In-House Retreats
Applications Open
In-House Retreat Monday September 22 – Monday September 29, 2025
Our In-House Retreat is an opportunity to live, practice, and work alongside Abbey monastics for one week. Participants in this retreat will join the monastics and lay residents in all aspects of the schedule, which includes approximately four hours of practice per day, as well as service to the community and time for reflection. The schedule is rigorous, therefore this opportunity is intended for applicants who already have an established meditation practice.
In-house retreatants will be asked to support the community by helping in the kitchen, working in the garden, tending the grounds, or assisting with housekeeping tasks as their service. Each retreatant will be assigned a meditation instructor. The Abbey also has an outstanding library of Buddhist and other literature and an extensive digital library of dharma talks, particularly by Gampo Abbey’s principal teacher, Bhikshuni Pema Chödrön. The Abbey is located near Cape Breton’s scenic Cabot Trail, with many walks and trails accessible virtually from our front door.
September 2025 In-House Retreat
In this 2025 retreat we will engage with previous teachings from Pema Chödrön which will include discussion groups.
Pema Chödrön will not be in residence during this In-House retreat but will join the group for a live Q&A session at the end of the week.
We practice silence daily from wake-up until lunch and again after 8 pm. Saturdays are open days (no schedule). Each Sunday is an intensive practice day in silence.
This is the daily schedule Sunday to Friday:
| Daily Schedule | Subject to minor adjustments with some greater open time on weekends to explore and enjoy the Abbey lands. |
| 5:30 | Wake-up |
| 6:00-6:40 am | Morning Chants and Sitting Meditation |
| 6:40-7:00 | House Jobs |
| 7:00 | Breakfast |
| 8:00-11:00 | Meditation (Periods of Sitting Separated with Walking Meditation) |
| 11:00-12:30 pm | Mind/Body Period or Study or Rest |
| 12:30 – 1:15 | Lunch (silence ends) |
| 1:30-3:30 | Service Period |
| 3:30 – 5:30 | Dharma Teaching/ Discussion Groups or Open Time |
| 5:30-6:30 | Sitting Meditation and Protector Chants |
| 6:30 – 7:30 | Evening Meal |
| 8:00 | Silence begins |
All guests and residents at Gampo Abbey follow the five precepts, which are:
- Refraining from taking life
- Refraining from stealing (not taking what is not offered)
- Refraining from sexual activity
- Refraining from lying
- Refraining from drinking alcohol or any other intoxicants
These vows are taken for the duration of your time at the Abbey.
