May 23-24, 2026
Amitabha Weekend Retreat & Empowerment
Launching Our Sangha’s One Million Mantra Accumulation
at Marpa Retreat Center
led by Drupon Thinley Ningpo Rinpoche with oral interpretation by Virginia Blum
Join us for a special weekend retreat dedicated to Amitabha Buddha, beginning with an Amitabha empowerment that will initiate our sangha’s collective aspiration to accumulate one million recitations of the Amitabha mantra. This retreat will be led by Drupon Thinley Ningpo Rinpoche, a holder of the title retreat master with deep experience guiding intensive, practice-focused retreats. Rinpoche is known for his ability to communicate profound dharma in a direct way as practical instruction that helps practitioners confidently engage in the actual practice and then bring it into everyday life.Location: Marpa Retreat Center, Louisville, Kentucky
More Info coming soon
This gathering will take place at Marpa Retreat Center, a newly developing land retreat center set in a remote and peaceful natural environment in Kentucky. Unlike a city Dharma center, this space offers something rare and precious: silence, open land, and freedom from everyday distractions. Retreat in such a setting allows the mind to settle naturally, creating the ideal conditions for deep practice and genuine connection with the Dharma.
During the retreat we will engage in:
• Amitabha empowerment
• Teachings on Amitabha practice and the view of transformation
• Training in the Amitabha sadhana
• Guided group practice and mantra recitation
Together we will establish the foundation for a sangha-wide accumulation of one million Amitabha mantras, planting seeds for the liberation of all sentient beings.
The Wisdom of Amitabha
Amitabha is the Lord of the Padma (Lotus) Family, the buddha family associated with the transformation of desire and attachment into discriminating wisdom. Among the five Buddha families, the Padma family addresses one of the most powerful forces shaping human experience: desire. This is the primary klesha of beings who dwell in the desire realm, where attraction, longing, and attachment continually pull the mind outward.
Yet in Vajrayana understanding, the afflictions are not rejected—they are transformed.
At its essence, the energy of desire is not inherently impure. Its purified form is discriminating wisdom: the luminous capacity to clearly perceive the unique qualities and beauty of every phenomenon. This wisdom warmly appreciates the richness and distinctiveness of the world without the neurosis of grasping, without the compulsion to try to possess what we perceive.
In this way, Amitabha practice helps transform the restless energy of longing into clarity, warmth, appreciation, and boundless compassion.
The Power of Retreat
Practicing in a remote natural environment is a time-honored method in the Buddhist tradition. Removed from the constant stimulation and demands of daily life, the mind naturally becomes more open, steady, and receptive.At Marpa Retreat Center, surrounded by quiet land and beautiful natural scenery, practitioners can experience:
• Deepened concentration
• Freedom from everyday distractions
• A stronger sense of sangha and shared intention
• A direct connection between Dharma practice and the natural world
This retreat marks an important beginning—not only for our Amitabha practice, but also for the establishment of Marpa Retreat Center as a place of refuge, practice, and awakening for years to come.
All are welcome to join this auspicious beginning.
Let us gather together to receive the empowerment, learn the practice, and set in motion the powerful aspiration of one million Amitabha mantra recitations for the benefit of all beings.