Register for Practicing Natural Compassion (Online)

This is the registration for the online attendance option. For the residential option, please click here.

In this hybrid meditation retreat, we will engage with Buddhist practices of love and compassion as a means by which to open the heart and access our deepest nature.

As we explore how to open our hearts, we may well encounter the obstacles that arise when we try to do so. In this way, we discover the power and potential of difficult situations and experiences to reveal our inherent compassionate nature and our capacity to care for ourselves, others, and our struggling world.

Learning how to stand in the flames of our own charnel grounds with kindness and acceptance enables us to face forward in our lives with resilience, love, and the wisdom that can guide our steps. This retreat is focused on how self-compassion and compassion for others function reciprocally to deepen our ability to act in the world with wisdom, openness and effectiveness.

Using both traditional Buddhist modalities and practices adapted for modern life, such as deep listening and inquiry, we will work to develop awareness of how all experiences (pleasant or unpleasant) can become the path of awakening. Body work and movement will be part of this retreat.

To allow the meditation practices of retreat to permeate our lives as much as possible, Lama Willa and Camille ask all onsite retreatants at Wonderwell to maintain “Noble Silence,” and all online participants to maintain silence as much as they can wherever they are staying. This means avoiding idle chatter and only speaking as needed for practical needs.

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 8:30-10:00 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 by then. 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 this email address in your Contact or Safe-Send list to make sure you receive our emails:

• register@naturaldharma.org

Program Cost

It is Natural Dharma Fellowship’s aspiration that no one be turned away from our teachings and retreats because they are unable to pay the full price. In order make our offerings affordable for all who wish to attend, we offer a three-level fee structure:

• May All Beings Benefit! – supporting access for all and assisting with the care and maintenance of Wonderwell Mountain Refuge
• A Middle Way – covering the base cost
• Held in Sangha Loving-kindness – offering ease when financial resources are limiting

The pricing options for a particular retreat are based primarily on its length and are intended to give you an idea of what it costs to offer that retreat. The amounts listed are suggestions. You may write in any amount that fits your financial situation. Any amount offered above the Middle Way level will be considered a tax-deductible donation and will be acknowledged as such in writing.

Access to Recordings

NDF offers unlimited access to recordings for registrants. These are accessed through your user dashboard (information about user accounts will be shared in the pre-retreat letter).

Availability will vary depending on the type of event and the backlog for our precious resource volunteers. Thank you for your patience.

Wonderwell Mountain Refuge Full Calendar