Solitary Cabin Retreats
Find solitude in nature
Connect deeply with your mindfulness meditation
Experience the wisdom of your own mind
The Sound of Solitary Retreat
Get a taste of retreat life in one of Karmê Chöling's Solitary Retreat Cabins
Why do a solitary cabin retreat
At Karmê Chöling?
You need a place free from distractions
You’re looking for a quiet space with more structure than a meditation retreat at home can offer you, yet you also need the flexibility to create your own independent solo retreat.
These retreat cabins are designed to be disruption free while allowing you to deepen your contemplative or meditation study & practice.
You're looking for insight and realization
Although it is important to be mindful and bring your meditation practice into everyday life, you also know there is a magic in taking time to meditate in solitary seclusion. It is here that you can take a deep look at your habitual patterns and discover a deeper truth about yourself.
A 50 year tradition
Supporting meditation practice
Practitioners from Shambhala and other Tibetan Buddhist lineage traditions have come to Karmê Chöling’s beautiful residential retreat center for over 50 years. Those who make the pilgrimage to our lands are searching for everything from guided buddhist meditation and intro to Buddhism courses, to more advanced solitary retreats where they can learn to deepen their understanding of the mind.
This land and its retreat cabins have been blessed by many great teachers and have been ripened by the self awareness meditation practice of generations of retreatants.
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Let Solitude Be Your Mirror
The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.
Pema Chödrön
A Cabin Retreat
At Karmê Chöling
Settle into a cozy cabin in a tranquil yet powerful forest setting
Our secluded cabin retreats in the Green Mountains of Vermont bring you the peace and quiet you need to sink into your meditation practice or contemplative discipline.
Find the sanctity you need for deep reflection
Leave the constant noise and distraction of your daily life behind. Let go of the addiction to busyness and reconnect with your mind while you embrace self awareness through meditation.
Experience Insight & Realization
Insight may occur suddenly, feeling sharp and penetrating. Or it may be a subtle shift in perspective, with a heightened sense of mindfulness in real life for days, weeks or years after your retreat. However it happens, this is a time for intense inner realization and discovery.
Eva Wong Cabin Walk:
Power Spot at Nirmanakaya
In 2019, Eva Wong — a Fengshui consultant for spiritual practice centers worldwide — took a tour of Karme Choling’s retreat cabins with the retreat master, Julia Persch, and the retreats assistant, Mike de Give. Here is an excerpt of the conversation at the retreat cabin called Nirmanakaya.
Read Article
Cabin Retreat Articles
An Uneventful Walk in the Snow
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Jim Pierce is OK in Great Eastern Sun
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What to expect
Community Support, Meditation Instruction, & Sacred World
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Community support for solitary retreatants
Although this is a solitary retreat in a secluded cabin up in the woods, we continue to make deliveries and check in on you as needed or as you request. It might feel like you are completely by yourself, but we are there to provide you with water, perishables you have stored down at the house, specific Vajrayana practice shrine setups and other needs.
MEDITATION INSTRUCTORS
Receive formal meditation instruction
You can ask to have one of our qualified meditation instructors visit you at your cabin while you are on retreat. These instructions can range from basic Buddhist sitting meditation to Tonglen or Sending-and-receiving, to specific Vajrayana practices. This is an opportunity to discuss questions that may have arisen for you during your solitary cabin retreat, to clarify the view or receive further instructions on the practice that you are doing.
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ENTERING A SACRED WORLD
Step into a world created by generations of practitioners
Our retreat cabins have been here on the land for many years. Meditators of many skill levels and contemplative practices have used them to achieve insight and realization. It is in these cabins that structure and discipline can join with the freedom of space to allow you to delve deeper into your practice and discover the subtleties of your own mind.
Apply For A:
Solitary Cabin Retreat
Our Solitary Retreat Cabins
Shrine rooms in the woods
Pre-requisites
For Solitary Cabin Retreats
- Completion of at least two weeks (continuously or separate) of a silent group meditation retreat. This can either be a Shambhala Buddhist retreat or a retreat from another tradition as long as the retreat focuses on shamatha-vipashyana meditation.
- An established daily meditation practice of at least one year (i.e. you practice meditation in daily life).
- A letter of recommendation from your meditation instructor.
- An advance meeting with your meditation instructor to discuss retreat plans: view, intention, practice, daily schedule, and study materials.
Cost & Fees
Create the retreat you want for the time you want
Solitary Cabin Retreat Fee:
$150 surcharge maintenance fee plus
$30-$55 per night depending on which cabin and how long you stay.
Retreat Cabins include:
- Basic shrine setup
- Meditation cushions & puja table
- Single bed with linen
- Two burner propane stove
- Dishes & cookware
- Cleaning supplies
- Propane wall lamp
- Ice chest
- Delivery of water and ice
- Wood stove and firewood
- Meetings with meditation instructor
You will need to provide:
- Candles & incense for the shrine
- Food you will prepare for your meals
- Your specific practice materials
- Toiletries
Our rustic cabins in the woods do not have indoor plumbing or electricity.
Wireless communication devices, laptops, or cell phones are not supported, unless they are used strictly for dharma study or medical reasons.
Feel free to reach out to our Retreat Master Mike de Give at retreats@karmecholing.org with any questions you have concerning the retreat cabins
Learn More About:
| Number of nights | Cost per night |
|---|---|
| 5-6 nights | $55/night |
| 7-10 nights | $45/night |
| 11-28 nights | $40/night |
| 29-56 nights | $35/night |
| 57+ nights | $30/night |
| Nights | Per night | Cost | Maint. Fee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | $55 | $275 | $150 | $425 |
| 10 | $45 | $450 | $150 | $600 |
| 20 | $40 | $800 | $150 | $950 |
| 40 | $35 | $1400 | $150 | $1550 |
| 80 | $30 | $2400 | $150 | $2550 |
FAQ
Solitary Cabin Retreats
The cabin retreats are geared towards practitioners who have an established sitting meditation practice, or other contemplative practice, of at least a year.
Cabin retreatants also need to have completed at least two weeks (not necessarily continuously) of a meditation retreat that:
- Is part of a group meditation retreat
- Has silence as a major component
- Uses shamatha/vipashyana meditation as it's main technique
Not necessarily. While we generally ask those interested in doing our solitary cabin retreats to include a meditation aspect, we do understand that advanced practitioners may wish to focus their retreat time on other disciplines, such as extensive body work or the dharmic arts.
If this is the case for you, please let us know in your application for the solitary cabin retreats and our Retreats Master will reach out to discuss details.
The solitary cabin retreats are open to practitioners of non-Shambhalian lineages, although applicants should understand that Karmê Chöling is a Shambhala lineage-based land center.
If you are applying for one of our solitary cabin retreats from another lineage, simply let us know in your application, and our Retreats Master will reach out to discuss details.
- Completion of at least two weeks (continuously or separate) of a silent group meditation retreat. This can either be a Shambhala Buddhist retreat or a retreat from another tradition as long as the retreat focuses on shamatha-vipashyana meditation.
- An established daily meditation practice of at least one year (i.e. you practice meditation in daily life).
- A letter of recommendation from your meditation instructor.
- An advance meeting with your meditation instructor to discuss retreat plans: view, intention, practice, daily schedule, and study materials.
Your meditation intensive can be whatever length of time suits you best, and at any time of year. While many of our retreatants enjoy doing a summer meditation retreat, the most popular time for a dharma retreat is in the solitude and silence of winter.
Length of retreats vary. There are those practitioners looking for a long term meditation retreat, such as a 3 month buddhist retreat. Your life may not allow you to take 3 months off from work, study or family. A more popular ‘middle path’ option is a 10 day meditation retreat, or a 3-day retreat over a long weekend, or a weekend retreat for people with a busy lifestyle.
Yes, although we may not be able to offer you the same level of support with meditation instruction and shrine supplies for practices outside our Shambhala lineage.
We encourage people not to bring their laptops, cell phones or other electronic devices to the cabins, unless they are strictly used for dharma study or medical reasons.
Retreat Cabins include:
- Basic shrine setup
- Meditation cushions & puja table
- Single bed with linen
- Two burner propane stove
- Dishes & cookware
- Cleaning supplies
- Propane wall lamp
- Ice chest
- Delivery of water and ice
- Wood stove and firewood
- Meetings with meditation instructor
See a more complete Cabin Supply List
You will need to provide:
- Candles & incense for the shrine
- Food you will prepare for your meals
- Your specific practice materials
- Toiletries
Siddhartha "awakened" as the Buddha...
during a solitary retreat. At some point, we all have to take time off from our complicated life in order to penetrate the surface of our busy mind.
Support your journey of self-discovery and reflection by joining us at Karmê Chöling. The forms and structure we maintain are the result of 2500 years of Buddhist knowledge and tradition, and point to the fundamental nature of mind and our connection to the world.
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