25th Anniversary Benefit Retreat: Touching the Earth
With Erin Treat, Victoria Cary and Brian Lesage
August 15 - 19, 2025
In honor of our 25th year we are trying something unique that we’ve never done before!
We’re offering this unique practice opportunity to directly support some of Vallecitos’ most essential initiatives. The retreat will blend silence, community and celebration with additional special features, offering participants the opportunity to investigate and explore the power of Vallecitos through silence and in-depth conversation with Erin, Victoria and Brian, all with a fully inclusive registration fee. Join us for this distinctive retreat to commemorate Vallecitos’ past while helping shape our exciting future. We hope to see you there!
Most non-profit organizations have fancy galas to raise much needed funds but at Vallecitos, as a Buddhist and ecological refuge, we do things differently. In August we’ll hold our first ever benefit retreat to raise funds and gather together Vallecitos’ vibrant community of supporters at this important moment in our history:
- Led by guiding teachers Erin Treat, Victoria Cary and Brian Lesage on the theme of Touching the Earth
- Learn about and celebrate Vallecitos’ rich past while gaining an in-depth look into its exciting future
- Enjoy a mix of silence, sharing and reflection in community
- Take part in an intimate gathering with enhanced opportunities for teacher engagement
- An all-inclusive experience (shuttle, dana, and comfort packs included)
- Everything you’ve come to love about a Vallecitos retreat with additional surprises!
- Your registration fee contributes directly to some of Vallecitos’ most important initiatives including belonging to and tending the land, increased access to retreat practice, and generating a sustainable economic model.
If you’ve come to know and love Vallecitos and are invested in ensuring its continuation, this is an opportunity you won’t want to miss. To learn more about the retreat or explore joining the host committee as a sponsor, please contact us.
Cancellation Policy:
- 45 days prior to retreat: Full refund, minus a $150 nonrefundable fee
- 44-22 days prior to retreat: 50% refund
- 0-21 days prior to retreat: No refund
Teachers
Erin Treat lives in Durango, CO and has been practicing Buddhist meditation for nearly 30 years. In addition to serving as the Guiding Teacher of Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center since 2013, she teaches regularly at Spirit Rock and the Insight Meditation Society. She served for 20 years in leadership on the Teaching Council of the Durango Dharma Center. Erin teaches the practical and the profound, from a heart grounded in respect for mystery and the many faces of awakening. Her approach to sharing the dharma is influenced by her ongoing experience as a student of the Diamond Approach by A.H. Almaas and by Thanissara…
Learn more about Erin Treat
Victoria Cary has been practicing Insight Meditation and studying the Dharma since 2006. In 2017 she completed Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader program and went on to become a fully empowered Dharma Teacher. In 2016 she co-founded the San Francisco People of Color Insight Sangha and continues as one of the core teachers. She is a San Francisco Bay Area Native. She left her workplace of 20 years in 2017 to deepen into the Dharma. Since then she has spent time in and out of intensive silent meditation practice, including a 3-month retreat at IMS, 6-week amd 3-month retreats at…
Learn more about Victoria Cary
Brian has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1988 and has taught since 2000. He has studied in the Zen, Theravada, and Tibetan schools and was ordained in the Rinzai Zen tradition in 1996. His training in Vipassana Meditation includes doing extended meditation retreats in Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, and India as well as numerous retreats in the U.S. He leads retreats and teaches meditation courses nationwide. Brian also has a private practice in Somatic Experiencing, which is a naturalistic approach to healing trauma.
Learn more about Brian Lesage