Making Our Life a Retreat

Making Our Life a Retreat

An 8-Day Silent Meditation Retreat for young people ages 18-35

Led by Bhante Rāhula

at Lama Foundation in Lama, NM

July 14th - July 21st, 2024

Registration will be open until May 15th and places will be awarded based on a lottery with preference given to local participants living in or near NM.

Offered by dana (donation-based)

After a retreat, short or long, we often feel refreshed, calm, and hopeful.

After re-entering society at large, sometimes our relationship with meditation practice gradually strains.

Join Dharma Gates and teacher Bhante Rāhula for a week of silent meditation practice and training to bring retreat practice into our daily life.

This week will offer participants ample time for sitting, 1:1 guidance with Bhante, time for Q&A, group activities with other participants, and activities to help develop a healthy relationship to technology. Practitioners will receive instruction in maintaining continuous practice through all parts of the day.

There will be indoor accommodations available for 16 participants, and the rest of us will be sleeping outdoors on the land. The weather in July is typically warm during the day (average high of 80F) and cool at night (average low of 47F), making ideal camping conditions. If you have a tent or would like to sleep out in the open under the night sky, please indicate so on your registration. Additional camping gear will be available for those who wish to camp but don’t have their own gear, though it is easier for us if you can bring your own or borrow a friends.

For the sake of benefitting ones practice, voluntarily taking on the 8 precepts will be encouraged, but not required for the retreat. These precepts are meant to help foster a calm mind which is conducive to practicing meditation. The 6th precept indicates not consuming food after noon, with the exception of certain allowables such as fruit juice and tea.

The 8 precepts:

  1. Refraining from taking life.

  2. Refraining from taking that which is not freely given.

  3. Refraining from all sexual contact.

  4. Refraining from speaking falsehoods.

  5. Refraining from taking any drinks or drugs which lead to heedlessness (including refraining from psychedelics, even microdosing).

  6. Refraining from eating at the incorrect time (after solar noon).

  7. Refraining from beautifying the body, refraining from music, shows, and entertainment.

  8. Refraining from sitting on high or luxurious sleeping places.

Since we are working with a Buddhist monastic we ask that everyone who attends dresses modestly for the duration of the retreat, including: keeping shoulders and knees covered, refraining from tight-fitting clothing – specifically refraining from wearing yoga pants. We require that you wear loose-fitting and modest clothes. Thank you for your cooperation!

Scroll down to the FAQ at the bottom if you have more questions.

Retreat Daily Schedule

6:00 am - Mindful Wakeup

6:30 – Group Meditation

7:30 – Breakfast

8:30 – Instructions, Dhamma Talk

10:00 - Personal practice (sitting/walking), interviews with Bhante

11:40 - Lunch and Lunch Clean-Up

1:30pm - Walking meditation

2:00 - Group meditation

3:00 - Personal practice, interviews with Bhante

5:00 - Juice and tea

6:00 - Questions about practice

7:40 - Cultivation of Loving Kindness (Mettā)

8:00 - Personal practice

9:00 - Rest

Bolded are mandatory events

Meet the Teacher

Bhante Rāhula's transformative journey began as a touring musician, playing various instruments and performing globally. He toured extensively with his music group Terræ Ignota, directed concerts, composed music for various mediums, and utilized his degree in Music Therapy to teach children about inner harmony through art.

After many years as an artist, Bhante's focus shifted towards cultivating mindfulness and concentration, and he committed to the Buddhist path in 2004 though his ordination with Sayadaw U Tenjaniya and now with his preceptor Sayadaw Dr. Nandamālābhivaṃsa.

Bhante completed a course on Buddhist scriptures from Harvard in 2019 and continued his monastic training at Sāsanārakkha Buddhist Sanctuary in Taiping, Malaysia.

Bhante Rāhula is currently constructing the Mexican Buddhist Center 'Paññābhūmi' to introduce and propagate the Buddha's teachings in Central and South America, and works supporting programs for those battling addiction in the Guadalajara area.

Bhante Rāhula

FAQs

Lama Foundation Meditation Hall.

  • No. All experience levels are welcome, including beginners.

  • Nope. You do not have to be Buddhist to participate in this retreat. Bhante’s teachings are rooted in the classical Buddhist tradition and include beliefs that may be new or foreign for some. The invitation is to encounter the teachings, to build confidence in the teachings as we verify them through our experience, and to maintain a healthy, open, discerning, and inquisitive mind.

  • The retreat is run on a donation basis in the spirit of dana. There is no required attendance fee. We ask that participants give a deposit of $200 in order to claim your place at the retreat. This deposit is returned back to you at the end of the retreat unless you choose to donate it. We keep your deposit in the case that you don’t show up, or you cancel within 3-weeks of the start of the retreat. For this retreat, that’s June 23rd, 2024.

    We ask you to donate the amount that feels appropriate and generous for you, given your situation and desire for Dharma Gates to continue to exist in the future.

  • The food served at the retreat will be vegan. If you have specific allergies or requests, please let us know. Often we are able to accommodate reasonable dietary requests.

  • There are 16 indoor beds available and large availability for camping, in tents and/or sleeping completely outside with no tent, weather permitting. If you would like to camp and/or have a tent (or two!) you would be willing to bring to the retreat, please indicate that in your registration form. If you have other gear such as additional sleeping pads and bags that would also be helpful.

  • Dharma Gates welcomes people of all cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities. There will be gender neutral outhouses on-site, and we may be able to provide single rooms if that would make you more comfortable. Our aim is to make retreat practice accessible to all young people—if there’s something we can to do help you feel comfortable to attending, please do not hesitate to reach out to us (team@dharma-gates.org.)

  • This retreat will be at the Lama Foundation. The address is 1895 Lama Mountain Road, Questa, NM 87556. It is a 35 minute drive from Taos, NM. There are flights into Taos Airport from limited airlines, flights into Santa Fe Airport, and flights into Albuquerque Airport (Sunport). Dharma Gates will provide a spreadsheet for participants to self-organize ride shares.

  • Dharma Gates will require that participants take one rapid test anytime within 48 hours of the start of the retreat. Participants should plan to provide their own test. We will have a few rapid tests on site in case someone develops symptoms during the course of the retreat. Our COVID-19 policy may adapt to developing circumstances between now and the retreat. Please reach out us if you cannot afford a test and we will provide one for you, or reimburse you if you save your receipt.

  • For this retreat, we will invite participants to voluntarily take on the 8 precepts, as they are designed to benefit ones meditation practice. If you don’t want to, then you can take just 7 precepts, and some simple snack can be provided in the evening.

  • Since we are working with a Buddhist monastic we ask that everyone who attends dresses modestly for the duration of the retreat, specifically including: keeping shoulders and knees covered, refraining from tight-fitting clothing – specifically refraining from wearing yoga pants. We require that you wear loose-fitting and modest clothes, thank you!