Southern Dharma Retreat Center

The last stretch to Southern Dharma Retreat Center is not paved. At the end of West Road in Hot Springs, North Carolina, the asphalt gives out, the car crosses a small stream, and a gravel mountain road climbs a couple of miles to the Center. The retreat's own directions advise drivers to maintain forward momentum up the hills.

What waits at the top is described as rustic and intimate: teacher-led retreats drawn from a variety of lineages in Buddhist and related traditions, with a unifying thread of meditation, contemplation and silence. The grounds hold a Lodge, a Meditation Hall, single kutis in a meadow, tent platforms, trails, and a tucked-away Buddha Garden. The walk between Lodge and Hall is by rough, uneven stairs. The stated vision is personal and collective awakening based in mindfulness, wisdom and ethics.

Days are shaped by the container. Cell phones are surrendered or left switched off in the car, and the dining hall posts the weather forecast in their place. Participants ring the bells on behalf of the community, and many choose daily working meditation outdoors. Meals are vegan and gluten-free, with vegetarian and glutenous options on the side. Retreat volunteers help in the kitchen and tend the fires in the Lodge and Meditation Hall. Teachers and the Center are supported through dana, voluntary contribution.

The calendar runs from weekend work retreats to long immersions: a ten-day retreat on jhanas, metta and emptiness; a Zen body/mind retreat; a women's retreat on Tārā and Kwan Yin; a 22-day retreat set for April 2027. Earlier years included 29-night monthlong retreats by application. Online "at home" retreats and Sunday evening gatherings at the Asheville Friends Meeting House extend the work beyond the mountain.

The current Retreat Center Director, Donna Blagdan, was the Center's kitchen manager from 2009 to 2012 and wrote Kitchen Dharma: Recipes from Southern Dharma Retreat Center. She trained as a chaplain at Upaya Zen Center and has now returned to the mountain.