Summer Silent Weekend Retreat with Stan Eisenstein

The Summer Silent Weekend Retreat is a silent meditation retreat in the Insight tradition, held over a long weekend at Seven Oaks Retreat Center in Madison, Virginia, and also offered online via Zoom. It is taught by Stan Eisenstein, a full teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW), and is open to people who want a few days of quiet practice in a wooded setting or from their own home.

What to Expect

The retreat is rooted in Insight Meditation and Theravada Buddhism. Past participants describe a balance of guided and unguided practice, with sitting, walking, Dharma talks and time with the teacher. Stan's earlier retreats have included RAIN, the Spiritual Heart Meditation and self-kindness practices, and participants speak of his invitation to allow everything to be as it is. Several mention that he offers guidance gently and without pressure, and that the retreat managers are available throughout.

People who joined by Zoom in the past often write that the online group felt connected, and that hearing from those at the center during the integration portion helped them feel part of one sangha. Breakout rooms gave a chance to talk with other participants.

Teaching is offered on the Buddhist model of dana. The teachers and retreat managers receive no payment, and the retreat fee covers only direct expenses such as room, meals and administration. Participants may make a tax-deductible offering at the close of the retreat.

About Stan Eisenstein

Stan Eisenstein is a mindfulness and meditation teacher whose work centers on embodiment, self-kindness, self-inquiry and inner guidance. He says his teaching largely comes from life experience: decades of working to resolve an early trauma through a self-awareness training, therapy, inquiry-based meditation, integrated breathwork, energy practices and ongoing study of Buddhist teachings.

He has meditated since 1988 and practiced Insight Meditation since 2004. He is a graduate of the Meditation Teacher Training Institute and trained in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction with Jon Kabat-Zinn in 2004. He has also studied Somatic Experiencing, Integrative Breathwork and Tantric Qigong. He holds a Masters of Social Work from the University of Maryland and taught high school physics for 32 years.

The Setting

Seven Oaks Retreat Center sits in a wooded area of Madison, Virginia. In-person participants can stay in shared cabin rooms with shared bathrooms, or in one of a limited number of single rooms, which are assigned first come, first served. Camping is also available on the campus.

All meals are ovo-lacto vegetarian, with breakfast, lunch and dinner provided. Vegan and gluten-free needs, along with allergies, can be noted at registration.

Before You Go

The listing names no experience requirements. The retreat is offered through IMCW, which typically welcomes practitioners across a range of experience levels.

Included are meals, lodging in the option you choose, and instruction and guided sessions with the teacher and retreat managers. Travel to Seven Oaks is not included, and the closing dana offering is voluntary.

On accessibility: the Light House building, where the meditation hall is, has an ADA-accessible bathroom and an elevator. The campus as a whole is not ADA-accessible, and reaching the dining hall requires a half-flight of stairs. Anyone with questions about whether the facilities will meet their needs is encouraged to contact the retreat manager through the retreat's page on the IMCW website, which will be posted closer to the retreat. Registration is handled through IMCW.