The Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center (DSCM) is just two hours south of St. Louis. It’s also a global go-to spot for metta (loving-kindness) meditation. This is the perfect place to develop your practice this winter, which is good news, because they’re offering a quick, four-day Winter Candlelight Retreat from Thursday, December 5th to Monday, December 9th this year (which is 2024).
Want to learn a powerful form of metta meditation? Deepen your existing practice? Develop your mindfulness of hygge?
If so, this retreat is for you—but spaces are filling fast, so sign up soon. (That’s not a sales tactic; DSMC only charges enough to cover their expenses. We just don’t want you to be disappointed if all the spots are taken!)
2024 DSMC Winter Mini-Retreat Basics
Here’s the rundown on this retreat:
- Show up Thursday, December 5th between 2 and 4:30 p.m. (carpools from St. Louis available).
- Go home the morning of Monday, December 9th.
- Eat lots of good food (just not dinner, which is easier than it sounds), including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options.
- Stay in your own toasty cabin.
- Enjoy relaxing noble silence.
- Learn and/or practice Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation (TWIM), a really easy and enjoyable way to do metta (plus the other Brahmaviharas: compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity).
- Sit for daily one-on-one interviews with experienced TWIM teachers.
- Get lots and lots of personal meditation time in a beautiful setting.
The cost for this retreat is $299, which just covers food and facility upkeep. If that sounds good, go ahead and sign up.
The Tentative Retreat Schedule
Here’s what the days will probably look like at DSMC’s Winter Candlelight Retreat:
- 6:30 AM: Wake up.
- 7:00 AM: Take the Refuges and Precepts together.
- 8:00 AM: Breakfast (complete with tea and/or coffee).
- 9:00 AM: “Monk work,” a small chore to practice mindfulness in action.
- 9:30 AM: Meditation on your own schedule.
- 12:00 PM: Lunch (delicious).
- 1:00 PM: Naptime. Or take a shower. Or meditate some more. Your call!
- 2:00 PM: Guided meditation or other group instruction.
- 3:00 PM: Meditation on your own, with breaks for one-on-one interviews.
- 6:00 PM: Teatime.
- 7:00 PM: Dhamma talk or other group instruction.
- 8:00 PM: Optional bedtime yoga.
- 9:00 PM: More meditation!
- 10:30 PM: Bedtime (or yet more meditation).
Dhamma Sukha ran a similar retreat last winter. Here’s a review, which should give you an idea of what this one will be like. Don’t have a ride? No problem; we’ll run carpools from St. Louis. Let’s see, what else? Well, we went on this retreat last year, and it was a blissed-out good time. Hard recommend.
