Commuter – $650.00
Private Room: Single – $1,250.00
Private Room: Couple – $2,170.00
Junior Suite: Single – $1,730.00
Junior Suite: Couple – $2,830.00

Date & Time Details: Friday, September 11 (check in 3-6 PM; program starts 7:15 PM) until Thursday, September 17 (checkout 1 PM)

Location: Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing

Address: 191 Cragsmoor Road, Cragsmoor, New York 12566, USA

Contact: retreats@dharmakayacenter.org
845.640.4593

Check-in Time: 3 PM – 6 PM

Per Person Prices:

Program fees

Basic – $95
Supporting – $125
Sustaining – $155

Accommodation fees Prices include 3 meals per day and use of all campus facilities.

Commuter – $650
Private Room (shared bath): Single – $1250
Private Room (shared bath): Couple – $1085
Junior Suite (private bath): Single – $1730
Junior Suite (private bath): Couple – $1415

Teacher's fees Our teachers offer their teaching freely. We welcome and encourage your support through donations of dana.

To extend your stay on personal retreat: Simply add days before or after the program during step 2 when making your reservation.

Cancellation Policy: Program and accommodations fees are refundable up to 1 month prior to the program (less a $100 cancellation fee). Students cancelling less than 1 month before the program start have their money (less a $100 cancellation fee) moved to personal credit, which they can use any time within the following 12 months. There is no refund for same-day cancellations.

Awakening Amidst the World’s Turbulence: An Insight Dialogue Retreat

With Phyllis K. Hicks and Bart van Melik

September 11 - 17, 2026

RETREAT BY INVITED PRESENTER

In times of rapid change, ecological fragility, and social unrest, our habitual patterns—of perception, thought, speech, and reaction shape our inner experience and view of the world. This retreat invites us to the immediacy of each moment and the quiet joy of simply being here, now. Together, we will explore the transformative potential of relating mindfully and cultivating the wholesome within ourselves, with one another, and with the living world.

OPEN TO ALL: This retreat is open to all who have prior silent retreat experience.

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE: Scholarship support may be available. Please contact Susan Wiley with your requests.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

In Insight Dialogue we cultivate the stillness of concentration and the brightness of mindfulness directly in contemplation with others, allowing the heart and mind to become clear and radically present. As we bring awareness to the ways we construct our world, the heart’s capacity for wisdom, empathy, and responsiveness begins to unfold. We discover the refuge of the Buddha’s teachings and a path of awakening in the midst of the world’s turbulence.

Vitally, we are reminded that we are nature, inseparable from the living web, and that our inner landscapes hold seeds of awakening and meaningful action.

This retreat offers a blend of silent meditation, mindful dialogue in dyads and small groups, mindful movement, and time in nature, all within the container of noble silence.
A Meditation Hall with cushions

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

Intimate setting with personal access to the teacher
Silent and guided meditations
Insight Dialogue—a relational meditation practice in pairs
Dharma contemplation and study
Delicious all-vegetarian meals with locally sourced ingredients
Option to extend stay on Personal Retreat
Extensive library of dharma books
Expansive wooded grounds with beautiful paths, flora and fauna and walking trails

SCHEDULE

(subject to change)

Friday, September 11

3:00 PM	Check in begins
6:00-7:00 PM	Dinner
7:15-9:15 PM	Welcome and Introduction
	Opening Meditation
10:00 PM	Lights Out

Saturday, September 12 – Wednesday, September 16

6:30 AM	Wake-up Bell
7:30-8:00 AM	Sitting Meditation
8:00-9:00 AM	Breakfast
9:00 AM-12:00 PM	Morning Session
12:00-1:00 PM	Lunch
1:00-2:30 PM	Personal Practice
2:30-5:30 PM	Afternoon Session
5:30-6:00 PM	Personal Practice
6:00-7:00 PM	Dinner
7:15-9:15 PM	Evening Session
10:00 PM	Lights out

Thursday, September 17

6:30 AM	Wake-up Bell
7:00-7:30 AM	Personal Practice, Packing
7:30-8:00 AM	Sitting Meditation
8:00-9:00 AM	Breakfast
9:00-11:30 AM	Morning Session
12:00-1:00 PM	Lunch
1:00 PM	Checkout and Departure

Teachers

Phyllis K. Hicks
Phyllis Hicks has been practicing insight meditation since 1998. She was inspired by early Buddhist teachings as a whole life path and the transformative power of bringing mindfulness and wisdom to relational practices. Invited to train as an Insight Dialogue teacher in 2003, she began co teaching retreats with Gregory Kramer. Now she teaches internationally and trains and mentors developing teachers. She is a co-developer of the Interpersonal Mindfulness Program (IMP) and IMP Teacher Training. Phyllis is devoted to communities of spiritual friendship and relational practice. Retiring as a psychotherapist and Counseling Institute Director of 35 years, she continues to offer…
Learn more about Phyllis K. Hicks

Bart van Melik
Bart van Melik is a guiding teacher at the Community Meditation Center in New York City. He has been teaching Insight Dialogue and silent meditation since 2009, and has been trained by Joseph Goldstein, Carol Wilson, Gregory Kramer, and Phyllis Hicks. Bart is a graduate of the Spirit Rock/Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training Program. Bart teaches residential silent retreats and Insight Dialogue retreats in the U.S. and Europe, and offers monthly Insight Dialogue practice at the Community Meditation Center in New York. For many years, he brought meditation practice into juvenile detention centers, homeless shelters, veterans’ programs, and NYC public…
Learn more about Bart van Melik