Meditation Retreat Schedule
March 3 – 8 Crestone, CO
Awakening Wisdom & Love Through Insight MeditationTeachers: Susie Harrington, Brian Lesage
Registration: opens in September
This retreat offers the unique opportunity to practice Insight Meditation at Blazing Mountain Retreat Center. Blazing Mountain is situated on the sacred land of Crestone, Colorado. The surrounding environment and beautifully designed meditation hall provide a spacious setting for practice. The comfortable accommodations and healthy vegetarian meals will nurture your well-being. Sponsored by, and more information available from the Salida Sangha.
New Year's Retreat
Dec. 27, 2017 – Jan 1, 2018 Salt Spring Island, BC
Teacher: Susie Harrington
Cost: varies based on choice of lodging from $630 - $347, plus dana (donation) for the teacher
Location: Stowell Lake Farm, Salt Spring Island, British Columbia
Info & Registration
We will retreat into the deepness of winter to appreciate and release the Old Year and welcome and anticipate the vision and renewal of the New Year. We will sink into the deep quiet of these darkest days of the year and celebrate turning once more towards the increasing light and warmth. On New Year’s Eve, you are invited to stay up until Midnight with a slow, gentle evening of sharing blessings, chants, words and quiet, treats, and candles. It is a lovely way to celebrate together.
Loving the Self to Death
Retreat 3A program for advanced practitioners
May 24 – 27
Old La Sal, UT
Teacher: Susie Harrington
Registration for full program required; application period open through Sept. 10.
More info and application
Lost Coast Women's Retreat
May 31 – June 8, Northern California
Teachers: Susie Harrington and Erin Selover
Info and Registration
The Lost Coast is the longest, wildest stretch of the northern California Coast. Carrying daypacks and lunch, we hike nine miles along the rocky shore, dropping into silence along the way, and arrive at a place that feels sacred and magical. Nestled between the ocean and the mountains, we will practice with the surf, the birds and the sea breezes as our supports. Camping and indoor sleeping arrangements are available.
Touching the Earth
July 26 – 30 Paradise, Utah
Teacher: Susie Harrington
Cost: 3-day option (7/26-7/28) $100-$140
5-day option (7/26-7/30) $140-$260
Info & Registration: Cache Valley Sangha
This residential retreat will be an opportunity to sit and walk in silent meditation practice in a lush pastoral setting. Looking deeply into the heart of our experience, we will examine the habits of mind that cause us to suffer. When we bring our compassionate attention to moment to moment experience, our hearts and minds relax and we can access freedom, contentment and well -being.
This retreat will take place primarily outside, with camping or bunk house accommodations available. In addition to sitting and walking meditation, there will be dharma talks, meetings with the teachers, chanting and mindful movement. Those new to meditation and those with experience are welcome.
Awakening in Love and Insight
A residential retreatAugust 18 – 25
Location: Pecos Monastery, Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey, Pecos, New Mexico
Teacher: Susie Harrington
Cost: $750 – $550
Info & Registration at the Albuquerque Sangha website.
Insight Meditation is a simple and direct practice based on moment-to-moment awareness, a technique that opens the heart and clears the mind. In practicing mindfulness in silence throughout the day—in sitting and walking meditation–we learn to be aware of our experience from a place of stillness and equanimity. As we come to see more clearly, insight deepens, and compassion and wisdom can arise.
This retreat, designed for beginners and experienced practitioners alike, will include meditation instruction, dharma talks, individual practice discussions with the teacher and group discussion time. There is a beautiful meditation space at the Center, and we will also sit outside as conditions allow.
Gratitude & Generosity: Realizing the Abundant Heart
A weekend non-residential retreat
December 7 – 8 Spirit Rock, Woodacre, CA
Teacher: Susie Harrington
Info (and registration when open)
In this weekend retreat, we will practice and inquire, exploring the natural flow of giving and receiving that is the source of all connection, all life, and an expression of the fundamental truth of interconnection.
Journey to Bhutan
A Cultural & Walking Retreat
Nov. 23 – Dec. 6 Bhutan
Teacher: Susie Harrington
Info & Registration
This trip is a rare opportunity to travel behind the scenes in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, a country steeped in centuries of Buddhist life and practice. Monastic life is active and strong in Bhutan, and we will practice in many monasteries, listen to the chanting monks and nuns, and meet with local Rinpoches who guide monastic life. On most days we will walk – visiting remote temples, exploring villages, or hiking from town to town. We will support our journey and enrich our experience through meditation practice and personal reflection.
February Monthlong
February 1 – 29 Spirit Rock, Woodacre, CA
Co-Teachers: James Baraz, Kamala Masters, Tempel Smith, John Martin, Beth Sternlieb
Info (and lottery when open) at spiritrock.org.
Applications for the lottery will be accepted Tuesday, July 16, 2019, to midnight Saturday, August 31, 2019. You do not need to apply on the first day it opens.
An extended period of retreat offers the rare opportunity for sustained and dedicated practice. This retreat emphasizes quieting the mind, opening the heart, and developing profound clarity and depth of insight practice. Instruction will follow the traditional four foundations of mindfulness, combined with training in loving-kindness and compassion, through a daily schedule of silent sitting, walking, dharma talks and practice meetings with teachers.
Escalante Wilderness Backpacking Retreat
Full with a waitlistDates: April 12 – 18
Teacher: Susie Harrington
Info & Registration
This retreat is an opportunity to "return home" to our true, wild nature to deepen our practice. Immersed the extraordinary wilderness of Escalante in Utah and in the quiet of our meditation practice, we will open ourselves to the interconnectedness, preciousness, and beauty of our true nature. Sitting in the beauty of canyon country gives us ready access to rapture, that quality of delighted interest and awe, and one of the seven factors of enlightenment.
From Compassion to Action
An online daylong retreat of meditation and wise response
June 28, 9:00 - 4:00 MDT
8 - 3:00 PDT, 10 - 5:00 CDT, 11 - 6:00 EDT. Zoom familiarization for those who desire half hour before start.
Teachers: Susie Harrington and Kirsten Rudestam
Cost: $40 - $100 ($10 fee for admin costs, the remainder is offered in support to the teachers. For this retreat, 50% of teacher fees will be donated to organizations in support of Black Lives Matter) No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Compassion is the wholesome expression of the open heart when it meets the suffering of our world. To know compassion is to care – to feel our connection with other people and with the more-than-human world. In these times we are asked to come to terms with the devastating effects of our racial history, our environmentally disastrous greed, and the immediate difficulties of Covid-19. It is in facing these challenges that our hearts can know both our tenderness and our strength. There is the natural desire to feel both compassion and to relieve the suffering.
In this daylong retreat, we will explore through meditation, dharma talks, connection with others and engaged practice, how to know and allow the natural movement of our hearts. There will be periods of silent practice as well as invitations to take action, such as making a phone call, writing a letter, donating to a cause, and finding your own inspiration to act. Through mindfulness, we will explore the emotions, resistances, hindrances, and wholesome qualities that arise in considering and enacting compassionate response. What arises when we are moved to do something, to move off the cushion, out of silent meditation and take our practice into action?
Below are some race resources you can begin to look at. Prior to the retreat, we will send additional resources on other topics, and the zoom link. We ask that you spend 30 minutes prior to the retreat exploring responses in a topic that moves you.
75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
Resources for Accountability and Actions for Black Lives
Anti-Racism Resources
All in-person retreats are currently held with current COVID protocols, including masking, social distancing and hygiene, and updated as requirements and recommendations evolve. More information is available for each retreat. With COVID, everything is in constant flux and change! If you would like to be informed when retreats are offered, we highly recommend you sign up for the newsletter (in the footer) which announces new retreats. We don’t always list all retreat on the website. Check back, we are still adding retreats as changing conditions continue to unfold.
PROGRAMS
Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy
July 2022 – January 2024
Teachers: Gil Fronsdal, Susie Harrington, Kristen Rudestam, Ram Appalaraju, and guest teachers and facilitators skilled in specific areas of teaching and inquiry.
Location: This program includes two in-person one-week retreats in California, and 17 days/10 online sessions.
Applications for this round is closed
This program offers basic Buddhist training in the wisdom and skill needed to be a Buddhist Environmental Chaplain, i.e., those who work to support people in developing healthy, compassionate, and mutually supportive relationships with each other and with the natural world. It will offer experience-based activities and contemplative practices that deepen individuals’ own relationships with the natural world, as well as provide them with skills to be spiritual caregivers, helping others (re)connect with nature and face contemporary socio-environmental crises with wisdom and compassion.
More info
RETREATS
2024
Finding Refuge, Finding Home: A Retreat in Nature
April 21-27, 2024
Venue: Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Teachers: Susie Harrington, Mark Coleman, Yong Oh
Registration opens December 19, 2023
More info at spiritrock.org
In the storms of our lives we need refuge, nourishment, and support—a place to replenish our tired bodies and troubled hearts. When the Buddha offered his teachings, his first instruction was to go meditate under a tree. Throughout this retreat, we will practice together in the age-old tradition of being outside in the company of the natural world. We will explore tapping into the natural stillness and dynamism that surrounds us and teaches us. As we integrate stillness and movement, we move toward being active participants in the world while maintaining balance and ease in our hearts and minds.
Retreat in San Luis Obispo, CA
June 29 – 30, 2024
Venue: to be announced
Teacher: Susie Harrington
Info and registration to follow
5-day Residential Retreat near Calgary AB
July 30 – August 3, 2024
Venue: Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre, Cochrane, Alberta
Teacher: Susie Harrington
Info and registration at calgaryims.org
In the storms of our lives we need refuge, nourishment and support - a place to replenish our tired bodies and troubled hearts. When the Buddha taught meditation, his first instruction was to go sit under a tree. The beautiful surroundings at Mount St. Francis are ideal for practicing together in the age-old tradition of being outside in the company of the natural world, while also offering the flexibility to “retreat” indoors, if needed.
In this silent retreat, we will explore tapping into the natural stillness and dynamism that surrounds us and which can teach us balance. As we integrate the stillness and movement, we move toward being active participants in the world while maintaining balance and ease in our hearts and minds.
Touching the Earth: Awakening with Nature
August 12 – 19, 2024
Teacher: Susie Harrington, Denise Ackert (assisting)
Venue: Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Center near Boulder CO.
More Info and Registration
Do you long to embody the ease, freedom, and aliveness that is your true home? To do so, the Buddha implored us to “go to the forest, to the foot of a tree” as an onward leading condition for awakening to our true nature. In this home of spruce forests, alpine meadows, birdsong, and wandering moose, we practice immersed in the natural world. Here we explore opening ourselves to the beauty, interconnectedness, and preciousness of our true nature.
From M's email
Do you long to embody the ease, freedom, and aliveness that is your true home? To do so, the Buddha implored us to “go to the forest, to the foot of a tree” as an onward leading condition for awakening to our true nature. In this home of spruce forests, alpine meadows, birdsong, and wandering moose, we practice immersed in the natural world. And we explore opening ourselves to the beauty, interconnectedness, and preciousness of our true nature. During this retreat, we'll be encouraged to look out and around, as well as inward, and to delight in what we see.
This retreat is held in noble silence with periods of group and solo sitting and walking meditation, dharma talks, and inquiry practice. We will practice primarily outside, yet there is shared lodging in the retreat center, as well as a limited number of camping spots. This center includes 180 acres of private river, meadow, and woodland at an altitude of 8500 feet adjacent to National Forest. The land is set aside as a nature preserve and is home to an abundance of wildlife, including deer, elk, moose, bear and beaver. If an outdoor retreat in a wild place appeals to you without the challenges of remote travel, this retreat offers a welcome sanctuary.
We have been following the conservative approach taken by other retreat centers in response to COVID. As conditions change we have been modifying our protocols. This approach may require a covid test within 24 hours of arrival, and a request that you mask if any symptoms arise during your stay. If circumstances change and additional requirements are needed to keep everyone safe, we will be in touch with you directly after you register.
RMERC
RMERC brings Buddhism and Dharma back into the natural world where they originated, and fosters the clarity and compassion needed to better address the ecological crisis and inextricably related social justice issues.
Donations:
The retreat fee only covers the basic retreat costs: food, facility, travel for teacher and cook, and other incidental expenses. In the spirit of generosity, Susie and Denise (assisting) offer their teaching freely, and you have the opportunity to offer a support donation at the end of the retreat to them. For more information see Teacher and Staff dana. (provide link to website)
Teton Sangha Retreat
September 6 – 12, 2024
Teacher: Susie Harrington
Location: Jackson, WY
Teton Sangha hosts one-week residential retreat in the fall of each year. Occasionally a weekend-only option is offered within the time period. More information soon.
Opening the Heart into a World of Kindness
A Seven-Day Meditation Retreat for Experienced PractitionersSeptember 17 – 24, 2024
Teachers: Susie Harrington and Brian Lesage.
Location: Pecos, New Mexico.
More info and registration: Santa Fe Vipassana Sangha
Offered by the Santa Fe Vipassana Sangha and the Albuquerque Insight Meditation Center
In this retreat, all of our time will be spent in the cultivation of metta. This is a particular way of practice that can significantly open the heart while also cultivating stability and tranquility. You do not need to have a previous metta practice; you only need to bring a willingness and interest in developing this type practice. There will also be an opportunity to nurture Samadhi and the deeper states that can arise within that realm. This retreat is for practitioners who have done at least two week-long residential retreats in the Insight Meditation tradition. The retreat will be held in silence and will include practice discussions, daily instructions, and Dharma talks. The retreat center is on the Pecos River surrounded by juniper forest. The center is isolated and large enough to provide for seclusion and the quietness needed to support the practice.
Sacred Bhutan Retreat
Walking and Meditation in the Land of the Thunder DragonNov. 23 – Dec. 8, 2024
TEACHER: Susie Harrington assisted by Kathy Cheney
COST: $7,890
LOCATION: We will spend our days trekking through Bhutan. Trip begins and ends in Bangkok, Thailand (see itinerary).
More info and registration
This trip is a rare opportunity to travel behind the scenes in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, a country steeped in centuries of Buddhist life and practice. Bhutan is one of the few countries in the world that has successfully resisted the wave of globalization. The country was quite isolated from the modern world until the 1960's, and residents enjoy a culturally intact lifestyle, complete with well-preserved festivals, traditional food and dress, and traditional architecture.
Our focus will be on the active monasteries and temples that arise from the landscape everywhere. Monastic life is active and strong in Bhutan, and we will practice in many of these monasteries, listen to the chanting monks and nuns, and meet with the local Rinpoches and Khenpos who guide monastic life. Many of the temples that we will visit are remote, inaccessible by road, and infrequently visited by tourists.
Sabbatical
Susie will be on sabbatical October 2024 – April 2025.