Please join us at a beautiful spot in the Santa Cruz mountains for a Day of Mindfulness in the Plum Village Tradition. Our day will include sitting and walking meditation, a dharma talk, a mindful lunch and dharma sharing practices to invite our true presence and to cultivate our understanding of interbeing.
Please see the flyer for more details.
To help with planning and ride sharing, please RSVP here.
Friday, November 7
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12:00 pm
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Monday, November 10
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11:00 am
We are delighted to invite you to register for the Armistice Day Writing Retreat held at the Quaker Center in Ben Lomond, California (80 miles from the Bay Area), Nov. 7-10, 2025.
This retreat has historically been called the “Veterans Day Retreat.” It was started by a group of veterans and writers several decades ago. The current organizers are not veterans, but we aspire to carry forward the flame of peace and inspiration started by that group.
Retreat theme: “Continuing Our Lineage of Peace and Writing”
Our intention is to make this retreat an inclusive, restorative, safe space for practicing mindfulness together, along with space to work on our own writing or other creative projects.
The program will offer the opportunity to experience many Plum Village practices: silent meditation each morning and evening, Dharma talks, walking meditation and mindful movement practice, eating meals mindfully together, Dharma sharing in small groups (see the description on this page), and other activities. We will observe noble silence from after the evening program until the end of lunchtime the next day. In the afternoons and evenings, there will be time for mindful conversation.
Quaker Center is a beautiful retreat among the redwoods and oak trees in the hills above Santa Cruz. It is a quiet, peaceful location where the Plum Village community has been holding retreats for many years.
Date/Time: The retreat will begin Friday, November 7 at 6pm PT and end Monday, November 10, 2025 after lunch.
There will also be a writing workshop facilitated by Maxine Hong Kingston from 10am – 4pm on Friday, November 7. You can register for the retreat alone, the workshop alone, or for both.
Retreat meals will be provided by the wonderful chef Tod Nysether, starting Friday evening through Monday lunch.
Teachers: We are excited that Maxine Hong Kingston and Wendy Johnson have agreed to be our dharma teachers for this retreat, with Maxine leading an additional writing workshop during the day on Friday!
Earll Kingston, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Wendy Johnson at the 2024 Veteran’s Day retreat.
Costs: The cost of the retreat will vary by sleeping arrangement.
For a room with 2 beds the cost per person will be $500 for the entire retreat, food included.
For a dorm room that sleeps 4-6, or for tent campers, the cost will be $375 per person for the entire retreat, food included.
We are happy to be able to offer some scholarships for BIPOC, Wake Up, and Veteran retreatants. Scholarships of 25% or 50% are available.
The workshop will cost $60, and will help fund scholarships to the retreat. We also welcome donations to the scholarship fund.
Please fill out the information requested in this Google Form by Friday October 10. Sophie, Miles, Melanie, and Dylan will review all completed registration forms and confirm your registration by Friday, October 17. At this time, we will send details on payment and lodging.
We aspire to create a retreat body that represents the diversity of the many people and communities practicing in the Plum Village lineage, including race/ethnicity, age, and gender, with an aspiration to have 50% people of color and 50% young people at our gathering. Please be patient with us as we do our best to accommodate your needs and to create the conditions for a supportive and inclusive space.
On Sunday, June 8th, 9:30am – 1:00pm, the Multifold Sangha is invited to a gathering to welcome California Dharma teachers who were ordained this spring in the Plum Village Tradition of Thích Nhat Hanh.
New CA Dharma Teachers:
Prajna Paramita Choudhury
Jun Hamamoto
Peter Kuhn
Victoria Mausisa
Zachiah Murray
Judy Nakatomi
Meena Srinivasan
Brad Wiscons
Several of the new teachers will join us in person on June 8th.
Join us for a nourishing time together:
Sitting meditation
Gatha sharing in English from several new Dharma teachers
Chanting in Vietnamese
Lunch potluck
Please see below for a flyer and a sheet outlining the flow of the day.
The Hella Just and Compassionate Sangha* invites Northern California Sanghas in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh to a Day of Mindfulness at Shantideva: Watering seeds of Inclusiveness and Belonging.
Recently ordained Dharmacharyas Prajna Choudhury and Victoria Mausisa will guide us in practices and reflections to help nurture these qualities.
Tentative flow for the day:
9:30 Arrive and settle in
9:50 Welcoming remarks
10:00 Chanting and silent meditation
10:35 Introduction to the day’s practices
10:45 Break and Yoga/ Mindful Movement offered by Laurika
12:30 Eating Meditation followed by Mindful Conversation
1:30 Dharma Sharing Circles
2:30 Closing Circle
3:00 Clean Up
We will use yoga mats for yoga and Touching the Earth on the outdoor deck, so please bring yogamats if you have them (and extras for those who do not).
The location is Thay Tu Luc’s Shantideva Monastery at 30345 Palomares Rd, Castro Valley, CA 94552. It’s about an hour’s drive from Berkeley, SF, or San Jose.
Things to bring:
Something vegetarian to eat for lunch
Water
Layers, sunscreen, hat
Something to share for tea/snacks (optional)
yoga mats!
A friend or two!
Please sign up if you plan to be there. There is limited space for parking, so please plan to carpool (this sign in sheet is designed to help everyone self-organize carpooling).
This day is offered free of charge. Donations for the teaching and to support Shantideva are welcome.
Look forward to practicing together as a river.
* Since 2006, the Hella Just and Compassionate Sangha (HJC) has been a San Francisco East Bay-based refuge for people of color who are committed to nurturing our mindfulness and meditation practice so that we can be better people, working in better ways, for a better world.
Free Donations welcome
Prajna Paramita Choudhury
proggachoudhury@hotmail.com
Udumbara Retreat Center / Duc Vien Tinh Uyen
21055 Summit Road Los Gatos,
CA
United States+ Google Map
New Generation Sangha invites you to a Day of Mindfulness at Shantideva — bringing the Plum Village community in Northern California together for a chance to flow as a river and practice mindfulness as one sangha.
New Gen is a (mostly) young adult sangha based in the East Bay, and we’re excited to offer this gathering as an opportunity for practitioners of all ages to come together, share our diverse energies, and nourish our collective practice.
The Day of Mindfulness will be centered on Embracing Our Interbeing: A Mindful Celebration of Authenticity and Diversity — a day to honor the courage it takes to be our true selves, to recognize the beauty of our interconnected identities, and to hold space for all beings with compassion.
Date: Saturday, June 21, 2025 Location: Thich Tu Luc’s Shantideva Monastery — 30345 Palomares Rd, Castro Valley, CA 94552 (Approx. 1-hour drive from Berkeley, SF, or San Jose)
Please register in advance for the Day of Mindfulness here.
In gratitude to the UUSF for generously sharing their beautiful space, Home Within Sangha will host a Day of Mindfulness to share Plum Village practices with UUSF members and Plum Village practitioners alike. Please know donations are not required, but any contributions will go directly to UUSF as we hope to make this Day of Mindfulness a dana fundraiser to support the Center.
Whether ecological, political and/or economic, there are many causes of stress right now. As Thich Nhat Hanh has said, we cannot bring peace to the world if we do not have peace in ourselves. We cannot help others if we ourselves are burned out. A mindfulness practice allows us to recharge our batteries so that we can be our best selves in the world.
The day will include:
guided sitting meditation
a brief dharma talk
mindful movements & walking
a tangerine meditation & mindful eating (tangerines will be provided, please pack a vegetarian lunch)
deep relaxation
dharma sharing
Please bring:
a vegetarian lunch
a yoga mat for deep relaxation, if you have one
a mug for tea (optional)
chairs will be provided for sitting meditation, if you prefer a cushion, please bring one.
Morning Birds Sangha invites you to a Day of Mindfulness at Shantideva — bringing the Plum Village community in Northern California together for a chance to go as a river and practice mindfulness as one sangha.
WE ARE NOW FULL AND CANNOT ACCEPT ANY MORE ATTENDEES.
Dharma teacher Jo-ann Rosen will be visiting from Ukiah and will offer a talk on the antidote to fear and anger: True Love. Jo-ann will bring teachings from the Dharma and neuroscience to her talk. She will invite us to contemplate the Four Heavenly Abodes during the day: Compassion, loving-kindness, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. (These are also known as the Brahmaviharas: karuna, metta/maitri, mudita, and upekka/upeksha.)
The location is Thich Tu Luc’s Shantideva Monastery. It’s about an hour’s drive from Berkeley, SF, or San Jose, or a 15-minute drive from Castro Valley BART.
Parking is limited. We are expecting a large crowd, so this event is now full and registration is closed.
Please bring:
Layers, sunscreen, hat
Something vegetarian to eat for lunch
Something to share for tea/snacks (optional)
A friend or two! (carpooling is advised as there is limited parking)
Tentative agenda:
9:30 am Parking
9:45 am Arrive and settle in
10:00 Introductions Dylan
10:15 Sitting meditation + chanting
10:45 Short break
11:00 Dharma talk
12:30 Break/prepare lunch
12:45 pm Mindful lunch
1:30 Dharma sharing
2:30 Choice: tea/chat OR walking meditation on your own
3:30 End of day
Free Donations for the teaching or for Shantideva are welcome
Dylan Tweney
+1 650-315-9607
dylan@tweney.com
Udumbara Retreat Center / Duc Vien Tinh Uyen
21055 Summit Road Los Gatos,
CA
United States+ Google Map
Thich Nhat Hanh taught that “there is no way to peace; peace is the way.” You are invited to join us for a day of practice on the topic of “Being Peace” – grounding in Plum Village practices and cultivating our inner peace to offer ourselves and our communities.
We will gather for sitting and walking meditation, mindful movement and eating, Dharma sharing, and to listen to a teaching by Thay.
Logistics:
Please bring your own vegetarian lunch.
Please arrive by 9:45am, so that we can begin sitting meditation at 10am.
Address: Shantideva Monastery, 30345 Palomares Road, Castro Valley, California 94552
In the spirit of cross-sangha connection across the Bay Area, this Day of Mindfulness will be hosted by San Francisco’s Home Within Sangha.
If your sangha is curious about hosting a Day of Mindfulness at Shantideva this year, please email Dylan at dylan@tweney.com.
We hope to see you there!
With a deep bow,
Nicole, Kat, and Miles from the Home Within Sangha
Free Donations welcome
Udumbara Retreat Center / Duc Vien Tinh Uyen
21055 Summit Road Los Gatos,
CA
United States+ Google Map
Date: Saturday, June 21, 2025
Location: Thich Tu Luc’s Shantideva Monastery — 30345 Palomares Rd, Castro Valley, CA 94552
Please sign up here: 
This day is offered freely, with gratitude for the teachings. Donations to support Shantideva Monastery are welcome.
