Hatred never ends through hatred.
By non-hate alone does it end.
This is an ancient truth.
Our Vision & Mission
Spirit Rock is a spiritual training institution in the Insight Meditation tradition grounded in the Buddha’s teachings in the Pāli discourses.
Our mission is to provide practitioners with teachings to manifest wisdom and compassion in all aspects of their lives, for the benefit of all beings.
We welcome practitioners of all backgrounds and levels of experience to join communities of learning, support, and connection in our spiritual sanctuary and refuge.
Read more about our founders’ vision for Spirit Rock
Our Offerings
Set among 411 acres of serene oak woodlands in the secluded hills of West Marin County, California, Spirit Rock Meditation Center is a refuge from everyday life where it's truly possible to quiet the mind, soften the heart, and see life in a new way.
Spirit Rock was created as a living maṇḍala—a contemporary space for meditation, retreat, practice, community gathering (saṅgha), and Dharma study. We seek to preserve the depth of the Buddhist tradition for future generations by making the tools of the Dharma (Pāli: Dhamma) for personal and collective awakening accessible, and offering financial assistance or scholarships to those for whom cost may be an obstacle.
We offer Insight Meditation retreats, classes, trainings, and Dharma study in a community grounded in ethics, respect, and mutual care—nurturing the internal life in support of external service.
Spirit Rock offers a breadth of programs, both on-land and online, in a variety of formats to fit anyone's schedule, needs and meditation experience—from weekly and monthly drop-in groups to silent residential retreats, lasting from one day to two months, as well as study and training programs spanning a year or more. Most programs are suitable for both beginners and experienced students.
Our Practice
The teachings of the Buddha (called Dharma or Dhamma), the practices of Insight Meditation (vipassanā) and lovingkindness (mettā), and the cultivation of spiritual community (saṅgha) are at the heart of everything we offer at Spirit Rock.
Insight Meditation develops mindfulness, the skill of wise attention through which we can see clearly the truth of our experience. Studying the Dharma provides insights into the conditions that define and limit our experience of life. And cultivating lovingkindness allows us to stay present to what's true and what's difficult in our lives with compassion for ourselves and others. Ultimately, our relationship to life is transformed as we learn to live more wisely and kindly.
Spirit Rock’s tradition of Insight Meditation explores the Buddha’s profound practice of mindfulness and clear seeing, so that we may bring our full hearts and the strength of our practice to bear on the suffering of so many in our communities and beyond. At the heart of the Dharma is the understanding that present experience arises based on past conditions, and that our own and others’ actions have contributed to creating this moment, with all its joys and sorrows.
To seek collective liberation with the same passion we have brought to the path of individual healing is to recognize our interdependence with all beings. May our practice and study be for the benefit of all.
Land Acknowledgement
Spirit Rock is located in the San Geronimo valley of West Marin County, California on unceded Coast Miwok territory. We name the history of this beloved place as a gesture of respect and reparation toward the Indigenous residents of the colonized land we now call home. Read our full Land Acknowledgment, with resources for further study.
