Date/Time
This event takes place 11-14 December, 2026.
Registration
Registration will close 3 days in advance of the event. Full refunds will be given for cancellation requests up to 3 days before the event.
Who can attend this event?
There are prerequisites for attendance at this event:
- Option 1: To have attended a Tergar Path of Liberation Level 2 retreat with Mingyur Rinpoche or Khenpo Kunga.
- Option 2: To have received ngöndro transmission and nature of mind pointing out from a qualified lineage holder, and to have had at least 5 years of regular meditation practice.
Translation
TBD
The Primordial Secret: Dzogchen Instructions on Trekchö Meditation
WITH MINGYUR RINPOCHE
Hosted by the Tergar Institute
In Ati yoga (Dzogchen), the main focus is on cutting through concepts, to recognize this wisdom, the buddha, the fully blossomed flower, within us. How to recognize that? Through the view. That is the Ati yoga practice.
— Mingyur Rinpoche
Be There. In Person. In Nepal.
Some teachings call for more than attention. They call for presence — the kind that comes from showing up fully, in body and in spirit, in a place consecrated by practice.
This is the second retreat in a historic year-long transmission: Mingyur Rinpoche teaching from The Heart Essence of the Primordial Secret, a precious terma centered around Dorje Drolö. These instructions have been passed from master to student across generations. To receive them in person, at Osel Ling, is to participate in that living chain. Mingyur Rinpoche will also confer the Dorje Drolö empowerment, bestowing the blessings and authorization to practice these profound teachings.
About the Program
In the Dzogchen tradition, trekchö — often translated as “cutting through” — is the practice of breaking through the hard shell of conceptual elaboration to reveal the primordial purity that has always been present. It is the path of meeting our own true nature face-to-face, without the filters of hope, fear, or effort.
In this retreat, Mingyur Rinpoche will offer essential instructions on the potent union of shamatha and vipashyana within the Dzogchen view — marrying a naturally settled mind with the brilliant recognition of pure awareness. Through precise and kind guidance, we will embark on an inquiry into mind’s nature: looking nakedly at our own experience, resting in nondual reality, and discovering the primordial secret of cutting through, moment by moment.
Why Attend in Person?
Trekchö is about direct recognition — not concepts about awareness, but awareness itself. The in-person environment at Osel Ling supports exactly this. There are fewer layers between you and the teaching. The group field matters. The monastery matters. The sustained immersion of days together in practice matters.
In-person participants practice with Khenpo Gyurme alongside Mingyur Rinpoche’s teachings, forming a complete container for the transmission. Mingyur Rinpoche will confer the Dorje Drolö empowerment, granting students the blessing and ripening necessary to engage fully with these practices. This is a rare program. Coming in person makes it rarer still.
Can I get access to a recording of this event?
In response to participant requests, recordings the teachings will be available within a few hours after the final session each day and will remain accessible for two months. You can view them anytime by logging in to the event page. That said, we still strongly encourage you to attend live whenever possible and to use the recordings primarily to review the teachings.
Recordings of the teachings will be available on your Tergar International account. Please register using the same email address associated with your Tergar International account. If you don’t yet have a Tergar International account, you can create one at tergar.org.
Please note that participants in some regions may encounter difficulties accessing the recordings due to local restrictions.
What’s Included
- Live teachings and practice sessions with Mingyur Rinpoche
- Teaching sessions with Khenpo Gyurme
- Q&A sessions with Tergar guides
- Group meditation sessions
- The full rhythm of retreat life at Osel Ling
What You Will Learn
The foundational Dzogchen practice of trekchö and how to unify shamatha and vipashyana in a naturally settled, clear mind. How to release grasping and effort to discover your true nature, and how to bring these ancient Dorje Drolö instructions into everyday life.
Requirements for Participation
- Option 1: To have attended a Tergar Path of Liberation Level 2 retreat with Mingyur Rinpoche or Khenpo Kunga.
- Option 2: To have received ngöndro transmission and nature of mind pointing out from a qualified lineage holder, with at least five years of regular meditation practice.
Also Available Online
This retreat is also offered live-streamed through Tergar International, with simultaneous interpretation in Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. To register for the online program, visit events.tergar.org.
About the Primordial Secret: Dzogchen Instructions on Trekchö Meditation
Register to Attend In Person in Kathmandu, Nepal
Schedule
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 11:30 a.m. | Registration (2h) |
| 2:15 p.m. | Dorje Drolo Empowerment (3h) |
| 6:45 p.m. | Teaching with Mingyur Rinpoche (2h 15min) |
Please note that the schedule will begin on the afternoon of 11 December and end at 9:00 p.m. NPT on 14 December. Other details are subject to change prior to the event.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 9:15 a.m. | Practice Session with Tergar Guides (1h 30min) |
| 11:15 a.m. | Teaching with Khenpo Gyurme (1h 30min) |
| 12:45 p.m. | Lunch (1h 30min) |
| 2:15 p.m. | Practice Session with Tergar Guides (1h 30min) |
| 4:15 p.m. | Q&A Session with Tergar Guides (1h) |
| 6:45 p.m. | Teaching with Mingyur Rinpoche (2h 15min) |
Please note that the schedule will begin on the afternoon of 11 December and end at 9:00 p.m. NPT on 14 December. Other details are subject to change prior to the event.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 9:15 a.m. | Practice Session with Tergar Guides (1h 30min) |
| 11:15 a.m. | Teaching with Khenpo Gyurme (1h 30min) |
| 12:45 p.m. | Lunch (1h 30min) |
| 2:15 p.m. | Practice Session with Tergar Guides (1h 30min) |
| 4:15 p.m. | Q&A Session with Tergar Guides (1h) |
| 6:45 p.m. | Teaching with Mingyur Rinpoche (2h 15min) |
Please note that the schedule will begin on the afternoon of 11 December and end at 9:00 p.m. NPT on 14 December. Other details are subject to change prior to the event.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 9:15 a.m. | Practice Session with Tergar Guides (1h 30min) |
| 11:15 a.m. | Teaching with Khenpo Gyurme (1h 30min) |
| 12:45 p.m. | Lunch (1h 30min) |
| 2:15 p.m. | Practice Session with Tergar Guides (1h 30min) |
| 4:15 p.m. | Q&A Session with Tergar Guides (1h) |
| 6:45 p.m. | Teaching with Mingyur Rinpoche (2h 15min) |
Please note that the schedule will begin on the afternoon of 11 December and end at 9:00 p.m. NPT on 14 December. Other details are subject to change prior to the event.
Want to learn more before you arrive?
Travel Far, Tread Lightly
Traveling to receive teachings is a meaningful act, and long-haul flights are among the most carbon-intensive journeys we can take. The Himalayan region, home to contemplative traditions for generations, is warming 1.5 times faster than the rest of the world. The Tendrel Forest Project, created by a Tergar Institute student, offers a simple way to acknowledge that footprint and do something about it.
The project funds community-led reforestation in Nepal’s Nubri Valley, planting native trees that support biodiversity, reduce landslide risk, and sequester carbon, with land and stewardship remaining in the hands of local communities. Donations are processed through the Yongey Foundation’s H.E.L.P. programme.
At $3 per tree, even a small contribution makes a tangible difference. Use the flight emissions calculator on the Tendrel Forest website to estimate your journey’s footprint, then choose how many trees to plant in response.
About Mingyur Rinpoche
In his approach to teaching meditation, Mingyur Rinpoche integrates traditional Buddhist practice and philosophy with the current scientific understanding of the mind and mental health – making the practice of meditation relevant and accessible to students around the world.
Mingyur Rinpoche is a world-renowned meditation teacher with personal experience of anxiety and panic attacks, which he suffered from throughout his childhood and into his teenage years, when he learned to transform his panic through meditation. Born in Nepal in 1975, Mingyur Rinpoche began to study meditation as a young boy with his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, himself a well-respected Buddhist teacher. As a child he became interested in contemporary science through conversations with scientists who were visiting his father, and as he grew older he began to collaborate with neuroscientists and psychologists, including Richard Davidson and Antoine Lutz at the University of Wisconsin, on research projects that study the effects of meditation on the brain and the mind.
Mingyur Rinpoche’s first book, The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into over twenty languages. His second book, Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom, explores how difficult emotions and challenging life situations can be used as stepping stones to discover joy and freedom. In his most recent book, In Love with the World, Mingyur Rinpoche shares how his meditation practice sustained him when he left his monastery to wander through India and the powerfully transformative insights he gained from the near-death experience he had at the beginning of his journey. Mingyur Rinpoche recently appeared in the Netflix series The Mind, Explained, in an episode about the benefits of mindfulness.
As the head of the Tergar Meditation Community, Mingyur Rinpoche supports groups of students in more than thirty countries, leading workshops around the world for new and returning students every year.
About Khenpo Gyurme Wangchen
Khenpo Gyurmé ordained as a monk at Tergar Monastery, Nepal, at the age of six. There he completed the primary monastic education, studying Tibetan language, Buddhist ritual, and philosophy. Following his training at Tergar Monastery, he was sent to Sherabling Monastery, the seat of Tai Situ Rinpoche, to complete nine years of formal Tibetan Buddhist College (shedra). After graduating from the shedra, he taught for three years and eventually was granted the title of Khenpo, a recognition of his scholarly accomplishment and contribution to monastic education. Khenpo Gyurmé has also studied meditation extensively with Tai Situ Rinpoche and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.
Khenpo Gyurmé is continuing his practice as the Principal of Education at Osel Ling Monastery in Nepal and has been teaching there for the past thirteen years. He is responsible for coordinating and overseeing more than 180 young monks’ studies and teaching monastic and lay students, thus playing a very significant role in the development of the monastery. As the Abbot of the monastery, he is devoted to educational development and to supporting Buddhist practitioners along their path.