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6 day BIPOC Nature Dharma and Insight Retreat with Victoria Cary and Ram Appalaraju at Big Springs Retreat Center outside of Sierra City, CA

The teachings of the Buddha guides us toward a deeper, more intimate understanding of our hearts and minds. In this retreat, we will practice cultivating compassionate responses, soften into the rhythms of life, and nourish the wisdom and joy that arise from both practicing the Dhamma and being in relationship with nature.

This Insight Meditation Retreat, for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), offers a unique opportunity to deepen your practice through foundational Insight Meditation techniques. Set in the serene, forested landscape of the Northern Sierra Mountains, within a peaceful 170-acre retreat center, this retreat provides a beautiful environment to support your practice.

Each day will include meditation, earth-based practices, deep discussions on our relationship to the natural world, and guided exploration of forested lands of the 170-acre retreat center. The retreat will be held in noble silence and will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, daily Dharma talks, and individual meetings with teachers to guide your practice and deepen your insight.

This nature retreat for BIPOC offers a variety of contemplative practices in the northern Sierra Mountains in a rural retreat center. In the beauty and harmony of nature, and having no access to the internet and cell phones, we will have the opportunity to slow down, unplug and settle into the refuge that Mother Earth offers to us.

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With Will Kabat-Zinn, MA, Victoria Cary, Lienchi Tran and Bob Stahl, PhD

Concentration and insight are like two wings of a bird, each is essential for traversing the path of practice and liberation. Without a concentrated mind, it is hard to see deeply into the nature of things, to arrive at roots rather than flitting around in the branches. And without turning this concentrated mind to clearly observing the nature of our own body and heart/mind, we do not touch the wisdom that can transform the way we live, love, and relate to all of life. Please join us in following the invitation of the Buddha to “come and see” for yourself what is possible when we cultivate this powerful way of awareness in a loving community that is organized around the core teachings and practice methods of the early Buddhist tradition.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings. Open to Everyone.

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This silent Insight Meditation (Vipassana) retreat is designed to cultivate a grounded presence, open-hearted awareness, and insight into the way things are. Rooted in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, this retreat offers a supportive environment for both new and experienced meditators. Through sustained periods of sitting and walking meditation, daily dharma talks, and guided instructions, participants will be invited to explore the clarity that can come when we settle into our practice. Noble silence will be observed throughout the retreat to support sustained awareness of our inner experience. Our time together will include sitting and walking meditation, Dhamma talks, opportunities for questions, and smaller check-ins with the teacher. 

Whether you are seeking peace amidst daily life, a deeper understanding of yourself, or the timeless truths of the Dharma, this retreat offers space to turn inward and reconnect with the liberating power of awareness. This is a retreat for anyone interested in living with more clarity and care – both on the cushion and in everyday life.

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With Eugene Cash, Victoria Cary, Frank Ostaseski and Hakim Tafari

The Buddha highly valued and taught Mindfulness of Death (maraṇasati) as a preparation for our own death and a doorway to awakening. He encouraged maraṇasati practice as a way to cultivate the qualities needed to live an awakened life, such as appreciation of the preciousness of human birth/life; insight into impermanence and change; freedom from rigidity and clinging; and equanimity with the difficulty of human existence.

This retreat will be grounded in the traditional practices of mindful awareness and compassion. The instructions will be woven together with an understanding and recognition of the impermanence and change that occur naturally in every moment of our lives. We will utilize the skills of awareness and investigation in our sitting practice, with some guided visualization and a period of contemplative inquiry each day.

Frank Ostaseski will be offering a talk as a Special Guest sometime during the retreat.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, and one period of interactive inquiry each day.

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With Howard Cohn, Victoria Cary, Erin Treat, Teresa Todoroff

The Buddha’s teachings and meditation practices remind us of the ever-present possibility of waking up to a sense of well-being, presence, and true nature that does not depend on circumstances. This silent Insight Meditation (vipassanā) retreat is designed for both new and experienced meditators, and will include systematic instructions in vipassanā meditation following the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. The retreat will also include lovingkindness meditation, meetings with teachers, and evening talks highlighting the central teachings of the Buddha and their practical application to our lives.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

Assistant Teacher: Ramona Ortiz-Smith

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With Leslie Booker, Victoria Cary, Eugene Cash, Kimber Simpkins-Nuccio

The Ten Perfections of the Heart, or pāramīs, offer a powerful framework for living with compassion, resilience, and purpose. These teachings—on generosity, ethical conduct, renunciation, wisdom, energy, patience, truthfulness, resolve, lovingkindness, and equanimity—are not just meditation guidelines, they are practical tools for navigating life. According to tradition, these were the very qualities the Buddha cultivated over many lifetimes as he gradually prepared to awaken fully and guide others toward freedom. In this residential retreat, we will explore and practice the pāramīs both on and off the cushion. Our focus will be on how we embody these teachings in everyday life within a community rooted in belonging, shared intention, and a commitment to collective liberation.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

Assistant Teacher: nico hase

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With Victoria Cary, Erin Treat, Howie Cohn, and assisted by Kate Siber

The Buddha observed how easy it is to forget the capacity of the heart for wisdom and love. A meditation retreat can help us remember how essential these qualities are for our very existence.

At first, we may be hesitant to look inside, out of concern for what we may find. But the more deeply we investigate, with a relaxed yet focused attention, the easier it is to know, moment by moment, the reasons we have to love. In letting go of fear and other unsatisfactory, habitual patterns, we discover a heart full of confidence and a mind full of peace.

Throughout this retreat, we will practice meditation together within the refuge of a 2,600-year-old Buddhist legacy of wisdom and kindness. Within the silent container of the course, we can come to know the preciousness of our life and the poignancy of the human condition. From this space of openness, so much goodness unfolds.

The retreat format will include alternate periods of sitting and walking meditation, talks about the teachings, meetings with the teachers, and opportunities for questions. All are welcome!

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With Victoria Cary, Roxanne Dault, Tara Mulay, Devin Berry

This insight meditation retreat offers a unique opportunity to deeply explore the benefits of mindfulness and momentary concentration developed over the course of two weeks. The meditation instructions will touch on all four foundations of mindfulness, with emphasis on the noting technique and continuity of mindfulness in sitting, walking, and daily activities taught by the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw.

This length of retreat can open a space for profound transformations of the heart and mind, more closely revealing the truth that all conditioned experience is marked by the three universal characteristics of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and not-self.

Held in noble silence, this course will also include dharma talks, guided brahmavihara meditations, Q&A, and group and individual practice discussions. We will invite integration of wholesome qualities of mind, including patience, curiosity, mindfulness, wise effort, lovingkindness, joy, compassion, and equanimity.

Optional mindful movement sessions will be offered by Monica Williams to support vitality, whole body awareness, concentration, and relaxation.

Registration & Information Coming Soon!

Registration Opens October 7, 2025

With Victoria Cary, Tara Mulay, Devin Berry

The Buddha taught that whatever the mind frequently inclines toward becomes the tendency of the heart. This teaching highlights the vital role of cultivating mental habits that support our well-being, deepen our practice, and open the way to liberating insight. Among these qualities are saddhā (faith), viriya (energy/courage), sati (mindfulness), passaddhi (tranquility), and upekkhā (equanimity). These beautiful factors not only steady the heart and mind, but also serve as essential conditions for clarity, and wisdom.

Held in noble silence, the retreat provides a steady and supportive space for deep investigation and sustained inner stillness. Daily practice will include Dharma talks, opportunities for questions, and meetings with teachers. This retreat is open to both experienced practitioners and those who are newer to the path.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

Registration Opens October 7, 2025

With Anushka Fernandopulle, John Martin, Victoria Cary

Explore Buddhist practices and teachings of liberation in our LGBTQIA+ and GNC (Gender Non-Conforming) community. Together, we will practice mindfulness and heart-fulness, embracing all of our experience with loving awareness and deep acceptance. There will be an emphasis on cultivating a continuity of awareness in all activities (sitting, stillness, standing, walking, movement, eating) with a relaxed and gentle presence. Through these practices, we will explore what true refuge means for us individually and for our community.

Suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners, this retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

Assistant Teacher:Mario Castillo

Registration Opens November 18 2025

With Chas DiCapua and Victoria Cary. Assisted by Gina LaRoche.

Movement by Éowyn Ahlstrom.

The teachings of the Buddha remind us that when we meet our direct experience with kind and friendly awareness, we open the door to rest deeply right where we are. Through practice, we learn to offer loving attention to what is present—just as it is.

As we bring this tender awareness to the body, our attention naturally expands to include the entire somatic field, including both the physical body and the heart-mind (citta). We learn to move through our inner landscape with gentle presence, softening the body and meeting what arises with kindness and curiosity.

This retreat will offer a supportive rhythm of sitting and walking meditation, dharma talks, meetings with teachers, and space for questions and reflection. An optional daily period of mindful movement will be offered by Éowyn Ahlstrom. All are welcome.