Undertaking a long meditation retreat is a test of the proposition that genuine happiness is a process of subtraction.
Doug Veenhof has been leading meditation retreats of a week to two months for fifteen years in Asia, North America, and Europe. He is a resident teacher at the Center for Contemplative Research in Crestone, Colorado where he recently completed a one-year solitary shamatha retreat in the Mahamudra and Dzogchen traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
An award winning journalist and former mountain guide, Doug’s teachings are known for their authentic grounding in the lineages of his esteemed Buddhist teachers, their clarity of presentation, and practical advice for realizing the natural wisdom that reveals the potential of this human life.
This site is an expanding archive of audio and video teachings from some of the retreats Doug has led. The teachings are free to download and share and are an excellent guide with full instructions for your own retreats of any length on a progression of topics for developing mental stability and clarity and their application in developing wisdom. If you would like to support Doug’s personal retreats and teaching, your donation is greatly appreciated.
Recently Added to the Archive
Finding the Nature of Mind within Appearances
Presented on October 31, 2025 to a small group of long-term retreaters at Miyo Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado, this succinct talk and guided meditation offer the wisdom and practical advice of some of the luminaries of the Mahamudra and Dzogchen tradition for how to use the appearances that naturally arise between formal meditation sessions to continue and deepen the vipashyana experiences reached during formal practice sessions.
Based on the Ninth Karmapa’s pith advice on “The Four Recognitions,” this approach views appearances of external objects as not a distraction from single-pointedness, but rather as being events with the potential for discovering the empty nature of the awareness that perceives these appearances.
Lama B. Alan Wallace joins in responding to questions from the audience about this powerful practice.
The Nature of Mind in Stillness and Movement
A four-day retreat originally taught February 28-March 2, 2020 at Wonderwell Retreat Center in New Hampshire. These sessions of instruction and guided meditations introduce The Ninth Karmapa’s precise and detailed guidance on developing the single-pointedness of shamatha through a range of techniques that begin with common objects to anchor attention and culminate with maintaining stable, vivid awareness with awareness itself as the only object. Once the mind is made serviceable with shamatha, the practice explores the nature of mind with vipashyana inquiries that reveal our truest depth of being, our Buddha Nature.
Audio, notes
The Six Bardos
Beginning July 9, 2025 at the historic Annisquam Village Church in Gloucester, MA, this six-week series explores Padmasambhava’s eighth-century teachings on the experiences of the entire cycle of existence from birth to death and what happens after death.
Each of the six transitions in the cycle present a unique opportunity to experience reality as it is, and knowing what to expect can prepare you for the states of mind that follow death and provide a sense of ultimate meaning to life that is absent for many people in the modern world.
Video of the teachings is posted here for free viewing
Check back later for more additions to the archive as well as new teachings