2027 Month-long Retreat at Southern Dharma

Happiness cannot be found through great effort and willpower
But is already here in relaxation and letting go.
Don’t strain yourself, there is nothing to do.
Only our searching for happiness prevents us from seeing it.
Wanting to grasp the ungraspable, you exhaust yourself in vain.
As soon as you relax this grasping, space is there open and inviting
and comfortable.
Nothing to do
Nothing to force
And everything happens by itself.
– Lama Gendun Rinpoche

A month-long period of practice is a unique opportunity to settle back into a continuity of awareness and to see what is revealed through a sustained quality of presence. As we slow down and allow our minds to quiet, a momentum of mindfulness gathers. And as our practice deepens, we meet both the challenging tendencies that our minds have been conditioned by, and the beautiful, wholesome qualities of the human mind and heart that offer to us the possibility of meeting experience with sensitivity, contentment, and balance.

Practicing alongside a dedicated community of practitioners, the support of teacher guidance, as well as the quietude and beauty of the wider natural world will offer a conducive environment for the cultivation of awareness and insight, inviting a closer relationship with life.

To embark upon an extended period of retreat is to embrace the gift of simplicity and renunciation. In support of this, the majority of the retreat will be held in silence, though there will be periods of group inquiry and individual meetings with the teachers each week. Teachings will be structured around the four foundations of mindfulness along with guided meditations. Dharma talks and reflections will be a combination of live teachings and recorded talks from respected Dharma teachers. Rupert and Kerstin’s own teaching emphasize intimacy with the more-than-human world and this invitation will be woven throughout the retreat.

Southern Dharma’s intention is to make the retreat available to those from a range of financial backgrounds. Therefore, the retreat will be held within a community-supported format with a work period of roughly an hour each day during which retreatants will take responsibility for maintaining the center throughout our stay.

The Buddha Dharma is fundamentally concerned with freedom and what hinders freedom.
The retreat is in service of both deepening intimacy with this precious life whilst at the same time resourcing ourselves so that we may more freely offer the unique gift of our lives to the pressing times we are living through.

What will we make of the life before us?
How do we translate the gifts of solitary beauty
Into the action required for true participatory citizenship?
– Terry Tempest Williams

Prerequisite: We recommend that candidates have participated in at least 14 nights of structured and teacher-led Buddhist meditation retreats. This should include a minimum of two silent residential retreats of six nights or longer. Southern Dharma will exercise discretion in accepting or declining applications. Prior residential retreat experience is required in order to be considered. Online retreat experience does not fulfill the prerequisite. Future attendance in a retreat also does not qualify.

Please fill out a waitlist form to apply for this retreat. Southern Dharma staff will reach out to confirm your registration for this 2027 retreat by February 28th, 2026 and on a rolling basis afterwards. 

We will not be requiring or administering Covid-19 tests in 2026, but please bring mindfulness to your activity in the days leading up to the retreat out of consideration for our staff, teachers and participants. Masks will be optional and encouraged, especially if a participant is feeling unwell. Avoiding higher risk situations and making use of masks whenever possible will minimize the likelihood of transmitting viruses to others while on site. We strongly encourage folks to stay home if they are symptomatic of any communicable illness.

First-time retreatants at Southern Dharma must arrive by 5pm ET on the first day of retreat. Check-in begins at 3pm. Returning yogis can check-in between 3 and 6pm.

Departures will take place by 2:00pm on the last day of retreat. Please make sure that you can attend the full program before registering.

All registrations are subject to our new 2026 cancellation policy. All retreatants must review and agree to this policy upon registration.

For our 2026 retreats, all pricing is based on lodging. Please choose the option that best fits your ability to give in this time. Any amount paid above the Base rate is a tax deductible contribution to Southern Dharma Retreat Center. Your confirmation email is your receipt for tax purposes.

We are deeply grateful for your support.

Note that registration fees do not include dana for the teacher(s). In the Buddhist tradition the teachings are offered freely and teachers are not paid for their offerings. They rely on dana contributions from students. We appreciate your generosity and support in building a community of practitioners committed to the Dharma. 

Housing and all meals are included in the program fee. We are now currently offering five housing options:

1. Bed in Lodge, shared double room (2nd floor)
2. Bed in Lodge, dorm with privacy partitions (3rd floor)
3. Unheated kuti (single cabin)
4. Canvas Tent (furnished, single)
5. Basic Tent Platform (camping with your own gear)

*Please note: Southern Dharma is no longer able to offer Heated Kutis. All Kutis are Unheated with no electricity. 

Southern Dharma offers scholarship awards based on need at 25 or 50% discounts for lodge-based room assignments. Selecting a scholarship option affords you a high probability of being assigned to shared housing options. 

Please use the appropriate fields to let us know additional housing needs, such as specifying if you prefer being housed with others of the same gender, snore, use a CPAP machine, or need single housing (if you registered through a scholarship pathway and would otherwise be placed in the lodge). 

Southern Dharma offers additional financial aid for BIPOC and Young Adults, in addition to those with more serious financial need. Please email registrar@southerndharma.org if you are in need of financial aid above the 25% or 50% scholarship.

Participants who have utilized Hemera Foundation Fellowships in the past are welcome to utilize any of the in-house scholarship options.