3Doors Academies Graduate

New U.S. and Europe Academies Begin in 2015

U.S. 3Doors Academy Graduation

A three-part rainbow appeared in the sky the evening before graduation.

On the mountaintop at Serenity Ridge, the misty morning of Oct. 7, 2013, dawned. With great anticipation, we, the 28 members of the U.S. 3Doors Academy, made final preparations for the ceremony that would mark the culmination of our journey over the previous two and one-half years together. Using the practices of The3Doors we learned to stay with turbulent waves of emotion and gradually discover the refuge within. Together we’d celebrated the joy of birth and shared the sorrow of illness and death. We shared and shed outgrown pain identities, and opened and inspired one another to experience our true natures.

In the months preceding our sixth and final Group Training Retreat, we collaborated virtually via email and phone to create this day of celebration and dedication. Stephen Ledyard writes of his experience of the graduation ceremony:
“Bathing in the luminous warmth and spaciousness in the presence of Rinpoche and my precious brothers and sisters—I can’t imagine a fraternity or sorority bonding over three years at the depths to which we traveled—I felt that I was being blessed in the sacraments of the Five Elements, beyond time and space. Standing with my family and all my ancestors, and all who would travel this path after me, I was achieving for all of us something no grand letters on parchment, no degree traced in gold, not the most esteemed university, could ever confer as deeply in body, speech and mind: a level of (self-arising) confidence that comes from receiving these keys to the doors of the nature of mind.”

Graduates of The 3Doors Academy at Serenity Ridge.

As we accepted Rinpoche’s invitation to bring our open hearts to the world, we were called to genuine service. As Academy teacher Gabriel Rocco explains, “In our willingness to show up with all our imperfections, first to ourselves and then to each other, we reengage authentically with the world.”

At the graduation celebration luncheon, with profound gratitude to Rinpoche, teachers Gabriel Rocco & Marcy Vaughn and 3Doors Director Kallon Basquin.

The graduation ceremony was followed by a celebratory luncheon in the (also miraculously transformed) Dining Hall. With the gifted guidance of our director and fellow trainee, Juanita Rockwell, we presented as an appetizer a creative montage of song, poetry, prose and collage representing our individual journeys of awakening. It was a poignant tour de force, profound and lighthearted at once. The culinary talents of the Serenity Ridge kitchen delighted us, and a grand time was had by all.

As a token of our deep appreciation, we presented Rinpoche with a donation to support scholarships for future Academy students.

European 3Doors Academy Graduation

Graduates received blessings from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and certificates from Academy teachers Raven Lee and John Jackson in a cereony at Finkenwerder Hof (Germany).

In March 2014, near Goldberg, Germany, twenty-two individuals from across the continent gathered for the final retreat of the first European 3Doors Academy. The week culminated with a beautiful graduation ceremony led by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Academy teachers Raven Lee and John Jackson that reflected the diverse, multicultural nature of the European group.
The ceremony was the fruition of an intense two and one-half years of inner work supported by a series of secular meditations through the doorways of body, speech and mind. Academy participants used these practices to transform themselves in three dimensions: in relationship to themselves, their family and their work.

Honored guests at the graduation.

In the words of Karolina Seltenheim from Austria: “Looking back two and one-half years on a path that sometimes felt like crossing a jungle—not knowing where I was going or the way I had to go… to overcome fear, I was provided with skills like the 9 Breathings, the Five Warrior Syllables, and Tsa Lung. I was able to clear winds which sometimes appeared as a storm, always finding my way to Inner Refuge, where there was space and rest …”
John Jackson writes, “It has been a wonderful experience to support and observe the growth of these amazing individuals. We have people from across Europe participating, so our gatherings are beautifully diverse and multicultural. Throughout I have enjoyed the strength, wisdom and support of Raven Lee, who co-leads the Academy with me, and Kallon Basquin,.director of the 3Doors (International) Program.”

U.S. Academy Begins April 2015 & European Academy Begins June 2015

Headquartered in the United States, The 3Doors international organization currently offers classes and retreats throughout the United States, Mexico and Europe. Currently, a U.S. 3Doors Academy is under way, with trainees to graduate in March 2015; trainees in the first Latin American 3Doors Academy will graduate in September 2014. New U.S. and European 3Doors Academies begin next year.

Applications are being accepted now for the next U.S. and European Academies. The U.S. Academy, beginning April 2015, meets at Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Shipman, Va., and is taught by Marcy Vaughn and Gabriel Rocco. The European Academy begins in June 2015 (location to be determined) and will be taught by John Jackson and Raven Lee.

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The 3Doors Practitioners Association

There is good news for anyone who is applying or is considering applying to participate in an upcoming 3Doors Academy. Once you complete your training, The 3Doors Practitioners Association (3PA) and its worldwide network of teachers, mentors and graduates will be there to support your continued personal growth, creative expression and service to others.

The newly forming 3PA exists within the mandala of The 3Doors international organization and is guided by a council of its members. Its intention is to provide multiple avenues for graduates to connect with one another, access continuing education and training, and be supported to serve their communities and society at large. Out of the collective energy of ongoing connection will come the ideas, teachers, projects, service and creative expressions that will sustain the ongoing heartbeat of Tenzin Wangyal’s vision for The 3Doors.