Residential Silent Retreat Program
Pacifica Graduate Institute: 801 Ladera Lane, Santa Barbara

In the quiet we open to the peace
​that is all around us and in our hearts.
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Our Sanctuary Meditation Room
The gift of a silent retreat begins the moment we begin appreciating the silence.  It is not how many days the retreat lasts that is important.  It is how deeply we receive the silence.  There is an ocean of silence in our hearts waiting for our attention, waiting for our awareness.  Instead letting the daily world push and pull on our awareness, giving ourselves to a silent retreat is taking the time to bathe in simple peace.  Instead of being overwhelmed with everything on our minds, silence invites us to our heart, our beingness. Here we begin again.  Our silent retreat is a fresh awareness, a new opening and perspective to what is important in our lives....
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Artist: Tera Turner
  • Our daily program of silence, meditation and non-doing will include the inner steps that guide the active mind to rest in the heart.
  • Everyone is welcome. We are open to guests of all backgrounds. Whether we are a beginner or meditating for years, we are all beginners when we come to the present moment. A silent retreat is non-dogmatic. 
  • Our retreats are considered residential retreats.  This means all retreat activities will occur on the exquisite 45-acre grounds of the Pacifica Campus. Oak tree forests, meditation gardens and beautiful walks in nature.
  • Campus administration will greet you and provide you with your onsite lodging.  Pacifica also offers delicious daily meals by Seasons Catering. Silent Stay Meditation Center will offer our program in the Barrett Hall Sanctuary.  
  • Cell Phones: Your cell  phone is needed only for check in. Then put your cell phone in your car as they are not allowed on campus during the retreat. Bring a separate alarm clock and "dumb" watch for yourself as needed.
The bell of our being is found when we train our awareness
to find the silence of the heart.
PicturePacifica Peace Bell outside Sanctuary
Daily Rhythm:

7:00 – 8:30  Breakfast in Silence

8:30 Silent Sitting in Sanctuary 30 minutes

9:00 Morning Meditation in Sanctuary  40 minutes

10:00  Non-Doing Period* 

12:00 Lunch in Silence

3:00  Heartfulness insight meditation; learning the path from our busy mental worlds into the depths of peace within our heart.
in Sanctuary 60 minutes 

4:00 - 5:30  Non-doing Period*

5:30  Dinner in Silence

7:00 Evening Meditation in Sanctuary 40 minutes

*A Non-Doing period may include:  During your non-doing periods you are in, reflection, walking meditation, resting in the present moment, contemplation, journaling, sitting meditating, guilt free nap, being with nature, listening to silence, being present without the need for entertainment, being gentle with yourself, bathing in the softness of your heart & retreat experience. Non-doing is the ancient daoist practice of wu wei.


​Guest Review: 

"What I love about the heartful meditation is the touching of Divinity within me as me. It is not just a practice to become calm and peaceful or relieve stress - it is experiencing the essence of who I am, who we all are - and there is no denying it. It's like the grand truth of our existence. There really is only One. There is only Love."

Colette, guest at Silent Stay
The vastness of our inner being is ​the landscape of our heart.