Solitary Hero Yamantaka retreat
9 January to 23 January 2026
“With regard to destroying ignorance, Mañjuśrī is supreme in bestowing wisdom. With regard to destroying the lord of death, Vajrabhairava is marvellous. Therefore, having seen that this path that practices the peaceful and wrathful Mañjuśrī is the wonderful entrance for intelligent trainees, I take delight in accomplishing this method.”
About Yamantaka
Yamāntaka or Vajrabhairava is seen as the wrathful manifestation of Mañjuśrī, the Buddha of wisdom. Lama Tsongkhapa adopted Yamantaka as His personal deity-practice. Vajrabhairava is the principal Gelugpa yidam-meditation practice and to this day is considered one of the most important yidam practices, both for monastics and lay practitioners.
The practice of Solitary Hero Yamāntaka is a particularly powerful method using wrathful manifestation of the enlightened mind to control those difficult to tame. It is a means to destroy the hallucinations of ignorance which grasp to true existence as well as the afflictions that prevent us from developing bodhicitta and attaining enlightenment.
Requirements for the retreat
To attend the retreat, it is mandatory to have received full initiation into the Highest Yoga Tantra of Yamāntaka.
After having recited the appropriate number of mantras, one will be able to perform the fire puja at the end of the retreat and thus to later perform the self-initiation practice.
About the teacher - Lharampa Geshe Gyaltsen
Geshe Gyaltsen was born in Tibet in 1968, in a village named Dzogang, located in the Tsawa region of the Kham province. At the age of 16 he received rabjung ordination in the local monastery of Sang Ngak Chö Khor Ling. At 19 he travelled to Lhasa and received getsül ordination from the Sera Jey Geshe Gyaltsen Shakya. He then returned to Kham, where he began the study of philosophy in the monastery of Chamdo Jampa Ling.
Wishing to further his studies and meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Gyaltsen escaped from Tibet by walking over the Himalayan mountain range and reached India in 1990, at the age of 22. He then enrolled at Sera Je Monastery and became a member of the Tsawa college.
In 2007, after 17 years of intensive studies, he attained the qualification of Geshe Lharampa, the highest academic degree in the traditional Tibetan monastic education system. He then specialised in tantra in Gyümed monastery. After serving for two years as philosophy teacher at the Sera Jey school, he became the director of Tsawa college for one year.
After some time spent in retreat Geshe-la was requested by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to become the teacher of the residential Basic Program at Nalanda Monastery where he has been teaching since 2014. Geshe-la is admired by his students for his deep understanding and clear explanations as well as his inspiring and open attitude.
Since the commentary on the practice of Solitary Hero Yamantaka Geshe-la gave in january 2024, he regularly accepts requests from his students to lead the retreat.
Registration for the retreat are now open!
Please note that registrations will close 1 week before the beginning of the retreat, on January 2nd 2026.
Preparations for the retreat start the first day 9 January at 17:00 in the Lama Yeshe gompa, the first session starts at 19:00.
