Retreats
Deepen your practice with an immersive experience shared with other like-minded explorers.
Residential mindfulness retreats provide the time and space necessary to deepen your inquiry into the questions that matter – who we really are and how we can live our lives to the fullest, in a way that transcends limitations.
Our retreats are held in quiet natural settings that activate the senses and encourage participants to relax and let go of the concerns of our ordinary lives.
Creative Inquiry retreats are gentle enough for beginners and spacious enough to engage advanced meditators. We welcome all experience levels.
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Arising Freely in Awareness
Annual Time Space Knowledge Retreat Europe by Jack Petranker
Based on the book Knowledge of Time & Space by Tibetan Lama Tarthang Tulku.
The retreat is held in the beautiful Neu Plaue Retreat Center in Germany. It is in person only.
Description:
The body of time is the truth of our lives, yet when we look closely, we realize that time is deeply mysterious. Not understanding time, means not understanding who we are and what we could become.
Space is the realm of appearance, where beauty manifests and meaning takes form. When we turn into space into the empty container for what exists, we turn our back on our own power and joy.
Instructor: Jack Petranker
Jack Petranker is Director of Mangalam Research Center, and former Dean of the Tibetan Nyingma Institute in Berkeley. A direct student of Tarthang Tulku since 1980, Jack holds degrees from Stanford, Yale, and University of California, Berkeley. He is author of When It Rains, Does Space Get Wet? and the editor of many books in the TSK series.
Date and Location
Neu Plaue Retreat Center, Germany
September 16-21, 2025
Co-sponsored by Nyingma Centrum Nederland and Neu Plaue Retreat Center.
Led by Jack Petranker
Learning to Be More Conscious
Ratna Ling Retreat Center
October 15-19, 2025
When we find ourselves stuck in habit patterns and dullness, emotions and worries, it’s a sure sign that we are operating at low levels of consciousness. We can change that, learning to appreciate more fully each moment of our lives.
In this retreat, we start with grounding practices, then look at how we use stories to make sense of our lives, including the story that we “own” our experience. We will also investigate the way our limited understanding of space and time undermines our capacity to be more conscious.
There will be ample opportunities to enjoy and learn from the spectacular beauty of Ratna Ling and its surroundings.
Led by Jack Petranker
Retreat Features
- Four guided group sessions per day (with 1-2 sessions on the days of arrival and departure) led by an experienced instructor
- Four to six hours of sitting and movement practices per day, with additional opportunities for solo practice
- Comfortable accommodations in a private room
- Three buffet meals per day prepared by a chef
- Complementary snacks provided between sessions
- All necessary equipment such as meditation cushions and mats provided
- Opportunities for hiking and stargazing in a peaceful rural setting
- Opportunities to connect with like-minded practitioners
- Resources and advice for carrying what you learned at the retreat into daily life
Meet the Instructor
Jack Petranker
Jack Petranker (he/him) is the founder of CCI and regularly offers courses and retreats. He is the author of When It Rains, Does Space Get Wet? (Dharma Publishing 2006), and has written numerous academic articles in consciousness studies, organizational change, political transformation, and the value of work as a spiritual practice. Jack holds an MA in political theory from UC Berkeley, and a JD from Yale Law School. He is also the Director of Mangalam Research Center in Berkeley, CA.
Ignacio Ercole
Ignacio Ercole (they/them) is a psychologist, artist and mindfulness trainer. They have been trained as a psychodrama facilitator and contextual and mindfulness based therapy psychology. They teach mindfulness programs for general audiences and for educators including mindful art classes and mindful eating sessions. Currently they are completing teacher training programs in Full Presence Mindfulness and Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga.
Focusing your TSK or mindfulness practice
In Creative Inquiry retreats, we touch knowledge in an experiential way, focusing on practices that relax the grip of the ego and challenge our usual way of seeing things. Each practice session is supplemented by light guidance from the instructor and group discussions. The total amount of quiet practice per day ranges from 4 to 6 hours.
Many of our retreats are held in silence – check the specific retreat description for detail. Unless otherwise noted, silence begins on the 1st morning and extends until the final morning of the retreat, including meals and breaks – with the exception of guided group discussions during evening sessions.