Endearing Isolation – Digital Meditation Retreats (Scholarship Eligible)

Open Dates
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
Make time for yourself and your practice in a supportive and peaceful contemplative environment. Entering into a retreat allows you to design a program that best meets your needs and schedule. This could be an intensive silent meditation retreat, or it could be a more gentle meditation […]

Self-Directed Retreats

Open Dates
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
Make time for yourself and your practice in a supportive and peaceful contemplative environment. Entering into a self-directed or long-term retreat allows you to design a program that best meets your needs and schedule. This could be an intensive silent meditation retreat, or it could be a more gentle meditation […]

Five Mindfulness Trainings Recitation ~ Zoom Online

Open Dates
ZOOM (account needed)
Join, Sister Clear Grace and Sister Clear Suchness, as they perform a Recitation Ceremony once a month to be in accord with the practice of the Five Mindfulness trainings.   Topic: Five Mindfulness Trainings Recitation Time: Every First Sunday 10:00  AM Eastern Time (US and Canada) The Five Mindfulness Trainings are one of the most concrete ways to practice mindfulness. They are nonsectarian, and their nature is universal. They are true practices of compassion and understanding. All spiritual traditions have their equivalent to the Five Mindfulness Trainings. The first training is to protect life, to decrease violence in oneself, in the family and…

The Four Protective Meditations Retreat with Bhikkhu Bodhi (Online Zoom Retreat)~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible

with Bhikkhu Bodhi

July 16 - 19, 2020
Zoom
Bhikkhu Bodhi will be lead us in this online retreat on the recollection of the Buddha, Loving Kindness, the Unattractive Nature of the Body and  the Recollection of Death.   Retreat Schedule

Mindfulness Retreat for Beginners~ ZOOM Online Retreat Scholarship Eligible

with Mary Aubry

July 23 - 26, 2020
Zoom
This three-night retreat will be held in Noble Silence.  The retreat is designed for those who are new to meditation, but meditators with experience are welcome to attend to rejuvenate their practice.  Mary will offer meditation instructions, dharma talks, and interviews.  Each day will include periods of sitting meditation, walking meditation, loving-kindness meditation, and Q&A sessions.

Meet the Manager: Overcoming Delusions of Racism ~ Online Only ~ Scholarship Eligible

with Acharya Christie Bates

July 30 - August 2, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
A recent viral photo showed a white woman carrying a sign in protest. On one side, her sign said, "Karens Against Police Brutality." On the other, it read, "I'd like to speak to the manager of systemic racism." Clever, Karen. Here is an opportunity to do just that. Action is important. But the kind of deep, meaningful, sustained action that leads to change does not come from brief moments of outrage. It comes neither from yielding to our racialized conditioning nor from being in denial about it. Change arises through cultivating generosity in its deepest sense, along with regular, practical mind/heart training…

Teacher in Residence – John Orr

August 3 - 18, 2020
We are happy to host John Orr again as an in-residence guest teacher. He is always a great addition to the Heartwood  Refuge family. Welcome John!

When Everything Falls Apart, What Remains? ~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible ~ Zoom online option

with John Orr

August 12 - 16, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
Our world has seen a massive upheaval as a result of the corona virus pandemic. We are all having to deal with changes in our lives and the communities we live in. At times it may seem like everything is falling apart and we are left with a profound feeling of uncertainty. Now more than ever the dharma and our meditation practice can be a refuge to meet the present challenges. During this retreat we will reflect and practice; The Don’t Know Mind (making friends with uncertainty ) Impermanence (this to shall pass) Dissolution (when everything falls apart, what remains?)…

The Five Bundles of Clinging~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible

with Santikaro

August 19 - 23, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
The Five Bundles or Khandhas are known as "the most frequent teaching." This simple & powerful analysis of human experience is used in two primary ways. First, they are the stuff out of which we fabricate ourselves, which makes them the core of suffering. Second, in response to the first inquiry, they are scrutinized to see their deeper nature so that they're no longer concocted into "me" and "mine." In this teaching, we find the four ennobling truths, dependent co-arising, emptiness, and the middle way. The core teachings of Buddhism are all found in insightful inquiry of the five bundles…

Unknow Yourself Through Mindfulness~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible

with Vimilasara Mason John

September 4 - 7, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
We are not fixed! This is the teaching of the Buddha. Everything changes, and that includes all the addictions, compulsive and obsessive behaviours. Together we will explore what the Buddha taught to help free us from our addictive mental states, and how to cultivate freedom from the prison of our minds. This retreat is for anybody who identifies as human. This precious birth has given us the gift of transformation and emancipation of the human condition.

Devotion to the Deathless ~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible ~ Zoom option

with Acharya Christie Bates

September 17 - 20, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
Where we spend time, energy and attention determines our experience of life. Do we spend these valuable currencies investing in suffering or freedom? We typically spend so much of our time lost, fused and mis-identified in what is not self, with what is unreliable and inconsistent. This is what is called conditioned existence. It's painful, discouraging and exhausting. We want to find what is reliable. We long to know and feel rooted in the Unconditioned, where we can experience joy, take courage and be invigorated. The  example and teaching of the Buddha tells us that we can have this kind…

Mindful Healing for Healers (CEU pending)~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible

with Dr. Sonja Williams MD and Dr. Maureen Hall

September 24 - 27, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
This is a retreat designed to further mindful practice of healthcare providers and empower them for improved resilience in a changing healthcare industry. With increasing rates of suicide and burnout amongst our healthcare providers learning new and innovative ways to sustain and enliven our healing practices is so vital. The goal of this retreat is to teach concrete sustainable techniques to improve presence and stability with our clients in the midst of stress and increasing demands of the industry. Regardless of the length of practice each provider has experienced, invigorating our compassionate intention for healing of others further invigorates ourselves.…

Come Back To Your Senses ~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible ~ Zoom option

with Nick Kranz

October 1 - 4, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
This retreat will be a residential retreat with a both a commuter and a zoom online option. Learn techniques for bringing your meditation to your sense perceptions. In difficult times it's easy for us to get overwhelmed by our thinking processes. In this retreat, rather than trying to stop or change the thoughts and feeling that arise in our experience, we will learn how to see them from a different perspective, one that brings equity to our other senses, and helps us return to feeling like we are part of nature. Doing this work with thoughts, as they relate to…

Awakening the Wild Heart – Insight Meditation Retreat~ Scholarship Eligible

with Andrew Chapman, LMSW and Mikey Noechel, MS

October 8 - 11, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
The Buddha taught that the seeds of awakening are deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of every human being. However, it is only through the intentional cultivation of these seeds—generosity, ethical living, and mindfulness—and the uprooting of greed, hatred, and delusion that we can begin to harvest the fruits of our awakened heart. […]

Walking the “Path of Insight”~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible

with Dr. Donald Rothberg and Ronya Banks

October 18 - 25, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
Walking the “Path of Insight” is a time-tested journey to spiritual awakening traversed by thousands of people over the past few thousand years. With the expert guidance of Vipassana teachers – Donald Rothberg and Ronya Banks, you will delve deeper into the many gifts this Buddhist practice has to offer.

Pilgrimage to your Life: A Spiritual Writing Practice

with Venerable Somasiki

October 29 - November 1, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
Pilgrimage to your Life:  A spiritual writing Practice of personal exploration We will follow the path of a pilgrim through writing, mediation, and other experiential activities to better connect with our inner landscape. The exploration of our own spiritual path can also nourishes our own creative hearts, calling us to threshold places within where the written word comes alive. Writing can take us to our own wild edges – where we claim space to dive into our creative hearts and encounter the call to step forward in our lives. During the course of our weekend together, there will be time…

Jhana Retreat~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible

with Mary Aubry

November 5 - 15, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
This retreat will emphasize the application of the Jhanas (Meditative Absorptions) as part of a regular sitting practice, in the tradition of Leigh Brasington and his teacher Ayya Khema.  The Jhanas are a method of one-pointed concentration taught in the Theravadan Buddhist tradition. The retreat will be held in Noble Silence and will focus on teaching the Jhanas for the purpose of enhancing insight practice.  Several topics for insight practice will be discussed, including Dependent Origination and Emptiness.  Mary will offer instructions, dharma talks, and interviews.  Each day will include periods of sitting meditation, walking meditation, lovingkindness meditation, and Q&A.  This retreat is for experienced…

Dharmacharya Retreat IV

with Venerable Pannavati and Venerable Pannadipa

December 4 - 10, 2020
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
Open only to students in ministerial program

Renewal, Healing and Transformation ~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible ~ Zoom Option

with Ofosu Jones-Quartey

January 14 - 17, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
For now please know: This retreat will be over Dr Martin Luther King's birthday. Ofosu works with sound healing and Dharma music as well as mediation training to further us along our path of transformation. More details later.

Practicing the Dharma in the World Today (Scholarships Eligible)

with Robert Brumet

April 7 - 12, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
My first dharma teacher said to me, “If you want a small enlightenment, then stay here in the temple. If you want a big enlightenment, then go back to the city.” Cultivating wisdom and compassion is challenging under any circumstances, but this is especially true in our world today. And yet, the dharma is needed in this world more now than any other time in human history. The world is burning and humans are deeply divided; we are being called to live consciously and compassionately in a world that is largely unconscious and uncaring. The consequences could hardly be greater--yet…

Ecology of the Heart: ~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible ~ Zoom option available

with Nick Kranz

April 15 - 18, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
Along with many other wisdom traditions, Buddhist teachings have pointed for millennia to our deep connection and interdependence with everything in the biosphere. Having arrived at this critical moment together, how can we rise to the challenges before us without burning out or falling into eco-anxiety and depression? There will be an opportunity to learn and practice sitting and social meditation, to ask questions, discuss together and engage in experiential exercises that will help you connect the appreciation of outer ecology with the innate tenderness of the heart. Everyone is welcome to attend this online gathering; no previous experience is…

The Liberating Teachings of the Buddha~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible

with Annie Nugent

May 6 - 9, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
The purpose of the Buddha’s teachings is to show us how to be truly happy  by using the tools of mindfulness and clear understanding to reveal the unskillful tendencies  of mind that keep us bound to suffering. Joy arises for us when we realize, through our direct experience,  that it  is possible for transformation to come about. This silent  retreat is an invitation to explore the depth of the teachings  in this formal setting as wisdom and compassion is cultivated, allowing these qualities to come to the fore  in the  midst of the fullness and vibrancy of daily life.

Awakening the Wild Heart – Insight Meditation Retreat~ Scholarship Eligible

with Andrew Chapman, LMSW and Mikey Noechel, MS

May 28 - 31, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
The Buddha taught that the seeds of awakening are deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of every human being. However, it is only through the intentional cultivation of these seeds—generosity, ethical living, and mindfulness—and the uprooting of greed, hatred, and delusion that we can begin to harvest the fruits of our awakened heart. […]

Awakening the Wild Heart – Insight Meditation Retreat~ Scholarship Eligible

with Andrew Chapman, LMSW and Mikey Noechel, MS

September 3 - 6, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
The Buddha taught that the seeds of awakening are deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of every human being. However, it is only through the intentional cultivation of these seeds—generosity, ethical living, and mindfulness—and the uprooting of greed, hatred, and delusion that we can begin to harvest the fruits of our awakened heart. […]