Discovering the Vajrayana Through the Mandala of the Emotions

March 13, 2026 - March 18, 2026

PORTAL TO AWAKENING: DISCOVERING THE VAJRAYANA THROUGH THE MANDALA OF THE EMOTIONS

This silent weeklong retreat invites participants to enter the transformative path of the Vajrayana, whose radical methods reawaken us to the sacred world of energy and space, bliss and emptiness, compassion and wisdom. Supported by community and the profound methods of transformation unique to this path, we will explore how emotion itself can become a direct vehicle for awakening.

Join Lama Liz Monson and Matthew Bellows to delve into the rich landscape of the Buddhist Vajrayana tradition. At this pivotal moment in the history of our species and our planet, these ancient practices remain relevant and essential, teaching us to embrace ordinary thoughts and emotions as catalysts for realizing that our deepest nature—and the nature of all beings—is love and wisdom inseparable. Through visualization, mantra recitation, and contemplation, we will discover how these techniques transmute confused emotions into their true essence—compassion for self and others.

Please join us to:

• Explore Vajrayana practices of visualization and mantra
• Transmute raw emotion into the radiance of compassion and wisdom
• Awaken the ancestral and cellular memory of our true nature
• Reclaim the deep inner knowing that meets this moment with clarity and love

In this retreat, Lama Liz and Matthew will guide practitioners in exploring how the methods of the Buddhist Vajrayana awaken us to the sacred world of energy and space, bliss and emptiness, compassion and wisdom. Together, we will investigate how techniques like visualization and mantra recitation transmute confused emotions into their essence—compassion for self and others. In this time of global challenge, these ancient methods remind us of our innate capacity to meet the world with clarity, love, and courage.

When we enter the Vajrayana, we begin to awaken the ancestral and cellular memories that lie dormant within us—the deep knowing of who we truly are, beyond the habitual entrenchment in conceptual patterns of thought and emotion that give rise to suffering. Through practice, we discover how to harness the raw power of emotion as a vehicle to return to the deep knowledge within us that knows how to span the worlds, to dance with the energies of life and death, and to relax so deeply that we can slide into a realization of non-self without fear or anxiety.

First Draft Schedule

March 13 Arrival day

7-730 Evening Talk: Liz and Matt Introduction

Dyads about intention why did you come.

MB Topics - Personal introduction. My experience with the five Buddha families. A bridge between our conventional world and the sacred world of the Vajrayana. Five colors, five different perspectives on the world. This might be hard at times. If you have a blue, Vajra, approach to life, then red, Padma, might be baffling. Patience with yourself. Take care. Curiosity. Seek help if you are spinning out.

The role of retreat in my life. A chance to sink into your genuine, authentic self. It’s basically good. Just because it’s beautiful, doesn’t mean it’s easy. The container around you. An environment to hold who you are tenderly.

LM Topics - Why Vajrayana? Why now? What is Vajrayana?

Noble Silence begins.

March 14 Day One: Ratna

Noble Silence All Day

715-800 Morning meditation: MB chants, Three Letting Be’s, walking for 5-10 minutes in the middle.

800 breakfast

900-1000 Liz talk: How does Vajrayana work? What are emotions and how are they understood in VY? Five Buddha Families, focusing on Ratna Family.

1000-1015 Break

1015 - 1100 visualization practice

1100 - 130 Brunch

130 - 215 Home Groups

• What are home groups and why
• Liz Question One
• Liz Question Two

Lunch

230-330 Matt talk: Ratna richness and bravery, Ratna poverty mentality. the Ratna style of working with thoughts and emotions, developing peace in oneself. We are enough.

330-345 break

345-415 Ratna visualization practice

415-430 tea break

430-530 Yoga

530 Dinner

7 to 8 Buddha Families Questionnaire and Breakout Groups

March 15 Day Two: Vajra

Noble Silence All Day

715-800 Morning meditation: MB chants, Three Letting Be’s, walking for 5-10 minutes in the middle.

800 breakfast

900-1000 Liz talk: What is visualization and how does it work? Three Qualities of Nature of Mind, Focus on Vajra Family

1000-1015 Break

1045-1130 visualization practice

1130-1145 break

1145-1230 Home Groups

• How would you describe the differences between visualization meditation and other types you’ve done before?
• Why do you think visualization is useful in meditation?
• What aspects of the Vajra Buddha Family resonate with you? Which are least familiar?

Lunch

230-330 Matt talk: Maitri as self-compassion, importance of cultivating self-love when working with emotions. Vajra clearly seeing through self loathing and aggression. Transforming poison into medicine by seeing that the essence of the poison is awakeness.

330-345 break

345-415 visualization practice

415-430 tea break

430-530 Yoga

530 Dinner

7 to 8 Q&A with Liz and Matt

March 16 Day Three: Padma

Noble Silence All Day

715-800 Morning meditation: MB chants, Three Letting Be’s, walking for 5-10 minutes in the middle.

800 breakfast

900-1000 Liz talk: Power of Mantra, Focus on Padma Family

1000-1015 Break

1045-1130 Padma visualization practice

1130-1145 break

1145-1230 Home Groups

• Liz Question One
• Liz Question Two
• Liz Question Three

Lunch

230-330 Matt talk: Grasping and Aversion. Our two most habitual styles because this is our human realm. We don’t fully understand impermanence, flow, fear of relaxing into change Grasping onto meditative states. Grasping onto hope and fear around escape from suffering. Instead returning to our unified connection with everything.

330-345 break

345-415: Padma visualization practice

4:15-4:30 tea break and interviews?

4:30-530 Yoga

530 Dinner

Free Evening

March 17 Day Four: Karma & Buddha

7:15 - 8:00 Morning Meditation - Matt

8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast (self-served)

9:00 - 10:00 Dharma Talk Liz and Matt on Karma

10:00 - 10:15 Break

10:15 - 11:00 Practice on Five Buddha Families

11:00 - 1:30    Brunch

1:30 - 2:30 Dharma Talk Liz and Matt on Buddha

2:30- 2:45 Break

2:45 - 3:30 Practice on Five Buddha Families

3:30 - 4:00   Break

4:00 - 5:30   Meditation Session

5:30             Dinner

7:00 - 8:00    Home Groups

March 18 Day Six: Departure Day

Noble Silence Ends after morning meditation

715 - 800 Morning Meditation - Liz

8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast (self-served) and packing

9:00 - 10:00 Liz and Matt Parting Remarks

10:00 - 11:00 Closing circle

11:00 - 12:00 Final Brunch, Clean-up and Departure