Retreats

Discover a Deeper Way of Living Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center offers a retreat for almost everyone. Our schedule carries a...

Date & Time Details: Check-in is from 3:00-5:00 on the first day of the retreat. The retreat will close mid-morning on the last day of the retreat. (Learn more)

PRICE: We offer a sliding scale structure. Scholarships are available, see below. Prices for this retreat range from $490-$1,375 (not including teacher dana and add-on items). (Learn more)

DANA: This is a dana-based retreat. (Learn more)

SHUTTLE SERVICE: Shuttle Service is available for this retreat. (Learn more)

NOBLE SILENCE: This retreat will be held in noble silence. (Learn more)

SCHOLARSHIP / FELLOWSHIP AVAILABILITY: Scholarships are available on a limited basis for Hemera, BIPOC, and Needs Based. (Learn more)

SAFETY: We are committed to providing a safe environment for gathering. We have created multiple precautions to hold our time together. (Learn more)

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Application for Belonging, Connection, and Nature: Coming Home Together

With Pamela Weiss, Solwazi Johnson and Yong Oh

June 2 - 7, 2023

This retreat emerged from the relationship between its teachers as a result of many years of being together in dharma practice, teaching, and spiritual friendship. And this retreat invites the participants into relationship — with themselves, each other, the land, and all beings everywhere without exception.

Awakening from the delusion of separation through practice and inquiry, we will explore belonging, connection and nature to reveal what supports us in coming home to our hearts, coming home to interdependence. Grounded in foundational Dharma teachings, we will offer traditional sitting and walking instruction as well as daily opportunities to practice in wild nature together. This is a silent retreat but we will also engage in inquiry and sharing through structured, guided relational practice as part of the context of the retreat.

*Please note, the make up of this retreat will be a maximum of 45% white people.

APPLICATION PROCESS: The retreat has an application process to ensure a mix of BIPOC- and white-identified persons. There are still BIPOC identified spaces available – please apply for a possible space on retreat. Please note we have filled all available spaces for white-identified persons. White identified people may still apply and will be added to the waitlist. We will continue to review applications and send invitations to register as spaces become available. For those who are invited to attend, we will email you 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.


COVID Safety Measures: Please review our current COVID Safety Measures, which are subject to change. We are creating this web page in January and retreats will not begin until late May. We very much understand how much things can change between now and the start of our retreat season.  Our Medical Committee is actively and regularly updating our protocols. 

Teachers

Pamela Weiss
PAMELA WEISS a Buddhist teacher authorized to teach 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 is currently a member of the Spirit Rock Teacher Council, a guiding teacher at San Francisco Insight, and a visiting teacher at the Brooklyn Zen Center. Pamela is an executive coach and 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…
Learn more about Pamela Weiss
Solwazi Johnson
Solwazi has been practicing and teaching Buddhism and mindfulness meditation for over 20 years, with a focus on Vipassana since 2003. He has studied/practiced in Thailand, Burma, India, and South Africa. He is certified as a Community Dharma Leader by Jack Kornfield and Spirit Rock Meditation Center and a graduate of the four-year Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program. Solwazi worked for over 20 years as a health educator and national trainer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. He leads mindfulness meditation classes and retreats in the Denver metropolitan area. He…
Learn more about Solwazi Johnson
Yong Oh
Yong Oh serves as a teacher on the Dharma Council for the Durango Dharma Center and has sat on the board of directors since 2019. Yong began meditating through the Soto Zen tradition and eventually transitioned to study, practice, and teach in the Insight tradition. He is a visiting teacher for the Chattanooga Insight Meditation group, and teaches retreats at the Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center. Yong is a graduate of Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s two-year Community Dharma Leaders program and the Sacred Mountain Sangha two-year Dharmapala training, taught by his primary teachers…
Learn more about Yong Oh