Silent Illumination: Relaxing into Clarity
A 7-Day Silent Meditation Retreat with Rebecca Li
at El Tesoro Retreat Center
232 Blossom Rd, Woodland Park, CO 80863
December 30th, 2024 - January 6th, 2025
“The everyday mind: that is the way.
Buried in vines and rock-bound caves,
Here it’s wild, here I am free,
Idling with the white clouds, my friends.
Tracks here never reach the world;
No-mind, so what can shift my thought?
I sit the night through on a bed of stone,
While the moon climbs Cold Mountain.”
- Cold Mountain
Join us for a New Year’s retreat in the snowy mountains of Colorado…
This will be a 7-day and 7-night silent meditation retreat, for young people, ages 18-35. All experience levels are welcome. This retreat is run on a donation-basis, with no payment or fee required for attendance. We are excited to partner with El Tesoro Retreat Center, a beautiful retreat center in the mountains outside Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The practice we will explore together on this retreat is silent illumination, also known as the method of no-method.
“Silent Illumination is one of the two main methods of practice in Chan Buddhism. It is a subtle practice in which stillness and insight are cultivated simultaneously, and curious inquiry allows us to reconnect with the natural state of being fully human.
Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO near El Tesoro Retreat Center, (credit: Joel Tonyan)
During this retreat, meditators will have the opportunity to discuss their practice during 1-on-1 interviews with Rebecca. Rebecca will also give ample time to explain the theory and practice through daily Dharma Talks.
We are renting a Catholic retreat center for this retreat, and there is ample Catholic & Christian iconography. You are invited to bring your own piece of Buddhist art to display during the retreat and to bring home with you after the retreat. We are not a Catholic or Christian organization.
This retreat is full with a waitlist, you can register to join the waitlist. You will receive your deposit back if you don’t get in off the waitlist.
In Silent Illumination we reconnect with the true nature of existence, clearly seeing the interconnectedness of all things in emptiness. All is thus, and there is no suffering. Our innate wisdom and natural capacity for compassion manifest as we remain fully present in each unfolding moment, skillfully responding to what is needed with clarity to benefit sentient beings.” - Rebecca Li
The retreat is run entirely by dāna. Find out more about dāna here
Meet the Teacher
Dr. Rebecca Li, a Dharma heir in the lineage of Chan Master Sheng Yen, is the founder and guiding teacher of Chan Dharma Community. She teaches meditation and Dharma classes, gives public lectures, and leads retreats in North America and Europe. Her talks and writings can be found at www.rebeccali.org. She is a sociology professor and lives with her husband in New Jersey. She is the author of Allow Joy into Our Hearts: Chan Practice in Uncertain Times, and her new book Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No-Method was recently published by Shambhala Publications.
Tentative Daily Schedule:
5:00 AM Morning Boards
5:30 AM-7:10 AM Moving Meditation/ Morning Sitting/ Morning Service
7:15 AM Breakfast, followed by Work Practice
8:45 AM Preparation Bell
9:00 AM-11:45 AM Dharma Talk, Sitting Meditation, Walking Meditation
12:00 PM Lunch followed by Work Practice
12:50 PM Working Practice Ending Board/ Personal time
1:45 PM Preparation Bell
2:00 PM-5:15 PM Sitting Meditation, Walking Meditation, Evening Service
5:30 PM Medicine Meal, followed by Work Practice & personal time
7:00. PM Preparation Bell
7:15 PM Sitting, Dharma Talk, etc.
9:20PM Evening Boards (Retire), Extended Optional Meditation
9:45 PM Lights Out
Noble Silence
During this retreat we will be practicing in Noble Silence. In short, this means not talking. When the whole group enters into Noble Silence we offer each other and ourselves the gift of being with our experience as it is. This practice supports the mind in settling. Noble Silence includes no unnecessary talking, including social courtesies like saying “good morning” or “excuse me”, no reading or writing unless the teacher specifically encourages you to do so, and no tech use. You will be invited to give your phone to a retreat manager at the beginning of the week so they can keep it in a safe place for you. You can also keep it in your room turned off. Upon being accepted to this retreat, you will receive emergency phone numbers that we ask you to share with your loved ones so that you will not need to be monitoring your own messages. Retreat managers will be present throughout the entirety of the retreat to support the group. If at any point during the retreat you are feeling ill, are injured, or are in distress please speak with one of the retreat managers.
This retreat is full with a waitlist, you can register to join the waitlist. You will receive your deposit back if you don’t get in off the waitlist.
“Always it’s cold on this mountain!
Every year, and not just this.
Dense peaks, thick with snow.
Black pine-trees breathing mist.
It’s summer before the grass grows,
Not yet autumn when the leaves fall.
Full of illusions, I roam here,
Gaze and gaze, but can’t see the sky.”
- Cold Mountain
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. All experience levels are welcome, including beginners.
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Nope. You do not have to be Buddhist to participate in this retreat. Rebecca Li's teachings are deeply rooted in the classical Chan Buddhist tradition and include beliefs that may be challenging for some. The invitation is to encounter the teachings, to build confidence in the teachings as we verify in our experience, and to maintain a healthy, open, discerning, and inquisitive mind towards what cannot verify in our own experience.
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The retreat is run on a donation basis in the spirit of dana. There is no required attendance fee. We ask that participants give a deposit of $100 in order to claim your place at the retreat. This deposit is returned back to you at the end of the retreat unless you choose to donate it. We keep your deposit in the case that you don’t show up, or you cancel within 3-weeks of the start of the retreat. For this retreat, that’s end of day, 5pm, MT December 9th.
We ask you to donate the amount that feels appropriate and generous for you, given your situation and desire for Dharma Gates to continue to exist in the future.
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The food served at the retreat will be vegan. If you have specific allergies or requests, please let us know. We do are best to able to accommodate all dietary requests.
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The 5 precepts are training guidelines as the foundation of sīla (ethics). Throughout this retreat we will all be maintaining the 5 precepts so that we can we can practice in harmony.
I will not engage in physical violence or intentionally cause bodily harm to myself or others
I will not steal or damage other people’s property.
I will refrain from forced, coercive, or non-consensual sexual contact or any other form of sexual harassment against others. For this retreat we will be practicing celibacy.
I will not intentionally insult or verbally abuse others.
I will not consume intoxicating substances including, but not limited to, alcohol, marijuana, psychedelics or any other illegal substances.
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Dharma Gates wholeheartedly welcomes people of all cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities. There will be gender neutral bathrooms available and we may be able to provide single rooms if that would make you more comfortable. Our aim is to make retreat practice accessible to all young people—if there’s something we can to do help you feel comfortable to attending, please do not hesitate to reach out to us (team@dharma-gates.org.)
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This retreat will be at the El Tesoro Retreat Center. . The address is 232 Blossom Rd, Woodland Park, CO 80863. It is a 2 hour drive from Boulder, 1 hour and 45 minute drive from Denver, and 40 minute drive from Colorado Springs. Dharma Gates will provide a spreadsheet for participants to self-organize ride shares.
Our goal is to fill this retreat with local people to minimize flying carbon emissions and to allow for ample rides to be available to the retreat center.
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Arrival: Please arrive between 2:00pm - 4:30pm on Monday, December 30th. It is important you arrive during this window so you can go through the check-in process before the evening activities begin.
Departure: The retreat will end at 10:00am on Monday, January 6th. -
We ask that everyone who attends wears modest loose clothing, with subdued colors, prints, and minimal/no words for the duration of the retreat.
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We are no longer require testing for Covid-19. We are still committed to the safety and health of the retreat container. The intention is to move towards a culture of taking care of ourselves and others by self-monitoring symptoms, and reducing transmission of any possible sickness.
Please test yourself if you've been exposed prior to the retreat.
Dharma Gates maintains the right to change this policy at any time.
“Silent and serene, forgetting words, bright clarity appears before you.
When you reflect it you become vast, where you embody it you are spiritually uplifted.”