Community Village's California Retreat Guide

a guide to (mostly Buddhist, mostly silent) meditation retreats in California & Online

This guide was created by Community Village, a 100%-donation based, peer-led, cross-lineage sangha that meets weekly in San Francisco. All are welcome to join our SF WhatsApp Group, subscribe to our calendar, or donate here to get involved & support the community.

Why go on retreat?

In this 15m Audio Recording, Insight Meditation teacher, Joseph Goldstein, talks about the value of a meditation retreat. Excerpts below:

“…[On Retreat] we see for ourselves, what brings us happiness and what doesn’t. So this is no longer in the realm of philosophy or abstraction. It really is coming out of our own direct experience.”

“Given how much conflict there is in the world, and how much divisiveness… it’s important that, in different ways, we cultivate these feelings of lovingkindness and compassion. The world needs it. And we need to start with ourselves. It’s not enough to say ‘yes the world has to be more loving and we need more peace’. We need to develop those qualities in ourselves. It starts with ourselves.”

Recommended Meditation Retreat Centers in California

All centers on this list have at least one meditation teacher who we know & respect who teaches there. In most cases, we have visited the center or know someone in Community Village who has been and given it a positive review. The list currently includes mostly Insight & Zen meditation centers. We would like for this to be a collaborative community resource that expands & evolves over time. If you have sat a meditation retreat in California & had a positive experience, please reach out and let us know. (caleb@community-village.org)

Green Gulch Farm | Muir Beach, CA (Photo: Siegel & Strain Architects)

  • Insight Retreat Center (IRC) - Santa Cruz, CA. Insight Meditation. 100% donation based. Nearly all retreats are lottery based.

These centers frequently offer Multi-day or 1wk+ retreats as well as Daylong retreats:

East Bay Meditation Center | Oakland, CA (Photo: Lion’s Roar)

  • East Bay Meditation Center - Oakland, CA. Buddhist and other wisdom traditions. A “radically inclusive.. diverse community sharing wisdom teachings and social engagement” (EBMC)

  • Karuna Buddhist Vihara - Sunnyvale, CA. Theravada Buddhist monastery founded by Theravada bhikkhunis for women monastics to live and train. 100% donation based.

  • Saranāloka Foundation (Aloka Vihara & Aloka Earth Room) - San Rafael, CA. Theravada Buddhist monastery with a mission to empower female monastics to teach and train.

  • Dharmata Foundation - Point Richmond, CA. Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

  • Sacramento Dharma Center - Sacramento, CA. Home of Sacramento Insight Meditation, Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group, and Valley Streams Zen Sangha.

  • SF Dharma Collective - San Francisco, CA. Various traditions.

  • Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley - Berkeley, CA. Insight Meditation.

  • SF Insight Dharma Center - Location TBD, retreats hosted online & at various locations. Insight Meditation.

  • Community Village - (that’s us!) Various pop up locations in & around SF. Various traditions. 100% donation based.

Let’s carpool! We often host field trips to local centers for daylong retreats in & around SF. Join our SF WhatsApp group to stay in the loop or offer a ride:

These centers offer mostly Half Day or Daylong retreats with occasional Multi-day or 1wk+ retreats:

“It is my belief that Vipassana meditation and the dharma are ideal for transforming suffering, particularly the trauma of oppression and its many vicissitudes-where the chains around our minds and hearts can be broken and dissolved. Awareness and wisdom become the vehicle for freedom and transforming lives.”

- Dara Williams, Insight meditation teacher, trainer and psychotherapist.

Recommended Centers that Offer Online Retreats

Wait, why include online retreats in the “California” retreats guide? If you live in California (or anywhere in the world), an online retreat is a great opportunity to deepen practice & get a taste of retreat life within your everyday life, and in the comfort of your home. It’s amazing how powerful 4-8 hours of practice can be! Find a retreat you like, and if you would like to have some company, you can invite other local community members at Sangha Time or by posting in the Members Circle.

Insight Meditation Teacher Nikki Mirghafori, PhD, teaching online (Nikki Mirghafori)

Most California centers listed above have online offerings. In addition, here are some other centers & teachers with great online offerings:

“love and justices are not two. without inner change, there can be no outer change; without collective change, no change matters.“

- Rev. angel Kyodo williams - writer, activist, and ordained Zen Priest

Community Village Recommended Meditation Retreats

In our Community Village Calendar of Events below, we included several “recommended retreats”. These are retreats that either have: at least one teacher who we appreciate and have sat with before OR are offered by a friendly meditation center who we know and trust.

  • We included options for: half-day & 1 day online & in person retreats, 3-5 day retreats and 1wk+ retreats.

  • We also highlighted options for: BIPOC and LGBTQIA2+ specific retreats.

  • You can integrate this calendar into your google calendar or view it in another tab here

    Plan ahead! Many retreats are in high demand and may fill shortly after they open for registration. Some will have a lottery to determine who is able to go. We tried to include the registration opening dates & closing dates as often as possible when listing retreats, but we recommend you click into the retreat page to get the most up to date info.

Note: There can be times in our lives when we experience more intense emotional difficulty and silent retreat may not be right for us at this time. For example when we are in the midst of a depression, have recently lost someone close to us, or have a psychological condition. If you are unsure, its good to reach out to center/teacher or health professional before going on retreat.

Scholarships & Financial Assistance

Most centers have their own policies on scholarships & financial assistance that can be explored on their websites. Additionally, there are some 3rd party organizations who help support people to go on retreat. Here are the ones we know of so far.

  • Hemera Foundation - Hemera Fellowships are available on a rolling basis. For select meditation centers, Hemera Foundation offers up to 75% support if you have never attended a retreat longer than 2 nights or who are new to a particular retreat center. Up to 50% support if you have previously attended a retreat. Up to 100% funding need-based for

  • Open Dharma Foundation - Anyone in financial need hoping to attend a silent meditation retreat may apply. Scholarship applications under $300 are reviewed each month on the 15th. All applications for scholarships over $300 are reviewed on a quarterly basis. Applicants will be contacted no later than the 25th of the month.

  • Community Village - As of 2024, we are beginning a Retreat Scholarship Fund to support people in the community to go on retreats. If you are in financial need & a scholarship would support your ability to go on retreat, please reach out to caleb@community-village.org. If you are interested in donating to this fund to support people with financial needs to go on retreats, you can donate below.

Additional Resources

  • If you’re going on your first retreat - check out this interview we did with community members Blair and Gloria who have recently been on their first meditation retreats! Together, we answer some of the most frequently asked questions - “First Meditation Retreat - What’s it like?” (1hr listen)

From left to right: Community Village Co-founders Caleb Tenenbaum & Nina Raddy and SF Community Leader Rich Bae

Questions? Feedback? Ideas?

Whether you have questions about a retreat or center, want to contribute to this resource guide, or have any other feedback or ideas, we welcome your input!

You can reach us at caleb@community-village.org.