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Wow. I used to go to the mindfulness retreats at his affiliated monastery in San Diego. You left your phone in your car, and had 3-5 days (or more sometimes) of
by carabiner 5y ago
Wow. I used to go to the mindfulness retreats at his affiliated monastery in San Diego. You left your phone in your car, and had 3-5 days (or more sometimes) of meditation, fresh cooked meals, and nature. It was really peaceful, and so different from what I had expected (something like a cult, being plied for donations etc. there was none of that). I stopped going when I left California, but it's hard to feel much more free than that these days. You're on a schedule for sleep, meals and events, basically making no decisions, and without internet pulling your attention, you feel like your mind is coming back to yourself.
- latchkey 5y agoSimilar: https://sivananda.org/ https://sivananda.org/ I spent a few months living at the one in Da Lat, Vietnam as well as a bit of time at the one in Grass Valley, California. Great group of people and their yoga program is perfect.
- henvic 5y ago> it's hard to feel much more free than that these days > You're on a schedule for sleep, meals and events, basically making no decisions, and without internet Not judging, but... Pick one?
- galoisscobi 5y agoSounds wonderful. I recently moved to San Diego and will certainly be checking out deer park monastery.
- KerryJones 5y agoDo you know of anyway to find more of those? I'm in Oakland and that sounds delightful.
- gloriana 5y agoWhy can't you just do it?
- carrolldunham 5y agoLol at the downvotes. This is a legitimate question. Edit: I guess looking at the actual description of the retreat given, people don't actually want to learn about acceptance etc., they literally want to go to a free version of a spa resort
- grp000 5y agoI don't think this is as simple as a google search. This isn't a regular business, and it would be nice to get a HN-user-vetted answer on a retreat that doesn't try to upsell you, and offers the "right" daily events.
- carrolldunham 5y agoNo, not 'why can't you just google it'. The question is why can't you just DO it. Take some food in to your room, put your devices outside, close your door.
- tinus_hn 5y agoPerhaps unintended but it comes across pretty condescending; in my opinion you make it sound like they asked a stupid question.
- Zanni 5y agoI imagine for the same reasons they can't "just" quit smoking, lose weight, get in shape, write a novel, etc. They may not believe they're capable, they need support, they need structure, they need incentive, etc.
- maeil 5y agoCconsider that some people don't have that kind of luxury; their living room and bedroom are one and the same. Mine are.
- mping 5y agoYou need a supporting environment. Theoretically you can do it, just as you can learn without going to college.
- srmatto 5y agoI think there is Deer Park Monastery in California, Plum Village Monastery in France, Blue Cliff Monastery in New York, and Magnolia Grove Monastery in Mississippi. There could be others as well. Edit: I think there are even more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_Village_Tradition#Monasteries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_Village_Tradition#Monaste...
- eismcc 5y agoOne in Berkeley https://www.emptygatezen.com/ https://www.emptygatezen.com/
- mping 5y agoThere is a Buddhist meditation temple in LA that organizes 2 retreats per year. I go every year from Europe, it's that good. The monastics are super helpful and the abbot is very down to earth and accessible, they also do fasting besides meditation. You don't need experience, just drop by and stay if you like. Check it out: https://chanpureland.org https://chanpureland.org I'm sure that there are dozens of other temples that do retreats, but this one I know from experience.
- suketk 5y agoI highly recommend Vipassana [0]. It's similarly free from commercialism - there is no cost for teaching, lodging and food. At the end, you can pay if you found it beneficial and want to pay it forward. They also only accept contributions from people who have completed the program. Despite this policy, they've grown to 200+ centers across the world. I was so inspired [1] by it that I adopted a lot of their principles in my business [2]. [0] https://dhamma.org https://dhamma.org [1] https://suketk.com/vipassana https://suketk.com/vipassana [2] https://themoai.org/intentionality https://themoai.org/intentionality
- lanstin 5y agoI have two friends that have done the Vipassana 10 day retreat and came home rather glowing from it.
- chiefgeek 5y agoVipassana is amazing. 10 day is minimum to start. After you sit a 10, there are 1, 3 and 5 available.
- tristanMatthias 5y agoVipassana changed my life
- zoom6628 5y agoVipassana was life changing for me too. Can’t recommend it enough to everyone. I did my course in New Zealand.
- esbeeb 5y agoFirstly, respect to Thich Nhat Hanh, and his legacy! I've done 7 10-day Vipassana foundation retreats (AKA "Goenka retreats"). I was so inspired that I went on to become a Buddhist monk. Now I'm a meditation teacher in my own right, with 13 years seniority, fully-ordained. My website: https://bhikkhu.ca https://bhikkhu.ca The place I give weekend meditation retreats (in Calgary, Canada): https://ehipassikocalgary.org/ https://ehipassikocalgary.org/ The cost is by-donation, and no donation is also acceptable. My tradition is Theravada Buddhism, or "Early Buddhism".
- delilahder 5y agohttps://www.nityanandashaktipatyoga.org/weekend-shaktipat-meditation-retreats/ https://www.nityanandashaktipatyoga.org/weekend-shaktipat-me... PS My account is new, because I'm a long-time lurker but wanted to post.
- lanstin 5y agohttps://www.bayzen.org/ https://www.bayzen.org/ is in Oakland and is in the tradition of Maezumi, which is what most of my training has been from. https://berkeleyzencenter.org/ https://berkeleyzencenter.org/ is in Berkley and is in the tradition of Soto Zen; I have sat with sister groups in San Jose and they seem pretty solid if a little more laid back than the Maezumi schools. There is a retreat center up in the Santa Cruz mountains, https://www.jikoji.org/ https://www.jikoji.org/ I have gone to retreats there and it is indeed very nice, peaceful and beautiful and nothing extrinsic to decide or worry about. I went with the Floating Zendo: https://floatingzendo.org/about-sesshin/ https://floatingzendo.org/about-sesshin/ In Bay area, we have many opportunities to practice/train with other people. I'd say that the long retreats make daily meditation a lot easier and doing regular daily meditation make the long retreats a lot easier. And sitting with other people strengthens the practice in a way it's hard to recreate on your own. I haven't sat with a group in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition, but from what I've seen online, the Japanese-derived Zen groups are pretty similar in the essence of the teachings.
- claylimo 5y agoThere are many many retreats out there so knowing what the right one for you is not easy. I know of an upcoming in-person retreat based on TWIM (Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation) south of San Francisco: https://www.suttavada.foundation/physical-retreats-suttavada/ https://www.suttavada.foundation/physical-retreats-suttavada... The retreat is located here: https://www.suttavada.foundation/venue/stfrancis/ https://www.suttavada.foundation/venue/stfrancis/ What is TWIM? https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/wiki/twim-crash-course https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/wiki/twim-crash-course Here is a book about the practice: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B06WRPZZQF/ https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B06WRPZZQF/
- revertts 5y agoIRC is excellent, and located around the Bay Area (there are usually at least a few people carpooling down from Oakland) - https://www.insightretreatcenter.org https://www.insightretreatcenter.org It's the retreat side of IMC (https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org). You might listen to some of their talks or read some of Gil's writing[1] to see if it's what you are looking for. It's in the Vipassana tradition, though a number of the teachers had affiliation with the SF Zen Center. [1] https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/natural-buddhism/ https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/natur... is a potentially interesting article
- fernly 5y agoInsight Meditation Center (in Redwood City) operates residential retreats out of a location in the hills above Santa Cruz. Here's the schedule: https://www.insightretreatcenter.org/retreats/ https://www.insightretreatcenter.org/retreats/
- asveikau 5y agoIn Oakland I wouldn't leave the phone in the car. (Sorry, irresistible joke. Also, dear downvoter, this is not intended as a criticism of Oakland.)
- zachberger 5y agoI’ve had a few day trips up to Abhayagiri monastery near Ukaih, CA. It’s incredibly peaceful. https://abhayagiri.org https://abhayagiri.org
- hangonhn 5y agoThe Bay Area actually has quite a few. Among the more famous ones are Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (the first Zen monastery in the US) in Carmel Valley and Spirit Rock near Mt. Tam. Mountain View has a Zen meditation center that welcomes guests during certain times during the week.
- alecst 5y agoAbhayagiri and City of Ten Thousand Buddhas are both reputable alternatives to Goenka Vipassana retreats, just to give you some things to look into.
- tern 5y agoThich Nhat Hanh was a zen monk, and the zen word for "retreat" is "sesshin," so you you might do well enough with a Google search like https://www.google.com/search?q=sesshin+near+me&oq=sesshin https://www.google.com/search?q=sesshin+near+me&oq=sesshin. Near Oakland there is San Francisco Zen Center (in Marin and in SF)—you might reach out and ask them for recommendations. Also near Oakland you have many Tibetan organizations like https://gyalshen.org/ https://gyalshen.org/ and https://nyingmainstitute.com/ https://nyingmainstitute.com/. If you want to do more research, you can easily find directories like this: https://buddhiststudies.stanford.edu/resourcesother-resources/bay-area-buddhist-organizations https://buddhiststudies.stanford.edu/resourcesother-resource.... There is tremendous access to teachings in the Bay Area and a handful of fantastic monasteries within 100 miles. For effective teachings, I recommend: https://pointingoutthegreatway.com/ https://pointingoutthegreatway.com/. As you're getting started, it doesn't really matter what you do, but if you want to progress along the path quickly, I have found the Tibetan "pointing" style teachings to be most safe and effective by about an order of magnitude. Realization Process is also very good, and not strictly Buddhist: https://realizationprocess.org/schedule-of-events/ https://realizationprocess.org/schedule-of-events/ Finally, https://sfdharmacollective.org/ https://sfdharmacollective.org/ is an incredible resource and people there can guide to whatever might suit you.
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- trhway 5y agosounds close to military reserve periodic training/camps :)
- toombowoombo 5y agoYou got me curios on this. Knowing any retreats in Europe? I'm from Austria, but I would be open to going in nearby countries for something like this.
- harryruhr 5y agoThere is also the European Institute of applied Buddhism (EIAB) in Waldbröl, Germany https://eiab.eu/ https://eiab.eu/
- bauer 5y agoThere is a really wonderful Buddhist center in Vienna affiliated with the same branch of Tibetan Buddhism I have gone on retreat with. They should have retreats as well. I recommend checking it out. https://gelugwien.at/ https://gelugwien.at/
- mattficke 5y agoPlum Village is in southwestern France, it was the first center to open. It’s a wonderful place. https://plumvillage.org/ https://plumvillage.org/
- namelessone 5y agoHi, another Austrian here! As someone already mentioned, Plum Village is a wonderful retreat center in France. There are also groups called Wake Up (https://wkup.org/ https://wkup.org/) in Vienna and Graz that practice the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh as a community. They are extremely open to guests and newcomers, so maybe you also want to check that out :)