Sopa Chöling Three Year Retreat

The Sopa Chöling retreat is one of the hidden jewels of the Shambhala mandala. As is traditional, this three year retreat is geographically isolated. This beautifully appointed three storey facility is located in northwestern Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, along the famous Cabot Trail. The building is situated high on the red cliffs that overlook the St. Lawrence Sea, and is surrounded by walking trails. There is a powerful presence of drala here, and the play of the elements is interactive with the retreat environment. Dramatic sunsets fill the shrine room with red light on summer evenings. In winter, at the end of the last practice session you might step outside to find that the snow is sparkling like diamonds under a canopy of stars.

Sopa Chöling is a comfortable place to practice, especially for older people. The retreat facility is uplifted, well heated and bright. Each of the two residential wings has eight rooms, a kitchenette for snacks, a torma making area, two bathrooms, and a large yoga room. There are laundry facilities and a large main kitchen where meals are prepared.

The top floor is a beautiful, spacious shrine room which highlights the emphasis and devotion given to the various meditation practices in retreat. Walking in, the first thing you see is a lovely glass Werma Shrine which seems to float in front of a pleated blue backdrop underneath a thanka of the Rigden King. It is flanked by six large windows that reveal the ever changing patterns of sea and sky. At opposite ends of the shrine room are two richly brocaded Varayana shrines, one for the daily Dharmapala practice and the other for the Yidam sadhana. Along the fourth wall is a shrine dedicated to the guru as well as a Sadhana of Mahamudra permanent shrine.

Follow this link to see more photos of the interior of Sopa Chöling

Even for those who visit Gampo Abbey, the Sopa Chöling retreat is rarely seen. The grounds are hidden from view by a large wooden fence. While retreat is in session, up to eleven months of the year, the traditional thojangs of the Four Kings are posted by the retreat gate, sealing the boundary. Only a small number of staff who serve the retreat are allowed to enter.

Inner View of Retreat

The three year retreat has a self-secret quality. It attracts highly motivated practitioners who have completed their Vajrayogini practice and are inspired to go as deeply as possible into the creation and completion practices of the Kagyu lineage. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that the retreat is not as hard as it sounds. As Ani Tsultrim Palmo commented in 1991, the retreat is not for meditation super-stars. It is for people who have a hard time practicing with the distractions of daily life and who want the support that a group retreat provides.

Retreat Design:

The Vidyadhara was clear that he wanted the three year retreat for his students to be in English. Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche adapted the traditional three year retreat format into modules spread out over five years so that it would meet the needs of Shambhala practitioners who have family and career obligations. The daily schedule has eleven hours of practice, starting at 5 am and ending at 9:30 pm. Though there are daily and monthly group sadhanas, most of the retreat practices are done individually. Each room is furnished with a three tiered shrine, a comfortable meditation seat, puja table, side table, closet, shelving and two or three windows.

Opening the retreat:

In the fall of 2006, with the permission of Thrangu Rinpoche and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, we have started to open the three year retreat to sadhakas who are able to do part but not all of the program. The modular structure of the retreat makes this possible. While it is tremendously helpful to follow the whole program from beginning to end, there are many people in our community who can prepare on their own to step in at various stages. For more information on how to apply for upcoming retreat modules

Comments about retreat

Compared to practicing alone, Sopa Chöling can be like stepping onto a moving sidewalk in the airport. Any effort you make individually is enhanced by the group momentum. Andrew Holecek describes this experience in an article called Rocks Into Rubies:

“The group consciously and unconsciously supports each other. A wondrous form of peer pressure manifests in retreat. When you just don’t feel like practicing any more, or you just don’t want to wake up (at the relative or ultimate level), the sounds of your fellow retreatants hard at work in the rooms around you pulls you back into the fold. Taking refuge in the sangha takes on new meaning. I look at “Joe” and think, “If he can do it, so can I.” And Joe is looking at me thinking, “If he can do it, so can I.” In this unspoken way we lift each other up. Without saying a word the entire group picks itself up by its own bootstraps and walks to the finish line.”

“After working through its growing pains, Sopa Chöling has become a potent container for serious practice. Every aspect of distracting daily life has been skillfully tended to or removed, and the result is a dharmic resort community where retreatants soak in the practice and study of dharma at a level unapproachable elsewhere.” Andrew Holecek

Although the Sopa Chöling retreat is hidden away, it is a powerful training for Shambhala vision. Werma and lojong practice helps transform the intense social pressure of group retreat into the selflessness of enlightened society. Andrew’s experience says it well:

“In the physical and emotional confines of Sopa Choling, retreatants are constantly rubbing against each other. We bump into each other in narrow hallways and tiny rooms, and jostle each other in the constricted emotional space. This friction is by design, an inevitable aspect of retreat, and it is profoundly transformative. Rough interpersonal edges are exposed and slowly chipped away by constant human contact. The result of such pumicing is an emotional maturity based on tolerance, kindness, and understanding. It’s like jagged rocks in a riverbed, transformed over time into smooth stones by the force of friction.

The same thing, of course, happens in daily life. The only difference is in degree and intensity. Retreat simply accelerates the process, and therefore the evolution. Because the container is so concentrated, the result is much more rapid. Lessons that would take years when diluted with daily distraction, occur in weeks or months.”

People often ask me, “How hard is retreat? Isn’t it hard to meditate so long?” It’s only as hard as you are. For a buddha, retreat is soft and easy because a buddha is soft and easy. Meditation is only difficult because of resistance to it. As you soften through practice, practice starts to soften. It becomes easier as you become easier. A three-hour sitting seems initially daunting, but with time becomes easy. A three-year sitting, with the pliability of a buddha’s mind, is potentially just as easy.

A powerful way to overcome resistance to retreat, and to make it easier, is to realize that on a deep level you really can’t do the retreat. You have to let the retreat do you. You have to surrender to the wisdom of the tradition that gave birth to the miracle of three-year retreat, and allow yourself to be processed by its methods. You simply have to give up and trust the lineage and its time-tested skillful means. Then it becomes easy.

Undeniably worthwhile.”

If you are inspired to do this retreat, applications for the next cycle are now available. The Sopa Chöling retreat is a perfect way to really settle into your practice, without distractions. The group environment offers support and mutual inspiration. The facility is beautiful, ideal for older students who want to spend part of their retirement years in retreat. If you cannot do the retreat yourself, you are welcome to offer support by donating to the scholarship fund.

For further information about the retreat, contact the Druppon at druppon@gampoabbey.org.