A Meditative Atmosphere in the midst of Everyday Life
Quiet Weeks take place in the two week intervals between seven-day Retreats. During these weeks, specific areas in the house are kept in silence, while the rest of the house continues to function as usual.
This provides a quiet, meditative atmosphere in the midst of everyday life, where each participant will have the option of remaining in silence, or moving from silence into talking as they wish.
Design Your Own Retreat
Quiet Weeks offer the opportunity to design your own retreat–with options for timed and open sitting, group dialogues, and individual meetings with teachers in residence. You may attend as many days as you like, and you may combine two retreats with the Quiet Weeks to create a month long retreat.
You may participate in Quiet Weeks either as a guest or as a volunteer. Please see Visiting for more information, and the Calendar for dates. For more detailed information about Quiet Weeks, please contact reception.
About their Essence
These extended sittings, meetings and dialogues allow space for looking, listening and questioning alone and together in all simplicity, with no teacher or authority, but out of interest and curiosity. In this meditative space we can explore the possibility of staying here with what is arising moment to moment, not knowing and yet open, curious and alert, a mind that is ready to learn.
This continuous gathering of energy provides an opportunity to deepen into silent presence which is always available in this moment, here. Silence brings transparency to what is happening and also allows the possibility of revealing the truth of what we are–and what appears to obscure that fact.
This alternative, meditative way of living our day-to-day life enables us to live a more conscious life, in direct touch with what is happening moment to moment, here and now. A compassionate life is a natural result of living more from a simple listening rather than from ideas, images and conditioning. From simple listening actions arise which carry warmth and affection, actions which are born of love.
Offerings and Specifics
Quiet Week participants are guaranteed a private room during Quiet Weeks.
Each week there will be group dialogues, and during most Quiet Week periods a Saturday All Day Sitting will be held. There will also be opportunities to meet one-on-one with Richard, Wayne or Sandra, when they are in residence.
There are miles of walking trails, with beautiful meadows and open vistas, secluded forests, cascading water, a hillside pond and benches for pausing and sitting.
There is an optional daily schedule which you may use as you wish, with open and timed sitting periods which may be arranged by the request of participants.
Guests are asked to donate one hour of work each day during the staff work week, from Tuesday through Saturday. Volunteers participate in the same work schedule as staff, in exchange for food and lodging (8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Tuesday through Saturday). Please see Visiting for more information.