Deepening the Natural Path to the Heart’s Liberation: A Vipassana Retreat for Experienced Practitioners
With Erin Treat and Brian Lesage
June 26 - July 3, 2022
Join us in practicing the timeless teachings of the Buddha as a pathway to inner peace, freedom, and the compassionate heart. This retreat is designed to offer support for experienced practitioners in insight meditation, known as Vipassana in the Buddhist tradition, which has been a foundation of Buddhist teachings for 2,500 years.
Inspired by the early Buddhist tradition, we will utilize the natural surroundings to support our inner exploration. There will be a focus on cultivating an embodied presence and mindful awareness that embraces our experience with acceptance and wisdom. We will offer meditation instructions for Vipassana and lovingkindness practices, including walking and hiking meditation. Additionally, there will be individual practice discussions and a talk each evening on Buddhist practice.
To cultivate the meditation process, noble silence is maintained at all times throughout the retreat except during teacher meetings and group discussions.
Prerequisite: Practitioners must have done at least 14 days of silent Vipassana meditation retreat (total, not consecutive) to be eligible. If you do not meet this criteria, we would be happy to help you find another Vallecitos retreat.
Please note, this retreat has an application process to allow for diversity in practice experience, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity. The application for this offering has been closed. For those who are invited to attend, we will email you by February 14th with a registration link to sign up for the retreat. If you are in need of financial assistance to attend, you will complete a scholarship application once you have been accepted AND completed your registration.
We require all people who visit the land to be fully vaccinated. We will require a copy of your vaccination card prior to arrival. Vallecitos reserves the right to modify, cancel or close at any time.
Teachers
Erin’s love for wild nature, her passionate commitment to serving collective liberation, and decades of working as a bodyworker are all palpable in her Dharma. Erin is Guiding Teacher at both Vallecitos and the Durango Dharma Center, and is a Core Teacher at Spirit Rock. She served as core faculty of the sixth Community Dharma Leaders (CDL) Program, and is a graduate of Thanissara and Kitissaro’s Dhammapala Training, designed to bring forth an embodied bodhisattva ideal within the lineage of Theravada Buddhism. Erin was born and raised in the prairie of Fargo, North Dakota to a family of Irish and British heritage.…
Learn more about Erin Treat
Brian has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1988 and has taught since 2000. He has studied in the Zen, Theravada, and Tibetan schools and was ordained in the Rinzai Zen tradition in 1996. His training in Vipassana Meditation includes doing extended meditation retreats in Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, and India as well as numerous retreats in the U.S. He leads retreats and teaches meditation courses nationwide. Brian also has a private practice in Somatic Experiencing, which is a naturalistic approach to healing trauma.
Learn more about Brian Lesage