Our most anticipated program is the 3-Year Retreat. This is a specific format for retreat where participants spend 3 years, 3 months and 3 days traversing a rigorous curriculum of intensive meditation practices, spending about 16 hours a day in formal meditation sessions. For over a thousand years Tibetans have engaged in years-long meditation retreats like these. Often yogis would meditate alone in caves for many years, supported by residents of nearby villages. 

According to the Vajrayana Buddhist system it’s possible to become enlightened in a single lifetime. The idea with 3-year retreat is to pack an entire lifetime’s wisdom practice into the smallest possible package, taking a direct shot at trying to become enlightened. Traditionally the 3-year retreat has sometimes been treated as a prerequisite for becoming a lama (aka master meditation teacher).

The retreat is cloistered, meaning that participants remain within the retreat boundaries for the entire duration of the retreat without any visitors. In a modern context this also means no telephone calls, emails, nor internet.

This tradition was transferred to the west in the 1970s. Since then, hundreds of practitioners have participated in 3-year retreats in France, Spain, Canada, the United States, Australia and elsewhere. 

We hope to establish an ongoing cycle of 3-year retreats at Tergar Podentes. Our goal is to begin the first 3-year retreat in November 2026. We will begin accepting applications by early 2025. 

For more information see the Timeline for 3-Year Retreat in Podentes