The Heart of Our Practice: From Ordinary Mind to Awakening

Over the course of this two-week retreat, we will explore four foundational practices passed down by the Buddha and later teachers, considered among the great treasures of the tradition. Together, these practices support us in seeing through the habitual patterns of mind, heart, and body that keep us confined—often reactive, disconnected, and cut off from our own innate wisdom and compassionate nature.

We will begin with four days devoted to building stronger concentration and steadiness, and this quality of focused attention will be nurtured throughout the retreat. From there, we will deepen into insight practice, with particular emphasis on impermanence, dukkha in its most essential sense of reactivity, and not-self, including emptiness as the interdependence and lack of fixed solidity in all phenomena.

Another central thread will be the cultivation of lovingkindness and compassion, which will be developed throughout the retreat and help bring wisdom, kindness, and embodied awareness into greater harmony. These practices then become the basis for our fourth exploration: opening to non-dual, awakened awareness and learning how to begin stabilizing it both in formal meditation and in everyday activities.

During the final portion of the retreat, we will also look at how to carry these practices into daily life so that the retreat continues beyond the schedule and into ordinary experience. Daily Qigong will further support embodiment throughout the two weeks.

Prerequisite: Completion of at least two 5-night or longer silent Insight Meditation retreats, or permission of the teacher.

For 2026, Covid-19 testing will not be required or administered. However, participants are asked to bring mindfulness to their activities in the days before arrival, in consideration of staff, teachers, and fellow retreatants. Masks will be optional and encouraged, especially if anyone is feeling unwell. Avoiding higher-risk situations and wearing masks whenever possible will help reduce the chance of spreading viruses on site. Anyone with symptoms of a communicable illness is strongly encouraged to stay home.

First-time retreatants at Southern Dharma must arrive by 5:00pm ET on the first day of retreat. Check-in begins at 3:00pm. Returning yogis may check in between 3:00pm and 6:00pm.

Departure will be by 2:00pm on the final day. Please be sure you can participate in the full program before registering.

All registrations are subject to the new 2026 cancellation policy, which every retreatant must review and accept during registration.

For 2026 retreats, pricing is based on lodging. Please select the option that best matches your ability to give at this time. Any amount paid above the Base rate is a tax-deductible contribution to Southern Dharma Retreat Center, and your confirmation email serves as your tax receipt.

We are deeply grateful for your support.

Please note that registration fees do not include dana for the teacher(s). In the Buddhist tradition, teachings are offered freely, and teachers are not paid for their offerings. They depend on dana from students, and we appreciate your generosity in supporting a community committed to the Dharma.

Housing and all meals are included in the program fee. Five housing options are currently available:

• Bed in Lodge, shared double room (2nd floor)
• Bed in Lodge, dorm with privacy partitions (3rd floor)
• Unheated kuti (single cabin)
• Canvas Tent (furnished, single)
• Basic Tent Platform (camping with your own gear)

*Please note: Southern Dharma is no longer able to offer Heated Kutis. All Kutis are Unheated with no electricity.

Need-based scholarship awards are available at 25% or 50% discounts for lodge-based room assignments. Choosing a scholarship option makes it highly likely that you will be placed in shared housing.

Please use the appropriate fields to indicate any additional housing needs, such as a preference for same-gender housing, snoring, use of a CPAP machine, or a need for single housing if you registered through a scholarship pathway and would otherwise be placed in the lodge.

Southern Dharma also offers additional financial aid for BIPOC participants and Young Adults, as well as for those with more serious financial need. Please email if you require financial aid beyond the 25% or 50% scholarship.

Participants who have previously used Hemera Foundation Fellowships are welcome to use any of the in-house scholarship options.