https://www.douglasveenhof.com/home daily 0.75 2020-11-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e82196836405d1c7b98a501/1606675994739-AURD88489ZLJXNVDU64U/image-asset.jpeg Home - Long retreat is a test of the Dzogchen proposition that genuine happiness is a process of subtraction On December 1, 2020 I will begin the first of a series of long meditation retreats at Miyo Samten Ling, the newly opened international headquarters of the Center for Contemplative Research in Crestone, Colorado. I will go into my cabin, let the activities and identities that have accreted over a lifetime gradually become irrelevant, and use a rigorous, time-tested system of meditation to closely observe the habits of perception that underlie them all. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e82196836405d1c7b98a501/1606683218395-4NVLOJV9VDMO3CCYGJSE/sT0MKR%2BCQtSyH3V57QAktA_thumb_5d55.jpg Home - I have been working since June 2020 with other volunteers to transform this former Carmelite hermitage on 110 acres at the foot of the 14,000-foot peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range into an ideal home for long-term meditators. I will be serving as a resident teacher for the first group of 11 dedicated meditators who will for months and years be working in solitude toward achieving Shamatha, a rare state of single-pointed attention essential for making progress toward the realizations and capacities demonstrated by centuries of legendary Buddhist adepts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e82196836405d1c7b98a501/1606683841051-BJPGBS2QEM7JL4RO674F/P1010384_4.jpg Home - One of the unique elements of this long-term retreat at Miyo Samten Ling will be our collaboration with scientists conducting longitudinal studies of the mental and physical changes associated with progress in these practices. For a description of the potential impacts of this research to spark a renaissance in the mind sciences and to support a paradigm shift at the leading edge of physics, see the article I wrote for the local newspaper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e82196836405d1c7b98a501/1606684596779-XBDGSZD7UQFQV0UP9ZEE/P1010897_2.jpg Home - My plan for the foreseeable future is to spend most of the year in retreat while contributing a few months each year to help guide the development and expansion of Miyo Samten Ling. I will also travel once a year to lead retreats in places where I have established relationships. Many of you have asked how you can help support my retreat. We retreaters will be contributing to the operating expenses of Miyo Samten Ling and I am trying to raise $1500 a month in recurring donations to cover my contribution and expenses. If I am able to raise more than $1500 per month, I will donate the balance to support other retreaters here who don’t have the network of benefactors that I do. https://www.douglasveenhof.com/new-page daily 0.75 2020-11-29 https://www.douglasveenhof.com/contact-1 daily 0.75 2020-11-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ce46ee21028260001017459/1558548223501-RDUGF125Q5HSGFYKM1Q5/20170619S1_Professional_Trainer_Toes_009.jpg Contact https://www.douglasveenhof.com/home2 daily 1.0 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e82196836405d1c7b98a501/1606675994739-AURD88489ZLJXNVDU64U/image-asset.jpeg Home - 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. 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