Take your time.

Let us support your practice deep dive– whatever that looks like for you!

Mountain Cloud is available for personal retreats. We are located in a beautiful setting on the edge of Santa Fe, New Mexico. We have a lovely adobe zendo for sitting and many outdoor paths for walking and contemplating. We have authentic Zen Masters as guiding teachers, Assistant Sanbo Zen Teacher Scott Thornton managing our program.

Your personal retreat is created by you and for you! We just provide the facilities and the opportunity to tap into the Three Treasures of Zen….

BUDDHA (practice)

  • 24 hour access to our beautiful adobe zendo and hiking trails through 20+ acres of high desert landscape

DHARMA (teaching)

  • Attend weekly dharma talks and programs live
  • Students of Valerie and Scott will have the opportunity to do dokusan live
  • Enjoy our rich library of dharma books

SANGHA (community)

  • Meditate with Sangha during daily zazen schedule
  • Attend book-study with residents and sangha

How it Works

You can participate in any amount of the Zen Center’s regular schedule of public offerings.

The weekly schedule includes:
  • Daily Zazen: morning and evening sitting Monday through Friday, morning sitting Saturdays and Sundays
  • Wisdom Wednesday workshop every Wednesday evening
  • Dharma Talk every Thursday evening
  • Intro Class on Sunday mornings

Check out our regular schedule for more details.

On a monthly basis, Mountain Cloud hosts additional events such as:
  • Sangha Samu (Work Practice) Days
  • SocialiZen (a peer learning study group)
  • Opportunity to volunteer to cook and serve meals at our local homeless shelter.

Check out our monthly schedule to see if your stay will overlap with any of of those, or our zazenkai (daylongs) and retreats (zazenkai and retreats are paid for separately).

A hypothetical day in your personal retreat…
  • 7:00 – Zazen with Sangha
  • 9:00 – Join the residents for book study
  • 10:00 – go for a hike on the land
  • 11:00 – pick out a book from the Zendo library, read it on a hammock in the woods
  • 1:00pm – sitting in the zendo
  • 2:00pm – check some emails in the center
  • 4:00pm – Dokusan with Valerie in person
  • 5:30pm Dharma Talk and Zazen
  • 7pm – Watch the sunset over the Santa Fe Valley from one of our viewing benches
  • 9pm – Check out the milky way from your cabin porch

Logistics

  • Retreatants provide their own food, and have access to refrigerator and pantry space, and our full kitchen. This space is shared with our residents as well.
  • Retreatants must have their own transportation. The Zen Center is a 15 minute drive from public transportation and town.
  • MCZC provides some basic housekeeping, supplies, and foodstuffs like tea and pantry items.
  • As with all MCZC offerings, the retreatants must act in accordance with the organization’s equity and inclusion principles and COVID-19 Protocols.

Scroll through the gallery below to see some pictures of the property and facilities.

Accommodations

Nightly Member RateNightly Non-Member Rate
Cottage Room$60$120
Cabin $65$130
Shared Room/Cabin $30$60
Camping $20$40
Become a member and save on your stay! Learn about membership here: https://www.mountaincloud.org/about/membership/
Cabins are rustic, heated and surrounded by piñon and juniper trees. Each cabin sleeps up to four, but residents will have a cabin to themselves unless they are doing the residency as a couple. The cabins do not have an attached bathroom. You will need to walk to the nearby main building for a bathroom and shower.
The cottage is our most recent structure and offers single and double rooms. Cost is $1325 per month for single occupancy. Residents will stay in their own room in the cottage. Shared bathrooms are on the main level.

The cottage also has small kitchenette (no stove) for guest use.

If you are interested in staying with us, please email Kieran@mountaincloud.org and include your dates, whether your dates are flexible, and your lodging preferences.

Images by Mark Paul Petrick

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