FEBRUARY 21-23,2025 – TRANSFIGURATION SPIRITUALITY CENTER with Mary Aubry

Mindfulness and Metta

APRIL 25-MAY 2, 2025 - OAKWOOD RETREAT CENTER with JON AARON & GULLU SINGH

JUNE 13-15, 2025 - TRANSFIGURATION SPIRITUALITY CENTER with Candace Strange

JULY 10-20, 2025 - OAKWOOD RETREAT CENTER with LEIGH BRASINGTON

Sorry, this retreat is full.

This retreat combines the two main elements of the Buddha’s model of liberation: cultivating the meditative absorptions (jhanas), which lead to calm and clarity, and using the concentrated mind to gain insight in the nature of reality. We will not only look at the insight practices given in the famous Satipatthana Sutta, we will also delve extensively into the Buddha's teaching of the dependent co-origination (paticca-samuppada) of phenomena. This course is limited to those who have completed at least two one-week or longer silent vipassana retreats.

This will be a hybrid retreat with Leigh appearing on Zoom for the morning instructions, the evening dharma talk, and personal interviews, while the students are in residence at Oakwood Retreat Center with an on-site teacher.

Location: Oakwood Retreat Center
Total Cost: $1750
Deposit: $550
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Leigh Brasington is a teacher of insight meditation who was the senior American student of the late Venerable Ayya Khema, who authorized him to teach the jhanas. Leigh has taught them, along with other insight practices, at well over one hundred residential retreats throughout the United States and Europe. He is casual and warm, and is skilled at providing individualized instruction during retreats. Leigh is also the author of the excellent and helpful book “Right Concentration, A Practical Guide to the Jhanas”, which was published in 2015.  He also authored “Dependent Origination and Emptiness” which you can read here at sodapi.leighb.com, and Edited the book “The Path to Peace” by Ayya Khema.

August 19-24, 2025 - OAKWOOD RETREAT CENTER with KEVIN GRIFFIN and GREG PERGAMENT teaching Qigong

Buddhism and Recovery

Sorry, this retreat is full.

Join us for a unique meditation retreat combining traditional Buddhist practices with recovery and Twelve Step work.  Primarily conducted in silence, the retreat focuses on insight/mindfulness meditation, with additional interactive exercises, lectures, and meetings exploring ways that Buddhism and the Steps can complement each other. Daily Qigong practice brings added benefit and energy to the retreat.

The emphasis will be on bringing mindfulness to all our activities, whether in formal meditation, movement, speaking, listening, or eating. Participants will practice Noble Silence outside of the interactive exercises and 12-Step-style meetings. All recovery paths are welcome, whether Twelve Step, Refuge Recovery, substance, process, or relationship-oriented.

The intensive nature of the retreat allows for profound personal openings, insight, and transformation. The support of the community carries us through the sometimes challenging, sometimes inspiring elements of this deep inner work.

A minimum of 30 days clean and sober is required for attendance.

Thanks to the generosity of the Hemera Foundation, Tri-State Dharma is able to offer this retreat at a greatly reduced cost.

Total Cost: $400
Deposit: $200
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Kevin Griffin is a Buddhist teacher and author known for his innovative work connecting dharma and recovery, especially through his 2004 book One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps. He is a leader of the mindful recovery movement and one of the founders of the Buddhist Recovery Network. He has been a Buddhist practitioner for over thirty-five years and a teacher for two decades. His latest book is Living Kindness: Metta Practices for the Whole of Our Lives.

Greg Pergament (Chi Kung teacher), is the author of Chi Kung and Recovery. Greg has been in recovery for over two decades and has studied and taught Qigong and Tai Chi Chuan for many years. He has an extensive background in Buddhist Vipassana meditation, is a firetender for Lakota Inipi ceremonies, and has helped facilitate many Vision Quests.

SEPTEMBER 26-OCTOBER 3, 2025 - OAKWOOD RETREAT CENTER with ADAM STONEBRAKER

Location: Oakwood Retreat Center
Total Cost: $1225
Deposit: $350
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Adam Stonebraker has been dedicated to Buddhist practice and meditation since 1999 and serves as the Guiding Teacher for Mountain Stream Meditation in Nevada City, CA. Since 2010, he has been sharing the Buddha’s teachings with diverse audiences locally and internationally. His approach is deeply influenced by the Thai Forest Tradition, the Bodhisattva path, and the transformative power of meditation.

Adam has been mentored closely by Kittisaro & Thanissara as a retreat and meditation teacher in the lineage of Ajahn Chah and the Kuan Yin Dharmas as taught by Master Hsuan Hua. His teaching emphasizes trust in one’s innate wisdom, the cultivation of an open heart, the deepening of samādhi and stillness, and an embodied understanding of interdependence. Deeply attuned to the natural world, he draws inspiration from its rhythms and resilience as a source of practice and insight.

While Adam’s primary focus is on Buddhism and meditation, his background in Hatha Yoga and somatic practices continues to inform his approach to embodied awareness and the integration of insight with daily life. He has trained across the Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna traditions, grounding his work in a broad yet deeply rooted understanding of the Dharma.

Adam has studied with a wide range of teachers, including Kittisaro & Thanissara, Sarah & Ty Powers, Zen Master Dae Gak, and Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. In 2019, he earned a Master’s degree in Mindfulness Studies from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is currently participating in the four-year Spirit Rock/IMS teacher training to further deepen his practice and teaching.

OCTOBER 24-26, 2025 - TRANSFIGURATION SPIRITUALITY CENTER with JOAN STAUBACH

A quiet weekend to go within, to breathe and relax.  There will be guided meditations to help calm body and mind, with talks about the mind itself, how it works, and understanding peace.

Joan Staubach is an active member president of Tri-State Dharma. She is an experienced practitioner of Insight Meditation. She started practicing Insight Meditation in 1999, and has been on over 40 week-long or longer residential retreats. She has taught and co-taught the New Years Retreat for many years, led daylong retreats, and taught numerous Insight Meditation classes. She has taken training retreats with Matthew Flickstein on Sharing the Dharma. 

Location: Transfiguration Spirituality Center - Glendale (basically Cincinnati, OH)
Cost: $240

DECEMBER 31, 2025 to JANUARY 4, 2026 - OAKWOOD RETREAT CENTER with JOAN STAUBACH

The end of the year is traditionally considered an auspicious time to focus on your practice, to examine it gently, and to renew it. Tri-State Dharma offers a wonderful opportunity to do this each year with a residential New Years Retreat at Oakwood Retreat Center.

This silent retreat will consist of regular sitting and walking meditation periods.  Joan will share the Dharma through talks and optional interviews. The retreat is suitable for both beginning and experienced meditators.  Anyone who is new to the practice will be given instruction.

Joan Staubach is an active member president of Tri-State Dharma. She is an experienced practitioner of Insight Meditation. She started practicing Insight Meditation in 1999, and has been on over 40 week-long or longer residential retreats. She has taught and co-taught the New Years Retreat for many years, led daylong retreats, and taught numerous Insight Meditation classes. She has taken training retreats with Matthew Flickstein on Sharing the Dharma. 

Location: Oakwood Retreat Center
Total Cost: $700
Deposit: $200
Click Here for Driving Directions
Click Here to go to Oakwood’s Website