Visiting Teachers

Skilled and Compassionate Guidance Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center guided meditation retreats are led by the most skilled and capable teachers...

Pamela Weiss

Pamela Weiss is a Buddhist teacher in two traditions—Zen and Theravada. After living as a monastic at Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery for five years, she completed comprehensive training through Spirit Rock Meditation Center to become an Insight meditation teacher. She teaches at Spirit Rock, San Francisco Zen Center and Tassajara, and is a guiding teacher at San Francisco Insight. Pamela is a pioneer in bringing Buddhist principles and practices into the workplace, and is the author of A Bigger Sky: Awakening a Fierce Feminine Buddhism. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, Eugene, and little dog, Grover.

Events with Pamela Weiss

Being Nature: Embodying the Four Elements
June 23 - 30, 2026

 “The shape of the mountains is no other than the unconditioned body.”  —Dogen-zenji We are nature. The elemental nature of the world moves within us, as us. This silent meditation retreat will be rooted in teachings on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and the Four Great Elements—earth, air, fire, and water. In a time of ecological crisis and deep division, we will cultivate a wise, tender awareness that deepens our intimate connection to our own bodies and the body of the earth. Practicing together, we will reclaim our fundamental non-separation and wholeness and reawaken our belonging to each other and…

The World is Made of Stories: An Insight Meditation Retreat
August 26 - September 2, 2026

“The world is not made of atoms, but of stories.”   —Muriel Rukesayer This silent meditation retreat will weave instructions on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and teachings on the Four Great Elements—earth, air, fire, and water—with ceremony and story. Our time together will include periods of silent sitting and walking, guided meditation instruction, Dharma talks, ceremony, and ample time to explore and be held by the land at Vallecitos. The teachers will share stories from Buddhist and Indigenous Peoples that illuminate the power of our intimate connection to ourselves, each other and the planet. Cultivating the capacity to listen…