Pure Land Farms

I've done multiple retreats and workshops with PLF and they have so many amazing opportunities for deep learning and self-exploration. Traditional Tibetan medicine & Vajrayana buddhism is something that most retreats focusing on, but they have more modalities provided. The accommodation options including yurts are truly some highlights.

Pureland Farms has become the physical center of healing and balance in my life. The instructors come from a place of embodied knowledge and wisdom and create a wonderful and powerful environment where I felt at home and able to open up about my life and my practice of both the dharma and sowa rigpa. Every time I attend a retreat here I feel more and more open to myself and my life, and more curious and brave to go forward into looking more at myself and changing habitual patterns in my life. The hands on experience and exercises from a Sowa Rigpa point of view have been indispensable in my journey to really feel the path of medicine in my life. The teachings on sowa rigpa that instructors gave, blended with the dharma, have nourished a deeper understanding of my dharma practice as well. The land itself feels harmonious and like a "pureland". I hope to return again and again.

I am so honored to be part of this community. I find the teachings and practices helpful with my outer health and inner health. I have been asked to share with friends and feel fully prepared.

The Farm is an oasis of equanimity just outside of the LA craziness. I will return.

An idyllic center and land for practice, healing, and caring community. Thoughtful mix of in person and online options to build on knowledge and practice. So much care put into the retreat I attended, comfortable accommodations, excellent practice lead and assistants, amazing gardens and food. All which supported a deeply meditative experience of which I am so grateful! Highly recommend this center.

This retreat was challenging yet deeply personal and profound - and it clearly touched each of the yogi/ni/s sharing the retreat space in a similar way. At our closing dinner, I heard 22 personal stories expressing meaningful realizations and transformation; and, even more so, appreciation for our teacher (Christiana Polites), the practice (Yuthok Nyingthig Ngondro), and their fellow Sangha members. With so much turmoil in the world, and teachers either focused on building their name or funding global Dharma domination, and allowing (or perpetuating) abuses which turn so many from the Dharma, a diverse group had found a Sangha where we felt safe and supported to do the hard work.

When he encouraged me to attend the Ngondro, my Root Guru commented that he had been skeptical of a 7-day Ngondro, but his experience doing it had been profound. Now I know why. It was clear we all felt connected to and in the presence of a profound Dharma expressed by a living lineage. In addition to Christiana, Matteo Pistono, a renowned meditation teacher and Ngakpa, was there doing the Ngondro, and he was constantly sharing his depth of wisdom about the Dharma and its practice. What’s amazing about the Pure Land Farms’ Sangha is that this is the kind of spiritual friend you will regularly run across.

The Yuthok Nyingthig is in the lineage of Yuthok Yonten Gonpo, the founder of Tibetan medicine and no other than the medicine Buddha himself. Still, I was surprised when I first came and found a Tibetan Menpa and Ngagpa himself - Dr. Bryan Watrous - quietly observing us, making sure we got food which supported a safe intensive retreat, Tibetan herbs to keep us focused and relaxed, and acupuncture to make sure our energy was balanced and any physical issues were addressed. This has helped me profoundly over the past two years as I’ve struggled through deep work; at this latest retreat I saw several retreatants benefit from his proactive and skillful attention as they processed what arose.

This sense of being in a safe, well-held container for us to do the hard work of practice has been consistent across the five weeklong retreats I’ve done at Pure Land Farms. Every time I have come - whether it be to a weeklong retreat or one of the many other offerings (an amazing sound healing with Micah Shiner, a Medicine Buddha empowerment, Chöd and Dream Analysis workshops, to name just a few) - I’ve had a profound experience that has changed my lived practice back at home. The temple and the property are simply gorgeous, and I feel profoundly a part of the lands. This sense of belonging is the way I feel about the teachers, the Sangha, and the Yuthok lineage, and is clearly shared across the Sangha.

I do want to give two special shout-outs about this specific last retreat. William was the retreat manager and did the work I have seen being done by several people at the other four retreats I’ve been to. I’d see him at 5:30 in the morning and at 9:00 at night - doing dishes, bringing food out, cleaning up, taking the compost out - and then doing prostrations in the temple as he completed the Ngondro with us. He’s truly an amazing man. The other is Gai, our retreat chef. We were well nourished with delicious food that helped us stay sharp and focused.

You can tell I’ve found a home and you know why: they’re providing a safe place for me to do the work, they’ve got an authentic lineage to follow with amazing teachers, and I’m part of a truly supportive Sangha. I encourage you to look up anything at Pure Land Farms. They have online courses, free drop-in meditations, a beautiful temple and medicinal herb garden which is regularly open to the public, and so much more.

It’s funny I feel the need to say this, but in no way was AI used in writing this review.