Awakening Amidst the World's Turbulence: An Insight Dialogue Retreat
Description
In a time marked by rapid change, environmental vulnerability, and social unrest, our familiar habits of perception, thinking, speaking, and responding shape how we experience both ourselves and the world around us. This retreat offers an invitation to return to the immediacy of each moment and to the quiet joy of simply being here, now. Together, we will explore how mindful relating can open the way to greater wholeness within ourselves, with one another, and with the living world.
OPEN TO ALL: This retreat is open to all participants with prior silent retreat experience.
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE: Scholarship support may be available. Please contact Susan Wiley with your requests.
In Insight Dialogue, we bring the stillness of concentration and the clarity of mindfulness into contemplation with others, allowing heart and mind to become more transparent and fully present. As we notice the ways we construct our world, the heart’s capacities for wisdom, empathy, and responsiveness begin to unfold. In this way, we discover refuge in the Buddha’s teachings and a path of awakening amid the world’s turbulence.
We are also reminded that we are nature—inseparable from the living web—and that our inner landscapes hold seeds of awakening and meaningful action.
This retreat weaves together silent meditation, mindful dialogue in dyads and small groups, mindful movement, and time in nature, all held within the container of noble silence.
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
- Intimate setting with personal access to the teacher
- Silent and guided meditations
- Insight Dialogue, a relational meditation practice in pairs
- Dharma contemplation and study
- Delicious all-vegetarian meals with locally sourced ingredients
- Option to extend stay on Personal Retreat
- Extensive library of dharma books
- Expansive wooded grounds with beautiful paths, flora and fauna, and walking trails
SCHEDULE (subject to change)
Friday, September 11
- 3:00 PM: Check in begins
- 6:00-7:00 PM: Dinner
- 7:15-9:15 PM: Welcome and Introduction, Opening Meditation
- 10:00 PM: Lights Out
Saturday, September 12 – Wednesday, September 16
- 6:30 AM: Wake-up Bell
- 7:30-8:00 AM: Sitting Meditation
- 8:00-9:00 AM: Breakfast
- 9:00 AM-12:00 PM: Morning Session
- 12:00-1:00 PM: Lunch
- 1:00-2:30 PM: Personal Practice
- 2:30-5:30 PM: Afternoon Session
- 5:30-6:00 PM: Personal Practice
- 6:00-7:00 PM: Dinner
- 7:15-9:15 PM: Evening Session
- 10:00 PM: Lights out
Thursday, September 17
- 6:30 AM: Wake-up Bell
- 7:00-7:30 AM: Personal Practice, Packing
- 7:30-8:00 AM: Sitting Meditation
- 8:00-9:00 AM: Breakfast
- 9:00-11:30 AM: Morning Session
- 12:00-1:00 PM: Lunch
- 1:00 PM: Checkout and Departure
Teachers
Phyllis K. Hicks
Phyllis Hicks has practiced insight meditation since 1998. Drawn early on to Buddhist teachings as a way of life, she has long been inspired by the transformative power of bringing mindfulness and wisdom into relational practice. Invited to train as an Insight Dialogue teacher in 2003, she began co-teaching retreats with Gregory Kramer. Today, she teaches internationally and mentors developing teachers. She is a co-developer of the Interpersonal Mindfulness Program (IMP) and IMP Teacher Training. Phyllis is deeply committed to communities of spiritual friendship and relational practice. After retiring as a psychotherapist and Counseling Institute Director of 35 years, she continues to offer…
Bart van Melik
Bart van Melik is a guiding teacher at the Community Meditation Center in New York City. He has taught Insight Dialogue and silent meditation since 2009 and has trained with Joseph Goldstein, Carol Wilson, Gregory Kramer, and Phyllis Hicks. A graduate of the Spirit Rock/Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training Program, Bart leads residential silent retreats and Insight Dialogue retreats in the U.S. and Europe, and offers monthly Insight Dialogue practice at the Community Meditation Center in New York. For many years, he brought meditation practice into juvenile detention centers, homeless shelters, veterans’ programs, and NYC public…
Event Schedule
Sep 10-17, 2026
7 day event
Daily Schedule:
Accommodation Options
Private Room: Couple
This registration fee is for two people. This comfortable room has one double bed, and may be shared by couples in a committed relationship. With ample room for meditation, it features a desk and small table suitable for a meditation object. All rooms are furnished with linens, pillows, blankets, coverlets, and towels, as well as a meditation cushion and zabuton. The room shares a bath with one or two other rooms. Room rates include three delicious vegetarian meals each day (6 total meals for a couple room); there is also a tea station on each hall.
Junior Suite: Single
These large rooms have one double bed, a private bath, private terrace, a refrigerator and ample room for practice. Each room has a small table suitable for a meditation object and a meditation cushion and zabaton, as well as a desk and an armoire. Room rates include three delicious vegetarian meals each day; there is also an in-room tea station.
Junior Suite: Couple
This reservation fee is for two people and includes three delicious vegetarian meals each day (6 total for a couple). This large room has one double bed, which may be shared by couples in a committed relationship. In addition, it has a private bath, private terrace, a refrigerator and ample room for practice. Each room has a small table suitable for a meditation object and a meditation cushion and zabaton, as well as a desk and an armoire.
Teachers
Phyllis K. Hicks has been dedicated to insight meditation since 1998, bringing decades of experience and a deep commitment to the path of practice. Inspired by early Buddhist teachings as a way of life, she is especially drawn to the transformative power of weaving mindfulness and wisdom into relationships and everyday connection. In 2003, she was invited to train as...
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Bart van Melik is a guiding teacher at the Community Meditation Center in New York City, where he offers a grounded and compassionate approach to contemplative practice. Since 2009, he has been teaching Insight Dialogue and silent meditation, drawing on training with Joseph Goldstein, Carol Wilson, Gregory Kramer, and Phyllis Hicks. He is also a graduate of the Spirit Rock/Insight...
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191 Cragsmoor Rd, Pine Bush, NY 12566, USA
Pine Bush