Rain/Winter Retreat at Plum Village
Hello everyone,
I’m currently living on the East Coast of the U.S. Over the past seven years, I’ve attended several sesshins and sat through two of S. N. Goenka courses. While those 7–10 day intensive retreats have been valuable, I’ve come to realize that they haven’t been enough for me to establish the kind of deep, steady meditative training that carries into daily life.
I recently learned about Plum Village’s annual Rain Retreat in Thailand next month, as well as the Winter Retreat at Blue Cliff Monastery in upstate New York at the end of October. I’m considering attending both. There would be about a 10-day gap between them, which would give me time to visit family and rest before beginning the Winter Retreat.
I’m curious whether anyone here has experience practicing within the Plum Village tradition, and what your thoughts are on doing two longer retreats back to back.
For some context: I’m 31 years old, unmarried, without children, and at this moment, not employed. For a long time, I’ve felt drawn to a deeper residential experience in a monastery, not as an escape from life, but as a way to cultivate a more serious and stable practice, let go of unwholesome habits, and build healthier ones.
I’m aware that, in the world today, especially with AI, the economy, and the pressures people my age often feel, there is a strong pull to keep up, learn the next tool, buy a house, get married, and keep moving forward in a conventional sense. I don’t dismiss those things. But I also recognize that the person I am right now, with certain unwholesome seeds in my store consciousness and a lack of consistent meditative discipline, may not yet be able to show up as fully or wisely as I would like. I worry that if I don’t tend to this inner work, it could hold me back and, in turn, affect the people I love and care about.
My hope is that doing these longer retreats back to back would allow me to go deeper in my training and create a stronger foundation for the next phase of my life.
The main thing I feel nervous about is entering the Plum Village community without much prior experience with it. Most of my practice has been with Soto/Rinzai Zen teachers in the U.S., along with Goenka-style Vipassana, so this would be a new community and teaching style for me.
I’d be grateful for any feedback, advice, or practical tips, especially from anyone who has spent time in Plum Village practice centers or done longer retreats there.
Thank you very much!