Luminous Mind

Attendance is limited to 32 participants because of Tina’s intensive interview schedule. For this retreat, both the fee structure and cancellation policy have been adjusted specifically to support a stable registration list; details are listed below.

Set within the broader framework of awakening, the opening days offer an overview of enlightenment and the cultivation of bodhicitta — the heartfelt wish for awakening for oneself and all beings — as a foundation for a complete and meaningful practice.

The following five days are devoted to samatha practice, building precise, focused awareness with the potential to develop into the meditative absorptions known as jhanas.

During the final week, participants may choose to continue deepening on the samatha path or shift into the Dzogchen track. Talks for both tracks will be open to everyone. The Dzogchen option introduces the possibility of non-dual awareness without requiring the same level of concentration needed for jhana. This track builds on samatha’s stabilizing concentration, includes the open awareness of vipassana, and then explores the non-dual practice of rigpa — a way of resting in a deeper reality with eyes open and fully awake to the world.

Participants may either continue further into samatha or branch into Tibetan Dzogchen and the possibility of realizing rigpa. Both paths point toward the possibility of moving beyond conventional reality and recognizing the deeper truth of non-duality.

Tina is also offering an intensive metta option as a samatha practice. While most participants will practice anapanasati, those choosing metta will use one benefactor as the meditation object throughout the samatha portion of the retreat. The concentration elements — including levels of concentration and working with hindrances and defilements — are the same for both metta and anapanasati.

In addition to the experience requirements listed for all participants, anyone wishing to practice metta in this way must have either:

• Previously attended Tina’s 1-week Brahmaviharas retreat, or
• Previously attended Tina’s 1-week or 2-week Samatha retreat and completed Tina’s Innercraft Heart Practices workshop or Tina’s 1-week Heart Practices Retreat-in-a-Box.

To learn more about Luminous Mind retreats, a 9-minute YouTube video by Tina is available.

Experience prerequisites: Successful completion of at least two 6-night/7-day silent, residential meditation retreats, with at least one of them led by Tina. Please include details of your retreat experience on your registration form so your eligibility can be verified.

Fee schedule:

• Generosity Tier: $2130 plus dana
• Base Tier: $1620 plus dana
• Subsidized Tier: $1375 plus dana

Cancellation policy:

• More than 6 months’ notice: full refund minus a $300 cancellation fee
• 4–6 months’ notice: $600 cancellation fee
• 1–4 months’ notice: $1000 cancellation fee
• Less than 1 month before the retreat begins: the full retreat fee is forfeited

Partial attendance is not available. Participants are also asked to attend only if their current life circumstances support staying offline and off phone/text for the full retreat, with exceptions possible for urgent family matters.

Current public health & safety protocols: Cloud Mountain maintains ongoing public health and safety measures. Protocols vary by season, but some level of masking remains part of the retreat requirements.

Scholarship info: Scholarship funds are available on all retreats for those facing financial hardship.

Special notes: This retreat is intended for experienced students.

In keeping with the Buddhist tradition, none of the registration fee goes to the teacher(s). Teacher dāna is encouraged at the event as an expression of generosity and support for their livelihood.