We offer half-day, one-day, weekend, and residential retreats. Retreats provide a rare opportunity to slow down and enter silence and stillness. These intense periods of practice strengthen meditative skill, enhance insight into how mind and matter condition each other, and afford the meditator dedicated time to dismantle unskillful patterns of reaction and replace them with skillful responses and emotions.

Below is a sample of a retreat flier from a retreat offered in March 2017 on Concentration and Insight. Talks from this retreat are available as audio files.

There is no jhana without wisdom,
there is no wisdom without jhana.
One who has jhana and wisdom,
he is in the vicinity of Nibbana. Dhammapada, 372, translation, Ajahn Brahm

On this retreat we will be activating the entire Eightfold Path, with a special emphasis on Right Concentration, jhana, and its essential role in penetrating reality and freeing the mind from its compulsive grasping at ever-changing physical sensations and mental states. To enter jhana, we happily abandon the mundane world, with its ceaseless demands and stress, and turn all of our attention to generating a still, peaceful, silent and blissful mind. With trial and error, with diligence and patience, sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and body sensations cease as do the barrage of thoughts and emotions. Through direct knowing, we experience how lovely it is to drop the body and mind, to drop the self . Through prolonged exposure to jhana and repeated and varied insights, we develop the incentive and skill to transcend duality and find an enduring, higher happiness.

Upcoming Retreats Past Retreat Topics and Talks

We are planning a 5-day residential retreat at Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino, CA from November 10 through November 15, 2023. For updates on this retreat, including information on when registration opens and other details, please join our email list.

Sunday Half-day Retreats
Throughout the year, we offer half-day retreats on various Sundays. We alternate guided and silent meditation with meditation instruction and Dharma talks. Relaxed and informal, these mini-retreats strengthen our meditation skills and increase insights and understanding of the Dharma. Coming together on a regular basis also builds a sense of community. We make time for conversation and connecting. Please contact us if you are interested in attending.