Looking Ahead to 2025: The Year of the Wood Snake
In the coming year, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche will continue to deepen our understanding of the foundational mahayana teachings through online weekend teachings, online retreats, and in-person retreats in Vermont and Switzerland. He will continue the vajrayana teaching cycle on Amitayus through online weekend teachings and an online retreat, as well as in-person retreats in Vermont, and Switzerland. In the fall, there will be another opportunity for new students to receive introductory guided meditation from the Sakyong online.
In addition to all this, Rinpoche will lead a mahayana pilgrimage and vajrayana pilgrimage soon after Losar, followed by a two-week individual retreat practice for vajrayana students who already have experience staying in Nepal.
Foundations of Mahayana
The Foundations of Dharma teaching cycle will continue with mahayana teachings, and include continued practice of Planting of the Seed of Bodhichitta, as well as teachings on the four limitless ones and the practice of Thaye: Boundless. Students are welcome to join even if they did not attend previously. In order to establish a lineage connection, Rinpoche will offer refuge vows at the first event. In the spring of 2025, the Sakyong will lead a 5-day Online Mahayana Retreat, open to all mahayana and vajrayana students.
Ongoing engagement in the Foundation Series is also the basis for requesting to begin vajrayana study with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in the future. Experienced mahayana and vajrayana practitioners are encouraged to attend Foundation series teachings to strengthen their understanding of core elements of the path. Vajrayana students who have renewed samaya may attend individual talks in this series as they are able.
Online Vajrayana Teachings
After Losar, Rinpoche will start the next cycle of Amitayus: The Guru of Infinite Life. \All of Rinpoche’s vajrayana students who have renewed samaya are invited to join him for this series of weekends spread throughout the year. For those who have not attended before, Rinpoche will offer a lung at the first weekend. These events include optional practice opportunities on Saturdays, followed by the teachings with Rinpoche on Sundays. Students are encouraged to receive the Amitayus Abhisheka in-person with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche whenever they are able. In the fall of 2025, Rinpoche will lead an online vajrayana group retreat. Vajrayana students who want to study with Rinpoche, but have not renewed their samaya, can learn more by writing to connect@sakyonglineage.org.
Continuing Opportunities for New Students
In the fall, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche again will teach an introductory event for new students and give initial meditation instruction. These teachings are open to anyone with an interest in receiving teachings from the Sakyong Lineage. It is an ideal opportunity for newer students to experience Rinpoche’s teachings, learn to meditate, and, if they wish, prepare to take refuge and enter the Foundations teaching series.
Spring Mahayana and Vajrayana Pilgrimages to Nepal and Vajrayana Retreat
In response to supplications from a large group of students, in mid-March Rinpoche will lead a mahayana pilgrimage, followed by a vajrayana pilgrimage, and then a two-week vajrayana practice retreat. Rinpoche has stressed that retreats like these are not a new requirement, or “the next thing,” but come from the inspiration of the students wishing to practice intensively in Nepal when Rinpoche is in residence. Information about these pilgrimages and the retreat is forthcoming.
In-Person Gatherings in the West
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche will give in-person mahayana and vajrayana teachings in Vermont and Switzerland next summer. These gatherings will be opportunities for students to gather with the teacher to receive blessings in person and to practice with the sangha. The mahayana teachings will focus on the topics from the Foundations series. During the vajrayana retreats, Rinpoche will support students on the path of the Amitayus sadhana teachings. There is not an Amitayus Abhisheka planned for the vajrayana retreats, however Rinpoche will bestow the empowerment again this year if a sizable number of students supplicate for it.
The Sadhana of the Buddha
In December 2025, Rinpoche will lead the second two-day exploration of the Sadhana of the Buddha, first introduced at in-person retreats in 2023, and taught further on in December of 2024. People were deeply inspired by this practice that felt like a means to meet the Buddha face-to-face.
2025 Teaching Schedule
The schedule of online teachings and in-person gatherings planned for 2025 can be viewed at https://sakyonglineage.org/2025-teaching-schedule/. The exact timing and order of events may change. Additional online and in-person events may be added based on student supplications during the year.