What You Never See: Planning a Buddhist Retreat

A Mindful Gathering with Susanna Lack, Rhea Colmar, and Bill Moriarty

On April 30, 2026, The Wisdom Seat hosted a Mindful Gathering on one of the least visible parts of community life: what it actually takes to plan and hold a group retreat.

Every retreat has a visible side and an invisible one. Susanna Lack and Rhea Colmar joined Bill Moriarty to discuss what planning and holding a group retreat actually involves - from choosing a venue and approaching teachers, to managing the budget, handling scholarships, and keeping everything together once the retreat is underway.

The conversation explored things participants rarely think about: How far in advance does real planning need to start? How do you prepare a space that wasn't built for practice? What is your actual job once the retreat begins, and what do you do when something goes sideways? And what would you say to someone in our community who wants to get involved in planning one day?

About the presenters:

Susanna Lack is Director of The Wisdom Seat Retreat and a meditation teacher with almost 30 years of practice through the Shambhala, Nyingma, and Kagyu lineages. As a clinical psychologist, she developed mindfulness meditation curricula in schools and mental health settings and pioneered mindfulness meditation in the therapeutic setting. She has worked with students of all ages, from young children to adults.

Rhea Colmar is a longtime Buddhist practitioner and teacher in the lineage of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, as well as a Public Health RN and founder of Open Sky Meditation Community. She teaches Buddhism, mindfulness, and QiGong, and served as a core faculty member and organizer of the Three Yanas Retreats.