Building a Place for Practice Together

Dear friends and Tergar community members,

Please join us Saturday 16 August for a Welcome Celebration (Portuguese: Festa de Boas-vindas) at the future site of the Tergar Retreat Center in Podentes, Portugal. This festa marks our first public event here and a chance to gather, learn about the retreat center project, and imagine the future possibilities of this land.

Attendance is free and open to all; your presence alone is a meaningful contribution to this unfolding vision.

Schedule

While the schedule still may change, we're roughly expecting it flow like this. There is no official start time, so please come to attend whichever parts of the schedule are appealing to you!

8am - Land Opens
9am - Land Blessing with Mingyur Rinpoche
10:30am - Break
11:00am - Meditation Practices
12:00pm - Food trucks open
13:00pm - Lunch
14:30pm - Special Presentation: Overview of the Retreat Center & Tergar Mandala
15:00pm - Afternoon Festa & Activities
18:00pm - Food trucks close
21:00pm - Event ends

Community Meditation & Land Blessing with Mingyur Rinpoche: Gather on the land for a land blessing with Mingyur Rinpoche and a morning of meditations.

Portuguese Festa: The afternoon and evening will be full of food and community connection—Portuguese style. The festa is a Portuguese tradition and typically includes food and local wine and beer. We’re working with local food vendors to offer delicious vegan and vegetarian food onsite. While we won't be serving alcohol on the land, the village salon (just a short walk away) will be open for those that want to partake.

Don't Miss Mingyur Rinpoche’s Talks in Lisbon & Coimbra

The Welcome Celebration isn’t the only opportunity to connect—Mingyur Rinpoche will in Portugal delivering two talks in Lisbon and Coimbra (just 30 mins from Podentes). Please join Tergar Portugal in welcoming Rinpoche for:

“Meditation for Daily Life” on Thursday 14, August in Lisbon, Portugal
“Going Beyond Mindfulness: the Essence of Meditation” on Friday 15 August in Coimbra, Portugal

Learn More

How Your Gift Supports Tergar Retreats

While there’s no cost to attend the Welcome Celebration, if you’re inspired to make a donation you will have the option to do so when you register for the event.

All donations made through the Welcome Celebration directly support the development and daily operations of Tergar Retreats. Your generosity helps us bring this vision to life by funding retreat infrastructure, practitioner accessibility, program development, and the ongoing care and stewardship of the Podentes Retreat Center in Portugal. Gifts are directed to where the need is greatest, allowing us to remain responsive and sustainable as we grow.

If you would like to make a restricted or designated contribution, such as sponsoring a specific retreat space, supporting a particular program, or dedicating your gift in honor of someone—we’d love to explore those possibilities with you.

Please reach out to Christy, our Director of Development (christy@tergar-retreats.org) to start the conversation. We’re happy to work with you to align your generosity with an area that’s most meaningful to you and impactful to the vision of Tergar Retreats.

FAQ

Registration & Donations

If I’m unable to make it, how can I cancel my reservation? To cancel your reservation just send an email to help@tergar-retreats.org and let us know. We’ll take care of the rest!

Can I receive a refund of my donation? Yes, all donations are fully refundable. To request a refund please send an email to help@tergar-retreats.org. Our staff will refund your donation, which may take 5-10 business days to process into your accounts. You can expect to receive an email confirming the refund along with a receipt of the refund for your records.

Why is there a processing fee on my donation? Can I opt out of covering this processing fee? All donations made to Tergar Retreats via Givebutter are processed by a payment processing service (Stripe). This service comes with a small fee for each transaction.

If you opt out, we will cover this fee for you, no problem!
If you opt in, you will help cover the bank fees in addition to your donation; this helps more money go to our work instead of processing fees.

Yes! You can opt out of paying transaction fee:

Click “edit” next to the fee message
Uncheck the box that appears.

Why is there a tip to Givebutter in my donation? Can I opt out of tipping? Givebutter allows donors to tip when they make donations; these tips help them continue to offer free service to nonprofits.

There is no obligation or expectation for you to tip; it’s completely up to you.

If we allow tips, this fee is waived and you are free to leave a tip or not; this helps more money go to our work instead of processing fees.
If we disable tips, Givebutter charges a platform fee of up to 5% on transactions.

Yes! You can opt out of leaving a tip:

Click the dollar amount in the tip box
Choose “Other”
Enter $0 for the amount.

I would like to donate to Tergar Retreats and the 3-year retreat project. What is the best way to do this? You are welcome to donate when you register, or at any time via the Donate button on our website.

If you’re considering a larger gift or would like to explore other ways to support, such as giving options, sponsorships, or naming opportunities, we warmly invite you to connect with Christy, our Director of Development (christy@tergar-retreats.org).

Why does the donation on my bank statement say “GB Yongey Foundation”? Tergar Retreats is supported by our sister organization the Yongey Foundation (Tax ID: 37-1464193), which is a U.S. charitable non-profit organization (501c3) that receives donations to support Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche’s Monasteries, Education & Social Engagement projects. The Foundation serves as our fiscal sponsor and processes all donations on our behalf—ensuring contributions are received, receipted, and stewarded in alignment with our shared mission to support retreat and transformative practice led by the vision of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.

Location & Lodging

What is the address for the Tergar Podentes Retreat Center? Rua da Escola 346 Quinta do Couço, Podentes Penela 3230-526

If you're using a map application, you can enter 'Campo de Futebol Podentes' which will take you to the entrance of the property, and there will be signs from there.

If I drive, will I be able to park on site? Yes. There will be onsite parking.

Will there be shuttles to the event? Yes, we will be organizing shuttles to/from the event and will provide an update when we have detailed information on pick up & drop off locations as well as scheduled service times.

Can you recommend lodging options in the area? Yes! If you’re planning to stay in the area, we have a list of nearby hotels & campgrounds for your reference.

What should I wear to the event? Is there anything I should be prepared for weather wise?

Terrain: The Tergar Retreats land is beautiful, but the terrain can get rough. There is a mix of smooth paths and untouched nature, so you’ll want to be prepared to walk on uneven ground.
Weather: You’ll be visiting us during the dry season but that doesn’t mean it won’t rain. Be prepared for changing weather—mornings and evenings can be quite cool and foggy with hot, sunny afternoons.
Clothing: We recommend comfortable clothing and dressing in layers with shoes you don’t mind getting a little muddy/dirty while you’re out on the land. Chairs will be provided outside under the main event tent; you’re welcome to bring your own meditation cushion or mat if you’d like.

Volunteering

Are there ways to volunteer if I want to help?

Yes! Below is the way to get started:

Join our Monthly Community Call: We have a Monthly Community Call, the first Wednesday of every month. Check out our community google calendar for each call's meeting link.
Catch Up On Past Volunteer Calls: Our past calls are archived on the Tergar Retreat’s Youtube channel.
Visit Tergar Retreats volunteering webpage for updates.

Data Privacy & Access

Do you sell or share my data? No, we will not sell your data to another party. In the event we want to share data with another Tergar Mandala organization in the future (e.g., Tergar International, Tergar Schools, etc.) we will specifically request your permission before doing so.

How do I request access, updates, or deletion of data you have collected? You can send an email to help@tergar-retreats.org and one of our staff members with your request.

Where can I view your Privacy Policy? We are using a fundraising and donor management service called Givebutter to help process and manage events and donations.

Welcome Celebration in Podentes, Portugal

Celebrate with us at the future site of the Tergar Retreats Center!