The day begins with mindful movement, qi gong, or yoga, and sitting meditation in Noble Silence.
Noble Silence continues through midmorning, with space to savor breakfast, journal, do any other morning rituals you may have, and cooperatively care for our space.
The day’s main learning session, based on the particular Path Factor of the 8-Fold Noble Path we are on that week; can include guided sitting and walking meditation, group and 1-1 discussion, lecture, writing exercises, and time outdoors.
Connect with peers over locally sourced lunch inside or outside on the hilltop; take time for yourself to read, go on a hike, or rest.
Your small group is your little family for the whole semester; composed of 7 other students and two staff mentors, this is your squad! Get really real together, process your meditation experiences, know each other deeply, laugh, and play.
Do you love D&D or jam sessions? At night? Dance parties? Nail salon? This is your time to choose your own adventure, to lead or be led by your peers in any group activity you can imagine.
Get cozy and ready for bed with loving-kindness meditation, gentle singing, and chanting.
In early Buddhist thought, tranquility and insight are complementary dimensions of meditative cultivation, traditionally based on a solid foundation in moral conduct and part of a gradual process of training. This online program will follow the Buddha’s principle of ethics as the foundation for Satipaṭṭhāna practice. Participation in this program is supported by group commitment to respect and non-harming, applying to both communication with others and also to one’s personal relationship with the practice.
We want to be intentional about creating a sense of community and a container that also allows everyone to feel autonomy and choice. Students will be able to leave campus as the schedule allows, including on weekends and holidays. We will ask you not to leave campus during retreat weeks. We will have a system of letting staff know what days you plan on leaving campus.
No. We ask all participants to commit to the entire semester.
No, though some experience with mindfulness meditation is recommended!
The Contemplative Semester balances deep silent meditation experience with verbal connection, community building, and learning through dialogue. We engage in 4 separated weeks of silent meditation retreat over the course of the semester. In addition, each off-retreat week includes a full day of silent meditation practice and each off-retreat day includes a period of 2-3 hours of silent meditation practice.
Participants will be completely without phones or computers for the first week of the semester. This is intentional – we want to support you to get to know each other and settle deeply into the space and the meditation practice. After the first retreat week, we will have a community conversation about device agreements and etiquette, which the group will have a chance to create themselves. Phones are never permitted during programming time or on retreat.
Yes, there will be days when friends and family will be welcome on campus. We won’t be able to accommodate overnight guests.
Yes, there will be a few reading, writing, and creative assignments scattered throughout the semester that are flexible enough to meet a diversity of learning styles. The Contemplative Semester is primarily a chance to get in touch with more intuitive and embodied ways of knowing; the volume of reading and writing assignments will *not* be as intense as a typical college semester.
Our diverse group of teachers and mentors has decades of experience teaching mindfulness and working with young people; many of them are leaders in the growing field of mindfulness education. They bring years of personal mindfulness and meditation practice into their roles as mentors, modeling authenticity, compassion, ethical conduct, and respect for the young people they work with. They also bring work and life experience as educators, therapists, wilderness guides, lawyers, youth workers, activists, parents, and more. Biographies for our teachers can be found on the home page.
We can accommodate common food allergies and dietary needs (such as gluten-free diets, lactose intolerance, peanut allergies, and vegetarian and vegan diets). If a participant has a very specific food need that is challenging for us to accommodate, we may ask them to bring some of their own food to supplement the options provided.
We prefer if students are already 18 by the beginning of the Contemplative Semester. However, if you are a 17-year-old who turns 18 during the semester, your application is strong, and you are a great fit for this program, you will still be considered. As long as you begin the program as a 25-year-old, turning 26 over the course of the semester is okay!
