Special Events and Retreats

Updated April 26, 2025

Information on Upcoming Residential Retreats

Memorial Day Weekend 2025 Retreat in NC

Cultivating Peace in the Storm

A 3½ -day Residential Retreat in the Plum Village Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh

Facilitated by Monastics from Magnolia Grove Monastery

May 22-25, St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, Stoneville, NC

“Practicing peace is possible with every step, with every breath. It is possible for us to practice together and bring hope and compassion into our daily lives and into the lives of our families, our community, our nation and the world.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh

 To practice peace is to actively cultivate understanding, love and compassion, even in the face of misperception and conflict. The practice of peace always begins right here, right now. In this retreat we will slow down, rest, and come back to our true selves to nourish our seeds of peace, stability, and freedom, and to awaken to the wonderful, refreshing and healing elements that are available in and around us in each moment of our lives.

The retreat will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 22, and will conclude at noon Sunday, May 25. This is the first time the Magnolia Grove monastics are visiting North Carolina and is a rare opportunity to practice with them outside of the monastery. To maintain a focused retreat environment for all, please plan to arrive Thursday between 3-5 pm and stay for the entire retreat. The registration fee includes lodging and all (plant-based) meals. It does not include Dana for the monastics, which is a donation we will collect at the retreat to be given directly to the monastics to support their offerings to us.

Registration Fee:
          Shared occupancy - $320.00
          Single occupancy (limited availability) - $640.00
 
The registration deadline is Thursday, May 1. To reserve your space we must receive both your completed registration form and payment of the registration fee by the deadline. We recommend registering as soon as possible as spaces are limited, and we don't want to miss your beautiful presence! 

Register online by clicking here.

Magnolia Grove Monastery and Mindfulness Practice Center is open for personal retreats during Spring 2025. Once the construction projects are completed, more themed retreats will be offered. Several friends have joined together in the recent past to attend personal retreats as a small sangha group. Road Trip!! Details are here about Magnolia Grove personal retreats.

Looking forward to fall, there will be an October Retreat at Well Being Retreat Center in Tennessee led by our Dharma teacher, Leslie Rawls. A note from Leslie-- Although October seems a long way off, registration will open in the next few days. This will be our seventh Plum Village Tradition retreat there, and we have always had a wait-list. Registration is now open. Details are here.

Thursday, October 23-Sunday, October 26, 2025
Living the Heart Sutra: A Path to Happiness
A (Mostly Silent) Weekend Retreat with Dharmacharya Leslie Rawls
Wellbeing Retreat Center, Tazewell, Tennessee

Sometimes we seem to live in the Beatles’ song “I, Me, Mine”: grasping, competing, comparing, blaming, separating ourselves from others and the world. The Heart Sutra invites us to step beyond this limited view and into the beauty and expansiveness of emptiness and interbeing. In this retreat, we will study and practice with the Heart Sutra’s teachings, perhaps moving beyond intellectual understanding and into realized experience of the teachings. Activities will include silent and guided sitting meditation, group walking meditation, Dharma talks, private practice interviews with Leslie, and personal practice time. On the last day of the retreat, Leslie will offer a transmission ceremony for friends who would like to formally receive one or more of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

Suitable for experienced practitioners and newcomers.
Registration will open mid-March 2025.
Sponsored by Mountain Solid, Water Reflecting Sangha, Knoxville, Tennessee.
www.knoxmindful.org