We hope you can join us for our August 4-Day Retreat with Bob Dattola from August 7th through August 11th. Several spaces are still available for this retreat, including single rooms.

Bob will give talks and be available for private meetings and the daily afternoon group dialogue in this August retreat. Bob has been taking part in the Center’s work since its inception. Important questions for him over the years have been “What is Truth or Reality?” and “Where can Truth be found?” In addition to pursuing his career at Xerox and Cornell University, Bob has served as a trustee for many years and in recent years has been leading retreats at the Center. In his own words:

In this hereness there’s some kind of . . . intelligence that works totally outside of this thinking process . . . And it’s not just intelligence. The word I like to use is compassion.

Visit Bob's teacher page for articles and recorded talks.

With the beautiful summer unfolding, please join us as we gather this coming Saturday for an Open Meditative Dialogue with guest speaker Bill Reinecke.

After a decade of earnest training at the Rochester Zen Center and another in Montreal, I showed up at Toni Packer’s door in the mid-90s, asking her why, despite my athletic approach to spirituality, I hadn’t achieved enlightenment. She said,

“Well, because you can’t!”

I was dumbfounded.

There have been unsought openings since then, but I have come to see them as beacons rather than destinations, always pointing back to what Toni called the work of this moment. Over the past three decades, meditative dialogue with Toni, Francis Lucille, Byron Katie, and many Springwater friends has been one of the great gifts of my life. Looking back, I see how long I had hoped for personal success. Instead, I find myself being sobered—often reluctantly.

And now, instead of praying for silence, I find myself taking my own hand and looking under the bed.      —Bill Reinecke

The schedule is as follows:  

August 1st Schedule (Times given are Eastern Daylight Time)
1:30 - 1:55 pm - Timed Sitting
2:00 - 2:30 pm - Talk by Bill Reinecke
2:40 - 4:00 pm - Open Meditative Group Dialogue

Zoom Access for this event:
DIRECT LINK or
Zoom.us Meeting ID: 289 037 6188, Passcode: 7179 
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdsftvqRwr

Speaking and dialoguing at Springwater Center is different from a lecture or a discussion group where we share what we already know. The spirit of meditative inquiry infuses talks and dialogues with a sense of exploration and discovery, of being open to the freshness of not knowing. Join the program online and experience this for yourself.

Online Open Meditative Dialogues are donation-based events. To contribute in support, a donation of $12 per attendance is suggested. Please use the button below to donate, and choose the "Online Sittings/Programs" option. Your generosity helps keep online programs available for all to attend.
Thank you.

Quiet Weeks at Springwater Center offer a meditative atmosphere within the ordinary rhythms of daily life at the Center. During these weeks, areas of the house are kept in silence while participants may move between silence and conversation as they wish – joining timed and open sittings, group dialogue, one-to-one meetings, walks on the many trails through woods and meadows, and simply being with what is arising moment to moment, with interest and curiosity. Participants are welcome as guests or as part- or full-time volunteers.

Participants are welcome to attend for as many days as desired, and can combine two retreats with the in-between Quiet Weeks to create a month-long retreat. All participants are guaranteed a private room during Quiet Weeks. 

We continue to offer an innovative format for Quiet Weeks with experienced coordinators and facilitators in residence. For August 2026, we welcome back our dear friend Susan Esons as Quiet Weeks Facilitator. In Susan's words:

My interest is in getting to the bottom, moment to moment, of what hinders and what allows for Open Honest Living. In other words Connection, Contact. Quiet Weeks holds the space for such discovery, alone and with others. Sharing what is HERE for each of us and finding out how similar we really are.

 

Susan Esons has had a commitment to meditation dating back to 1980 and is a longtime participant in the work of the Center, where she began attending retreats in 2000. She has served as the Center’s Assistant Administrator, as a volunteer, and as a coordinator of Quiet Weeks, helping to sustain the Center’s retreat and inquiry-based work. Susan will coordinate and facilitate the second Quiet Week period of 2026, from August 14-26. 

Please consult our Calendar for information about more upcoming events, including the August 29th - September 5th 7-Day Retreat with Sandra Gonzalez and Liz Heron .

Springwater Center also provides the opportunity to join timed and open sittings online.  Please consult our calendar of online offerings for more information.

For our friends out west, long-time member and friend Jay Cutts will be hosting a retreat in New Mexico from September 12th through September 19th, with registration due by August 1st. Please visit this website for more information.

info@springwatercenter.org   www.springwatercenter.org