Welcome to the 2026 Lotus Insight Sangha LGBTQIA+ Retreat!

Our teaching team looks forward to being with you, those of you who have been coming on this retreat for many years, and to those of you who are considering joining us for the first time. It is always such a gift to join in community and to open during these days to feel each other’s presence, support, and caring.

We are also living with the questions of how we cope with, and find refuge from, the unrelenting forces of greed, hatred, and delusion that threaten our well-being, fracture our communities, and harm the most vulnerable?  

What does it mean to travel a spiritual path at this moment? How can we touch into our undivided beingness without turning away from the realities of pain, loss, and injustice? How can we be tender and connected, without being consumed by despair?

We can remember to call in our ancestors and movement leaders who have shown us paths of liberation. We also call in the liberating practices offered by the Buddha over 2,600 years ago, carried to us today by generations of people like us who saw for themselves the power of this wisdom and caring. 

In the midst of complexity, we can discover an effective ground of resistance and authenticity in exploring refuges that are not escapes, but strength:

• Trusting the Dharma—practicing presence, non-distraction, and caring—as a path that reduces suffering and opens us into our place in the world and our freedom.

• Trusting our capacity to walk the path—imperfectly, step by step.

• Taking refuge in each other, learning how we carry each other in the tide of our efforts—we are not alone.

• Remaining steadfast in truth, compassion, and solidarity.

• Trusting that our actions matter, and that our practice matters—now more than ever

Together we will cultivate steadiness, clarity, and courageous care, learning how to meet this world with a heart that remains alive, and a practice that does not turn away but resources us to act for healing and justice.

This is a masks-required retreat; we will be masking in KN95 or better masks in all shared indoor spaces aside from meal times. We will be testing twice using PlusLife testing.

We offer these protocols in the spirit of valuing all life as sacred. We hope these guidelines can keep us all safe and well as we come together to practice and overcome this time of collective challenge together. Please review our 2026 Covid-19 Guidelines for further information.

The following information is used to get a sense of who you are and what affinity groups you might be a part of, as well as your experience with meditation and retreating. This information is requested so that we can create a supportive and affirming retreat for you. Only retreat managers and teachers will have access to this information. Your responses will be kept private and secure. The information will not be used for discriminatory purpose.

Contact us at lisretreat123@gmail.com.

As a small note, please reference the Green Bottle method as you consider where you land in our sliding scale registration fees.