April 2024 – October 2026
The 7th North American 3 Doors Academy will begin in April 2024.
Applications are now closed.
Scholarships are available by request to help offset the cost of tuition. Please do not let cost be a barrier!
Completed applications can be submitted by email to info@the3doors.org.
Embracing 2024 with an Open Heart: A Full-Day Retreat with Teachers of North American Academy 7
January 27, 2024 from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Eastern US Time
Anyone interested in practicing together, learning more about the next Academy, and getting to know our teachers is warmly invited to join this full-day retreat with the teachers for the upcoming North American Academy.
Past graduates are also encouraged to attend to practice together and share experiences of the Academy.
Missed it? That’s okay! Now available as a self-paced pre-recorded retreat.
Academy Description and Benefits
The 3 Doors Academy provides you with the opportunity to engage deeply in the process of self-discovery. It is rigorous in the sense that you are asked to make an active and on-going commitment to self-reflection and meditation. It is challenging at times, since facing yourself can be humbling and disorienting. And it is frequently joyful, since the freedom of going beyond perceived limitations and experiencing the abundant resources of your true nature is liberating.
A great strength of the program is that it draws upon the collective power of the group for support in transforming personal limitations. The trainee participates in six residential retreats, shares experiences in monthly small group conference calls with a mentor, and draws upon the mentor relationship for individual guidance and direction. The Academy environment is one of complete confidentiality, support, and the genuine warmth that emerges when people openly share their journeys with one another. The Academy program concludes with a formal graduation ceremony.
Six In-Person Group Retreats
Retreat 1: Finding Inner Refuge and Introduction to Practices of Body and Breath
The first group retreat introduces the abiding practice of the inner refuge. Through focusing and resting your attention on the stillness of the body, silence of inner speech, and spaciousness of mind, you discover the unbounded spaciousness of your nature, the light of awareness, and spontaneous, genuine warmth. The inner refuge is the foundation of the Academy training and your capacity to abide within it is deepened and strengthened in all subsequent retreats.
You will explore the practices of the Nine Breathings of Purification and the Tsa Lung (exercises of breath and movement). These practices enable you to increase your awareness of the subtle energy channels and centers in the body in order to clear limiting patterns of reactivity, discover fresh and open awareness, and express yourself in a more authentic way. These practices are presented in Awakening the Sacred Body by Tenzin Wangyal.
Retreat 2: Exploring the Gifts of Inner Refuge and Practicing With Sound and Silence
The focus of the second group retreat is to rest more deeply in the inner refuge and experience the gifts of spaciousness, awareness, and warmth. In addition to continuing with the previous practices of the body, you will learn the practice of the Five Warrior Syllables, a practice which explores the power of sound and silence to release subtle obscurations and support the emergence of authentic presence and creative expression. This practice is presented in Tibetan Sound Healing by Tenzin Wangyal.
Retreat 3: Healing Power of Contemplation: Bringing Pain to the Path
You will be introduced to the Fivefold Practice, a contemplative practice using five lines of pith meditation instruction through which no experience is rejected, and instead becomes the doorway to truly seeing, self-liberating, and discovering the generative power of awareness. The book used to clarify these teachings and practices is Tenzin Wangyal’s Awakening the Luminous Mind.
Retreat 4: The Healing Power of the Collective: Hosting Ancestral and Societal Pain
The theme of the fourth group retreat is deepening the recognition and experience of the collective healing power of the inner refuge. You will look at how familial, ancestral, cultural, and world pain lives within you and engage your practice within the support of the group to become aware of this collective pain, to host and embrace it, and to explore what becomes available in so doing. As communal pain releases, you are inspired to act from a greater sense of kindness and compassion for the welfare of others.
Retreat 5: Discovering Flow: Spontaneous Expression and the Path of Meditation
The theme of the fifth group retreat is discovering the spontaneous positive qualities that arise from open awareness. Meditation is not a passive process. As you abide in inner refuge, limiting patterns of ego release, enabling you to experience the emergence of inspiration and creativity. In this retreat you will practice allowing fresh insights and expressions to manifest from the clear and open space of your practice.
Retreat 6: Transformation: Dedicating the Fruit of Your Practice for the Benefit of Others
The focus of the sixth group retreat is to deepen the recognition and experience of the spontaneously arising fruit of one’s practice, to celebrate the benefits of your practice, and to dedicate the merit of your practice to the welfare of others. We examine what blocks and what supports the spontaneous expression of compassion in our lives. This retreat includes the formal graduation ceremony in which Senior Teachers confer the transmission of the inner refuge and welcome the graduates into the worldwide community of 3 Doors practitioners.
We encourage all those who complete the Academy to take the fruits of their transformations into their lives in whatever way they can. Through the guidance of your mentor and inspiration from fellow practitioners, you are supported to recognize how you can benefit others from your experience. The 3 Doors Practitioners’ Association composed of Academy graduates and teachers provides on-going instruction, support, and a deepening sense of community for all who participate.
Program Details
Teachers: Senior Teacher Marcy Vaughn and Teacher Phil Tonne
Location: Six in-person retreats at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Shipman, VA and multiple monthly online gatherings on Zoom
Dates: In-person retreats: **The first date listed is the arrival day.** Arrival for each retreat is on a Thursday after 3 pm and departure will be on the following Wednesday at 1pm, unless otherwise noted. The following dates are for the upcoming 7th North American Academy. Dinner will be served and retreat sessions start early the following day.
- Retreat 1 April 25-May 1, 2024
- Retreat 2 October 24-30, 2024
- Retreat 3 April 24-30, 2025
- Retreat 4 October 23-29, 2025
- Retreat 5 April 23-29, 2026
- Retreat 6 October 22-28, 2026
Cost*: Application fee of $100. Tuition costs $10,900 for the entire 2 ½ year Academy training program. This includes a $760 Registration Deposit, due 30 days after receiving the acceptance letter. Six tuition payments of $1690 are due 30 days prior to each group retreat. The cost of transportation to and from retreats, as well as accommodations/meals at retreats (ranging from $415 – $1300) are separate from the cost of tuition.
*We strive for everyone who is drawn to experiencing The 3 Doors Academy to join regardless of their financial circumstances. Scholarship funding will be available to help cover the cost of tuition. Scholarships cannot be applied to meals and lodging at retreats. We allot funds based on a confidential and self-reported honor system and will take your needs into consideration to the best of our ability.
Application Period: The application period will open September 1, 2023 and close January 21, 2024. Scholarship requests will be due at the time of application.
What you will receive
- Six in-person group retreats of five and a half days each, spanning the two-and-a-half year program. (Two group retreats per year.)
- Two virtual practice sessions per month with your teachers between the group retreats.
- One virtual small group session per month between group retreats to deepen connection.
- Program study materials including written practice instructions and downloadable recordings of the teachings and guided meditations from each group retreat.
- One private one-hour mentor session between each group retreat.
- Video presentations from the Founder, Tenzin Wangyal.
- Access to an online discussion board with fellow participants and Academy teachers.
- The support of a community of practitioners.
Academy Commitments
The 3 Doors Academy is a 2.5 year commitment of focus and energy. You will be invited to fulfill these requirements:
- Attend the six in-person group retreats.
- Maintain a daily practice of the 3 Doors meditations both formally (on the cushion) and informally (in daily life).
- Engage and document transformation through self-reflection, journaling, and meditation in relationship with self, family, and participation in society.
- Complete 21 personal retreat days, with no single retreat being shorter than three days.
- Participate in five hours of personal meetings with a mentor.
- Participate in virtual meetings of the Academy and small group.
Continue Your Practice in a Growing Community of Academy Graduates
Upon completion of the Academy you will join a rich, international community of fellow graduates. There is value and joy in continuing to come together to refresh your practice, renew past relationships, and foster new ones.
There will be opportunities to organize with your own Academy for further gatherings as well as come together with the larger graduate community for guided practices, sharing experiences and learning.
