Foundations of Vajrayana Buddhism: Yuthok’s Healing Path
Seven dAy retreat WITH Dr. Nida CHENAGTSANG
SEPTEMBER 17 - 24 2025
Check in 3 - 6pm on Wednesday September 17 in for residential guests;
Check out 2 - 4pm September 24
(Detailed Schedule Below)
This very special retreat organized in honor of the release of Dr. Nida’s new book by the same name and arrival of new Yuthok statue at Pure Land Farms is a deep immersion into the profound healing path of the Yuthok Nyingthig and includes empowerment, reading transmissions, teachings, and guided practices. More Details Below.
ABOUT THE RETREAT
Vajrayana, the "Diamond" or "Indestructible" Vehicle of Buddhism, aims to rapidly transform ordinary perception into enlightened awareness. It offers profound tantric methods that allow the dedicated practitioner to achieve Buddhahood in a single lifetime through skillful engagement with the mind's fundamental nature. Rather than deny complex human emotions, experiences, and suffering, Vajrayana invites us to understand and integrate them into our spiritual path as fuel for transformation and spiritual growth.
Within the various lineages of Vajrayana Buddhism, the Yuthok Nyingthig presents a unique path of healing for oneself and others, rooted in the timeless universal healing wisdom of the Medicine Buddha, with practical applications in a modern context.
The foundation of Vajrayana Buddhist practice is Ngöndro, commonly known as the Preliminaries. These practices offer profound opportunities to purify karma and accumulate merit, gradually and safely transforming the mind altruistically through a structured set of embodied meditations. In the Yuthok Nyingthig, special emphasis is placed on Guru Yoga, where a series of four distinct Guru Yogas are practiced as the Yidam (Deity)/Creation Stage, forming the foundation of the path.
In this retreat, Dr. Nida will guide students through foundational ngöndro and guru yoga practices of the Yuthok Nyingthig within the context of Vajrayana Buddhism, leaving participants with a clear path forward to embark on the healing journey of the Yuthok Nyingthig.
Empowerment and reading transmissions will be given to ground the practice within the profound blessings of the unbroken lineage of the Yuthok Nyingthig.
In-PERSON RETREAT PRICE:
Commuter $1080: Includes retreat, three meals a day, and one year access to video recordings of retreat sessions (offsite accommodations)
Residential $1500 - $2200: Includes retreat, three meals a day, access to online retreat and onsite accommodation for seven nights
10% Early Bird discount before August 15th.
Very limited space, advanced registration required
Opportunity to contribute to new Yuthok statue handcrafted in Nepal by traditional Newari Buddhist artisans.
ONLINE LIVESTREAM
$600
10% Early Bird Discount before August 15th
Online retreat includes livestream of all sessions (on Zoom) and one year access to video recordings of retreat sessions.
Daily practice Schedule:
Sessions in bold will be livestreamed
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 17
Check in: 3 - 6pm for residential guests
6pm: Dinner
7:30pm: Introduction to Vajrayana Buddhism (Public talk and book signing, open to all)
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 18 - TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 23*
8am Breakfast
9am - 12pm: Practice and Teachings with Dr. Nida
12:30 - 3:30: Lunch and break (opportunity for Sowa Rigpa healing sessions)
3:30 - 6:30: Guided practice sessions
6:30pm: Dinner
8pm: Shanglon protector practice
*On the auspicious new moon of September 21st, also celebrated as International Day of Peace, the empowerment and statue consecration will take place.
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 24
9am - 12pm: Concluding Practice and Teachings with Dr. Nida
12:30pm: Lunch and check out for residential guests'
Schedule subject to modifications
Yuthok Nyingthig, the ‘Heart Essence of Yuthok.' This unique and comprehensive set of Tibetan Buddhist practices was transmitted by Yuthok Yönten Gönpo the Younger, the great 12th century Tibetan physician and meditation adept who is considered to be an emanation of Medicine Buddha. It is a complete system of practice from the Anuttarayogatantra (Highest Yoga Tantra) class of teachings, beginning with Ngöndro (the preliminaries) and progressing through Kyerim and Dzogrim (Creation and Completion Stage practices) to the highest practices of Mahamudra and Dzogchen.
The tradition includes concise and essential methods perfectly suited for busy contemporary practitioners that offer both worldly benefits including improved health and longevity for oneself and others, as well as the ultimate benefit of complete spiritual liberation. The Yuthok Nyingthig is the main spiritual tradition connected with Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan medicine), and it contains many unique methods to heighten the intuitive, diagnostic, and healing capacities of doctors. It is the only complete cycle of Vajrayana teachings in which Medicine Buddha as a yidam (personal meditative deity).
Yuthok Nyingthig meditation practices are traditionally done in the context of a seven day retreat, making them practical and accessible in these modern busy times.
Dr. Nida chenagtsang
Born in Amdo, in Northeastern Tibet, Dr. Nida began his early studies of Sowa Rigpa at the local Tibetan medical hospital. Later, he was awarded a scholarship to enter the Lhasa Mentseekhang or Tibetan Medical University, where he completed his degree in 1996, with practical training at the Tibetan Medicine hospitals in Lhasa and Lhoka.
Alongside his medical education, Dr. Nida trained in Vajrayana with teachers from every school of Tibetan Buddhism. In particular, he trained in the Longchen Nyingthig tradition of the Nyingma school with his root guru Ani Ngawang Gyaltsen and in the Dudjom Tersar tradition with Chönyi Rinpoche and Semo Dechen Yudrön. He received complete instruction in the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage, the unique spiritual tradition of Tibetan Medicine, from his teachers Khenpo Tsultrim Gyaltsen and Khenchen Troru Tsenam, and was requested to continue the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage by Jamyang Rinpoche of the Rebkong ngakpa and ngakma community.
A well-known poet in his youth, Dr. Nida later published many articles and books on Sowa Rigpa and the Yuthok Nyingthig tradition in Tibetan and English, which have been translated into several languages. He has extensively researched ancient Tibetan healing methods, and has gained acclaim in East and West for his revival of little-known Tibetan external therapies.
