Self and Work Retreats

Self Retreat

Self-retreats are for individuals who have an established daily meditation practice and are looking for deeper practice in a retreat center setting. The residential community meditates together every morning and evening. Beyond these group meditations, self-retreaters plan their own practice schedule each day and are responsible for buying/preparing their own food. Self retreatants will have their own room and access to either their own, or a shared bathroom and kitchen. Self-retreaters may enter/use any of the common areas (main house, including kitchen and zendo/meditation hall). 

Since there is not a resident teacher currently living at the center, we ask that longer term self-retreatants arrange to work with a teacher over Zoom/phone during their stay. If you are practicing with a small group, you can also contact us about arranging to come for a group retreat.

Once a week we gather to inquire and study a text. Occasionally, the residential community may host dinners and dharma activities; you are always welcome to join in if you’d like. We also ask self-retreaters to offer one hour a day of work to support the ongoing maintenance of the center. Typical work includes cleaning common spaces, laundry, administrative tasks, etc. 

Dhamma Dena relies on dana/donations to cover our costs and continue to freely offer this center to all those interested.  In the tradition of dana, you are invited to offer support for the center.

If you are interested in doing a self retreat, contact us at retreats@dhammadena.org.

Volunteer Retreat

If you would like to provide service to Dhamma Dena, please apply to be a volunteer-retreater. Room and basic food staples for cooking (grains, beans, vegetables) are provided for your stay, in exchange for a maximum of 4.5 - 5 work hours per day, for five days in the week. If this is your first time at Dhamma Dena, we will meet together after one or two weeks to check in with each other and see if it is a good fit for you. Return retreaters usually stay from one week to three months. We meet every morning Monday-Friday at 9am to share tasks for the day and share the merit of our efforts.

Typical work includes:

The community meets every morning at 7:30am and in the evening at 7:30pm to meditate together. Once a week, we gather to inquire and study a text. Weekly the residential community comes together for community dinners, and occasionally for hikes. Attendance at these activities is always voluntary and we welcome any community activity that you would like to offer/host/plan. Since there is not a resident teacher currently living at the center, we strongly encourage longer term retreatants to work with a teacher over Zoom/phone during their stay.

In the tradition of dana, you are invited to offer support for the center and teacher at the end of your stay.

If you are interested in doing a volunteer retreat, contact us at retreats@dhammadena.org.