Programs
Finding Insight: Live Interview Q+A
With Diana Winston
Saturday, September 21st 10:30am - 11:30am PST This online event is open to both beginners and experienced practitioners. Awakening Mindfulness and Compassion Mindfulness and insight lead to a well of expansive knowing...a knowing that inspires and assures moving through life with unwavering certainty. Quieting the mind and calming the emotions are the foundations to moving […]
Awakening Mindfulness and Compassion
With Diana Winston, Leslie Booker and Vadan Ritter (movement teacher)
A Silent Insight Meditation Retreat In collaboration with UCLA Mindful Tuesday, October 1st - Sunday, October 6th Registration closes September 23rd at 11:59pm Pacific Time This retreat is available Hybrid In-Person and Online. To visit the online program page of this retreat, click here. Join us for a five-night silent retreat in the beautiful natural […]
[ONLINE] Awakening Mindfulness and Compassion
With Diana Winston, Leslie Booker and Vadan Ritter (movement teacher)
A Silent Insight Meditation Retreat In collaboration with UCLA Mindful Tuesday, October 1st - Sunday, October 6th Registration closes September 30th at 11:59pm Pacific Time This retreat is available hybrid (online and in-person). To visit the in-person program page, click here. Join us for a five-night silent retreat in the beautiful natural setting of […]
Dharma Explorations: Live Interview Q+A
With Trudy Goodman and Lisa Ernst
Wednesday October 2nd, 6:30pm - 7:30pm PST This online event is open to both beginners and experienced practitioners. The Dharma of Desire For this online session, bring all your curiosities about the retreat, the teachers and the dharma. Longing can be a path to the depths of the heart. Desire and longing can illuminate what […]
Online Special Event: Ancestors Welcome Here
With Ream and Kimber Simpkins
Ancestral Healing Practice Period for White Practitioners Committed to Racial Justice Saturday, October 5th 10am - 12pm (PST) Registration closes October 3rd at 11:59pm Pacific Time In this special day of practice we will explore healing, and the action we can take to end injustice in the world, with the support of our wise and […]
The Rhythm of Connection: Embracing Quietude and Mindful Communication
With Ofosu Jones-Quartey, Anthony "T" Maes and Devon Sangster Rath
A Relational Mindfulness Retreat Wednesday, October 9th - Sunday, October 13th Registration closes October 1st at 11:59pm Pacific Time Join us for a transformative retreat that thoughtfully balances the power of silence with the art of communication, all taught through a trauma-informed lens. Our program is uniquely designed, dedicating half of our time to silent […]
The Sure Heart's Release
With Dave Smith and Jameson
A Silent Insight Meditation Retreat Monday, October 14th - Saturday, October 19th Registration closes October 6th at 11:59pm Pacific Time The primary focus of teachings throughout this retreat will draw upon the timeless instructions from the Satipatthana Sutta, the heart of the Buddha's instructions for the establishment of Mindfulness. Together, we will explore various methods […]
Weaving Ourselves Back into the Fabric of Life: An Exploration of the Four Distortions of Perception
With Celeste Young and Ayya Santacitta
A Silent Meditation Retreat: Dana-based retreat in the monastic tradition (donate at any amount) Sunday, October 20th - Saturday, October 26th Registration closes October 6th at 11:59pm Pacific Time An Exploration of the Four Distortions of Perception Join us for an in person retreat in the beautiful San Bernardino mountains and deepen your practice […]
Three Views for Freedom
With Anushka Fernandopulle
A Silent Insight Meditation Retreat In collaboration with Insight San Diego Saturday, October 26th - Wednesday, October 30th Registration closes October 19th at 11:59pm Pacific Time The path of Buddhist practice is designed to help us release stress, strain and suffering in our life through developing insight. One helpful framework that the Buddha taught is […]
Relational Mindfulness: Finding Freedom and Authenticity in How We Relate [Online Half-Day]
With Deborah Eden Tull and Enrique Collazo
Saturday October 26th, 9:00am - 12:00pm PST This online half day retreat is open to both beginners and experienced practitioners. We all struggle at times with how to bring meditation off the cushion and into the beautiful, dynamic, and messy realm of relationships. Relational Mindfulness helps us to bring presence, compassion, clear-seeing, and authenticity to […]
The Limitless Heart: Cultivating Metta In Turbulent Times
With Yong Oh, Gullu Singh and Gabrielle Hammond (Qi Gong)
A Silent Insight Meditation Retreat Wednesday, November 6th - Tuesday, November 12th Registration closes October 29th at 11:59pm Pacific Time This retreat will focus on the cultivation of mettā. Mettā, usually translated as loving-kindness is an inner state of friendliness, benevolence, goodwill and universal positive regard. The Buddha said that when we develop mettā, “no […]
The Dharma of Desire: From Longing to Loving Presence
With Trudy Goodman and Lisa Ernst
A Silent Insight Meditation Retreat Wednesday, November 13th - Sunday, November 17th Registration closes November 5th at 11:59pm Pacific Time On the path of awakening, sometimes we may believe desire is a problem to be eradicated. Yet when we get curious about desire and look at our relationship to it, we can enter more deeply […]
Ancestors Welcome Here
With Ream, Kimber Simpkins and Em Morrison
Ancestral Healing Retreat For White Practitioners Committed to Racial Justice Tuesday, December 3rd - Sunday, December 8th Registration closes November 25th at 11:59pm Pacific Time White people*: We need all the help we can get. Who can we be today to change the conditions of our world for the better, to right the wrongs of […]
Saturday Sangha at Big Bear Retreat Center (December 2024)
please plan to attend the entire time Join us for a invite-only gathering of the Saturday Sangha (and friends) meditation group. A chance to gather in community in the beautiful SoCal mountains of Big Bear. We'll come together for a light retreat schedule, with partial moments of silence throughout the day (typically mornings), and a […]
Awake in the New Year
With Enrique Collazo and Deborah Eden Tull
A Dharma & Dance Retreat Monday, December 30th - Saturday, January 4th Registration closes December 23rd at 11:59pm Pacific Time The New Year is a powerful threshold. Buddhist traditions have long emphasized the importance of setting clear and conscious intentions in our spiritual life and engagement in the world. In this New Year’s retreat you will […]
The Sacred Path of Connection & Belonging: A Women's Springtime Nature Retreat
With Heidi Bourne and Laurie Cousins
The in-person Women's Springtime Nature Retreat is open to both beginning and seasoned practitioners, to all female-identified persons over the age of 18, including LGBTQIA+. Gather with a group of women for a restorative, spacious and nourishing retreat as winter turns to spring. Over five days and four nights we'll connect with ourselves, each other, and the natural world as we renew […]
Being Dharma: SMS and BBRC Month-long Residential Retreat 2025
This in-person retreat is open to experienced practitioners by application only. This page is for all those that have been accepted into the program to register and submit a deposit. Being Dharma, the monthlong residential retreat, is presented by Sacred Mountain Sangha and Big Bear Retreat Center. If you have any questions regarding the application […]
Ethics and Love in Interpersonal Life [On Land]
With Matthew Brensilver
A dharma program with Matthew Brensilver, open to both beginners and experienced practitioners. *5-day Retreat (in-person & online) + 6 week course* We live in a web of mutuality; the interpersonal realm is where the rubber meets the road in our spiritual practice. Our relationships – personal and professional – act like a magnet, pulling […]
Ethics and Love in Interpersonal Life [Online]
With Matthew Brensilver
A dharma program with Matthew Brensilver, open to both beginners and experienced practitioners. *5-day Retreat (in-person & online) + 6 week course* We live in a web of mutuality; the interpersonal realm is where the rubber meets the road in our spiritual practice. Our relationships – personal and professional – act like a magnet, pulling […]
Simplicity and Stillness: Cultivating the 5 Spiritual Strengths [On Land]
With Celeste Young and Devon Hase
This in-person retreat is open to both beginners and experienced practitioners. During this weeklong spring insight meditation retreat, we will learn to slow down and attune to the fresh simplicity of our present moment experience, rest in stillness, and connect with the heart's inner capacity for healing and freedom. We will be exploring the cultivation […]
Simplicity and Stillness: Cultivating the 5 Spiritual Strengths [Online]
With Celeste Young and Devon Hase
This online retreat is open to both beginners and experienced practitioners. During this weeklong spring insight meditation retreat, we will learn to slow down and attune to the fresh simplicity of our present moment experience, rest in stillness, and connect with the heart's inner capacity for healing and freedom. We will be exploring the cultivation […]
Six Week Program: Ethics and Love in Interpersonal Life [Online]
With Matthew Brensilver
A Six Week Integration dharma program with Matthew Brensilver *available for all those that attend the in person and online April retreat* Please ensure you are registered for the April 16-20, 2025 retreat first, this program is only available for those attending the retreat. In-person and Online options available. Dates for the program are as […]
Coming Home to Our Senses [On Land]
With Trudy Goodman, Gullu Singh and Gabrielle Hammond (Qi Gong)
This in-person retreat is open to both beginners and experienced practitioners. Along the path of dharma practice we make it a habit to connect to the truth of each moment as experienced in the body and through all the senses. By doing so, we can effectively reduce anxiety and confusion, making room for peace and […]
Coming Home to Our Senses [Online]
With Trudy Goodman, Gullu Singh and Gabrielle Hammond (Qi Gong)
This online retreat is open to both beginners and experienced practitioners. Along the path of dharma practice we make it a habit to connect to the truth of each moment as experienced in the body and through all the senses. By doing so, we can effectively reduce anxiety and confusion, making room for peace and […]
Entering the Silence of Recovery
With Vimalasara Mason-John and Kevin Griffin
This in-person retreat is open to both beginners and experienced practitioners. All recovery paths are welcome, whether Twelve Step, Recovery Dharma, Eight Step Recovery, substance, process, or relationship-oriented. Join us for this unique meditation retreat combining traditional Buddhist practices with recovery and healing. Primarily conducted in silence, the retreat focuses on insight/mindfulness meditation, with additional […]