Finding the Refuge Within: A Silent Meditation Retreat in Hawai'i

When the world trembles, where do we find sanctuary? This silent meditation retreat on Hawai'i's North Kohala coast invites you to slow down, settle, and reconnect with the refuge that has been within you all along. Led by Lama Willa Blythe Baker, it unfolds over a week of silence, practice, and time in the natural world.

Held at Hawai'i Island Retreat on the Big Island, the retreat is encircled by wild groves, ancient valleys, windswept cliffs, and ocean coves. Together, the land and the silence become part of the teaching. The practice draws on Dzogchen, the Tibetan tradition of Great Wholeness, and explores the possibility that the very moment we live in holds the key to awakening.

If you are drawn to a silent retreat in Hawaii that is spacious rather than rushed, and you already have some experience with meditation, this is an opportunity to deepen, refresh, or expand your practice.

What to Expect

The schedule offers a spacious rhythm of meditation, yoga, teachings, and periods of integration. Noble Silence is held as a pathway to healing and inner cultivation, giving you room to sit with what arises.

Through the retreat, you will:

- Discover the wisdom of Dzogchen through practices that emphasize slowing down, coming present, and waking up to your true nature.
- Commune with the natural world through contemplative practices that take trees, wind, water, sky, earth, and sacred fire as teacher, and learn ways to bring these practices home.
- Meet life's challenges with presence, staying open and grounded amid uncertainty and change.
- Connect with fellow practitioners who are exploring the inner life.

The teachings describe a ground of being that is naturally open, peaceful, and whole, not a passing state but a wakefulness that radiates through mind, heart, and body regardless of circumstance. Moving through gradual phases of glimpse, cultivation, and stabilization, participants may discover that the refuge they seek is not elsewhere, but here, within and between us.

About Willa Blythe Baker

Lama Willa Blythe Baker is an author and teacher in the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism, specializing in embodied practices of presence and non-dual awareness. She was authorized as a lineage holder (lama) after twelve years of monastic training and two consecutive three-year retreats. In 2008 she founded the Natural Dharma Fellowship, a spiritual community in the Northeastern United States, through which she teaches online and in person. The fellowship describes its approach as natural meditation, inspired by the natural world, and Willa originally crafted the teachings of its Margha Program. She currently lives off-grid on the Big Island of Hawai'i, where her practices have grown to include gardening, swimming, and canoeing at sunrise.

Venue & Logistics

The retreat is residential and takes place at Hawai'i Island Retreat on the North Kohala coast of the Big Island, Hawaii. Accommodations include elegant hotel suites, yurts, or off-site local lodging. Meals are nourishing and vegetarian, with occasional fish offerings, and trails on the land are open for walking and contemplative practice. Please consult the organizer for registration details and any further information on what to bring or accessibility.