Dark Retreat:
The Primordial Spaces of the Body
Through breathwork, gentle yoga, and interoceptive attention, this session introduces the inner body as a felt space of knowing. Darkness practice using sleep masks or light isolation provides the incubating ground for this work.
Dark Retreat:
The Primordial Spaces of the Body
Through breathwork, gentle yoga, and interoceptive attention, this session introduces the inner body as a felt space of knowing. Darkness practice using sleep masks or light isolation provides the incubating ground for this work.
Dark Retreat:
The Primordial Spaces of the Body
Through breathwork, gentle yoga, and interoceptive attention, this session introduces the inner body as a felt space of knowing. Darkness practice using sleep masks or light isolation provides the incubating ground for this work.
The course is taught by Lama Karma Wall, spiritual director of the Milarepa Retreat Center, who completed two three-year retreats under Lama Norlha Rinpoche and extensive periods of dark retreat. Andrew Holecek joins as guest teacher. An author and traditional three-year retreatant, Andrew is currently writing two books on dark retreat. Dr. David Germano will also join as a guest. David is a renowned scholar and translator, particularly of the Dzogchen Tradition, with a deep personal interest in the practices of darkness.
Join Today!
Join Today!
Join Today!
Dark Retreat Instructors
Three scholar-practitioners with decades of experience.
Lama Karma Justin Wall
Lama Karma Justin Wall
Lama Karma Justin Wall
Vajrayana Buddhism
Vajrayana Buddhism
Vajrayana Buddhism
Lama Karma teaches Mahamudra and Dzogchen meditation, making esoteric practices accessible without dilution. Lama Karma has completed two three-year retreats at Kagyu Thubten Choling Monastery under Lama Norlha Rinpoche, and extensive periods of dark retreat. He is the spiritual director of the Milarepa Retreat Center in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
Lama Karma teaches Mahamudra and Dzogchen meditation, making esoteric practices accessible without dilution. Lama Karma has completed two three-year retreats at Kagyu Thubten Choling Monastery under Lama Norlha Rinpoche, and extensive periods of dark retreat. He is the spiritual director of the Milarepa Retreat Center in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
Lama Karma teaches Mahamudra and Dzogchen meditation, making esoteric practices accessible without dilution. Lama Karma has completed two three-year retreats at Kagyu Thubten Choling Monastery under Lama Norlha Rinpoche, and extensive periods of dark retreat. He is the spiritual director of the Milarepa Retreat Center in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
Andrew Holocek
Andrew Holocek
Andrew Holocek
Guest Instructor
Guest Instructor
Guest Instructor
Andrew Holecek is an author and interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner in Tibetan Buddhism and nondual wisdom traditions, specializing in lucid dreaming, dream yoga, and the art of dying. He joins the program as a guest teacher on May 16.
Andrew Holecek is an author and interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner in Tibetan Buddhism and nondual wisdom traditions, specializing in lucid dreaming, dream yoga, and the art of dying. He joins the program as a guest teacher on May 16.
Andrew Holecek is an author and interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner in Tibetan Buddhism and nondual wisdom traditions, specializing in lucid dreaming, dream yoga, and the art of dying. He joins the program as a guest teacher on May 16.
David Germano
David Germano
David Germano
Guest Instructor
Guest Instructor
Guest Instructor
David Germano is Professor of Tibetan Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia, where he has led many centers and projects over the years in student flourishing, educational reform, and contemplative sciences. He has a deep expertise in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and meditation and in the tantric and Great Perfection (dzokchen) traditions.
David Germano is Professor of Tibetan Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia, where he has led many centers and projects over the years in student flourishing, educational reform, and contemplative sciences. He has a deep expertise in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and meditation and in the tantric and Great Perfection (dzokchen) traditions.
David Germano is Professor of Tibetan Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia, where he has led many centers and projects over the years in student flourishing, educational reform, and contemplative sciences. He has a deep expertise in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and meditation and in the tantric and Great Perfection (dzokchen) traditions.
This course examines the relationship between embodied experience and dark retreat, the practice of prolonged immersion in total darkness. In the tantric view, the inner body is a space of wisdom that offers direct access to primordial knowing, or gnosis. From the perspective of somatic meditation, the body is also the space where our felt experience of self-grasping, suffering, and release takes place.
Darkness serves as the incubating space for this work, a womb of wisdom and compassion that facilitates both a gradual unfolding of personal psychological processes and an opportunity to directly experience timeless embodiment at every instant. As the great Indian yogi Tilopa sang, "Here in this body are the sacred rivers: here are the sun and moon as well as all the pilgrimage places… I have not encountered another temple as blissful as my own body."
Recent Media
Deconstructing Yourself Podcast
I recently enjoyed a lively discussion with my esteemed colleague Michael Taft on his podcast, "Deconstructing Yourself." Many of you know Michael through his extensive activity in the meditation training and podcasting space.
We explored various topics, including embodied immediacy, navigating disturbing experiences, cultivating open awareness, and how the traditional Tibetan Buddhist practice of Tummo helps us to be more familiar with any refusal to go into experiential intensity. I hope you have time to tune in to this fun discussion!
Over 60 meditators participated in the Winter Tummo Course. Tummo offers an opportunity to examine the origins of emotional unrest and apply healthful interventions that can breed confidence that our distress is workable. The confluence of posture, breath retention, and visualization is an arena where we can challenge habitual ways of framing our experience. Tummo will not help us transcend our messy human lives. Instead, we aim to dissolve the apparent conflict between messy and transcendent.
I joined Michael Taft on Deconstructing Yourself to discuss devotion in meditation practice, the need for stability in groundlessness, and the ontological status of deities in Vajrayana practice. We explored common failure modes of practice, how to handle formless panic, and the magical matrix of the Guhyagarbha tantra that illustrates bardo meditation and the union of emptiness and vivid appearance.
The conversation touched on why deity yoga continues to hold such lasting power and beauty within the Vajrayana tradition, examining that diaphanous intersection where visualization, somatic experience, and mystery converge. We went deep into the mechanics of transformation, the necessity of paradox, and why these practices remain particularly relevant for contemporary practitioners. The Vajrayana tradition continues to offer something irreplaceable in our contemporary spiritual landscape.
For Men's Health Awareness Month, Michael A. Tennant and I co-created a space for men to discuss mental health. My contribution focused on the practice of embodied immediacy and working with disturbance. According to Mental Health America, 10% of men live with anxiety or depression, 20% develop severe depression, and half of those develop alcohol dependency during their adult lives. Men's mental health is often overlooked, and we do our best to bring attention to the looming men's mental health crisis.
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"Strong recommendation for Peter, he's based, and a highly accomplished practitioner."
Chat w/ Linkedin on Tech & Meditation
Lauren Camera-Murray and Peter McEwen discuss tech & meditation, working with vulnerable feelings in the workplace, and the value LinkedIn places on accessibility and trust.
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Join readers of The Current for posts on emotional regulation, nervous system balance, and spiritual practice.
Join readers of The Current for posts on emotional regulation, nervous system balance, and spiritual practice.
Join readers of The Current for posts on emotional regulation, nervous system balance, and spiritual practice.
What Rumors Are Spreading
"Peter has a kind and generous teaching style. He has studied with traditional teachers, and manages to translate the practices for Westerners while preserving their essence."
Brian Lewis, MD, MPH
Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville
"One of the most insightful, germane, and potent Vajrayana teachings I've ever received, 10/10 recommend. Peter is beyond based."
Matthew T Phillips
Senior Cloud Engineer
"He's the real deal, a solid practitioner, very pragmatic and has a personable approachable teaching style."
Andrew Graham
Long-time Yogin
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter is a humorous, knowledgeable, and creative teacher. He knows the whole path and can guide you beautifully, blending tradition with modernity."
Manuel Franz
Hospice Nurse
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter has a kind and generous teaching style. He has studied with traditional teachers, and manages to translate the practices for Westerners while preserving their essence."
Brian Lewis, MD, MPH
Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville
"One of the most insightful, germane, and potent Vajrayana teachings I've ever received, 10/10 recommend. Peter is beyond based."
Matthew T Phillips
Senior Cloud Engineer
"He's the real deal, a solid practitioner, very pragmatic and has a personable approachable teaching style."
Andrew Graham
Long-time Yogin
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter is a humorous, knowledgeable, and creative teacher. He knows the whole path and can guide you beautifully, blending tradition with modernity."
Manuel Franz
Hospice Nurse
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter has a kind and generous teaching style. He has studied with traditional teachers, and manages to translate the practices for Westerners while preserving their essence."
Brian Lewis, MD, MPH
Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville
"One of the most insightful, germane, and potent Vajrayana teachings I've ever received, 10/10 recommend. Peter is beyond based."
Matthew T Phillips
Senior Cloud Engineer
"He's the real deal, a solid practitioner, very pragmatic and has a personable approachable teaching style."
Andrew Graham
Long-time Yogin
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter is a humorous, knowledgeable, and creative teacher. He knows the whole path and can guide you beautifully, blending tradition with modernity."
Manuel Franz
Hospice Nurse
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter has a kind and generous teaching style. He has studied with traditional teachers, and manages to translate the practices for Westerners while preserving their essence."
Brian Lewis, MD, MPH
Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville
"One of the most insightful, germane, and potent Vajrayana teachings I've ever received, 10/10 recommend. Peter is beyond based."
Matthew T Phillips
Senior Cloud Engineer
"He's the real deal, a solid practitioner, very pragmatic and has a personable approachable teaching style."
Andrew Graham
Long-time Yogin
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter is a humorous, knowledgeable, and creative teacher. He knows the whole path and can guide you beautifully, blending tradition with modernity."
Manuel Franz
Hospice Nurse
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter has a kind and generous teaching style. He has studied with traditional teachers, and manages to translate the practices for Westerners while preserving their essence."
Brian Lewis, MD, MPH
Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville
"One of the most insightful, germane, and potent Vajrayana teachings I've ever received, 10/10 recommend. Peter is beyond based."
Matthew T Phillips
Senior Cloud Engineer
"He's the real deal, a solid practitioner, very pragmatic and has a personable approachable teaching style."
Andrew Graham
Long-time Yogin
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter is a humorous, knowledgeable, and creative teacher. He knows the whole path and can guide you beautifully, blending tradition with modernity."
Manuel Franz
Hospice Nurse
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter has a kind and generous teaching style. He has studied with traditional teachers, and manages to translate the practices for Westerners while preserving their essence."
Brian Lewis, MD, MPH
Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville
"One of the most insightful, germane, and potent Vajrayana teachings I've ever received, 10/10 recommend. Peter is beyond based."
Matthew T Phillips
Senior Cloud Engineer
"He's the real deal, a solid practitioner, very pragmatic and has a personable approachable teaching style."
Andrew Graham
Long-time Yogin
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter is a humorous, knowledgeable, and creative teacher. He knows the whole path and can guide you beautifully, blending tradition with modernity."
Manuel Franz
Hospice Nurse
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter has a kind and generous teaching style. He has studied with traditional teachers, and manages to translate the practices for Westerners while preserving their essence."
Brian Lewis, MD, MPH
Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville
"One of the most insightful, germane, and potent Vajrayana teachings I've ever received, 10/10 recommend. Peter is beyond based."
Matthew T Phillips
Senior Cloud Engineer
"He's the real deal, a solid practitioner, very pragmatic and has a personable approachable teaching style."
Andrew Graham
Long-time Yogin
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter is a humorous, knowledgeable, and creative teacher. He knows the whole path and can guide you beautifully, blending tradition with modernity."
Manuel Franz
Hospice Nurse
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter has a kind and generous teaching style. He has studied with traditional teachers, and manages to translate the practices for Westerners while preserving their essence."
Brian Lewis, MD, MPH
Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville
"One of the most insightful, germane, and potent Vajrayana teachings I've ever received, 10/10 recommend. Peter is beyond based."
Matthew T Phillips
Senior Cloud Engineer
"He's the real deal, a solid practitioner, very pragmatic and has a personable approachable teaching style."
Andrew Graham
Long-time Yogin
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
"Peter is a humorous, knowledgeable, and creative teacher. He knows the whole path and can guide you beautifully, blending tradition with modernity."
Manuel Franz
Hospice Nurse
"Peter has succeeded in making a very complex and rich subject accessible. He is a thoughtful and approachable teacher. Highly recommended."
Jenny Burkhardt
Biomedical Engineer
Human Practices
Being human is the only requirement to practice meditation with The Field. Outdated cultural and sectarian distortions sometimes deter people from meditation practice. We aspire to encourage the simple practice of honoring embodiment and stillness
What Do We Offer
We provide modern methods that promote awareness, kindness, and mindful living. We tailor the practice to your specific needs. There are a range of methods that promote stress reduction, enhanced sleeping patterns, and the reduction of healthcare costs.
Who Are We?
We are veteran meditation practitioners committed to propagating mind-training methods that ease unnecessary suffering. Our focus is to provide instruction and support for meditation practitioners that are balancing the dizzying array of work and family commitments that modern life demands.
Meditation is an opportunity to recognize that we have all the necessary tools. We can choose to fully engage with our human hurt and fragility. We work with what arises. We do not need to court a fantasy of 'resolving' our lives.
Meditation is an opportunity to recognize that we have all the necessary tools. We can choose to fully engage with our human hurt and fragility. We work with what arises. We do not need to court a fantasy of 'resolving' our lives.
Heart-Centered Practice
Meditation honors our connection to the natural world as well as our connection to the human community. Practicing with other humans provides a rich and dynamic experience.
Heart-Centered Practice
Meditation honors our connection to the natural world as well as our connection to the human community. Practicing with other humans provides a rich and dynamic experience.
Heart-Centered Practice
Meditation honors our connection to the natural world as well as our connection to the human community. Practicing with other humans provides a rich and dynamic experience.
How We Work With You
How We Work With You
How We Work With You
Stress Inoculation & Nervous System Dexterity
Stress Inoculation & Nervous System Dexterity
Stress Inoculation & Nervous System Dexterity
Give it a rest!
Give it a rest!
Give it a rest!
There is no time like the present. Start a meditation practice today!
Instruction is structured for practitioners who want a daily practice that supports open-hearted awareness and unconditional embodiment.
There is no time like the present. Start a meditation practice today!
Instruction is structured for practitioners who want a daily practice that supports open-hearted awareness and unconditional embodiment.
There is no time like the present.
Start your meditation practice today.
Instruction is structured for practitioners who want a daily practice that supports open-hearted awareness and unconditional embodiment.
There is no time like the present.
Start your meditation practice today.
Instruction is structured for practitioners who want a daily practice that supports open-hearted awareness and unconditional embodiment.