Land of Medicine Buddha – Retreat

Land of Medicine Buddha is an environmentally conscious meditation and retreat center. Our campus is located on 108 acres of coastal foothills and stands adjacent to 10,000 acres of redwood forest preserved by the State of California. We are tucked away from the bustle of local beach towns, yet easy to reach.

We are an active Buddhist community. Through teaching, meditation, prayer, retreat and community service, we engage in preserving and transmitting the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values. Our tradition – the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism – was developed and taught by Lama Tsongkhapa a Buddhist master who lived in Tibet six hundred years ago. These teachings were carried to the Santa Cruz area by our founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe and our Spiritual Director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche over forty years ago. His Holiness the Dalai Lama – spiritual leader of the Tibetan people – is the inspiration and guide of our organization, FPMT.

Land of Medicine Buddha (LMB) is a unique and sacred facility. We provide Tibetan Buddhist teachings, retreats, healing, and space for others to bring their workshops. You are welcome to share in all that our center has to offer. Everyone is welcome; you don’t need to be Buddhist to come for a visit to LMB.

 

Insight LA – Meditation

Insight LA offers courses, retreats and workshops on mindfulness and comparison to people everywhere. Buddhist wisdom is at the core of the teaching and Trudy Goodman is the founding teacher. Classes and sitting groups are offered weekly throughout the year and in great variety. Affordable rates (sliding scale) and diverse offerings are a few of the wonderful aspects of this organization Daniel Stewart is the co-owner of rising Lotus yoga. He teaches a powerful yet playful hatha yoga class integrating music, meditation and even depth psychology (he is also a trained psychotherapist). He also shares his joy of music leading a monthy drop-in Kirtan and playing sacred music. The studio is clean, spacious and inviting and his classes should not be missed.

 

White Lotus – Retreats

White LotusThe White Lotus Foundation is a 501c3, nonsectarian spiritual Foundation dedicated to the development of the total human being. Donations to the Foundation are tax-deductible. Our mountain retreat center over looks the city of Santa Barbara, the Pacific Ocean and Channel Islands. We are situated in a steep canyon on forty acres in the San Marcos Pass. Through the bottom of the canyon flows the year ’round San Jose creek. This land was once sacred to the Chumash Indians who called it Taklushmon which means the gathering place. The teachings of Yoga have traditionally been shared in powerful and natural settings. Living in close communion with the Earth, in the energies of nature, opens us to the beauty and sacredness of life. Here clarity, meditation and understanding flow spontaneously. We have an ideal and very special location with pure air, spring water, beautiful sandstone swimming holes, hiking trails and plenty of secluded places for silent reflection. We have indoor accommodations and Yurts, as well as campsites under the bay trees, near the waterfall or on plateaus overlooking the ocean

 

Spirit Rock – Meditation

Spirit Rock Meditation Center is dedicated to the teachings of the Buddha as presented in the vipassana tradition. The practice of mindful awareness, called Insight Meditation, is at the heart of all the activities at Spirit Rock. We provide silent meditation retreats, as well as classes, trainings, and Dharma study opportunities for new and experienced students from diverse backgrounds with a willingness to develop their own practice.

 

Insight Meditation Society – Retreats

dharma_logoIMS’s Forest Refuge has continuously hosted experienced meditators since 2003. Its program is specifically designed to encourage sustained, longer-term retreat practice – a key component in the transmission of Buddhism from Asia to the West.

Within a harmonious and secluded environment, meditators can nurture the highest aspiration for liberation. In consultation with visiting insight meditation teachers, a program of training in one or more Theravada Buddhist practices is created for each participant, allowing the continuing unfolding of deeper levels of wisdom and compassion. A personal retreat here strengthens practice faith, confidence and self-reliance.

 

Vipassana – Meditation

The technique of Vipassana Meditation is taught at ten-day residential courses during which participants learn the basics of the method, and practice sufficiently to experience its beneficial results.

There are no charges for the courses – not even to cover the cost of food and accommodation. All expenses are met by donations from people who, having completed a course and experienced the benefits of Vipassana, wish to give others the opportunity to also benefit

Courses are given in numerous Meditation Centers and at non-center course locations at rented sites. Each location has its own schedule of courses. In most cases, an application for admission to each of these courses can be made by clicking on a selected one of the listed course dates that appear in the schedule.

There are numerous Centers in India and elsewhere in Asia/Pacific; ten Centers in North America; three Centers in Latin America; eight Centers in Europe; seven Centers in Australia/New Zealand; one Center in the Middle East and one Center in Africa.

Ten day non-center courses are frequently held at many locations outside of Centers as they are arranged by local students of Vipassana in those areas. An alphabetical list of worldwide course locations is available as well as a graphical interface of course locations worldwide and in India and Nepal.

Vipassana Meditation courses are also being taught in prisons.

A special 10-day Vipassana course especially for business executives and government officials is being held periodically at several centers around the world. For additional information visit the Executive Course Website.

 

Yoga & Meditation Introduction

In recent years, prominent medical institutions such as Harvard Medical School and The Mayo Clinic have scientifically validated what practitioners in the East have known for over 5,000 years: Yoga and Meditation reduce stress, enhances clarity of mind, increase fitness and help in the management of chronic health conditions.

Newly published studies from Norway suggest that a comprehensive Yoga program rapidly produces internal changes on a genetic level! Yoga and Meditation, which were once considered to be fringe and esoteric practices, are now mainstream and expanding rapidly into virtually every corner of society. Research proves that a regular practice has been known to decrease anxiety, fatigue, depression, high blood pressure and virtually every other medical and psychological condition.

Within corporations, Universities and school districts, medical establishments and throughout the entertainment industry, Yoga and Meditation are being praised, and practiced as a means to peace of mind, well-being, and even success in one’s endeavors.

Whole Universe is proud to present a select number of Yoga and Meditation practitioners, retreats and spas, and though it is by no means a complete list, we believe in these men and women who can offer you a window in to this world.