Hermitage Adapts to Economic Change – Core Mission Remains Strong
Inch by inch –
little snail
creep up and up Mt. Fuji
– Issa, 19th century Haiku poet
Its beating heart has proven resilient and strong over eight momentous years marked by success, struggle, and always a fierce commitment to fulfilling its core mission — to offer the teachings of the Buddha and Buddhist meditation retreats to as many committed and interested Dharma students as possible.
2012 marks the eighth year of The Mountain Hermitage – eight years in which we’ve offered 20 retreats to more than 400 yogis, are now planning four retreats for 2012, and still find ourselves financially, like Issa’s snail, creeping “inch by inch” up and up to our own mountain top.
All with the generous help of a small base of committed donors and a Foundation who have provided the funding we must have to cover our modest operating expenses and provide scholarship aid to needy yogis. We’ve used our money wisely and well, multiplying its value manyfold in the lives of those we’ve served.
Although the recession, so resistant to appreciable improvement, continues, our faith in the future of The Mountain Hermitage is unshakable. Our core mission remains strong, the commitment of an expanding circle of loyal friends and a hard-working Board is unwavering, and the shepherding of a wise and experienced guiding teacher combine for a positive outlook well into the future, unknown as it always is.
This fall we sent out the third e-edition of the Hermitage Newsletter — now called the Hermitage Review & News, reflecting our commitment to offer an ever broader sampling of editorial content and important news in each edition. We are pleased with the positive response to our new e-edition and the opportunity it provides to to reach a wider range of practitioners and seekers, along with a significant cost-saving critical to the life of the Hermitage.
As we move into 2012, another set of hard, wise choices faces the Hermitage Board. The effects of the economic crisis continue. Although a strong base of philanthropic donors continues to undergird the Hermitage operations, resources are scant.
Shortly after we sent out our annual fundraising letter last fall, recalling how we have been able to give the gift of the Dharma to many yogis who would not have been able to attend Hermitage retreats without scholarships… sadly, we learned that the Foundation grant that was major funding for these scholarships would not be available for 2011, and now we know that the same will be true for 2012. The Foundation has explained to us that “…based on the economic environment and large cutbacks in state and local funds, there is a huge need for funds [for] agencies that provide shelter, food, and medical care,” and thus they will be concentrating their funding in those areas.
We are deeply grateful to the many Hermitage supporters who gave so generously in response to the emergency letter we sent out in last December asking for extra help for our scholarship fund at this critical time. As a result, we were able to offer scholarship aid for both our One Month Hermitage in April 2011 and our Four Noble Truths Study Retreat in November 2011.
Now we are actively seeking out other foundations that might step into the gap. Under the direction of TMH Board President Jean Smith, we are undertaking a development campaign to seek $20,000 to $30,000 in new grants that will enable us to continue to make the Dharma available to the many whose desire and dedication is great, but whose resources are sorely limited. And of course, we are always grateful to those individuals who are able to donate to our scholarship fund so that we can continue to support dedicated yogis who wish to come to our retreats but need financial help.
Please click HERE to view Hermitage Review & News Fall 2011…
… and also visit the Mountain Hermitage on Facebook. You can join our on-line community… and hear the latest about Hermitage retreats, teachers, and other community news.
The Mountain Hermitage will be offering a full roster of retreats in the upcoming year and beyond…
We start 2012 with a two-week retreat from February 10-17 taught by Greg Scharf and Andrea Fella. Wise Attention & the Opening Heart will be an Insight (Vipassana) & Lovingkindness (Metta) retreat emphasizing how the unfolding of wisdom through present moment awareness opens the heart to the beautiful qualities of love and compassion.
The Mountain Hermitage is also currently registering people for its eighth annual One-Month Hermitage Retreat for experienced students, from April 3 to May 1, 2012. The retreat will be taught by Marcia Rose and Annie Nugent. We are accepting people for the full month, with a limited number of two-week options available. Our annual One-Month Spring Retreat offers a unique opportunity for experienced Dharma practitioners to enter a supportive space of solitude & silence for intensive, independent meditation practice. Guidance for Concentration, Metta, and Vipassana practices will be available. The guidelines for each individual’s practice are worked out in consultation with a teacher.
The Spring Retreat will again be held in the beautiful, spacious, and 
comfortable San Geronimo Lodge located three miles east of Taos, New Mexico. Applications are requested by January 31, 2012.
In the summer, we are delighted to be offering for the third time our special Self-No Self & the Creative Process retreat led by guiding teacher Marcia Rose assisted by writer & teacher Sean Murphy. This time it will take place July 9-22, 2012 at the Austinghaus Lodge in beautiful Taos Ski Valley. The program offers a unique opportunity for interested Dharma students to engage in two weeks of practice grounded in Vipassana teaching and practice with an orientation towards investigating ‘no-self’ in relationship to the creative process.
Finally, from November 5-19, 2012, Marcia Rose will be teaching a Samatha/Concentration Retreat: “… a footprint of the Buddha…” at San Geronimo Lodge. This two-week retreat will offer an introduction to and support for the practice of concentration (Samadhi) as taught by Burmese meditation master Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw.
See our Retreat and Event Schedule for extensive information on all these 2012 retreats — including the Practice Guidelines document, the Application Form and Scholarship Forms.
“It was my deepest practice experience, and rewarding in more ways than I could have imagined.”
–Hermitage yogi
