Events at this location

Date & Time: Sunday, January 29, 2023; 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. US Pacific Time
Please Note: This program will be offered as a hybrid: on-land (non-residential day program) and online (via Zoom).

On-land (in-person) Sliding Scale: $80-$400. Code WN1B23.

Online Sliding Scale: $55-$275. Code WN1Z23.

Open to: Everyone

A Benefit for Wes Nisker and Spirit Rock

Presenters: Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein (via video recording), Wes Nisker, Friends, and Family. Facilitated by Nina Wise.

Description: 
Join us for a joyful afternoon of poetry, humor, music, and other Dharma delights to celebrate our beloved Wes “Scoop” Nisker! All friends, students, colleagues and our community are warmly invited to gather to honor Wes’ decades-long contribution to the Buddhist community and his pioneering work weaving together radio, activism, and the Dharma.

This is a belated 80th birthday celebration, release party for Being Nature (an updated edition of his book Buddha’s Nature), and benefit, all rolled into one! Wes has recently moved into an assisted living facility due to increasing health challenges, and this benefit will support his care, and Spirit Rock.

About Wes
Wes “Scoop” Nisker is an award-winning broadcast journalist and commentator, Buddhist meditation teacher, a bestselling author, and a standup Dharma comic who has been described in the New York Times as “masterful at using humor to lighten the enlightenment journey.” Wes has studied Buddhist meditation for over five decades with teachers in Asia and America, and for the past 35 years has been leading his own retreats and workshops in Buddhist Insight Meditation and philosophy at venues internationally. He is a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. He was the founder and co-editor of the Buddhist journal “Inquiring Mind,” and is the author of the bestselling books including Buddha’s Nature; The Big Bang, the Buddha, and the Baby Boom; Essential Crazy Wisdom; and Being Nature.

Wes will be present for a book signing following the program.

On-Land space is limited due to COVID protocols in place. If you can only join us remotely online, please register for the Online version and you can participate by Zoom or watch the program later. All pre-registered participants (on-land or online) will receive a link to the recording of the program.

Date & Time: Saturday – Sunday, February 18 – 19, 2023; 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. US Pacific Time
Please Note: This program will be offered as a hybrid: on-land (“commuter” retreat; non-residential) and online.

On-Land (in-person) Sliding Scale: $140-$620. Our sliding scale options include financial support for our teachers. Code SW1M23.

Online Sliding Scale: $50-$600. Our sliding scale options include financial support for our teachers. Code SW1Z23.

Description:
All are welcome to join this weekend retreat celebrating Black History Month and honoring great bodhisattvas throughout time. We will explore the consciousness and heart of Harriet Tubman and her journey to freedom. Through her life and experiences, we will explore the path and archetype of the bodhisattva and the stages of awakening power and compassion. This weekend will include meditation practice, talks, interactive group sessions, and sacred music. This will be a magical weekend you don’t want to miss!

On-Land space is limited due to COVID protocols in place, please register for the In-person event only if you can join us on the land. If you can only join us remotely online, please register for the Online version and you can participate by Zoom or watch the program later.

Dates: Saturday and Sunday, March 25-26, 2023
Daily Schedule: 10:00am – 4:00pm p.m.
Sliding Scale: $140-$590. Our sliding scale options for this program include financial support for the teacher. Code MC1M23.

Description:
It is possible to live with a relaxed and natural awareness in everything you do. The Buddha stated that sati—mindfulness or awareness—is a complete path to liberation. Mindful awareness cultivates the ability to be present with all experience with clarity, insight, and freedom. It is the foundation for wisdom, compassion, and awakening.

In this silent meditation retreat we explore the innate quality of awareness: what it is, how to recognize it, and how to cultivate and abide within it. We investigate how continuity of mindfulness practice supports a depth and stability of awareness, and inquire into what interferes with fully stabilizing in awareness both in meditation and in ordinary activity. As mindfulness grows, we see how this capacity for awareness is available in every moment. The retreat includes periods of sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks, inquiry, and discussion.

IMPORTANT – Details on our current COVID Safety Protocols for In-person Retreats.

Date & Time: Saturday – Sunday, April 8-9, 2023; 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. US Pacific Time
Please Note: This program will be offered as a hybrid: on-land (“commuter” retreat; non-residential) and online.

On-land (in-person) Sliding Scale: Dana (By Donation) $0-$320. Fees include a donation to the teacher(s). Please consider paying at the highest rate that you can afford. Code NU1G23.

Online Sliding Scale: Dana (By Donation) $0-$216. Fees include a donation to the teacher(s). Please consider paying at the highest rate that you can afford. Code NU1Z23.

Description:
In these times of great change, we are called to address old patterns of limitation, and learn to open to as-yet unknown possibilities. Impermanence is one of the three supreme Dharma gates that lead to freedom. When we align with the truth of the way things are, we experience clarity, even in the midst of the most challenging conditions. Learning to live from a place of openness to change, we ourselves are changed, and we deepen in peace and equanimity.

On-Land space is limited due to COVID protocols in place, please register here only if you can join us on the land. If you can only join us remotely online, please register for the Online version and you can participate by Zoom or watch the program later.

Date & Time: Saturday, April 22 2023, ; 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. US Pacific Time
Please Note: This program will be offered as a hybrid: on-land and online.

On-land (in-person) Sliding Scale: $55-$275. Fees DO NOT include a donation to the teachers. Code JB1B23.

Online Sliding Scale: $0-$108. Fees DO NOT include a donation to the teacher(s). Code JB1Z23.

Description: This Earth Day gathering will be a time to connect with each other in community to share our love and care for the Earth, feel any grief or other strong responses to the climate situation, and learn how to move through stuck places into inspiring action. A connection with community in a way that embraces the sorrows and the joys leads to a wholehearted commitment for wise stewardship of the Earth. With compassion and humility, we begin to understand our place as co-inhabitants, and take on the joyful responsibility to do our part to protect this planet and all the life it supports as an act of love.

We will enjoy presentations, meditation, and music, and connect with like-minded friends who celebrate the Earth by committing to be, as best we can, agents of healing for the planet and all living beings.

On-Land space is limited due to COVID protocols in place, please register here only if you can join us on the land. If you can only join us remotely online, please register for the Online version and you can participate by Zoom or watch the program later.

Date & Time: Thursday – Sunday, May 18-21, 2023; 9:00am-6:00pm US Pacific Time
Please Note: This program will be offered as a hybrid: on-land (“commuter” retreat; non-residential) and online.

On-Land (in-person) Sliding Scale: $280-$1180. Our sliding scale options include financial support for our teachers. Code DD1M23.

Online Sliding Scale: $108-$1200. Our sliding scale options include financial support for our teachers. Code DD1Z23.

Description:
The Four Noble Truths are the Buddha’s first teaching, which is said to contain the sum of all of his teachings. Based on one of the oldest Theravāda texts, there is a rarely-taught practice of utilizing the Four Noble Truths to attain twelve insights that bring freedom and well-being. These insights prescribe a radically different way for us, with all of our vulnerability and fear, to engage with life just as it is and to find joy even in the midst of suffering.

In this four-day silent retreat, we will explore each of the Four Noble Truths in depth and learn how to apply the insights of this teaching to our daily lives. The goal of this retreat is to discover how the Four Noble Truths become the Four “Ennobling” Truths. Each day will have periods of sitting and walking meditation along with Dharma talks, discussion, and Q&A.

On-Land space is limited due to COVID protocols in place, please register for the In-person event only if you can join us on the land. If you can only join us remotely online, please register for the Online version and you can participate by Zoom or watch the program later.

Date & Time: Saturday – Monday, May 27 – 29, 2023; 10:00am-4:00pm US Pacific Time
Please Note: This program will be offered as a hybrid: on-land (“commuter” retreat; non-residential) and online.

On-Land (in-person) Sliding Scale: $210-$885. Our sliding scale options include financial support for our teachers. Code JB2M23.

Online Sliding Scale: $75-$1008. Our sliding scale options include financial support for our teachers. Code JB2Z23.

Description:
The Buddha advised us to overcome unhealthy states and develop states of true well-being such as gratitude, kindness, and compassion, and he encouraged us to deepen these beautiful states whenever possible. A profound support in doing this is to connect with the Divine within us that is the source of all states. In this non-residential practice retreat we will focus on cultivating states of well-being, and rather than taking ownership of them, connecting to the source within us from which they arise. As they shine through, they become a gift to everyone in our lives.

This retreat is for practitioners who want to deepen their meditation practice through heartfelt connection to our natural goodness, well-being, and joy. It includes periods of sitting and walking meditation with instructions, practice-oriented talks, and practice discussions with the teachers.

On-Land space is limited due to COVID protocols in place, please register for the In-person event only if you can join us on the land. If you can only join us remotely online, please register for the Online version and you can participate by Zoom or watch the program later.