You are invited to a Vajra Vidya retreat with Ani Lodro:
THE DOOR TO EVERYTHING
Meeting Self-Compassion & Wisdom Deities on the Path
with Ani Lodro
Vajra Vidya Monastery & Retreat Center
3203 Camino Baca Grande
Crestone, Colorado
Please join Ani Lodro and Karma Choying
August 7 - 12, 2025
for this 5 night, 6 day retreat in the theme of:
Dear Friends,
Dear Friends,
This upcoming retreat (formerly titled “Meeting Self-Compassion & Wisdom on the Path”) is my honor to offer. Returning to Crestone, I am deeply inspired from my recent pilgrimage in Nepal, where I was blessed to attend the consecration of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche’s stupa shrine at Namo Buddha Monastery.
Originally, I had envisioned this retreat as a space to share the Buddha’s teachings on self-compassion, awakening, and self-love amidst the challenges of our modern world. My experiences in Nepal have added depth to my views of life, love and teachings on the spiritual path, and I now feel called to include additional talks, speaking of the very real opportunities we have to encounter Wisdom Deities and glimpse the Buddha fields that surround us.
Through the Vajrayana path, we are offered gateways—miraculous openings that allow us to touch, dwell in, and even momentarily reside in Nirvana. These living experiences can unfold through the strength of our own aspirations and intention.
For centuries, teachings like these have been privately shared in mountain caves or forest hermitages between gurus and disciples. My own Hindu teacher once used this type of setting to impart teachings to me. But perhaps these times call for a more radical and transparent approach. Perhaps it is time to speak of higher worlds more openly as an invitation. The Buddha taught that there are countless Buddha lands and realms of awakening, always within reach. I feel called to speak and teach about this in our upcoming time together.
We are here to grow and awaken. But what we are awakening into? I would like to expand our maps, to speak about and offer a glimpse of the vast, luminous world that the Dharma reveals. For these reasons, I feel inspired to call this retreat: The Door to Everything.
Please feel free to scroll below to read a short reflection from Nepal that touches more deeply on this theme.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
With love and devotion,
Ani Lodro
Retreat Registration & Fees
Retreat Fee with Lodging and Meals: $700
Retreat Commuter Fee Meals Only: $400
Zoom attendance - $200
(Partial scholarships available on an as-needed basis, please contact
us at vajravidyacrestone@gmail.com for more information.)
Retreat begins at 4:00 pm on August 7th with registration, dinner and a welcome satsang, and ends August 12th with lunch at noon.
Full day sessions from August 8th - August 11th include:
9am - 10am morning meditation with local sangha,
10:30am and 2:30 pm sessions with Ani Lodro
4:30 - 5:15 silent sitting session
To register…
Please go to the donations tab at www.vajravidyaretreats.com to make full payment. Confirmation of your room will be sent to you. Lodging is limited at Vajra Vidya and will be on a first come, first serve basis.
If you have questions, want to talk with us before registering, or would like help scheduling your stay, please email us at vajravidyacrestone@gmail.com.
My Nepal
by Ani Lodro Palmo
Kathmandu sits at the edge of the world, on the border between Nepal and the Himalayan mountains, dividing Samsara from Nirvana. Protector gods abound here, guarding this Gateway to the Himalayas, where enlightenment waits.
To go through this gateway, one must pass by the protectors of the gate. To pass by these protectors, one must be free of weapons. Weapons such as selfishness, miserliness, and even the fortunes we think we own. These types of passions are not acceptable and are prohibited in the pure lands of Nirvana.
For those that are pure in heart Nepal is a garden. Its many sacred sites and the deities within will take your hand as they climb the staircase to enlightened mind, wanting nothing more than to share it with you.
But for the rest of us, for me, my trip through Nepal started as a winter garden in Kathmandu—cold-hearted, seemingly not interested that I was braving a third world country and its lacks, that I had the courage to give up my spoiled western ways for three whole weeks.
No, the gods that met me there were uncompromising—without care or show of mercy that I could not digest the food or drink the water, that my skin was red from sun, mosquitoes and strange rashes, that I could not wash my clothes or keep up with our Sherpa guides when we climbed to Padma’s cave having to stop and throw up on the side of the trail. That there was no toilet paper or even toilets. No I thought, there is no sentimentality here.
But I was wrong. The greatest mercy was shown from the invisible bodhisattvas I was not even aware were carrying me. It took forever for me to notice them, so used to wanting things my own way, so used to abundance and comfort that have become distractions and obstacles to cultivating compassion for the majority of the world who have so much less.
All these things arose into clear light on my trip, refusing to be denied any longer, due to the patience of the deities of Nepal. Yet here, all things are possible. If we have an aspiration or a heartfelt request for realization, these bodhisattvas will respond.
Desirous minds are undone here, at the edge of the world. We cannot cling to our wish to be special. We do not get to control... anything. Especially our illusions about what we think we need in order to awaken. Our wants mean nothing here. The delusions of spiritual luxury—five-star comforts, steam baths and saunas, gourmet meals, gluten-free breads, total seclusion—these fantasies of awakening without discomfort, without others, were reflections for me to see, in the snow of my winter garden in Nepal.
That we learn to let go is what is offered here, that we will no longer be occupied by visions of what we want and don’t want. It is the quieting of the noise of our desires that is to be our reward.
And with this realization we meet those that wait for us, here at the edge of samsara. It is here we see for the first time the contrast between what we think will make us happy and what happiness actually is. Here, the pure lands arise, revealing the Buddha fields that were always present—now in plain sight, everywhere. Who knew? Certainly not me, that “the door to everything” would be found through what I left behind, in my Nepal.