Within the Sakya tradition, retreat is understood as a way of embodying its characteristic union of rigorous scholarship and profound tantric method. Monasteries associated with this lineage commonly structure practice around preliminary disciplines, intensive deity yoga, and sustained contemplation that stabilizes philosophical understanding. Foundational retreats often center on ngöndro, including prostrations, Vajrasattva purification, mandala offerings, and guru yoga, all of which prepare the mindstream for more esoteric transmissions. Alongside these, periods of shamatha and vipashyana are cultivated, with calm-abiding and analytical insight explicitly grounded in the Madhyamaka and related scholastic curricula.

At the heart of advanced Sakya practice stands the Lamdré, the “Path with its Result,” which functions both as a comprehensive doctrinal system and as a retreat framework. Lamdré is transmitted in extensive and more private formats (Tsogshe and Lobshe), each combining Hevajra tantra initiations with detailed instructions on generation and completion stages. After receiving these transmissions, practitioners may enter focused retreats on Hevajra, engaging in deity yoga, mantra recitation, and subtle-body completion-stage practices based on channels, winds, and drops. Vajrayoginī retreats likewise occupy a central place, often undertaken as intensive sādhanā with sustained mantra accumulation and contemplations that integrate bliss and emptiness.

Sakya monasteries also maintain a strong emphasis on protector and specialized tantric practices that support both individual realization and the welfare of the community. Retreats on Mahākāla and other wrathful deities, such as Vajrakīlaya, are used for protection and for clearing obstacles, frequently involving concentrated mantra recitation and fire offerings. In some lineages, systems parallel to the so‑called six yogas—such as dream yoga and inner heat—are preserved within Sakya transmissions and practiced as advanced completion-stage disciplines under close guidance. These more esoteric methods are generally reserved for practitioners who have completed substantial study and preliminary practice.

Finally, the scholastic character of Sakya is not left at the classroom door but is deliberately carried into retreat. Monasteries may organize contemplative retreats on Madhyamaka and Prajñāpāramitā, drawing on the works of great Sakya masters and alternating analytical meditation with settled absorption. Mind-training and bodhicitta retreats serve as a bridge between formal study and the full Lamdré path, ensuring that philosophical insight ripens into lived compassion. In many settings, both shorter solitary retreats and longer, more structured periods of seclusion are available, often in hermitages or retreat huts near the main monasteries, allowing practitioners to deepen deity yoga and completion-stage practice while continually integrating the view established through years of disciplined study.