Just a thought: Should we have a week-long retreat in November?

My wife and I found a great retreat center about an hour and a half north of NYC. It's a gorgeous old mansion from the 1870s. Lots of rooms, wood, fancy banisters, sofas, fire place, a screen porch, and a gazebo. We're looking at the week of November 5-12.

Pro: Great house! It would be a place where we could really get to know each other, unlike the more impersonal environment of a modern retreat center. We could settle in and make the place our own for the week. Management would leave us alone to do our meditation thing. (They do regular Zen retreats and understand about silence.)

Con: Most of the rooms are shared. There are just three or four singles, a lot of doubles and a dorm.

Pro: Minor inconveniences like sharing a room are the kinds of things that make for great "those-were-the-good-old-days" memories when you look back on them.

Con: You'd have to commit well in advance and send in your deposit so that we know whether we can afford the minimum.

Pro/Con: It would require a community effort (which means we would form a community!). We'd have to do our own food service and cleanup each day. We would hire or delegate a kitchen manager/cook. Everybody would have a yogi job (about an hour a day).

Pro: That time of year is the peak of fall color in the Northeast! The mansion is in a beautiful rural area with adjoining woods and trails.

Pro: There is train service to/from New York City.

Con: It will be the first long retreat I've led, so I don't know how many people to expect. There is a minimum number of retreatants necessary or we (my wife and I) would lose money.

Pro: We might treat it as a "convertible" retreat, meaning you could choose to come just for the weekend or to stay on for the whole week. (You'd have to choose in advance as we register.)

Whaddya think? Should we do it?

Kenneth

Go for it!

Yes.

Can you post a Google Map link to the place? Very tempting but for me to sell it at home it would have to be pretty close to reduce the $ objection.

there is no way I could go but I think you should go for it and I have no doubt that you will have enough participants to more than break even. it is the decade of Kenneth Folk Dharma!

I could get the time off in Nov and would love to come! Any idea of the cost? Likewise for me, negotiating at home will depend on $s.

"Any idea of the cost?"

We think it will be about $800 single occupancy, $660 double occupancy for the entire week, pro-rated for the weekend. This price is the same as a week-long offered by our friends Rabbi David and Shoshana Cooper this summer. Teacher dana is not included; the fee is intended just to cover the costs of the use of the house, rooms, food, and administration fees. We would follow the Buddhist tradition in which the teacher volunteers his time and the students can offer a cash gift after the retreat if they so choose.

We're in.

We like all of the pros and don't consider the cons to really be cons.

We like the idea of forming a community and getting to know each other face-to-face.

Anne-Marie and I would even be willing to share a room together!

This will be a wonderful retreat! We're in.

I am in the New York area and would be honored to be able attend. I SHOULD be able to get that time off from work, although my work situation may be getting a little wonky around the end of November, so I can't say for sure at this time. But I would certainly let you know one way or another as soon as you needed a commitment. Actually, if this does end up happening, I would probably be able to delay the wonkiness long enough to avoid any conflict.

The amount, I think, is not a problem, totally within the normal realm of retreat costs. And a train to/from NYC is a definite plus!

"We're in.

We like all of the pros and don't consider the cons to really be cons.

We like the idea of forming a community and getting to know each other face-to-face.

Anne-Marie and I would even be willing to share a room together!

This will be a wonderful retreat! We're in."

Thanks, AugustLeo, that's the kind of decisiveness we need! A few more responses like that and I'll pull the trigger and reserve the week. The retreat center we're considering is The Grail, in Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY:

www.thegrailatcornwall.org/

The administrator there has been very gracious in working with us and has offered to let us know if anyone else inquires about that particular week (most of this year is already booked up) so we can decide whether to tinkle or get off the potty.

Anybody else ready to commit?

Kenneth

"I am in the New York area and would be honored to be able attend. I SHOULD be able to get that time off from work, although my work situation may be getting a little wonky around the end of November, so I can't say for sure at this time. But I would certainly let you know one way or another as soon as you needed a commitment. Actually, if this does end up happening, I would probably be able to delay the wonkiness long enough to avoid any conflict.

The amount, I think, is not a problem, totally within the normal realm of retreat costs. And a train to/from NYC is a definite plus! "

-IanReclus

Ah, sounds great, Ian. We're getting closer...

Proposal for the site of the second Kenneth Folk Dharma Retreat:
Modesto, California!
(or anywhere in the N. California area)

Kenneth, I commit.

That's a very reasonable cost. I'm personally committed to trying to get there. Can't promise yet that I'll succeed. Sure hope to, though.

Kenneth -

I am very excited to go to a class you are teaching, but this won't work for me. I recently started a new job after a long period of barely working, and couldn't make it for a whole week this year. And this is too far away from us in North Carolina to make a weekend. Looking forward to something closer, or hopefully a week next year.

Best,

Eric

"Kenneth, I am very excited to go to a class you are teaching, but this won't work for me. I recently started a new job after a long period of barely working, and couldn't make it for a whole week this year. And this is too far away from us in North Carolina to make a weekend. Looking forward to something closer, or hopefully a week next year.

Best,

Eric"

Welcome to the forum, Eric! It's great to see you here. Do you know about the day-long intensive in Maryland? It's June 12th, on a Saturday. Maybe Amy will come too.

kennethfolkdharma.wetpaint.com/thread/38...n%2C+Maryland%2C+USA

Kenneth

What is the drop-dead date for committing? I would LOVE to do it, and it is only a 7.5h drive for me (probably less).

Kenneth,

I'm extremely excited about this retreat. If you end up pulling the trigger, I'll do everything I can to get the word out to everyone out there to those who might be interested. I strongly suspect that you can hit break even with no problem, given the response I've seen here on KFDharma.

And yes, I'll absolutely be there (though you already knew that) with bells on.

-Vince

I'm very interested, that is within my range. Just checked with Amy, but she's taking an NLP series that is 1 weekend a month and is that weekend for June. She's gone for Adyashanti in Asheville later this month too. Keep me up to date as to what is going on then.

Hi Kenneth,

Well my interest level is over the top - I just need to cross an ocean but that is a minor hurdle.
Have you crunched the numbers? How many deposits of how much each would you require to lock in the facility?
I would love to see this happen whether or not I can attend.

Cheers
Anthony

"Con: You'd have to commit well in advance and send in your deposit so that we know whether we can afford the minimum.



"

I'm very interested, but knowing the total cost ahead of time will be a major factor. It's hard to say until I know that. But yes, it's a wonderful idea!

Tina_A

While I am very interested in this retreat, I cannot cancel my university classes for a week to attend. Right now I'm trying to figure out how I might even take off and attend for a long weekend (canceling only 2 days of classes).

Perhaps for 2011 you could hold a summer week-long retreat, Kenneth. And maybe, over the coming years when I would hope that these events continue and expand, there might be at least 2 retreats per year. Or more!

Regards,
Gozen

I will most likely make the daylong in June. I would absolutely LOVE to make the November weeklong, however, my wife is due with our second child that month, so it's pretty unlikely I could make the committment, unless it's available for a weekend.

Andrew

The place is called The Grail? That's hilariously awesome (or would that be awesomely hilarious?)

Anyway, that does it for me. I'm in, committed. Can't pass up on this, short of my getting fired (unlikely) or the world ending (equally unlikely) between now and November. : )

I'm already over-committed every which way for the rest of this year, but am watching with interest for what's happening, say, 18 months down the road. I DO hope it happens and tapes, or written accounts, or something, are available for the rest of us.

Kate