New Year’s Retreat: Weaving Ancient and New Ways of Being
With Ayya Santacitta and Celeste Young
December 28, 2025 - January 3, 2026
This retreat welcomes both beginners and experienced meditators. Registration for this retreat closes on December 21st, 2025 at 11:59pm Pacific Time. If looking to join after this date, please inquire at guestservices@bigbearretreatcenter.org. During this retreat we will come together in community to support each other in consciously letting go of the past and opening to the New Year from a place of stability, ease and the inner freedom we find in deepening our practice. In these uncertain times, old cultural narratives are dissolving and we are called to navigate the world differently. The Four Protective Meditations offer us protection from…
The Sacred Path of Connection, Belonging & Love: A Women’s Springtime Nature Retreat
With Heidi Bourne and Laurie Cousins
March 7 - 11, 2026
Book early and get $100.00 off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 5, 2026.
This retreat is open to both beginning and seasoned practitioners, to all female-identified persons over the age of 18, including LGBTQIA+. Registration closes on February 21, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. Together we can bring change to the world, gradually replacing fear and hatred with compassion and love. Love for all living beings. - Jane Goodall We warmly invite you to join us for a spacious silent retreat dedicated to nourishing the connections with ourselves, each other, and the beauty of the natural world. We’ll slow down, soften into stillness, fill our compassionate hearts, and reconnect…
The Embodied Mind: Experiencing the Somatic and Subtle Body
With Jill Satterfield
March 17 - 22, 2026
Book early and get $100.00 off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 5, 2026.
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on March 3, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. In the beautiful landscape of San Bernadino mountains, our 5-day retreat will blend inner and outer nature with the big California open sky. Letting go of needing to do and opening to just be, we’ll deeply explore the physical/somatic and subtle/energetic body. We’ll discover how consciousness expresses itself in physical and subtle forms alongside of more well-known mental consciousness. We’ll experience that our bodies aren’t just transportation for our minds but capable of understanding the wisdom in wordless sensing. Sensing…
Grounding in the Dharma
With Mary Stancavage, Ian Challis, Valerie Cusson and Jokai Blackwell
March 25 - 29, 2026
Book early and get $100.00 off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 5, 2026.
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on March 11, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. Buddhist practice offers a path to connect with ourselves and a way to live in harmony with others. This retreat will remind us of the simplicity of the teachings that offer freedom from greed, aversion and ignorance and a path to liberation. An in-person, multi-day retreat is a rare and invaluable opportunity to practice. Coming together, we will cultivate the energy and support that allows the body-mind to find refuge in the kind embrace of Buddhist teachings. It is suitable…
The Convergence of Wisdom and Love [ONLINE]
With Matthew Brensilver
March 31 - April 4, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on March 30, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. For generations, practitioners have stepped away from the intensity of daily life to sit in the quiet of their own hearts. A silent retreat offers us a chance to slow down, listen deeply, and remember what’s always been here. To be mindful of goodness brings love; to be mindful of pain also brings love. This asymmetry is the miracle of mindfulness. As the attention stabilizes, we begin to sense the poignancy of our wish to be happy. In turn, this…
The Convergence of Wisdom and Love
With Matthew Brensilver
March 31 - April 4, 2026
Book early and get $100.00 off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 5, 2026.
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on March 17, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. For generations, practitioners have stepped away from the intensity of daily life to sit in the quiet of their own hearts. A silent retreat offers us a chance to slow down, listen deeply, and remember what’s always been here. To be mindful of goodness brings love; to be mindful of pain also brings love. This asymmetry is the miracle of mindfulness. As the attention stabilizes, we begin to sense the poignancy of our wish to be happy. In turn, this…
Coming Home to Our Senses
With Gullu Singh, Trudy Goodman, Lienchi (LC) Tran and Gabrielle Hammond (Qi Gong)
April 22 - 26, 2026
Book early and get $100.00 off listed prices. Offer valid until Jan 5, 2026.
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on April 8, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. Along the path of Dharma practice, we cultivate the habit to connect with the truth of each moment — as it’s felt in the body, seen through the eyes, and heard through the ears of the heart. By doing so, we begin to transform our relationship with experience itself. Instead of resisting, fixing, or fleeing what arises, we learn to meet each moment with curiosity and care. From this intimacy with life as it is, peace and joy naturally emerge.…
The Dharma of Recovery
With Vimalasara and Kevin Griffin
May 21 - 25, 2026
A retreat for anyone walking the path of recovery—whether from addiction, codependency, trauma, or the many ways suffering takes root in our lives. Registration closes on May 7, 206. If joining after this date, please contact us. Are you walking the path of recovery, seeking a deeper sense of peace, freedom and wholeness? This retreat offers a compassionate space for anyone walking the path of recovery—whether from addiction, codependency, trauma, or the many ways suffering takes root in our lives. Grounded in the teachings of the Buddha and the principles of mindful awareness, we come together to explore freedom from…
Love and Awareness: The Heart That Knows
With Celeste Young and Vance Pryor
June 8 - 14, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on May 25, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. Join us in the natural beauty of the San Bernardino mountains for this silent insight meditation retreat. Awareness and love are not two separate paths but one living expression of wisdom. When the heart is open, awareness becomes tender; when the mind is clear, love naturally shines through. This retreat invites a relaxed exploration of that meeting point — cultivating mindfulness that is infused with care, and love that is grounded in knowing. Through sitting and walking meditation, silence and…
When Awareness Becomes Natural
With Lienchi (LC) Tran and Neesha Patel
June 15 - 21, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners. This retreat is offered in partnership with Insight Retreat Center. Registration closes on June 1, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. In this 7-day retreat, we will explore Vipassana meditation in the practice style of Sayadaw U Tejaniya. Sayadaw’s approach is free from rigid forms, influenced by his previous life as a layperson and his interest in adaptable practices. Nonetheless, his teachings are rigorous, emphasizing Right View, Awareness, and a relaxed, gentle, continuous practice attitude throughout the day. You will explore how to create the conditions for awareness to arise naturally,…
The Original Body Scan: Discovering Freedom within the Body [ONLINE]
With Christiane Wolf, Bob Stahl, Mary Grace Orr and Marcy Reynolds
June 22 - 28, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on June 21, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. In this retreat, we will work primarily with the first of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness – mindfulness of the body. The “32 Parts of the Body” meditation, which is part of the first foundation of mindfulness, has rarely been taught in the West; you will be introduced to it from an Insight perspective of the true nature and wonders of the body. This practice has also been used for healing illness and most importantly to help eradicate the erroneous…
The Original Body Scan: Discovering Freedom within the Body
With Christiane Wolf, Bob Stahl, Mary Grace Orr and Marcy Reynolds
June 22 - 28, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on June 8, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. In this retreat, we will work primarily with the first of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness – mindfulness of the body. The “32 Parts of the Body” meditation, which is part of the first foundation of mindfulness, has rarely been taught in the West; you will be introduced to it from an Insight perspective of the true nature and wonders of the body. This practice has also been used for healing illness and most importantly to help eradicate the erroneous…
Tending the Self, Tending the World [ONLINE]
With Gullu Singh and Gabrielle Hammond (Qi Gong)
July 9 - 12, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on July 8, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. If one knew oneself to be precious, One would guard oneself with care. The sage will watch over herself in any part of the night. — Dhammapada 157 Tending the Self invites you into a weekend of deep care and recalibration — an opportunity to rest the heart and steady the mind through meditation, qigong, and mindful presence. This retreat is an exploration of what it truly means to care for ourselves — not as indulgence, but as…
Tending the Self, Tending the World
With Gullu Singh and Gabrielle Hammond (Qi Gong)
July 9 - 12, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on June 25, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. If one knew oneself to be precious, One would guard oneself with care. The sage will watch over herself in any part of the night. — Dhammapada 157 Tending the Self invites you into a weekend of deep care and recalibration — an opportunity to rest the heart and steady the mind through meditation, qigong, and mindful presence. This retreat is an exploration of what it truly means to care for ourselves — not as indulgence, but as…
Listen, Heart, Peace
With Kim Allen and Diana Clark
July 12 - 19, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners. This retreat is offered in partnership with Insight Retreat Center. Registration closes on June 28, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. Careful attention to our inner life awakens the heart and mind to the possibility of peace in the present moment. Supported by the quiet beauty of the natural surroundings and the shared field of community practice, we will explore classical insight practices, highlighting that these are also forms of opening the heart and evoking greater freedom. This silent retreat will include sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks and practice discussions…
The Middle Way: An Embodiment Journey Exploring Stillness and Movement, Silence and Sound, Dark and Light
With Deborah Eden Tull, Enrique Collazo and Charlie Korda
July 31 - August 4, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on July 17, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. Beyond the dualities that falsely divide life into two, what awakens within and through us in the fertile space between? How are both meditation and movement/dance devotional practices that liberate us from the realm of concepts and ideas into direct transmission? Through Buddhist meditation, conscious movement and dance, relational practice, and deep time in nature, we will explore the living dharma of The Middle Way. We will journey beyond duality and bring curiosity to the empty space between stillness and…
Creating Refuge in Community
With JD Doyle, Lev Michael Moses and René Rivera
August 5 - 9, 2026
A Retreat for Trans, Gender Nonconforming, Genderqueer, Non-binary and All Gender Expansive Communities Registration closes on July 22, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. This 4-night retreat will be a space grounded in self-care and compassion, and held in community, to support our healing and resilience at this time in this world. We will offer meditation, mindful movement, and heart-centered practices based on Buddhist principles. Silence will be gently balanced with small and large group discussions. We will cultivate and deepen connections that support our resilience and joy. This retreat, grounded in the Dharma, is open to…
BIPOC Community Retreat
With Devin Berry, Alli Simon and Hakim Tafari
September 2 - 6, 2026
A silent meditation retreat for people who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person-of-Color. Both beginning and experienced practitioners are welcome. Registration closes on August 19, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. Coming together as a BIPOC community, we create a space of ease and support to meditate and cultivate inner freedom. Held in an environment of silence, this retreat provides an in-depth experience of the Buddha’s teachings on mindful awareness, as well as the cultivation of lovingkindness meditation, illuminating a path toward healing and greater happiness. Set in the mountains of Big Bear this retreat…
Retiro de Meditación
With Tere Abdala and Rosamaría Segura
September 9 - 13, 2026
Registration closes on August 26, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. Apto para principiantes y todos los niveles Te invitamos a un retiro de cuatro días dedicado a cultivar la atención plena, la serenidad interior y el descanso profundo en un hermoso entorno natural. Rodeado de montañas, bosques de pinos y senderos que invitan a la introspección, este retiro es una oportunidad para pausar, respirar y reconectar contigo mismo y con la simplicidad de estar vivo. Durante el retiro exploraremos prácticas esenciales de la tradición Vipassana/Insight con un toque de enseñanzas del budismo tibetano, ofreciendo un acompañamiento…
The Refuge of the Heart [ONLINE]
With Matthew Brensilver and Beth Sternlieb
September 15 - 20, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on September 14, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. The Buddha counsels: “Hatred does not cease by hatred but by non-hatred. This law is eternal.” The alternatives to love – namely, hate or apathy – are not viable for ourselves, for our communities or our world. There are many details to work out, but in one way or another, love is the path forward. During this retreat, we’ll cultivate and abide in the four forms of love articulated by our Buddhist tradition. When love meets goodness, there is lovingkindness.…
The Refuge of the Heart
With Matthew Brensilver and Beth Sternlieb
September 15 - 20, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on September 1, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. The Buddha counsels: “Hatred does not cease by hatred but by non-hatred. This law is eternal.” The alternatives to love – namely, hate or apathy – are not viable for ourselves, for our communities or our world. There are many details to work out, but in one way or another, love is the path forward. During this retreat, we’ll cultivate and abide in the four forms of love articulated by our Buddhist tradition. When love meets goodness, there is lovingkindness.…
The Heart of Awakening: Exploring the Seven Factors
With Celeste Young and Devon Hase
September 22 - 27, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on September 8, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. During this weeklong meditation retreat, we will explore the seven awakening factors (bojjhanga) — the Buddha’s teachings on the qualities of mind and heart that lead to freedom and well-being. Together, we’ll learn to recognize, nurture, and balance these interrelated capacities: mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. Each day will focus on one factor while honoring how they naturally arise and support one another: mindfulness opens the door to wise investigation, investigation kindles energy, energy gives rise to…
Slow Down, Open, Belong: Insight & Lovingkindness Meditation Retreat
With Devin Berry, Tara Mulay and Hakim Tafari
September 27 - October 1, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on September 13, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. In a culture of pressure and hurry, stillness is radical. On this four-night silent Insight and Lovingkindness retreat, we step out of habit and into presence—learning to stabilize attention and soften the heart. Through mindfulness of the body and the grounding support of mettā, we meet life with less judgment and more compassion. The retreat includes daily meditation instruction, dharma talks, practice meetings, sitting and walking periods, and optional Qi Gong. No prior meditation experience is needed—just a willingness to…
Liberation Spirituality: A Dharma Gathering for Our Times
With Thanissara, Andrés González, Yong Oh, Djuna Devereaux, Kareem Ghandour and emiko yoshikami
October 11 - 17, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on September 27, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. This retreat and collective inquiry––a living Dharma laboratory in motion––is the culmination of a year-long Rhizome Fellowship Culture Hack training (toward post-capitalist futures), which is an evolving experiment in weaving Dharma, inquiry, and systemic visioning into a collective field of practice. Rooted in the Sacred Mountain Sangha approach, our days will flow with a rhythm of inner practices in the mornings, like Kuan Yin bowing, insight meditation, chanting, ritual, and Dharma sessions to ground us in silence, awareness, and compassion.…
Resilience and Refuge: Mindful Yoga and Embodied Dharma
With Djuna Devereaux and Anne Cushman
November 2 - 7, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on October 19, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. How do we cultivate resilience and connect with inner and outer refuge, especially in times of personal and global challenges? In this silent retreat, we’ll offer Buddhist Dharma and Yoga teachings and practices for settling your nervous system, grounding your energy, and cultivating the capacity to meet life's challenges with grace and wisdom. You’ll replenish your body, heart, and mind with a seamless flow of meditation in movement and in stillness, within a spacious schedule that offers ample time to…
Cultivating Home in Our Hearts
With Vimalasara, Lev Michael Moses and MaryAnn Gallo
November 12 - 15, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on October 29, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. A Retreat and Gathering for those who have lived life on a different road. Whether adoptee, fostered or from the group home. You who were separated from lineage and land. You who were raised disconnected from your birth family, and/or ancestry and culture. Through mindfulness, meditation and compassionate relational practices, we’ll explore the wounds and potential gifts of our experiences. Together we will work to cultivate self-love, compassion and a sense of belonging to ourselves, one another and to the…
The Seven Factors of Awakening [ONLINE]
With Lisa Ernst and Trudy Goodman
November 17 - 21, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on November 16, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. In Buddhist practice we often investigate the nature of suffering and how to diminish it. Yet the Buddha also emphasized developing the wholesome, life-affirming qualities that bring ease, joy, and clarity to the heart and mind. These qualities are not luxuries on the path—they are the very conditions that support wisdom and liberation. One of the Buddha’s most beautiful teachings on these positive qualities is the Seven Factors of Awakening: mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, calm, concentration, and equanimity. As we…
The Seven Factors of Awakening
With Lisa Ernst and Trudy Goodman
November 17 - 21, 2026
Open to experienced and new practitioners Registration closes on November 3, 2026. If joining after this date, please contact us. In Buddhist practice we often investigate the nature of suffering and how to diminish it. Yet the Buddha also emphasized developing the wholesome, life-affirming qualities that bring ease, joy, and clarity to the heart and mind. These qualities are not luxuries on the path—they are the very conditions that support wisdom and liberation. One of the Buddha’s most beautiful teachings on these positive qualities is the Seven Factors of Awakening: mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, calm, concentration, and equanimity. As we…