Cameron's Staff Pick iconCameron's Staff Pick

Wake Up Sleepy Buddha: The Buddhist Path in Practice

Location icon
Phoenicia, NY 12464, USA
Date
February 4 - 7, 2027

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Details of this retreat

This retreat introduces core Buddhist practices beyond mindfulness in a way that is accessible, experiential, and rooted in traditional wisdom. It is welcome to both newer meditators and those with an established practiced who are looking for a  clear orientation or refresher.

The retreat offers a grounded, experiential introduction to the broader Buddhist path, emphasizing direct practice, integration into daily life, and trust in our innate capacity for awareness and compassion - our buddha nature. Rather than focusing on doctrine, scholarship, or religious identity, the teaching remain rooted in traditional sources while meeting the realities of contemporary life.

Participants will explore a survey of integrated practices drawn from across the Buddhist spectrum, including contemplation, concentration, compassion, and insight. These practices are presented in contemporary language while honoring their traditional roots and interrelationship.

This retreat offers a clear, grounded bridge between introductory mindfulness and the living heart of Buddhist practice.

This retreat is well-suited for meditators, therapists, helpers, and anyone seeking depth without dogma, and a clear bridge between mindfulness and the living heart of Buddhist practice.



Schedule:

Thursday, February 4

3 - 6 pm Arrival & Check In
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 9 pm Welcome Session -Brief overview of Buddhist Path

Motivation/Intention & Precious Opportunity Contemplations
Discussion and direct practice
Dedication of Merit discussion



Friday, February 5

7 - 7:30 am Optional Early Practice Session: Introduction to Tsa Lung Trulkhor (optional morning practice)
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9:30 am -12 pm - Morning Session: Elaborate overview of Buddhist Path and Practices

Introduction of Refuge, Generating Bodhicitta
Introduce concept of Unconditional Love via cross section of Modern Attachment


12:30 -1:30 pm Lunch
2 - 5:30 pm - Afternoon Session: Basic Mindfulness

Advances Concentration through the Stages of Asanga’s Elephant Path


6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 9 pm - Evening Session: Introduction of Tantric Visualization Practices

Introduction of Guru Yoga & direct practice



Saturday, February 6

7 - 7:30 am Optional Early Practice Session: Tsa Lung Trulkhor Practice Session (optional morning practice)
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9:30 am -12 pm - Morning Session: Introduction of Emptiness/Insight Practices

Contemplations Meditations
Emptiness of Self Direct Investigation Practice
Revisit Mindfulness


12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch
2 - 5:30 pm - Afternoon Session: Emptiness of Thought

Emptiness of Sensory Experiences
Emptiness of Emotional Experiences
Practicing Mindfulness with the Field of Awareness itself as the object)
All phenomena as empty practice


6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 9 pm - Evening Session: Revisit afternoon insight practices

Sunday, February 7

7 - 7:30 am Optional Early Practice Session

Tsa Lung Trulkhor Practice Session (optional morning practice)


7 - 11 am Check out of rooms
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9:30 am -12 pm - Closing Session: Review of program

Bringing all practices together
Program closing


12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch & Departure

*Please note this schedule is subject to change.

Getting Here

Location icon Menla, Phoenicia, NY 12464, USA

Accommodation

Deluxe Queen

Accommodation
Deluxe Queen Room with Queen Bed and Private Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning All Rooms in Lhasa are Handicap-Accessible, Including Four Rooms with Wheelchair Accessible Showers. Deluxe Queen Rooms are Available in Lhasa Inn and Kathmandu House * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations

Economy Single - Shared Bath

Accommodation
Standard Single Room with a Twin Bed and Shared Bathroom Bathroom is Shared with One to Six Other Guests on Your Floor. A phone is not available but high-speed WiFi is available in the room Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note rates include meals and accommodations.

Economy Double - Shared Bath (Shared Room)

Accommodation
Standard Double with Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom The bathroom is Shared with other rooms on the same floor. High-speed Wi-Fi is available in the room. Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations * Please note: this is an open door policy room, meaning there are no keys to lock the door (we have lockers you can use at Lhasa if needed) * This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You Roommates if You Do Not Register with others

Economy Quad - Shared Bath (Shared Room)

Accommodation
Standard Quad Room with Quad Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom Accommodations Fee Includes All Meals. High speed Wi-Fi is available in the room. Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations * Please note: this is an open door policy room, meaning there are no keys to lock the door (we have lockers you can use at Lhasa if needed) * This booking is for one bed in a quad shared room: We May Assign You Roommates if You Do Not Register with others.

Customer Reviews

4.78 out of 5.0 average rating

5.0
Verified logo
Radiance Retrear at Menla
What a beautiful experience carefully curated and guided by Connie Viglietti in a magical, special place. The meals were cooked with love and the spa was delightful. Look forward to going again next year.

5.0
Verified logo
Loved the yoga retreat
Wonderful weekend of yoga and enjoying company of great group! Beautiful countryside with fall foliage and streams . Really remarkable. Clean rooms and very tasty food . Great yoga , wonderful teaching and beautiful place .

5.0
Verified logo
A perfect retreat
Everything was ideal. My room in the inn was spacious and thoughtfully designed, from the writing desk to the shower room, and I wished I had had time to avail myself of the beautiful reading nook and library down the hall. The food was nourishing and good, and the mostly volunteer staff was courteous and kind.

The sacred nature of Nature was tangible everywhere, and I appreciated seeing the various shrines celebrating it. The beauty along the upper and lower roads, as well as the middle way to the conference center, where my program took place, even in the latter part of Autumn, lifted my heart.

I'm very grateful for the time I spent there, and will gladly return.

1.0
Verified logo
Awful Lodging, Service, and Food
I've done the retreat circuit for over 30 years but had never been to Menla. I attended for a specific program. The program itself was disappointing and the teacher left early, leaving the assistant to teach the last two sessions, which involved quite a bit of self-promotion. The grounds are beautiful, but besides this the food was awful - you can feel the attempt to cut costs with food when one dinner is primarily a HUGE baked potato. The phone in our overpriced accommodations did not work and we were told it would be fixed - which it never was during the week's stay. Also during a week's stay, the garbage was not collected once, and piled up in our room and the shared bathroom (which was also not cleaned at all during our stay) - but the best part was having to take toilet paper back to our lodging from the conference center bathroom because despite repeated requests, we were never brought any once what was supplied had been used. I will never attend Menla again for any reason.

5.0
Verified logo
Cultivating Joy- A Ketamine Assisted Mindfulness Retreat
What a fabulous location and place for this amazing retreat at Menla! The food was great, the grounds were gorgeous and the buildings/ facilities evoked a feeling of peace, honor and tranquility. There is a feeling of spacious stillness at Menla. Look forward to returning.

Similar retreats

You might also like