Loving Awareness (Online)
With Lama Willa Blythe Baker and Lama Liz Monson
July 25 - 31, 2025
Registration for online attendance is open now.Registration for the residential attendance option will open at 12:00 pm ET on Saturday, Jan. 18.
This is the ONLINE component of the retreat. If you’d like to register for the RESIDENTIAL component, please click here.
Join our Lamas at this annual summer retreat for core teachings that awaken Loving Awareness for ourselves, others and the world around us.
In this week-long silent meditation retreat, we will explore different ways to access and rest in our deepest essence – the substrate of our being that lies beneath all of our self-conceptions and judgments.
When we connect to this deepest sense of being, a greater field of love becomes visible, one that includes compassion for the more challenging parts of ourselves and others.
Please join us to:
- Reconnect with your own loving gaze
- Meditate, move, write and reflect in supportive community
- Absorb the benefits of practice with sangha surrounded by the lush summer landscape in New Hampshire’s Upper Valley
This retreat takes us through five gateways to know and experience ourselves more deeply: “The Way of Allowing,” “The Way of Prayer,” “The Way of Recognition,” “The Way of Nature,” and “The Way of Love.” We will practice these ways of being through daily sitting meditation, movement, meditation journaling, small group inquiry, and Dharma reflection.
Practicing the five ways helps us to see beyond the thinking mind, to the one who witnesses. We will come to understand that this witness is not a “self” in a conventional sense; it is an innate awareness. It is a vivid receptivity. It is a loving gaze on all of experience, capable of melting a sense of separation into a sense of oneness.
Suitable for all levels.
Typical Retreat Schedule
(All times are Eastern time zone)
First Day — Opening session begins around 7:00 pm.
Full-Day Schedule — Morning meditation 7:00 am; Breakfast break 8:00-9:30 am; Lunch break 12:00-2:00 pm; Dinner break 5:30-7:00 pm.
Last Day — The closing session typically ends by 12:00 pm.
These times are just for reference. An expanded schedule will be provided in pre-retreat information emailed during the week prior to the event.
Zoom Link
The Zoom link will be sent several days before the retreat to all those registered. If you register after that date, you’ll receive the link with your confirmation email shortly after submitting your registration. If you don’t see an email from Natural Dharma Registrar or Wonderwell Mountain Refuge, it may have mistakenly gone to your spam folder or to Promotions or Updates in Gmail.
Important: Please put these this email address in your Contact or Safe-Send list to make sure you receive our emails:
- register@naturaldharma.org
Program Cost
Our program fees provide essential support to our non-profit operations and NDF’s mission to spread the Dharma in accessible, relevant, and creative ways. Our goal is that no one misses out on our events due to lack of funds. Thanks to our generous donors, we are able to offer tiered pricing and additional support to fit varied financial situations:
- May All Beings Benefit! *– supporting access for all and general support for NDF operations
- A Middle Way – covering the base cost
- Held in Sangha Loving-kindness – offering ease when financial resources are limiting
If the lowest cost tier creates an obstacle to your attendance, please see our financial support options on the registration page. The process is simple and does not require extensive information. Financial aid is immediately approved using discount code options that allow you to contribute the most you are able while honoring your particular resources.
* The difference between the May All Beings Benefit! tier and the Middle Way tier will be considered a tax-deductible donation and will be acknowledged as such in writing. Contributing at this level helps us offer financial aid to other participants. Thank you!!
Access to Recordings
NDF offers unlimited access to recordings, which are accessed in your user dashboard (more information about user accounts provided in a pre-retreat letter). If you have a user account, please register with the same email you use to log into your dashboard. If not, an account will be created for you using your registration address.
Availability will vary depending on the type of event and the backlog for our precious resource volunteers. Thank you for your patience.
Natural Dharma Fellowship Full Calendar
About the Teachers
Lama Willa Blythe Baker
Lama Willa Blythe Baker, Ph.D. is the Founder of Natural Dharma Fellowship in Boston, MA and its retreat center Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. She was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after twelve years of monastic training and two consecutive three-year retreats. She also […]
Learn more about Lama Willa Blythe BakerLama Liz Monson
Lama, Managing Teacher, Spiritual Co-Director Elizabeth Monson, PhD, is the Spiritual Co-Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship and the Managing Teacher at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. Liz was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after over 30 years of studying, practicing, and teaching Tibetan Buddhism […]
Learn more about Lama Liz MonsonCategories : *Hybrid, *Live Online, Beginner Friendly, Lama Liz Monson, Lama Willa Baker, Retreats