A Meditation Home Retreat with Bodhipakṣa
Hosted By: Bodhipaksa
Friday, September 25th to Thursday, October 1st, 2026
Online via Zoom - see session times below
Event Description:
Most people find dhyāna, or meditative absorption, elusive. They can even think it’s something only “expert” meditators can do. What if the problem isn’t that it’s particularly hard to get into dhyāna, but that first, no one has taught us how to systematically cultivate it, and second, some of what we have been told about dhyāna is wrong?
Over the last thirty years or so, Bodhipaksa has been evolving an approach to the systematic cultivation of dhyāna. It involves letting three “foundations” of dhyāna arise.
Calmness is brought about by relaxing into an open state of attention in which we can observe the breathing as a body-wide process.
Aliveness, experienced as tingling, flowing energy, naturally arises as we notice the soft waves of the breathing sweeping through our whole being.
Joy arises naturally when we have a calm mind that is attending to the body’s aliveness, especially when we bring kindness, curiosity, and appreciation into the way we’re paying attention.
These three foundations correspond to the traditional four factors of first dhyāna. Calmness is the relatively still state of mind in which we are able to have initial and sustained thought rather than “monkey mind” thinking. Aliveness is a synonym for “priti,” which is often translated as “rapture.” And joy is of course, sukha. (Despite what many teachers say, one-pointedness is not a factor of first dhyāna, and first dhyāna is not a one-pointed state of concentration.)
The path to meditative absorption involves cultivating these three foundations in turn, until they produce a self-sustaining state of dhyāna that is calm, energized, and joyful. You’ll learn simple approaches to meditation that help to radically slow the mind down. You’ll explore subtle shifts in attention that allow you to experience the whole body as you meditation, in all its richness and aliveness. You’ll learn how to create the conditions for joy to arise.
On this seven-day retreat, we’ll learn that these three foundations, and the traditional dhyāna factors they correspond to, are not things that we make happen, but are instead experiences that arise naturally as we let go of striving to focus, and instead let the mind come into a state of complete rest and openness. We’ll also experience more clearly how the three dhyāna foundations provide an ideal basis for exploring insight.
If you’re someone who rarely if ever experiences dhyāna, this retreat is perfect for you. If you’re someone who thinks you could never get into dhyāna, you really have to attend!
Whether or not dhyana happens for you on this retreat, you will come away with skills that profoundly change your meditation practice, helping it to be much more effective and satisfying.
Attend any or all conversations in Zoom.
This event will be recorded and may be published online for others to access. Only the leader's video will be used except where users consent to appear spotlighted in a public conversation. Private conversations in breakout rooms will not be recorded.
Session Times:
Friday, September 25th until Thursday, October 1st, 2026
First daily session (2 hrs): USA & Canada PST 4:00 am | México CST 5:00 am | USA & Canada EST 7:00 am | IE & UK BST 12:00 noon | Europe CEST 1:00 pm | India IST 4:30 pm | Australia AEST 9:00 pm | New Zealand NZST 11:00 pm
Second daily session (1.5 hrs): USA & Canada PST 8:30 am | México CST 9:30 am | USA & Canada EST 11:30 am | IE & UK BST 4:30 pm | Europe CEST 5:30 pm | India IST 9:00 pm | Australia AEST 1:30 am (next day) | New Zealand NZST 3:30 am (next day)
Third daily session (1.5 hrs): USA & Canada PST 11:30 am | México CST 12:30 pm | USA & Canada EST 2:30 pm | IE & UK BST 7:30 pm | Europe CEST 8:30 pm | India IST 12:00 midn (next day) | Australia AEST 4:30 am (next day) | New Zealand NZST 6:30 am (next day)
Event Registration:
Register at the link below.
Suggested Donation:
Suggested donation for the whole retreat:
$230 / £175 / $330 AUD / €200
Or drop in for $50 / £40 / $75 AUD / €45 per day.
Get one ticket and come to any session you wish!
Like all Buddhist Centre events, this retreat is offered by donation rather than charging a compulsory ticket price. We want to do this because we never want money to be an obstacle to taking part in a supportive community, and we know many people are struggling financially. The amount we suggest reflects the huge amount of work and love that goes into putting on events we hope will benefit everyone attending. If you can, please donate today. Thank you!
About the Leader:
Bodhipakṣa is the founder of the online meditation center, Wildmind. He was ordained in 1993 and has taught meditation in Buddhist centers, universities, and prisons.
Since ordination he has spent most of his time teaching and writing. He’s the author of several books on Buddhist practice, including 'This Difficult Thing of Being Human', a book on self-compassion (Parallax, November, 2019), and 'The Heart’s Awakening', which was published by Windhorse Publications in October 2025
You can find out more on bodhipaksa.com