Often we find that we're meditating with a corrective mindset—the feeling that somehow what we're doing or experiencing is wrong. But this path isn't about correcting. Correcting is samsara, because in truth, there are no obstacles. Obstacles are the fodder through which we wake up. How are you developing a deeper way of being? That's what we're doing here, we're developing a reliable, illuminating capacity to be with our experience. The real power of mindful awareness lives within our innate capacity to be with all that arises in such a way that we can awaken through it, within it.
Erin Treat
Residential Retreat Teacher
Erin Treat has been practicing Buddhist meditation for nearly 30 years. She is the guiding teacher of Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center in northern New Mexico and served as Guiding Teacher of the Durango Dharma Center. Erin teaches the practical and the profound, from a heart grounded in respect for mystery and the many faces of awakening.
Her approach to sharing the dharma is influenced by her ongoing experience as a student of the Diamond Approach by A.H. Almaas and by Thanissara and Kittisaro's Dharmapala Training, designed to bring forth an embodied bodhisattva ideal within the lineage of Theravada Buddhism. Erin enjoys working with small groups of committed students over time and regularly offers classes, retreats, and mentoring to students from around the country.
Erin Treat's Upcoming Programs
Retreat | On-Land
September 5 - September 8, 2024 | Thursday - Sunday | 3 nights
The Doorway to Freedom and Peace: The Three Characteristics
The radical premise of the Buddha’s teaching is that realizing the truth—what Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki called "things-as-it-is"—is the doorway to freedom and peace. During this retreat, we will engage mindfulness and compassion to turn toward the living truth that arises each moment, with an emphasis on the Three Characteristics of Reality: all things are impermanent (aniccā), ultimately unreliable (dukkha), and ownerless (anattā). Our time will include silent meditation and movement along with instructions, Dharma talks, and meetings with teachers.
Retreat | On-Land
September 19 - September 25, 2024 | Thursday - Wednesday | 6 nights
Spiritual Sanctuary: A Women's Liberation Retreat
Open to all self-identified Women. We welcome all who identify as women, as well as non-binary folks who feel nourished in spaces centering women.
We live in times of increasing pressure, which can be experienced as intensity, stress, limitation, or dissatisfaction. The Four Noble Truths remind us that pressure is an unavoidable part of life, and that freedom is possible within it. This retreat offers a space in which practitioners can choose rest, renewal, and liberation. Together we will practice in silence, integrating movement and stillness, outdoor practice, and Dharma talks that lift up women’s journeys of awakening from a diversity of lineages and traditions.
Training | Online | Dharma Institute
September 2024 - April 2025 | Times variable - see details.
Deep Dive Dharma: Liberation and the Sure Heart's Release
Deep Dive Dharma is an online program for experienced practitioners on essential Buddhist teachings of liberation. Through meditation and interactive inquiry we will explore the Three Characteristics, Emptiness, Suchness, Dependent Origination, the Two Truths, Nature of Mind, Awareness, and Awakening. The heart of the program is bringing these complex teachings alive in our daily lives through embodied relational inquiry. One of the unique features of this program is the exploration of both Theravāda and Mahāyāna teachings. This is intended for experienced practitioners already familiar with fundamental Buddhist teachings.
Upcoming Drop-Ins
Drop-in | Online
Monday, August 26 | 7:15 PM - 9:15 PM
Monday Night Meditation & Talk
For over 35 years, the Monday Night sitting group at Spirit Rock has been a welcoming refuge to gather, hear the teachings of the Buddha, and practice Insight Meditation together as a community. The program includes a 30-40 min guided meditation, a short break, and a Dharma talk.
Erin Treat
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Erin Treat through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.