The Mother Buddhas are the elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space, which exist within and all around us. This is primal and embodied wisdom, a knowing beyond concept and words, which we can discover through meditation practice and opening our sense perceptions in nature. The elements serve as an ever-present sacred ground, which we can always return to for guidance, rejuvenation, and strength—especially as we’re called to understand and engage with social issues and climate change. Connecting with the Mother Buddhas can help us manifest as Bodhisattvas to meet the challenges of our times.

Join us to explore the five Buddha families through the elemental wisdom of earth, water, fire, wind, and space. This retreat is for meditation practitioners who seek a deeper understanding of how to transform confusion into wisdom and develop tools to meet the challenges of our times. We’ll engage in meditation, contemplative movement, experiential exercises in nature, talks and dialogue.

In this two-week retreat, we engage the wisdom of the body to transform habitual patterns, individual and social. In the splendor of the Rocky Mountains, outside among the elements, we will partake in the postures of Maitri Space Awareness to invoke the energetic states of the five Buddha families. This is a potent method to explore the multidimensionality of our being, both the brilliance and the shadow, and heal the wound of separation, imagining we are alone to confront our suffering. Through group practice, we will harness the power of mandala, a sacred circle of mutual care in which connection, attunement, and self-discovery can emerge.

This is an immersive nature-based experience of learning in community. In the daily rhythm of this retreat, mornings are silent for meditation and movement, and afternoons feature talks, experiential exercises, and dialogue.