee, beginning about 1978, and this collaboration has continued for over thirty years. It was under his direction that the Translation Committee completed their translations of all the three-year-retreat liturgies and commentaries, and compiled practice manuals.

In the early 1980's, Trungpa Rinpoche requested Thrangu Rinpoche to assume the position of abbot at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia - the monastic training center for Shambhala - and he has guided the development of Shambhala monastics ever since. At the Sopa Choling retreat centre, Thrangu Rinpoche established the first three-year retreat program conducted entirely in English, and he conferred many teachings and empowerments for the retreatants and residents of Gampo Abbey over the past 20 years.

In 2002 Thrangu Rinpoche initiated a three-stage building project in Crestone, Colorado, on 35 acres of land granted to him. The first stage was completed in 2005, with the building of the north wing of the Vajra Vidya Retreat Center.

The Vajra Vidya Retreat Center opened the North Wing in 2005 under the guidance of two resident teachers: Lama Wangdu an experienced retreat master and Khenpo Jigme, a highly educated scholar. Both are graduates of Thrangu Rinpoche's shedra (monastic college) and have completed their three-year retreat. Since its opening in 2005 many students have taken advantage of this beautiful retreat facility and the support of its two highly trained and experienced teachers.

In the summer of 2008, Thrangu Rinpoche asked that the second phase of building the shrine room be initiated. Rinpoche emphasized the importance of the shrine room by calling it the heart of the center. The traditional books and symbols and heart-space of practice can't take root without the creation of this sacred space. The building of the shrine room will begin in the spring of 2009 and funds are needed to complete the inside of this building. There are sufficient funds now to complete the outside construction, and ongoing fundraising in 2009 will help complete the entire shrine room.

The budget for this second phase of the project is $410,000 US. Of this, $166,000 has been raised as of late 2008.

You can find out much more about the retreat center by visiting vajravidyaretreatcenter.org, and about Thrangu Rinpoche's dharma activities at rinpoche.com.

Please make as generous a contribution to the building of this dharma site as you possibly can, especially bearing in mind the wealth of teachings that Thrangu Rinpoche has offered to our community over these many years.

Lady Diana Mukpo has asked that the Shambhala community to lend its support for this project, in recognition of Thrangu Rinpoche's thirty years of unceasing kindness and friendship for Shambhala.

The location of Crestone was first seen by His Holiness, the Sixteenth Karmapa and then by His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. They both were given land and felt that Crestone was an auspicious location for the continuation of Buddhist dharma. Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche now has over a dozen beautiful isolated cabins there, where his students complete solitary retreats. There are also about ten other Buddhist centers in Crestone.

Vajra Vidya in Pictures

The Vajra Vidya Retreat Center, Crestone, Colorado

Vajra Vidya as it is currently. The new shrine room would be attached to the other side of the building. The present building has 10 retreat rooms, a large fully equipped commercial kitchen, a dining room for 20 people, an office, bathroom facilities, and quarters for Lama Wangdu and Khenpo Jigme. Besides these full-time resident lamas, Vajra Vidya has a full-time cook and a half-time administrator.

Project Phases

This is a drawing of how Vajra Vidya will look when it is completed. On the left is the North wing, which is presently completed and has been occupied for the last two years.

The center part is the next phase, which will add a shrine room downstairs and quarters for Rinpoche and visiting lamas upstairs. Funds being raised here are for this portion.

The south wing will be completed in the future and will house an additional 15 participants.

Cross Section of Phase Two

If we were standing in the present parking lot and looking towards Vajra Vidya, we would see the following (provided we could look through the South Wall!). On the left is the porch downstairs, opening into the shrine room and balcony outside Rinpoche's room. Downstairs a person would walk into an 8 foot wide lobby and tak off their shoes and coat. They could look in and see the large 8-foot Buddha stature. As they walked, the 8-foot ceiling would open up into a 21 foot room with the large Buddha.

Upstairs, we see the audience room and Thrangu Rinpoche's room towards us (not shown), a door going into the present lama's room, and the inside three-foot wide balcony overlooking hte shrine room. The shrine room will be lit by skylights and a set of windows along the top which could be opened electronically to let hot air out in the summer. In the floor where participants sit will be radiant heat, and the walls will have an R-70 rating so little heat will be needed for the shrine room during the winter.

The Shrine Room for Vajra Vidya Retreat Center

The shrine room will be downstairs, with a small entrance area for coats and shoes in front. On the back of the shrine room will be an 8 foot tall Buddha statue. The shrine room will hold aobut 100 people. Upstairs will be nice quarters for Thrangu Rinpoche, and an audience room.

Lower Level Shrine Room Plan

Upper Floor Plan

The upper floor will connect into the present building. On the side of the building facing the San Lois valley will be a large balcony. Inside will be Rinpoche's room, which will have it's own bathroom and a closet. It will also have a door going to the audience room and a balcony overlooking the shrine room. The audience room, which can hold 15-20 people, also has a Kitchenette for his attendants to prepare small meals. They can stay in Lama's room and go through the door that is presently there.

Buddha Shrine

To give an idea of what the large Buddha statue would look like in the shine room, here is a picture of Thrangu Rinpoche teaching at his center in Toronto. The Toronto and Crestone centers both have 21 foot high ceilings, so the proportions will be about the same.