Five-Day Retreat
This five-day residential retreat will explore the practice of Insight Meditation and the liberating effect of moment-to-moment mindfulness. As a residential course, this retreat provides a valuable opportunity to deepen the skills of awareness and to cultivate a resilient heart. Together, we will seek balance and freedom within the flow of change. The teachers will offer guidance in developing attitudes of mind that support relaxation, courageous inquiry, and an authentic encounter with one’s own heart.
This silent retreat is open to all levels of experience and will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, Qi Gong, small group interviews, dharma talks and question/answer sessions.
Retreat times:
Retreat begins: Thursday, Sept 19; Registration 3-5pm, retreat opens 6:00pm
Retreat end: Monday, Sept 23, 12:30pm (lunch included)
See below for more information on housing.
Registration is now closed.
About Housing Options*
Private Cabins: Cabins are a 5-10 minute walk uphill from the main campus. Cabin reservations are non-refundable.
Dormitory: Bunk beds in a room of 12-14.
Quadruples: Bunk beds in a room of 4.
Camping: Flat campsite; no platform; please bring your own tent and sleeping bag.
If the housing options are not viable given your gender identity, please let us know and we'll work together to find a solution. Thank you.
* PLEASE NOTE: Vajrapani is set in a fairly rugged environment - at the end of a single lane dirt road, off the grid, and very hilly. While the meditation hall itself is wheelchair accessible, none of the housing options are ADA compliant.
About the Teachers
Oren Jay Sofer
Oren Jay Sofer teaches workshops and retreats on meditation and communication nationally. A member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, he holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University, is a Somatic Experiencing for healing of trauma, and is a certified trainer of Nonviolent Communication. Oren is also the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.
Matthew Brensilver
Matthew Brensilver, PhD, is a member of the Guiding Teachers Executive Group and Teachers Council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. For more than a decade, he taught for Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. He lectures at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center about the intersections between mindfulness and mental health. Matthew has a background in research on addiction pharmacotherapy and is interested in the unfolding dialogue between dharma and science. He is the co-author, with Oren, of two forthcoming books on mindfulness for adolescents.