In a world where constant connectivity and notifications dominate our attention, the search for stillness and true inner peace feels more elusive than ever. Yet, some ancient practices offer a pathway back to ourselves. One such practice is Yangti Yoga, the practice of dark retreat.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
image: Wix
“Yangti yoga in sanskrit, is a profound form of thögal meditation which engages the experience of darkness to transform our relationship to the way we experience appearance and directly understand our true, awakened nature.”
Justin Von Bujdoss, an American Buddhist teacher, chaplain, and START alum is helping to bring this centuries-old tradition to modern audiences by establishing a Yangti Yoga Retreat Center to offer sanctuary for those seeking respite from the demands of the modern world and to help them reconnect with their inner wisdom in a radically unique way. We sat down with Justin to learn about the origin and development of Yangti Yoga Retreat Center, located in Buckland, MA.
For those unfamiliar with Yangti Yoga and Dark Retreats, can you provide an overview of this ancient practice and its traditions?
Yangti Yoga, often referred to as "dark retreat," is a deeply esoteric practice within the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, one of Tibet’s oldest schools of thought. The origins of this practice are somewhat mysterious, possibly dating back to the 6th or 7th century. However, hagiographic references, while not always historically reliable, place it firmly within the sacred meditative traditions of Tibet.
In essence, Yangti involves meditating in complete darkness for extended periods—anywhere from a few days to 49 days. Historically, great Vajrayana lineage holders, such as Ayu Khandro and Shukseb Jetsun Chonyi Zangmo, spent significant time in dark retreats. Ayu Khandro is said to have spent the last 40 years of her life in total darkness. Shukseb meditated in darkness for six months each year.
I’ve personally completed about seven dark retreats, the longest being 49 continuous days. The experience is intense and transformative but requires thorough preparation to ensure one’s mental and emotional stability. Traditionally, texts from the 19th century cautioned practitioners about the risks of destabilization.
This being said, it’s worth noting that just because the risk is there doesn't mean it will necessarily play out that way, which is why a preparatory curriculum is essential. This has always been part of my vision for the Yangti Yoga Retreat Center: to create a space not only for Yangti Yoga practice within the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition but also for training in prerequisite meditation techniques. This preparation ensures that when participants enter Yangti practice, whether for one, two, or three days, they have a stable experience. From there, we can progress to longer retreats as appropriate.
This has always been part of my vision for the Yangti Yoga Retreat Center: to create a space not only for Yangti Yoga practice within the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition but also for training in prerequisite meditation techniques.
How did the idea for your dark retreat center emerge? What were the initial conversations that led to this vision?
The concept of the retreat center began during the COVID-19 pandemic, but its roots reach back to a personal connection I had with an important spiritual teacher, Pathing Rinpoche, who practiced under Shukseb Jetsun Chonyi Zangmo. He gave me a rare manuscript detailing the visions one experiences during dark retreat. While I didn’t receive direct instructions from him before his passing in 2007, this text ignited my curiosity and commitment to the practice.
At that point in time, I went to all of my other teachers in India and showed the text to them and nobody had either any experience with this practice or wanted to talk about it because it's considered such a secret practice. In 2016, I met my current teacher, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang, who is both a meditation master and a doctor of traditional Tibetan medicine. It wasn’t until 2020 during lockdown when I asked Dr. Nida about his knowledge of the practice to which he said, “yes, I'll give you instruction on this and provide you the transmission for the practice, but you'll need to train thoroughly before you can engage in this kind of retreat.”
Image: Yangti Yoga | Arising from the vision of Dr. Nida Chenagtsang and Lama Justin von Bujdoss, the Yangti Yoga Retreat Center is envisioned as a place for spiritual practice and awakening rooted around the practice of Yangti Yoga, or dark retreat.
I was able to get access to a small cottage and spent a few weeks light-proofing it, and then had to come up with a system to have food delivered through a light-proof pass-box that I constructed. I had to arrange for people to cook meals and bring them every day so that I could do a seven-day preparatory dark retreat and then a couple of weeks afterwards, do the full forty-nine day dark retreat.
Afterwards I had the chance to check in with Dr. Nida – were able to meet by Zoom during which time he tested me and checked my experience. And then he asked me what I thought of the practice, and I told him that I loved it and wanted to really focus on this. And he said, “good, you should develop a retreat center for this”. From that moment, in late June 2021, I started to envision this project and consider what would this take pull this off? What would it be like? Where should it be? These kinds of questions were at the fore of my mind. There are very few places like this in the United States, and so how would this fit into the Vajrayana Buddhist world?
On your website, you emphasize the transformative healing power of contemplative traditions. How do you see dark retreats addressing challenges posed by the modern "attention economy" as an example?
Dark retreat allows a profound opportunity for a reset. When you come out, one of the most basic aspects of the experience is that you see things anew.
For example, when I first experienced my initial preparatory dark retreat, which was seven days long, I entered into this experience of sensory deprivation – complete darkness. I did not see anything, could not interact with any kind of visual culture, and I was completely solitary. After emerging from the dark retreat cottage in upstate New York during the summertime, I was struck by the different shades of green—the greens of various plants—and I saw movement in a new way. I heard people speak as if for the first time, with a sense of fresh openness. As humans, we express emotion, concepts, personality, and energy, and after spending seven days with very minimal interaction with these things, re-entering the ‘world’ feels like a kind of rebirth.
Image: Yangti Yoga
Even though one is in a dark, sometimes confined space, it feels as if the space being occupied is infinitely vast. When I say infinite, it can feel like there are thousands of miles in every direction, even though cognitively you know you're in a room that might be 12 by 12 feet or something similar. I’ve done retreats in rooms of various sizes. I even completed a nine-day retreat in an eight-by-eight-foot room, and I’m a little over six feet tall. Normally, an eight-by-eight-foot room would feel relatively small in a lit world, but in this kind of dark experience, I was often convinced I was in an enormous, vast space.
I believe we experience our minds differently during these retreats. In this context, the mind feels different, and awareness shifts. The depth of what it means to simply be becomes very pronounced, and this shift is quite profound. I would argue that concerns about the erosion of personal data control become irrelevant in the context of practices like dark retreat because they offer a rare opportunity to exist outside the grasp of the attention economy.
The depth of what it means to simply be becomes very pronounced, and this shift is quite profound.
In today's world, our lives are deeply entangled with algorithms—businesses like Amazon, Facebook, and Instagram are not only studying our responses to stimuli but actively shaping them. This economy revolves around our attention, commodifying every interaction we have.
Dark retreat allows us to step away from this entirely. By disconnecting from the algorithmic pull of modern life, we return to a natural state of being that feels deeply therapeutic. And it's not necessarily the length of time spent in darkness that matters most—it’s the experience itself. Even a retreat of just four or five days can create a radical shift, offering profound mental clarity and a renewed sense of presence for the practitioner. These retreats break the cycle of constant engagement with external demands, allowing us to rediscover a potentially more pure and grounded way of living.
This economy revolves around our attention, commodifying every interaction we have. Dark retreat allows us to step away from this entirely. By disconnecting from the algorithmic pull of modern life, we return to a natural state of being that feels deeply therapeutic. And it's not necessarily the length of time spent in darkness that matters most—it’s the experience itself.
What have been some of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of creating the Yangti Yoga Retreat Center?
From a structural standpoint, some of the hardest parts of this venture have been interesting to observe. Visioning came easily, but fundraising was initially a challenge. I worked with a friend from the startup world to see if this project was feasible and where to begin. We set up weekly meetings, sometimes with action items, and over time, this process helped focus our vision and clarify what we were fundraising for.
At first, it was difficult to find the right fundraising strategy, but eventually, the pieces fell into place naturally. A conversation with Dr. Nida helped me recalibrate my approach. He advised against forcing things and instead suggested observing the dynamics at play, which allowed me to adjust and approach fundraising more realistically.
We held a fundraising dinner attended by notable figures, including Father Francis Tiso, Professor Robert Thurman, representatives from the Rubin Museum, Tricycle magazine, and even the publicist of the Dalai Lama. Although we raised only $300, the event generated invaluable in-kind support, such as a collaboration with the Rubin Museum that allowed us to run dark retreat workshops for a larger audience.
These workshops almost always sold out, attracting participants from across North America and even Europe. Tricycle and Lion’s Roar published several essays I wrote, further building cultural support, which often proved more valuable than capital. This support gave our project momentum and helped position me as a thought leader on dark retreat in the West.
This cultural backing also led to a collaboration with a prominent Bhutanese Buddhist teacher, a lineage holder of dark retreat. He and I are in the process of collaborating on a kind of East/West exploratory religious cultural dialogue about dark retreat that is yielding a pilgrimage tour that we're offering at the end of this calendar year to Bhutan to visit several sites in that Himalayan kingdom that are very prominent and important for the practice of Dark retreat.
How would you describe how the START program aided you in developing this project?
The greatest benefit for me was the opportunity to workshop my idea and gain permission to explore my vision freely. I needed to ask myself: how do I want this to look? What are my hopes and dreams? The START program helped me translate these aspirations into actionable steps while providing valuable insights into the marketplace.
In the Buddhist tradition, it's easy to overlook the business side of things, as many organizations operate as nonprofits and struggle to function effectively. The program allowed me to envision a healthy organizational structure—financially sound, strong HR practices, and fair compensation for work well done.
In the Buddhist tradition, it's easy to overlook the business side of things, as many organizations operate as nonprofits and struggle to function effectively. The program allowed me to envision a healthy organizational structure—financially sound, strong HR practices, and fair compensation for work well done.
From a multi-faith, inter-religious, and inter-spiritual perspective, I enjoyed observing and learning from participants from diverse backgrounds. This experience encouraged me to critically examine my own practices in relation to others, leading to a deeper understanding of my vision. I am grateful for the program's support in developing my elevator pitch and presentation deck, even though we ultimately revised it.
Access to Pew research on religious organizations and trends among spiritually dis/affiliated individuals was also invaluable. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been able to participate in the START program and I am happy to see it thriving.
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Justin Von Bujdoss is an American Vajrayana Buddhist teacher, writer, and is a co-founder of Bhumisparsha an experimental Buddhist sangha along with Lama Rod Owens. He is the author of Modern Tantric Buddhism: Authenticity and Embodiment in Dharma Practice published by North Atlantic Books, and a contributor to Buddhism and Whiteness: Critical Reflections published by Lexington Books.