The Buddha taught that we are all spinning due to habits of greed, hatred and delusion, and that we have been spinning long enough to have become wise and dispassionate regarding all the ways we keep getting hooked into these cycles of suffering. What is it that we are not seeing clearly enough that keeps us spinning?

The Buddha’s teachings encourage us to cultivate a stability of present moment awareness so that we can realize how natural, conditional, impersonal and not worthy of attachment all this inner and outer activity actually is. Understanding the river of experience in this way leads to the abandoning of attachment, fear and dependence, allowing us to engage our tender world with more compassion and skill.

This online retreat is designed to provide support for us to do this inner work together as we learn from the Buddha’s instructions and from our own experience.

This retreat is appropriate for all levels of experience.

From an exchange between a student and the Buddha, SN 1:23 —

The inner tangle and the outer tangle, these people are entangled in a tangle.

So I ask of you Gotama,

Who can disentangle this tangle?

One established in virtue, deeply knowing, developing mind and wisdom,

a cultivator ardent and discerning:

she can disentangle this tangle.

Those for whom lust and hatred,

along with ignorance have been dispelled, the arahants with impulses ended:

for them the tangle is disentangled.

Where both name and form

stop without the least remainder,

also impingement and recognition of form: it is here this tangle is cut.

Daily practice guidance will be provided through morning instructions, Dhamma talks, Q&A sessions, and small group discussions, at the following times each day.  (All times given in Pacific Time)  Follow this link for a printable version of the full retreat schedule.

8:00 – 9:00 am………………….. Morning Instructions and Q&A

9:00 – 11:45 am………………… Independent Practice Time and small group meetings

Small Group Teacher Interviews: All retreatants will be assigned to a small group that will meet twice during the retreat Saturday and Monday or Sunday and Tuesday. Groups will meet at either 9:15am or 10:30am and will last around an hour.      

*11:45 – 12:30 pm………………… Group Sit led by practice leader

12:30 – 3:00 pm………………….. Independent Practice Time

3:00 – 4:00 pm………………….. Afternoon Instruction and Q&A

4:00 – 7:00 pm………………….. Independent Practice Time

7:00 – 8:00 pm………………….. Evening Dharma Reflection

(Tuesday evening’s closing session will end at 8:30 pm.)

Scholarship assistance is available for those face financial challenges.

Zoom retreats are helping Cloud Mountain, like other retreat centers, to survive closures due to covid-19. We hope that you will register at the highest level you can to help sustain us through these difficult times.