Silent meditation retreats in the US: Vipassana, Zen and insight centers compared

Short answer: Goenka Vipassana courses run ten days with about ten hours of meditation a day, and charge nothing, not even for food and accommodation. Insight centers such as IMS and Spirit Rock run retreats from a weekend to months on sliding scales: seven nights at Spirit Rock in November 2026 cost $1,120 to $4,270. Zen sesshins run three to seven days; a December sesshin cost $215 to $350 at Zen Mountain Monastery and $1,008 to $1,120 at Upaya. Several centers say plainly who should wait, such as people with significant mental health issues or recent trauma.

Silent retreats are demanding by design: long hours of sitting, no conversation and no phones. This guide sets out what each tradition asks of you, what the centers named here charge and require, and what research says about both the benefits and the difficult side.

Prices, dates and rules were checked on each center’s own pages on October 27, 2026.

Before you book a silent retreat: who the centers say should wait

Many centers review applications or set prerequisites, and several publish who should not come yet:

• Goenka centers (Dhamma.org): “Vipassana meditation is not a substitute for medical or psychiatric treatment, and we do not recommend it for people with significant mental health issues.” And: “Even when someone’s mental health is currently stable, with or without medication, old symptoms may resurface during or after the course.” The application asks about mental health history and any medicines.
• IMS: “If you have recently experienced considerable trauma, significant depression or anxiety, or are currently experiencing strong PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), a silent retreat may not be appropriate for you at this time in your life.” IMS also asks retreatants to tell their therapist, and treats stopping prescribed medication as grounds to be asked to leave.
• Spirit Rock: “Practitioners should be in a stable period of mental well-being and have adequate self-regulatory resources to attend an intensive silent retreat.” Its required questionnaire asks about your psychological health.
• Cloud Mountain: “Individuals with trauma histories or with acute or chronic psychological issues should consult a mental health professional familiar with meditation practice to determine whether intensive meditation practice is appropriate.”

Retreat teachers are not therapists. Dhamma.org says its teachers and volunteers “are not medical, psychological, or counselling practitioners”, and some centers are far from care: at Tassajara, “The nearest hospital is four hours away.”

Difficult experiences are not rare. A review of 83 studies with 6,703 participants put the overall rate of adverse events at 8.3% (Farias and colleagues, 2020), and in a US survey, 32.3% of 434 people who had meditated reported an adverse effect and 10.4% one that lasted a month or more (Goldberg and colleagues, 2022). Answer the health questions honestly, keep taking any prescribed medication, and if you are in treatment, talk to your clinician before you apply.

What “silent” means on a retreat

Most of the centers in this guide keep what they call Noble Silence. Spirit Rock spells it out: no talking, notes, touch or eye contact between retreatants, and no phones, reading or writing. You can still speak with a teacher at scheduled times, and at IMS, Spirit Rock and Goenka centers, staff can answer practical questions.

The main traditions

Goenka Vipassana

Ten-day residential courses in the tradition of S.N. Goenka, taught at every center from Goenka’s recorded instructions, with “about ten hours of meditation throughout the day” (Dhamma.org), a strict schedule, vegetarian meals and a code of discipline. There are no charges, not even for food and accommodation: courses run on donations from people who have completed one. Dhamma.org lists 14 US centers in 10 states. Chairs are provided for people who cannot sit comfortably on the floor because of age or a physical problem.

Insight meditation

Insight (vipassana) and lovingkindness (metta) retreats at centers such as IMS in Barre, Massachusetts, and Spirit Rock in Woodacre, California. Cloud Mountain in Castle Rock, Washington, a “non-sectarian Buddhist center”, grounds most of its retreats in Theravada teachings that emphasize insight. Retreats run from a weekend to months, with teacher interviews, and fees on a sliding scale plus a donation (dana) for the teachers.

Zen sesshin

An intensive Zen retreat, usually three to seven days, built around long periods of sitting (zazen), walking meditation (kinhin), formal meals (oryoki) and work practice (samu). Sesshins include chanting and bowing, while Goenka courses ask students to set rites and religious ceremony aside. At Zen Mountain Monastery, the December Rohatsu sesshin has nine to eleven hours of zazen a day.

Non-religious silent retreats

Zoetic River in Wimberley, Texas, runs small-group silent retreats of three to five days. It says, “We don’t teach religious or political beliefs,” and “Complete beginners are welcome.”

US silent retreat centers compared

Each center’s own published format, dates and prices, checked October 27, 2026. Fees change, so confirm before you apply.

Center	Tradition and format	Example dates	Published price	Booking and refunds
Dhamma Siri, Kaufman, TX	Goenka Vipassana, 10 days	December 30, 2026 to January 10, 2027 (applications open November 6)	Free	Applications open at 6:00 AM Central on a set date and tend to fill quickly; waitlist
Dhamma Sukha, New Ulm, TX	Goenka Vipassana, 10 days	November 25 to December 6, 2026 (waitlist)	Free	Applications open at 6:00 AM Central on a set date; waitlist
IMS, Barre, MA	Insight and metta	December 9 to 16, 2026 (7 nights)	$330, $675, $1,435 or $2,430 by tier; teacher dana extra	Full payment four weeks before; no refund within four weeks
Spirit Rock, Woodacre, CA	Insight; open to newcomers	November 6 to 13, 2026 (7 nights)	$1,120 to $4,270; teacher dana extra	30% deposit or full payment; balance two weeks before; no refunds within two weeks
Cloud Mountain, Castle Rock, WA	Buddhist, mostly insight	October 23 to 29, 2026 (6 nights)	$830, $630 or $530	Full fee forfeited within two weeks
Green Gulch Farm, Marin County, CA	Soto Zen sesshin	November 10 to 15, 2026 (5 days)	$295 to $1,103 by housing and rate	Payment at least two weeks before
Zen Mountain Monastery, Mount Tremper, NY	Zen sesshin	December 26, 2026 to January 1, 2027	$215 to $350 by membership and arrival day	$75 deposit, non-refundable
Upaya Zen Center, Santa Fe, NM	Zen sesshin	December 1 to 8, 2026 (full, waitlist)	$1,008 members, $1,120 non-members	Balance 60 days before; all fees kept within 30 days
Zoetic River, Wimberley, TX	Non-religious, small group	December 16 to 20, 2026 (5 days)	$750 to $1,350 by room	Not checked

Two more: Tassajara, San Francisco Zen Center’s monastery inland from Big Sur, is open to guests from late April to early September, and the Garrison Institute on the Hudson hosts other groups’ silent retreats.

What studies say about intensive meditation

Study	Who and how many	What it found
Farias and colleagues, 2020, systematic review	83 studies, 6,703 participants	Overall rate of adverse events 8.3%, from 3.7% in experimental to 33.2% in observational studies; most often anxiety, depression and cognitive anomalies
Goldberg and colleagues, 2022, US survey	434 people who had meditated	32.3% reported an adverse effect; 10.4% one lasting a month or more
Schlosser and colleagues, 2019, survey	1,232 regular meditators	25.6% reported particularly unpleasant experiences, more often those who had attended a retreat
Hadash and colleagues, 2024, matched-controlled	96 adults on 6-day insight retreats, 47 controls	Mostly unpleasant peak experiences occurred at similar rates in both groups; mostly pleasant ones were more common on retreat
Hadash and colleagues, 2026, matched-controlled	89 adults on 6-day insight retreats, 46 controls	Reliable deterioration at two weeks was no more common in the retreat group, including people with elevated depression or anxiety; follow-up was only two weeks
Khoury and colleagues, 2017, meta-analysis	21 studies, 2,912 participants	Retreats moderately to largely effective for depression, anxiety and stress
Szekeres and Wertheim, 2015, residential Vipassana course	122 course participants, 90 followed for six months	Lower stress and higher well-being after the course; some gains faded by six months, especially in stress, but stayed above pre-course levels
Sharma and colleagues, 2022, case review	28 cases of psychosis in 19 reports	14 of the 28 had triggers such as lack of sleep or food, past mental illness, stress or drug use; a causal link is hard to establish

NIH’s NCCIH says meditation is usually considered to have few risks, but few studies have examined it for harmful effects, “so it isn’t possible to make definite statements about safety.” Retreats help many people and are hard on some, which is why the centers’ own health guidance above is worth reading before you apply.

How to choose your first silent retreat

• Start short if you can. Spirit Rock recommends that people who have never meditated attend two or three daylong programs first, then a 4- or 5-night retreat, and Upaya recommends at least one day-long retreat before a sesshin. New students at Goenka centers start with the ten-day course.
• Check the prerequisites. IMS’s long retreat requires three earlier silent retreats of a week or more, Zen Mountain Monastery asks for its introductory weekend before a sesshin, and Green Gulch asks for at least two in-person One-Day Sittings first.
• Choose a tradition. Goenka courses teach one technique from recorded instructions; Zen sesshins add chanting, bowing and formal meals; insight retreats add lovingkindness practice and teacher interviews.
• Plan for discomfort. Goenka centers, IMS and Spirit Rock all have chairs for people who cannot sit on the floor.
• Plan the weeks after. Spirit Rock says it can take time to integrate a retreat into the rest of your life, and Dhamma.org warns that old symptoms can return during or after a course.

Booking and cancellation

• Goenka courses take no payment. At the two Texas centers, applications open at 6:00 AM Central on a set date, and Dhamma Siri says courses tend to fill quickly.
• Insight and Zen centers take a deposit or the full fee when you register or are accepted. Balances fall due two weeks before at Spirit Rock and Green Gulch and four weeks before at IMS, and refunds stop two to four weeks out at most centers we checked. Upaya asks for balances 60 days before and keeps all fees within 30 days; Zen Mountain Monastery’s $75 deposit is non-refundable.

Silent retreats near Austin and Dallas

Texas has two Goenka centers: Dhamma Sukha in New Ulm, “100 miles east of Austin (2-hour drive)”, and Dhamma Siri in Kaufman, about 40 miles southeast of Dallas. Zoetic River runs non-religious silent retreats in Wimberley, in the Hill Country.

Related reading on silent retreats

• What is a silent retreat? What to expect before you go
• Your first silent retreat: what nobody tells you about day 2

FAQ: silent meditation retreats

Who should not do a silent retreat? The centers say it themselves. Dhamma.org does not recommend Goenka courses for people with significant mental health issues and warns that old symptoms can return; IMS says a silent retreat may not be appropriate after recent considerable trauma, significant depression or anxiety, or strong PTSD; Spirit Rock and Cloud Mountain ask people with trauma histories or psychological conditions to talk to a professional first.

How much does a silent meditation retreat cost? On October 27, 2026, Goenka courses were free; seven nights cost $330 to $2,430 by tier at IMS and $1,120 to $4,270 at Spirit Rock, plus teacher donations at both; and a December Zen sesshin cost $215 to $350 at Zen Mountain Monastery, depending on membership and arrival day, and $1,008 to $1,120 at Upaya.

How long is a Vipassana retreat? A Goenka Vipassana course for new students is ten days, with about ten hours of meditation a day. Insight centers run retreats from a weekend to months.

Can a beginner do a 10-day Vipassana course? Yes: new students learn Vipassana on the ten-day course. The application asks about mental health and medicines, and the schedule is demanding. If you have never meditated, daylong programs are a gentler first test; Spirit Rock recommends two or three before a longer retreat.

What are the rules of a silent retreat? Most of the centers here keep Noble Silence: no talking, notes, touch or eye contact between retreatants, and no phones, reading or writing, with scheduled times to speak with a teacher. Goenka courses add a code of discipline and vegetarian meals.

The bottom line on silent meditation retreats

Pick the tradition that fits how you want to practice, check the center’s own prerequisites and health guidance, and start with the shortest format the center allows if you are new. Answer the health questions honestly: several centers say a silent retreat is not right for everyone at every time.