Meditation, Nature, and Awakening With Peter Williams, Chas DiCapua and JD Doyle (Assistant)

Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center

This retreat engages two powerful forces for happiness – insight meditation and immersion in nature. Insight meditation has been the key practice for accessing the profound wisdom of the Buddhist tradition for 2500 years. It is extraordinary in its simplicity, its lack of dogma and, above all, its results.

When we take the meditation practice outside, nature acts as a people whisperer, quieting the mind and gladdening the heart. This deepens our meditation practice which, in turn, deepens our connection with nature. This leads to a surprising fulfillment in the simplest of pleasures – a dewdrop on an aspen leaf, a meadow shimmering in sunlight, the otherworldly bugling of an elk. All this sets the stage for the meditative insight that fosters letting go and true freedom of heart.

This retreat will combine traditional indoor meditation with meditation outdoors and mindful hikes (suitable for all levels of walking). We will explore beautiful old growth forests during fall foliage time. Mindful exercises outdoors will engage the senses and reveal the unity of nature in and outside the body. The retreat is suitable for beginners and seasoned practitioners. The retreat is held in silence.