Are you wrestling with your demons? Struggling with depression, anxiety, illness, an eating disorder, a difficult relationship, fear, selfhatred, addiction, or anger? Lama Tsultrim Allione will teach us how the harder we fight our demons, the stronger they become. If we want to liberate ourselves from the fight once and for all, we must reverse our approach and nurture our demons. Through Feeding Your Demons, Lama Tsultrim teaches a Western adaptation of the revolutionary wisdom of Tibet’s greatest woman adept, Machig Labdrön, providing a powerful method for coping with the inner enemies that undermine your best intentions. She will teach a remarkable 5-step method for transforming negative emotions, relationships, fears, illness, and self-defeating patterns, along with a meditation practice based on Prajña Paramita to support the therapeutic process of feeding your demons.

Price
Double: $450 - $325
Queen Double: $500 - $375
Queen Single: $550 - $425
Camping: $300 - $225
Suggested Dana: $60 - $120

Accommodation descriptions can be found here.

Sliding scale fees allow participants to pay according to individual means. Your payment above the low end directly benefits our scholarship fund.

Sustaining Sangha discounts range from 10%-20% based on your membership level and are calculated at registration.

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Financial aid available

Tsultrim Allione, M.A., was one of the first American women to be ordained as a Tibetan nun in 1970 by the 16th Karmapa. She is the author of Women of Wisdom, a groundbreaking book on the lives of great female Tibetan practitioners. Her newest book, Feeding the Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict, (2008, Little, Brown & Co), connects the ancient knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism with the modern psyche, addressing the major issues of our culture and the roots of our suffering. Based on her pioneering technique using five steps to feed your demons, this book offers a system to transform our inner demons by nurturing rather than fighting them.

After four years as a nun, Tsultrim returned her monastic vows, married, and raised a famity. She earned a masters degree in Buddhist Studies and Women’s Studies from Antioch University. Inspired by the vision of a Western retreat center while living in the Himalayas, and seeing the need to create a place for the reemergence of the sacred feminine, Tsultrim founded Tara Mandala in 1993 where she is now the resident teacher.

Tsultrim is collecting the lineage of Machig Labdrön, the 11th century Tibetan yogini who founded the Chöd lineage. As a long-time Chöd practitioner, Tsultrim has studied Machig’s teachings for decades and taught the practices all over the world. In 2007, Tsultrim was recognized as an emanation of Machig Labdrön by Karme Dorje Rinpoche, the resident Lama of Zangri Khangmar in Tibet (see article on opposite page).

In regards to the recognition Tsultrim has recently said, “I think [the recognition] is to make this new phase of collecting Machig’s lineage more empowered. Recognition allows more energy to flow, and Machig’s blessings can manifest more fully. It’s a kind of mirroring from the outside, validating our heartfelt intention to reinvigorate and spread Machig’s lineage in the West. It also felt very natural. We will keep doing what we have been doing already, but the recognition creates an auspicious interdependence for the teachings.”

Tsultrim’s skill at teaching arises from her dedication to the Dharma and the ways she has brought Dharma to the challenges of everyday life. She brings forth the vibrancy of the teachings in a way that makes them germane for accomplished practitioners and those new to the path.