We are building a silent retreat sanctuary in Costa Rica’s pristine cloud forest where you can immerse yourself in practice, contemplation, and meditation. Join us on this journey to cultivate peace and contribute to a compassionate society.
Welcoming people of all traditions, Dewachen offers personal and group teachings in meditation and compassionate living, guided by an experienced Tibetan Lama. Our techniques are rooted in Buddhist principles, yet our approach is open and accessible to everyone. Through these teachings, we focus on fostering inner happiness, promoting intercultural unity, and contributing to ecological regeneration–three guiding pillars that shape the vision of Dewachen.
True happiness can be achieved when you come home to your true nature of compassion and wisdom. Dewachen is a place for you to unwind, get in touch with the natural world, and heal your body with fresh spring water, organic foods, and local fruits. Here, you are free to rest your mind in its natural state.
For 2,500 years, specific traditions of meditation have been passed down from realized masters to their students in an unbroken oral lineage. After experiencing the tremendous benefits of four years in solitary retreat, Lama Dorje was deeply moved to share these practices with others. In 2018, he was given the title of Drupon “Retreat Master” from His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche.
His Holiness requested Lama Dorje to specifically focus on sharing Mindful Breathing Meditation in Latin America based on the Anapanasati Sutra with a technique he coined the Great Shravasti Meditation. We call this "Noble Silence," and it is a very simple, step-by-step, practical approach to silent meditation in which we practice a deep awareness of mindful breathing to calmly cultivate single pointed focus, Vipassana, and Mahamudra. Practitioners of all levels will be able to retreat at Dewachen for a silent weekend, week, month, or more, in a solitary cabin under the skillful guidance of Drupon La to take a break from their busy lives and breathe in the fresh air of nature, returning home to their true nature within.
For those practitioners who wish to learn a deeper Vajrayana Buddhist approach to meditation and practice, Drupon La will also be guiding the 5-fold path of Mahamudra which utilizes skillful methods such as visualization, chanting, devotion, and unique meditation methods to cultivate the ultimate state of Mahamudra in a step-by-step path of awakening. This is the principal practice the Lamas of the Drikung Kagyu lineage do in their solitary 3 year retreats. There will be solitary cabins available at Dewachen for practitioners wanting short, middling, and even long-term (3 year) retreats depending on their practice level.
These elegant living spaces are designed to function as solitary retreat spaces throughout the year, that can comfortably change into shared accommodation during group retreats. Each cabin features a private kitchen, private bathroom with hot shower, an altar, meditation deck, and private garden. The thoughtful design and amenities were conceived as comfortable spaces for silent meditation.
It is through the power of the community that we can provide you spaces to meditate.
Our goal is 4 cabins in 2025 and each cabin costs $50,000 to build.
Donations of any size will also receive gifts and full sponsors will receive yearly retreat time in Costa Rica.
All donations, any size small or large, are tax-deductible in the U.S.
As a thank you, you’ll receive:
As a thank you, you’ll receive:
As a thank you, you’ll receive:
Please contact info@lamadorje.net for wire info
As a thank you, you’ll receive:
Please contact info@lamadorje.net for wire details
As a thank you, you’ll receive:
Please contact info@lamadorje.net for wire details
Sponsor the construction of an entire cabin. As a thank you, you’ll receive:
Please contact info@lamadorje.net for wire details
Drupon Lama Dorje completed a 4-year solitary retreat in the mountains of India under the Drikung Kagyu Lineage which changed his life profoundly. He aspired to create a silent retreat sanctuary accessible to all people of all backgrounds, so they too could benefit from this knowledge and come to know their innate goodness.
After dedicating 14 years of teaching in Chile, Lama visited Costa Rica in 2021 and learned this country is committed to peace and regeneration. Here he found the perfect home for Dewachen Sanctuary.
The land owner made a generous offer to support Lama’s dream, and two sangha members matched each other to make the land purchase possible. Since then, the sangha has come together to protect even more surrounding land and water.
Now we are building this dream step by step as a gift to humanity -- to be reserved for all future generations.
We designed Dewachen with nature in mind to ensure protection of all beings
Experience personal silent retreat: weekend, week, month, year and traditional 3 year retreats
We will build a traditional Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Costa Rica to preserve Tibetan culture.
We will build special housing for high masters from Tibet to come share their precious wisdom
A beautiful place to gather in community, pray, and grow together
We are replanting the forest with abundant fruits both for visitors and local wildlife to enjoy
A sacred monument of the Enlightened mind to bless visitors and anchor the environment
We will dedicate a garden to Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, who's pureland is the realm of Dewachen
All around Dewachen you will find paths with prayer wheels, filled with millions of mantras, that send out prayers as you spin them
Walking paths at Dewachen will be filled with sacred art that bring about inspiration and wisdom
