Register for Practicing Natural Compassion (Residential)
With Lama Willa Blythe Baker, Lama Gursam, Camille Hykes, Matt Fritts and Eric Brus
July 12 - 18, 2024
This is the registration for the residential attendance option. For the online option, please click here.
Space is very limited at Wonderwell, but there is plenty of room for commuters. If you go to the registration page and click on More Details under the Commuter option, you’ll see a list of nearby accommodations. You might also want to email the registrar at register@naturaldharma.org to be placed on the wait list for a room.
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 — Hybrid session begins around 7:00 pm. (see Residential info for check-in times)
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.
Important Covid Information
The NDF Health Committee continues to monitor evolving public health conditions and trends, as we keep the safety of our Sangha at the forefront of our decision-making. At this time, COVID-19 testing is no longer required. Masks are optional and encouraged if you are at higher risk.
Scholarships and Fellowships
Wonderwell Mountain Refuge strives to offer retreats in a manner that is inclusive for persons of all means. If the full retreat cost would create an undue financial burden, we encourage you to apply for a scholarship. Please visit this page on our website learn more about financial aid.
Depending on the type of work that you do, you may be eligible for a Hemera Contemplative Fellowship. Please click on this link for more information.
Please do not apply for financial assistance until after you have registered for the retreat.
Cancellation Policy
Wonderwell charges a $75 cancellation fee for residential (onsite) retreat cancellations more than 4 weeks before the start of a retreat. Any cancellations between 4 weeks to 11 days prior to the program are charged a $150 cancellation fee. For any cancellations 10 or fewer days prior to the start date of the program, no refunds are offered.
However, if you are feeling ill or feel you might have been exposed to the COVID virus, please cancel your attendance at any Wonderwell retreat even at the last minute. In this case, we will provide a full refund of your payment.
If you decide to transfer from residential to online attendance, any cancellation fee will be determined based on the time remaining before the start of the retreat.
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.
Wonderwell Mountain Refuge 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 Gursam
Lama Gursam went to monastery at a very young age, received teachings as a monastic, and studied and practiced as a monastic. He then studied in the Tibetan University at Sarnath, Varanasi, India to get both bachelor's and master's degrees in Buddhist Philosophy, History, and languages. Upon graduation, he received a special award for scholastic […]
Learn more about Lama GursamCamille Hykes
Camille is a Dharma Teacher with Natural Dharma Fellowship. She is the Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship’s Margha Program, which offers year-long training in natural meditation and practices of bodhicitta. Teachers and sources of inspiration for Camille Hykes include Nyoshul Khenpo, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Robert and Rachel Olds, Lama Willa Blythe Baker, Charles Genoud, Anam […]
Learn more about Camille HykesMatt Fritts
Matt Fritts has been meditating ever since he took a college course on Buddhist meditation taught by Jeffrey Hopkins, the Dalai Lama’s chief English interpreter for many years. He has had the very fortunate karma and opportunity to receive teachings and initiations from H.H. the Dalai Lama, H.E. Ling Rinpoche, Ven. Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jampa, […]
Learn more about Matt FrittsEric Brus
Eric embarked on the Buddhist path in the early 1990s, first taking precepts in the Theravada Buddhist tradition under the guidance of Larry Rosenberg and Narayan Liebenson. Inspired by the bodhisattva ideal and inexplicably drawn to Tantric Buddhist art, Eric began exploring the teachings and practices of Vajrayana Buddhism in the 2010s. He found a […]
Learn more about Eric BrusCategories : *Hybrid, *Residential, Lama Willa Baker, Margha Program Retreat, Movement, Retreats