Application opens Sept. 1, 2025. Attendance at this Earth Awareness retreat is free, other than a refundable deposit due at registration. Travel and other costs are the responsibility of participants.
The spirit of our times is one of challenge and opportunity for our human communities as well as the larger Earth community and our non-human relatives. When our well-intended heart encounters the heart-break of our times we can swing between the extremes of overwhelm and collapse. How do we meet these times in a manner that allows for mutual flourishing in a world we cannot control?
This retreat is offered as an opportunity to gather in community with other individuals who are grappling with the intersecting crises of our times and actively engaged in weaving a different story. Braiding meditation, community inquiry, the refuge of the Dharma, and communion with the land we will seek to resource ourselves, finding inspiration and kinship as we navigate our way into an uncertain future. Mornings of the retreat we will engage with meditative practice held in silence. Afternoons will include both nature-based practice and relational practice through dialogue exploring the principal themes of the retreat.
Acknowledging the inseparability of our own well-being with that of the wider Earth community, this retreat is also an invitation to deepen our love for life on this precious Earth and to recognise the significance of a single life of integrity woven into the tapestry of our collective story.
Participants from any contemplative tradition are welcome; like a diverse environment, this will enrich the ecology of our sangha and our time together. What all participants will share is a commitment to caring for the Earth as we explore the ways in which Earth-care and Dharma practice can be integrated.
This retreat is funded by the BESS Family Foundation.
Note: While this is not a social justice retreat, we will, at times, explore how the dharma may support us in addressing the relationship between human and ecological suffering.
Additional Note: Much of the time will be spent outdoors.
Program Format: This retreat will include guided meditations, relational practices, and dharma talks, reflections, and inquiry on the land and in the Dharma Hall.
