Dharma Gates, Santa Fe, NM (2026)

05/29/2026

Join us for a meditation retreat with Bhante Rahula June 9th-14th in Virginia! Head to the link in our bio to learn more 📿✨

In a time of instability, polarization, and rapid change, our world needs grounded and courageous human beings. This retreat is an invitation to become one.

Many young people are asking deeper questions: How do I live with integrity? How do I stay steady without closing my heart? How do I build a life that truly serves?

This retreat is an invitation to begin answering those questions for yourself, from the depths of your own being.

Guided by Bhante Rāhula and rooted in the earliest teachings of Theravāda Buddhism, we will train in the Buddha’s path: ethical integrity (sīla), steady presence (samādhi), and liberating wisdom (paññā).

At Dharma Gates, meditation practice is not about stepping away from the world. It is about strengthening your capacity to show up to it. During this retreat we will explore how the Noble Eightfold Path supports courageous relationships, meaningful work, and wise engagement in a complex time.

A central pillar of this retreat is spiritual friendship — kalyāṇa-mittatā — which the Buddha called “the whole of the holy life.” We practice together. We grow together. In silence, in dialogue, and in shared commitment, saṅgha (community) becomes both refuge and training ground. This retreat is designed especially for young adults (age 18-35) seeking depth, direction, and community rooted in the Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha.

Held at the wonderful Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Virginia — surrounded by rolling hills, forest trails, and vast skies — the land itself becomes a training ground for steadiness and renewal.

You will leave clearer, stronger, and more rooted in purpose — ready to show up to your relationships, your work, and your commitments with wisdom and heart.

Retreat Structure

The retreat will include:

• Silent sitting meditation

• Walking meditation

• Dharma talks

• Q&A with Bhante Rāhula

• Personal practice interviews

• Loving-kindness (mettā) meditation

• Time for rest and reflection

Practice will unfold in a supportive container that balances silence, instruction, and community.

05/27/2026

NYC! Join us for a special in-person event, Exploring the Future of the Dharma in America: Honoring Tradition, Meeting the Moment *this Saturday* May 30th from 10am-4pm at .us ✨ Link in bio to RSVP!

In a time when many Buddhist communities are facing an imminent generational transition, skillfully passing the torch to the next generation is of utmost importance for the preservation and continuity of all that’s been cultivated. And in a time of political unrest and global ecological crisis, creating a culture deeply resourced in compassion, clarity, and resilience may be among the most important work there is.

How can we resource young people to face a challenging future? How can we connect them to Sanghas — which ultimately also rely on their presence for continuity? How can we bridge the depths of Buddhist practice into the cultural vernacular of a new generation without compromising the core of the teachings?

These questions are the work of Dharma Gates. On May 30th, we are thrilled to host a day-long gathering at Tibet House New York to explore them together.

This day brings together Buddhist teachers, young adult practitioners, Dharma Gates staff and alumni, and all practitioners and stakeholders invested in this conversation — to create a shared field of practice, dialogue, and community.

Who This Is For:

For Dharma Gates alumni and community members: this is an opportunity to reconnect with friends from past retreats, deepen your connection to the Dharma Gates community, and meet the teachers and supporters whose generosity makes this work possible.

For teachers, practitioners, and those curious about the future of Buddhism in the West: this is an opportunity to meet the young practitioners who have benefitted from Dharma Gates programs, engage with the questions driving our work, and explore how you might support this mission.

We encourage you to join for the full day if you’re able, while understanding if you prefer to drop in for a specific part.

05/08/2026

Rocky Mountain friends! A little over two weeks until our daylong zen immersion for young adults with 🏔️ This special event will be guided by Zenki Christin Dillo Roshi, taking participants through a day of practice, connection, oryoki (traditional zen meal ritual), and a Dharma talk. Like all Dharma Gates events, this immersion is offered by-donation. We hope you join us Saturday May 23rd, 8am-5pm! ✨ Head to the link in our bio to register.

More about this event:

We live in a culture of continual improvement. It pushes us to refine ourselves, expand our capacities, and shape a better future. Even meditation can be instrumentalized to become a better person. Zen practice invites a deeper shift.

“Just now is enough” does not mean that nothing needs to change. It means that this moment — this body, this breath, this situation — is already complete, even in the midst of confusion or doubt. When we ground ourselves in that completeness, the next step does not need to be forced. It’s already ripening.

In this one-day retreat, we will explore the difference between anxious becoming and responsive unfolding. Through silent sitting, practices of mutual embodiment, a dharma talk, and a closing circle, we will open ways of sensing how striving shapes our experience of self and time — and what it means to rest in the sufficiency of now. Liberation is not the perfection of the self. It is the freedom that appears when we no longer organize our lives around improvement but trust the fullness of what is already here. From that freedom, appropriate action naturally emerges. Just now is enough.

05/07/2026

We want to highlight a special young adult sesshin happening at in New Mexico June 9th-14th ✨🙏📿 This sesshin will be led by teachers Noah Kodo Roen Sensei, Wendy Dainin Lau Sensei, and Dharma Gates co-founder Miles Bukiet. It’s bound to be a powerful retreat and a beautiful opportunity to connect with other young adult practitioners.

In an era defined by rapid technological shifts, environmental uncertainty, and an increasingly fragmented social landscape, today’s young adults face a set of circumstances unlike any before. The constant “on-call” nature of the digital world and the weight of global crises can lead to a unique brand of burnout—one that feels both deeply personal and overwhelmingly systemic.

This retreat offers a sanctuary for those aged 18 to 35 to step back from the noise and ground themselves in time-tested contemplative practices. We recognize that today’s challenges require more than just “self-care”; they require a fundamental cultivation of resilience, clarity, and compassion.

What to Expect:

Deep Immersion: Move beyond the surface of app-based meditation and dive into formal, silent practice supported by the Zen tradition of silent retreats (sesshin). You will be guided by experienced teachers and do not need prior experience in meditation to participate.

Peer Community: Connect with a vibrant group of practitioners who share your context. Experience a more authentic connection with peers through community practice – working, sitting, walking shoulder-to-shoulder, supporting each other.

Nature Wisdom: Reconnect with nature on the beautiful Upaya campus and in the surrounding wilderness. The community will be guided on a silent hike to Picacho peak and invited into a journaling exercise in nature.

Skillful Action: Learn how to transform inner presence into outward service, exploring what it means to serve and heal our complex world.

Why Practice Now?
The goal isn’t just to escape the world, but to return to it with a clearer mind and a more courageous heart. We aim to empower a new generation to meet the urgency of our times with embodied presence.

Head to www.upaya.org to learn more! ✨

05/06/2026

A little window into our recent four-day immersion in North Carolina, Awakening Through the Four Immeasurables, led by Dr. Lye (Dorlop Rinpoche) of 🙏📿Thank you to Rinpoche, our hosts at Compassionate Expressions, our amazing cook Mirna, our goat friends Priya and Pink, and all our participants for joining us!

Head to the link in our bio for more upcoming donation-based retreats ☀️✨

04/27/2026

Strong Heart, Clear Mind 🩷Join us for a retreat with Bhante Rahula June 9th-14th in Virginia ✨📿 Those of you who have met Bhante likely know what a special experience it is to have him at the helm of a retreat. The way he transmits the Dhamma is full of aliveness, humor, and deep wisdom. We feel so lucky to be collaborating with him on a retreat for the 3rd year in a row. Head to the link in our bio to learn more! 🔗✨

More about this retreat:

In a time of instability, polarization, and rapid change, our world needs grounded and courageous human beings. This retreat is an invitation to become one.

Many young people are asking deeper questions: How do I live with integrity? How do I stay steady without closing my heart? How do I build a life that truly serves?

This retreat is an invitation to begin answering those questions for yourself, from the depths of your own being.

Guided by Bhante Rāhula and rooted in the earliest teachings of Theravāda Buddhism, we will train in the Buddha’s path: ethical integrity (sīla), steady presence (samādhi), and liberating wisdom (paññā).

At Dharma Gates, meditation practice is not about stepping away from the world. It is about strengthening your capacity to show up to it. During this retreat we will explore how the Noble Eightfold Path supports courageous relationships, meaningful work, and wise engagement in a complex time.

A central pillar of this retreat is spiritual friendship — kalyāṇa-mittatā — which the Buddha called “the whole of the holy life.” We practice together. We grow together. In silence, in dialogue, and in shared commitment, saṅgha (community) becomes both refuge and training ground. This retreat is designed especially for young adults (age 18-35) seeking depth, direction, and community rooted in the Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha.

Held at the wonderful Serenity Ridge Retreat Center in Virginia — surrounded by rolling hills, forest trails, and vast skies — the land itself becomes a training ground for steadiness and renewal.

You will leave clearer, stronger, and more rooted in purpose — ready to show up to your relationships, your work, and your commitments with wisdom and heart.

04/23/2026

We love when teachers want to design retreats around bringing practice into relationship, and that’s what will be happening at our upcoming retreat with Devon and Nico Hase May 20th-25th in Wallkill, New York. There are only a few spots left for this special retreat~~ we hope you’ll join us! Link to register in our bio 🔗♥️

Our relationships—with partners, friends, family, community, and ourselves—are where we most vividly experience both suffering and freedom. They are also where many of us feel the most stretched, confused, or depleted. This retreat is an invitation to reconnect with the inner resources that allow us to meet the joys and difficulties of relationship with more steadiness, honesty, and care.

Together, we’ll explore the four heart practices of the Buddhist tradition—loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity—not as abstract ideals, but as living capacities we can cultivate and rely on in our actual lives. These qualities help us stay open without burning out, connected without losing ourselves, and present even when things are messy or uncertain.

Our sitting and walking meditation schedule will move through each of these practices in sequence over the course of the retreat. Along the way, we’ll explore how they support core relational capacities such as deep listening, vulnerability, and staying present with both autonomy and connection. There will be time for quiet reflection, guided practice, and carefully held relational exercises that bring these teachings into lived experience.

This retreat is especially designed for young adults navigating the intensity and complexity of relationships, identity, work, and purpose in this stage of life. You don’t need prior retreat experience—just a willingness to practice, reflect, and meet yourself and others with honesty and care.

04/21/2026

Rocky Mountain Friends! 🏔️Next month, on Saturday May 23rd, we’ll be co-hosting a special daylong zen immersion for young adults with at their beautiful Mountain Zendo. Resident dharma teacher Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi will be leading a day of practice, dharma discussion, oryoki, tea, and sharing. Whether you’re brand new to zen or a seasoned practitioner, this will be a great opportunity to learn about the Boulder Zen Center, enjoy a rich day of practice, and also connect with fellow young practitioners. We hope you’ll join us! Link to register in our bio 🔗

04/13/2026

Introducing… our rebooted DG blog! ✍️ We are now on Substack, with posts written by DG community member Miro Malebranche ✨We’ll be posting musings on Buddhist practice, stories, interviews with young practitioners, dharma book reviews, and whatever else we fancy writing about 😊 Head to the link in our bio to subscribe and read our first couple of posts 🙏

04/02/2026

Head to our YouTube channel (link in bio) for the full video of co-facilitators Cynthia Jurs and Rick Jansen sharing their inspiration behind our upcoming online book course, Summoned by the Earth.

Class begins Monday, April 6th! ✨

——-

What is mine to do? How can I make the most of this life? How do I discover and listen to my inner compass? What do I truly care about?

Each of us has a guiding question and an answer that is waiting for us, which can truly open our path. There is a calling waiting for each and everyone of us.

This course will be a transformational journey of study and experience. Answering the call of our times in a genuine way leads firstly to hearing and feeling the cries of the world. Through really feeling the pain for our world in a supported and constructive way, we may discover what we most care about personally. Discovering and following the thread of our care may lead us to our calling. A transformational process of becoming a ‘’holy vessel’’ begins. We become a human being who knows who they are, why they are here. They know their role and their gift and they start to live it. We become that one unique flower, that only we can be, in the garden of humanity. Being in service to the whole in this way, contributes and leads naturally to the process of collective awakening.

The book and this six-week course intends to facilitate that process of individual and collective awakening. Without knowing it, effortlessly, we may enter into the slip-stream of the mystery of our own lives, where we discover our own burning question and find the answers that lead us to the next real step(s) on our personal path of awakening into a purposeful, aligned and connected life.

This online book course runs from April 6th to May 14th with two live sessions per week.

We’ll meet every Monday for an interactive teaching-session and every Thursday for a discussion group to explore the topics and ideas of the book more personally. Cynthia Jurs and Rick Jansen will be present during all the sessions.

The sessions are on Monday evenings from 7pm to 9pm ET and Thursday evenings from 7pm to 8pm ET.

Offered by-donation and intended for young adults 18-35.

Dharma Gates

05/29/2026

05/27/2026

05/08/2026

05/07/2026

05/06/2026

04/27/2026

04/23/2026

04/21/2026

04/13/2026

04/02/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Organization

Shortcuts

Share

Category