WMC’s Annual Retreat

Westchester Meditation Center’s Thirteenth Annual Winter Retreat

The Three Pillars of Wakefulness: Stability, Openness and Kindness

March 6-13, 2026

Garrison Institute, Garrison, NY

Many people are drawn to meditation as a means to develop more serenity and clarity. But a deeper transformation of our experience is possible. A well-established meditation practice grounds us deeply in an openness that is also clear, flexible and resilient. We are then better able to rise to life's challenges with the kindness of an open heart.

A week-long immersive retreat is a powerful way to deepen our relationship to meditation and see its benefits. With a settled mind, we can tune into our innate wellbeing and our open heart. Mindfulness-awareness meditation, fully understood, can directly support overcoming our fixed, inflexible patterns, and allow the emergence of a more stable attitude of acceptance and kindness. We hope you can join us in exploring and fine-tuning these qualities that our world needs more than ever.

We are committed to making our programs affordable to all. Various scholarships are available for this program, each targeted to specific circumstances. If you would like to be considered for financial support please let us know by completing this application.

Surrounded by natural beauty and far from the clamor of our busy lives, Garrison Institute offers the ideal environment for deep contemplative practice. We welcome both new and experienced practitioners to attend this retreat.

The retreat will be jointly led by Judy Lief, a senior teacher in the tradition of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and master editor of his works, and the senior teachers of the Westchester Meditation Center, Derek and Jane Kolleeny and Gene Bobker.

This mostly silent retreat will be primarily focused on sitting meditation, but the daily schedule will also include walking meditation, dharma talks, discussion groups, two individual meetings with a meditation instructor, yoga, and free time.

A separate vajrayana track* will include talks on the Experiential Song of The View of Luminous Mahamudra Called 'The Music of Great Bliss' by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

*Separate shrine rooms for prostrators, ngondro and sadhana practitioners will be available. If you are a Vajrayana practitioner and want to participate in this track, please email westchestermeditationcenter@gmail.com.

Registration is through the Garrison Institute.

New to the retreat experience? This retreat is perfect for both new and experienced practitioners. If you are new to the retreat experience, please provide us with some background information by filling out a short form:

If you have specific questions about the retreat, please contact Retreat Manager Tom Pantaleoni by email here.