Welcome to The Mountain Hermitage
OFFERING BUDDHIST RETREATS IN TAOS, NEW MEXICO
The Mountain Hermitage is dedicated to the inner cultivation and outer manifestation of concentration, wisdom, lovingkindness, compassion, and peace. This home for long-term spiritual practice, grounded in the principles of Theravada Buddhism, is based in the quiet and beautiful mountain area of Taos, New Mexico.
Many Mountain Hermitage retreats are for experienced Dharma practitioners; however, the Hermitage is now offering some week-long retreats open to both beginning and experienced students. All retreats are held in appropriate rented places in and around Taos. The small group size at Hermitage retreats (usually a maximum of 18 students) helps create a more intimate experience and easier access to teachers.
The Mountain Hermitage extends a special welcome and has established a scholarship fund to support Buddhist monks and nuns and lay Dharma teachers, as well as multi-cultural practitioners and other Dharma students who without scholarship aid would not be able to attend Hermitage retreats.
All who come to practice at The Mountain Hermitage will be honored and supported in their quest to awaken to the deepest truths and to manifest these truths in their daily lives.
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Latest News, Dharma Talks, and Reflections on Practice
What’s the Point of This Activity?
For one just starting the practice of meditation, there is often hope for a cure. Sometimes what one wants to be cured of is quite specific. States of mind like anxiety, or grief, or stress can be powerful motivators to practice. Or there may be mental or physical...
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“All These Disturbances!”
Every now & again we get irritated – just a little bit. It is nothing major, and it does not throw us out of balance. But there is this little contraction when a meditator comes into the meditation hall & is noisier than we think she or he should be....
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PREPARING FOR A RETREAT: Outer & Inner causes & conditions necessary for Vipassana & Samatha meditation practice
From The Mountain Hermitage editor: Buddhist meditation is described as a training method for purifying mind & heart. This purification process is what leads one towards liberation/Nibbana. The first of Seven Stages of Purification is Purification of Virtue or...
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The Power of the Mind
In Buddhist understanding, the mind is not considered to just be the brain. Experiential understanding through our practice of Concentration/Samatha, Vipassana & the Brahma Viharas can show us that mind consciousness emanates from the energy center of the heart....
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By Poet Billy Collins: Shoveling Snow with Buddha
In the usual iconography of the temple or the local Wok you would never see him doing such a thing, tossing the dry snow over a mountain of his bare, round shoulder, his hair tied in a knot, a model of concentration. Sitting is more his speed, if that is the word for...
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Oren Jay Sofer on Waking Up with Words
“Utter only speech that neither torments oneself nor harms others.” (SN.8.5) If we’re serious about liberation, meditation practice doesn’t end when we leave the cushion-it just gets more real. There are countless ways to bring these teachings...
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