Offsite Retreat Schedule
- Indoor Retreats & Nature Retreats: Some of the retreats listed below will be held indoors; others may be nature retreats and be held outdoors. Please read retreat descriptions carefully.Â
- Cost: Retreats are offered freely at no cost to anyone who participates. Most of the financial support for IRC comes from donations participants offer at the end of retreats. Their generosity is what allows others to participate in future retreats.
- Deposit: A refundable deposit via credit card is required to reserve a space in the retreat. Your card will only be charged if: (1) you are accepted into the retreat and cancel after the cancellation deadline, (three weeks before the start of the retreat), or (2) you are accepted into the retreat and do not attend.
- For more information, contact the person whose email is provided in the individual retreat listing.
3 day Non-Residential Insight Retreat with Diana Clark, Kim Allen, David Lorey, and Ying Chen at Los Altos Community Center, Sequoia Room.
February 4 to 6, 2026 - Hours: Wednesday check-in is from 8:00 am (PT) to 8:30 am (PT) End time: Friday 5:00 pm (PT)
This retreat, open to all experience levels, offers an intensive retreat experience in a non-residential retreat format. Scheduled from 8 am Wednesday, February 4, to 5 pm on Friday, February 6, in Los Altos, CA, the retreat will include alternate sitting and walking meditation periods, morning instruction, Dharma talks, and short work periods for setting up and cleaning up. Teachings will focus on classical Insight instructions, and will emphasize integrating formal and daily-life practice. Full participation (for the whole day, on all three days) is required. Retreatants are requested to bring lunch each day. Tea and light snacks will be available. Like all IRC retreats, this retreat is offered on a dana-basis.
For more information and registration click here
1 day Self, Selflessness and Love: A Day of Meditation Practice with Matthew Brensilver (in Berkeley!)
February 28, 2026 - Hours: Saturday check-in is from 9:45 am (PT) to 10:00 am (PT) End time: Saturday 4:00 pm (PT)
The teachings on self and selflessness are traditionally considered wisdom teachings. Yet, insight into self requires love and generates tremendous love. During this day of silence and reflection, we’ll explore how the perception of the innocence of the self diffuses shame and entanglement with self-view. As this insight deepens and territoriality recedes, our love becomes deeper and more spontaneous.
The day will include silent and guided meditation periods, walking meditation, a dharma talk and opportunities for dialogue. All are welcome.
Location: 1924 Cedar St., Berkeley, CA - Fellowship Hall at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
Deposit ($30) will NOT be charged unless you do not attend (while being accepted to the retreat) and do not cancel before the cancellation deadline 2.14.2026.
Lunch: Please bring a lunch; alternatively, there are many restaurants two blocks away.
Sitting Gear: There will be chairs at the venue. If you would like to sit on the floor, or need more sitting gears to sit in a chair, please bring your own sitting gears with you.
Note: There is NO lottery for this daylong retreat. Please ignore any automated emails that mention lotteries.
APPLY ONLINE - Registration opened January 2, 2026 - Login or Register for Carpooling
- Questions: Contact the Registrar: Soohee, soohee@insightretreatcenter.org
1 week Insight Meditation Retreat
with Diana Clark, Kim Allen, David Lorey, and Ying Chen at Big Springs Retreat Center outside of Sierra City, CA
May 13 to 20, 2026 - Hours: Wednesday check-in is from 1:00 pm (PT) to 3:00 pm (PT) End time: Wednesday 11:30 am (PT)
Photos: https://www.bigspringsretreat.org/gallery
APPLY ONLINE - Registration opens January 13, 2026 - please check back then
- Your application and $200 deposit must be received by 2/3/26 to be entered in the lottery. Applicants will be notified about 3 weeks later if they have been Accepted or are on the Waiting List. Subsequent applications will be added to the Waiting List. Your deposit will only be charged if you are accepted to the retreat and cancel after 4/29/26.
- Questions: Contact the Registrar: Niharika, niharika@insightretreatcenter.org
6 day Insight Meditation Retreat
with Matthew Brensilver and Dana DePalma at Big Springs Retreat Center outside of Sierra City, CA
May 23 to 28, 2026 - Hours: Saturday check-in is from 1:00 pm (PT) to 3:00 pm (PT) End time: Thursday 11:30 am (PT)
Dharma practice is about working with the fundamental forces that shape our experience and lives. Among these forces, the impulses to judge, compare, and fix run deep.
We all know the abiding urge to judge the moment, compare it against some idealized alternative, and devise plans to fix the conditions of this moment. We know the impulse to judge ourselves, compare ourselves to others and determine our relative value. Although these habits of mind are meant to address our pain, they compound it and compromise our freedom.
During our retreat, we’ll explore the costs of measurement and the alternatives to it. In awareness, we become completely at ease with imperfection and relax the habits of measurement we ordinarily use to substantiate ourselves and our story. Stillness invites us to drop all the familiar reference points of liking and disliking, better than and worse than. As silence deepens, the ‘measureless’ heart qualities – lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity – infuse the places of measurement with relaxation, allowing deep care to manifest.
The retreat will be composed of guided and silent meditation practice, and dharma reflections and meetings with the teachers. All are welcome.
Photos: https://www.bigspringsretreat.org/gallery
APPLY ONLINE - Registration opens January 23, 2026 - please check back then
- Your application and $200 deposit must be received by 2/13/26 to be entered in the lottery. Applicants will be notified about 3 weeks later if they have been Accepted or are on the Waiting List. Subsequent applications will be added to the Waiting List. Your deposit will only be charged if you are accepted to the retreat and cancel after 5/2/26.
- Questions: Contact the Registrar: Barbara, barbara@insightretreatcenter.org
1 week When Awareness Becomes Natural with LC Tran and Neesha Patel. An Insight Retreat Center & Big Bear Retreat Center Collaboration
June 15 to 21, 2026 - Hours: Monday check-in is from 2:00 pm (PT) to 4:00 pm (PT) End time: Sunday 12:00 pm (PT)
In this 7-day retreat, we will explore Vipassana meditation in the practice style of Sayadaw U Tejaniya. Sayadaw’s approach is free from rigid forms, influenced by his previous life as a layperson and his interest in adaptable practices. Nonetheless, his teachings are rigorous, emphasizing Right View, Awareness, and a relaxed, gentle, continuous practice attitude throughout the day.
Registration and more information at Big Bear Registration
Login or Register for Carpooling
6 day BIPOC Nature Dharma and Insight Retreat
with Liên Shutt and Ram Appalaraju at Big Springs Retreat Center outside of Sierra City, CA
June 23 to 28, 2026 - Hours: Tuesday check-in is from 1:00 pm (PT) to 3:00 pm (PT) End time: Sunday 11:00 am (PT)
This nature-based Dharma retreat, for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), offers an exploration of Buddhist teachings on interdependence and our profound oneness with the natural world. Through daily Dharma talks, we will reflect on Buddhist teachings on Dharma and how mindfulness reveals our inseparability from all life. Silent practice will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, inviting participants to attune to the rhythms, beauty, and stillness of the environment. Supported by the living landscape, a beautiful retreat center in the Sierras, we cultivate presence, compassion, and clarity, deepening our understanding of both inner and outer nature. This retreat offers a spacious container for renewal, insight, and heartfelt connection with all beings.
Photos: https://www.bigspringsretreat.org/gallery
APPLY ONLINE - Registration opens March 1, 2026 - please check back then
- There is still rooms available. Submit your application and a $200 deposit. Your deposit will only be charged if you are accepted to the retreat and cancel after 6/2/26.
- Questions: Contact the Registrar: Niharika, niharika@insightretreatcenter.org
1 week Dharma in Nature, Nature in the Dharma with Gil Fronsdal at Big Springs Retreat Center outside of Sierra City, CA
August 1 to 8, 2026 - Hours: Saturday check-in is from 1:00 pm (PT) to 3:00 pm (PT) End time: Saturday 11:00 am (PT)
Photos: https://www.bigspringsretreat.org/gallery
APPLY ONLINE - Registration opens April 1, 2026 - please check back then
- Your application and $200 deposit must be received by 4/22/26 to be entered in the lottery. Applicants will be notified about 3 weeks later if they have been Accepted or are on the Waiting List. Subsequent applications will be added to the Waiting List. Your deposit will only be charged if you are accepted to the retreat and cancel after 7/11/26.
- Questions: Contact the Registrar: Soohee, soohee@insightretreatcenter.org