Register for a Retreat
We offer two types of retreats: General Practice Retreats and Special Retreats. You can apply to register for an available retreat by completing the online registration form associated with each specific retreat.
TYPES OF RETREATS
Special Retreats: Throughout the year we offer multi-day retreats around a specific subject matter and/or to people who identify as belonging to specific groups. These retreats include, but are not limited to: Teen Camp, Wake Up Retreat for young adults (18-35), and Family Retreat.
You can expect to be accompanied by many friends at the Special Retreats, as we often welcome 200-300 people for each retreat. We receive overnight guests only on the listed arrival days.
General Practice Retreats: Throughout the duration of one or two weeks, or sometimes a weekend, you spend each day following the schedule of the resident monastics and lay community. Participants enjoy the daily schedule of the monastery and the basic practices such as sitting meditation, walking meditation, and mindful eating.
In addition to the 50+ monastics living here full time, the General Practice Retreats vary in size but are much smaller than the Special Retreats. We receive overnight guests only on the listed arrival days.
Important Information About
General Practice Retreats
Deer Park is located about 40-miles from downtown San Diego and six miles from downtown Escondido. We are closest to I-15 and HWY-78.
Taxi in Escondido: To take a cab from Escondido, you can contact either All City Taxi Cab at 760-747-8888 or A1 Taxi Cab of Escondido at 760-690-2080.
Deer Park Monastery is composed of two separate living areas called “hamlets”.
The hamlets are self-contained communities where the monastics and lay practitioners live, eat, practice, work and relax as a spiritual family. They are also where guests stay during multi-day overnight retreats.
For our larger Special Retreats, mostly everyone stays, practices, and enjoys meals together in Solidity Hamlet.
For our smaller General Practice Retreats, folks stay either in Solidity or Clarity Hamlet, depending on their gender, and mostly practice and enjoy meals in the hamlets in which they are lodging in.
Solidity Hamlet is where the Deer Park monks (or “brothers”) live and practice. If you are a man or a nonbinary friend who was AMAB (assigned male at birth) or a mixed gender couple, please register to stay in Solidity Hamlet. There are 6bed or 3bed dorms available in Solidity Hamlet. There is an attached bathroom, including shower, sink, and toilet in all dorm rooms. Camping and bringing your own tent is also an option, and there is a restroom and shower block area in the campground area.
Clarity Hamlet is where the Deer Park nuns (or “sisters”) live and practice. If you are a woman or a nonbinary friend who was AFAB (assigned female at birth), please register to stay in Clarity Hamlet. For indoor lodging, there are only 6bed dorm rooms available, and each one includes a bathroom with a shower, sink, and toilet. Camping and bringing your own tent is also an option, and there are restrooms and showers near by.
Choose a Hamlet to Start the Registration Process for a General Practice Retreat
Solidity Hamlet
Solidity Hamlet is where men, nonbinary friends who were AMAB & mixed gender families stay alongside the monks.
AVAILABLE ARRIVAL DATES
More dates for the summer months coming soon. Please note: The next availability to stay in Solidity Hamlet for a General Practice Retreat will not be until July 18. REGISTRATION WILL OPEN IN LATE MAY, thank you for your patience.
Clarity Hamlet
Clarity Hamlet is where women & nonbinary friends who were AFAB stay alongside the nuns.
AVAILABLE ARRIVAL DATES
- May 9: General Practice Retreat - Weekend stay only (sold out)
- May 30: General Practice Retreat - One-week or two-week stay
- June 6: General Practice Retreat - One-week stay only
More dates for the summer months coming soon. Please note: The next availability to stay in Clarity Hamlet for a General Practice Retreat will not be until June 27. REGISTRATION WILL OPEN IN LATE MAY, thank you for your patience.
Upcoming Special Retreats
- May 8 / 8:00 AM-June 1 5:00 PMViet Wake Up 2025 Tour
Please join us on our North America Tour, as we share about our practice of mindfulness.
Read - June 17-21 / 2:00 pm-2:00 pmFamily Retreat 2025
Our very popular annual retreat for families to join monastics and other practitioners in the Plum Village tradition.
Read - July 8-12 / 2:00 pm-2:00 pmTeen Camp 2025
Teen Camp at Deer Park Monastery: Breathe and Shine – Five Days of Presence, Peace, and Play
Read - July 20-25 / 8:00 am-5:00 pmRiding the Waves of Life at Omega Institute
As we ride the waves of life, Zen wisdom directs us to embrace and heal ourselves—to go forward in a positive direction.
Read - August 6-10 / 2:00 pm-5:00 pmVietnamese Retreat
This special retreat is hosted in Vietnamese for Vietnamese-speakers. We will spend time walking in harmony with nature, listening to Dharma talks, sitting still, eating mindfully together, and using each breath and each step to cultivate the energy of mindfulness. The Hidden Mountain opens her arms to welcome you.
Read - October 26, 2025 / 12:00 AM - January 25, 2026 12:00 AMRains Retreat 2025-2026
Rains Retreat: Three Months of Engaged Mindfulness Practice
Read
Other Ways to Visit Deer Park
We hold a variety of different events at Deer Park each year. In addition to our frequent Day of Mindfulness events, we offer longer retreats and annual events.
Enjoy a day of mindfulness and peace at Deer Park. On most Sundays we host an in-person day for adults and families, including kids from 9AM - 2PM. Space is limited and these events do fill up. Advanced registration is required.
Events
Taking place from late October to late January, this sacred period — deeply rooted in an ancient practice tradition which dates back to the time of the Buddha — offers an opportunity to dwell peacefully at Deer Park Monastery while nurturing your mind and spirit.
Rains Retreat 2025-2026
At this annual summer event, teens will learn the art of self-care through the practices of mindfulness. They learn skills to help them embrace and transform strong feelings of fear, anger, and despair, and to be happy, healthy, and free.
Teen Camp 2025
Before, during, and after some special retreats, we need additional help, so we invite mindfulness practitioners who have already attended a 7-day retreat (or longer) at Deer Park to apply for the volunteer program on an as-needed basis.
Volunteer
Special events at Deer Park occur throughout the year. From the Lunar New Year’s Eve Ceremony and Celebration, to Vesak Celebration (Buddha’s Birthday), Day of the Dead Celebration, and more, we invite you to spend time in the great hidden mountain.
Events
Explore Online Courses
From time to time we offer multi-week courses related to mindfulness, the teachings and life of Thich Nhat Hanh, and a variety of similar subjects. Please see our schedule of upcoming courses.
Plum Village App
Take the Deer Park Monastery and Plum Village community with you wherever you go. The Plum Village app is designed to cultivate mindfulness, compassion, and joy through guided meditations, deep relaxations, practice poems, bells of mindfulness, and other practices — all through a mobile device.
