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Be Who You Are, Live From the Heart
David McKay
It is sometimes said that the most essential question in life and spiritual practice is, "Who (or what) am I, truly?" We are taught to believe a great many things about who we are that are not at all true. We learn to assume that we are separate from the mysterious and harmonious unfolding of […]
[DAYLONG/ASHEVILLE] The Four Sweet Liberations - Practices of Disruption for the Spiritually Fabulous
Lama Rod Owens
Traditional practice leans into striving for simplicity and letting go of material goods, renouncing all of the pleasures of the world. Strong feelings can arise as practitioners work to address craving and attachment in a world of consumerism and materialism, especially in the face of rising prices and less assistance with basic needs. Enter the […]
Buddha, Dharma and Sangha: Engaging in Refuges for These Times
Fresh "Lev" White and Eve Decker
During this New Year's Retreat we will create refuge in our practice together, focusing on mindful awareness, wisdom teachings, and a community of practice and support. We’ll experience meditation (both silent and guided), talks, songs, and practices all in support of our clarity and resilience as we move into the new year. We’ll deepen skills […]
Vibrant Sky – The Practice & Vision of Open
Jogen Salzberg
In this retreat, we will explore the practice of open awareness meditation, sometimes called “objectless” (and even “subjectless”) meditation. Together, we will contemplate teachings from Chan, Zen, and Tibetan masters, and learn supportive practices that help us approach and engage in this form of meditation with balance and clarity. Each day will include alternating periods […]
We Are One, We Are Whole
Rev. WonGong So
During this spring retreat, we will connect with the Dharma of our true nature amidst the serene beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In realizing our true nature, we come to see that we are one, we are whole—beyond gender, age, division, or separation. Nothing is lacking; nothing is in excess. In this awakening, we […]
The Intuitive Heart: A Meditation Retreat for Experienced Meditators
David Chernikoff
Spiritual training teaches us a radical new way of knowing ourselves and the world we live in. It enables us to make wise decisions about our lives – our relationships, our work, which teachings and teachers we choose to learn from, how to live well and how to die joyfully. This retreat is an invitation […]
Gathering the Gaze of Awareness: A Meditation, Yoga and Sensory Awareness Retreat
Jeff Collins and Gisela Konrad
“What is Buddha’s Way?” “Great intimacy.” “What is Yoga’s Way?” “Great intimacy.” Yoga and Buddhism both teach that in each moment this whole universe – including our living humanness - appears out of nowhere, and all that appears, including us, is the pure presence of the place. The great work of our lives is to […]
Metta-Vipassana: Integrating Mindfulness and Metta practices.
Dave Smith
Metta-Vipassana is an integrated practice that unites the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Vipassana) with Metta practices (Brahmavihāras). Vipassana meditation (insight or mindfulness practice) connects the richness of our shared human experience with the immediacy of moment-to-moment awareness. As the body and mind learn to settle, intuitive wisdom emerges. This wisdom allows us to fully open […]
Thai Forest Lineage Retreat
John Orr and Venerable Somasihi Bhikkhuni
There have been many Eastern teachers responsible for helping to bring the Dharma to the West. One of those is the Thai Buddhist master, Ajahn Chah, who lived in the 20th century and had a great influence on a generation of Western teachers and practitioners from around the world. Ajahn Chah practiced and taught in […]
Inner Peace in a Chaotic World
Ronya Banks
“Everybody wants a happy life. This goal is entirely dependent on our inner peace… We are trying to seek a joyful, happy life from the outside — that is a mistake.” - His Holiness the Dalai Lama If anything the past few years, world events have reflected just how precarious and chaotic human life can […]
Awareness, Wisdom, and the Heart’s Sure Release
Mark Nunberg
Buddhist awareness practices develop the heart’s natural capacity to be open and clearly aware of the underlying nature of things. During this retreat we will learn to recognize present moment awareness, strengthen and stabilize it, allowing it to support the deepening of tranquility and insight. This is the Buddha’s path for the heart’s sure release. […]
Coming Close to Life: Resting the Heart in Natural Awareness
Rupert Marques and Kerstin Deibert
Grant me the ability to be alone; May it be my custom to go outdoors each day Among the trees and grasses, Among all growing things, And there may I be alone, To talk with the one that I belong to. - Rabbi Nachman of Breslov To be human means to be vulnerable, and the […]
Returning to Love: An Insight Dialogue Retreat
Phyllis Hicks
Insight Dialogue brings the Dhamma to life relationally—in the body and heart—as intuitive wisdom. By cultivating awareness of habitual tensions and learning new pathways of release, we establish ourselves freshly in the ever-unfolding moment. Returning to loving presence becomes a source of resilience and belonging amid life’s challenges, supporting our capacity to see clearly and […]
Mindfulness of Breathing (Anapanasati) Retreat
Rachael O’Brien
Retreatants will develop their sensitivities to the felt sense of the body and the energies of mind by training in the earliest form of Buddhist meditation. Following the instructions in the Anapanasati Sutta, the approach to the retreat will be practical, somatic and experiential rather than theoretical, intellectual, and speculative. Those who attend are invited […]
The Path of Recovery: Healing the Wounds of Addiction
Kevin Griffin and Greg Pergament
Join us for a unique meditation retreat combining traditional Buddhist practices with recovery work. Primarily conducted in silence, the retreat focuses on insight meditation and heart practices, along with interactive exercises, lectures, and meetings. We learn to practice mindfulness in all activities, whether formal meditation, movement, speaking, listening, or eating. Daily Qigong practice offered by […]
Rooted in the Turning World (LGBTQIA+)
Em Morrison and Prince M. Levy-Benítez
This LGBTQIA+ meditation retreat will blend Zen and Vipassana practice and will offer a space to reconnect with our sense of rootedness amidst the Eight Worldly Winds, the ever-changing and intense conditions of this world. By lovingly cultivating radical acceptance, and practicing "not knowing," we can reconnect with what is true about ourselves, and find […]
The Heart of Our Practice: From Ordinary Mind to Awakening
Donald Rothberg
In this two-week retreat, we will work with four core practices taught by the Buddha and later teachers that are the treasures of the tradition. These practices help us to see and work through our habitual constructions of mind, heart, and body that keep us limited, often caught in reactivity and separated from our inherent […]
Awakening the Feminine Buddha: From Tārā and Kwan Yin to Our Own Embodied Wisdom
Lisa Ernst
In a time when the world feels increasingly fractured and unsettled, the qualities of the awakened feminine—wisdom, compassion, and fearless responsiveness—are urgently needed. This retreat invites us to turn toward the Feminine Buddha as a living presence within each of us, a source of renewal, clarity and resilience. Drawing inspiration from Tārā, Kwan Yin and […]
Zen and the Undoing of Doing—a Body/Mind Retreat
Rev. Teijo Munnich and Meredith McIntosh
In our busy lives, even in meditation, we are often unaware of how we use our bodies. F.M. Alexander recognized how unconscious habits of tension can limit us and developed methods for re-educating our coordination to move and rest with greater ease in all activities. This retreat, open to both beginning and experienced meditators, is […]
Jhanas, Metta, and Emptiness
Mary Aubry
This ten-day retreat will focus on the development of the Jhanas (deep concentration states) in a regular sitting practice for the purpose of enhancing insight practice as taught by Leigh Brasington and his teacher, the Venerable Ayya Khema. Insight topics will include the Four Noble Truths, impermanence, dependent origination, and emptiness. Metta practice will be […]
Grounding in Presence, Compassion, and Wise Intention
Eve Decker and Fresh "Lev" White
Deepening in presence and compassion, and guided by wise intention, our response to this moment helps shape future moments. The Buddha said, 'Intention, I tell you, is karma.' Join us in a retreat devoted to presence and radical kindness, and utilizing wise intention to move into the unfolding future guided by practices that support clarity, […]