Effortless Mind Meditation

Personal meditation retreat on San Juan Island

Transform your experience of life in a few days

Join Ajayan on San Juan Island in Washington state for a 1:1 retreat. Why a personal meditation retreat? Simply put, nothing can compare when it comes to quickly rising to a whole new state of awareness. Even if you have been meditating for decades, a few days retreat with individualized guidance from Ajayan will transform your inner experience. You can expect to emerge from your retreat with these benefits:

One thing all of Ajayan’s personalized retreats have in common: they deliver the full benefit of what meditation is really meant to be. Over the last 50+ years, Ajayan has made an intensive study of the most effective esoteric practices of the yogis of the Himalayas. He will personally instruct you in their practice, appropriate to your level. These profound techniques will multiply the benefit of your retreat experience well beyond the experience of an ordinary meditation retreat.

 My body, mind, and soul are just filled with awesomeness since the retreat. I’m feeling absolutely fantastic. I also can’t believe how deep and peaceful my meditations are now. –Christian, meditating attorney

In Tamil there is a saying “Thirupai ponal thiruppam”, which means, “If you go to Thirupai (a holy temple), there will be a change in life.” The retreat was definitely that for me. Many things that were so hard before are suddenly in reach since the retreat. Even my Yoga practices are effortless now. I now know what you meant when you asked if anyone is feeling lightness in the body. I do feel like my body is light with space; doing Surya Namaskar is effortless. I am already looking forward to the next retreat! –Chenthil Kumar

Who can come to a personal meditation retreat at Samadhi House?

Private retreats with Ajayan are for those who already have a regular meditation practice. An established, regular practice provides an invaluable foundation for you to get the most from a private retreat with Ajayan.

If you want to learn meditation or are fairly new to meditation, please consider subscribing to a meditation membership to gain this foundation in meditation. Every membership level offers basic and intermediate courses as well as an array of guided meditations. This is all the preparation you need to take full advantage of a personal retreat. If you’d like some guidance in choosing a membership level, feel free to email Ajayan.

How long does my personal meditation retreat last?

Your retreat can last as long as you like. The minimum stay is 2 nights, but you can stay as long as you feel your retreat is serving you. You could stay a full week if you wanted to.

Note that at this time, personal meditation retreats are only available from September through May.

What can I expect on a personal meditation retreat?

Focus and instruction on your personal meditation retreat

Most people coming for a personal meditation retreat will want to receive guidance and instruction in their meditation. At the beginning of your retreat, you will have a personal consultation with Ajayan to decide what instruction is appropriate for your level of experience. Ajayan will tailor a customized course of instruction for you.

The instruction you receive will be in-person instruction in daily private sessions with Ajayan. As appropriate, you may also take advantage of prerecorded video instruction from past courses Ajayan has taught. 

The heart of the retreat is practicing in private what you’ve learned. In other words, you will alternate learning with diving into direct experience, taking your meditation deeper and deeper. We also encourage walks in nature to help integrate your experience of deep meditation and spending some time doing yoga every day. At least once or twice a day, you will meet with Ajayan to answer any questions you may have and continue to tailor your course of learning and experience. During these sessions, you can ask any questions you like relating to meditation or spirituality. As needed, Ajayan will meditate with you and guide you in your practice.

Can I take a silent retreat?

You can certainly take a silent retreat. If you wish to remain in silence, and also receive instruction, you can communicate with Ajayan through notes.

The setting of Samadhi House

Samadhi House is located on the West side of San Juan Island, atop Mt. Dallas, the highest point of the island. Surrounded by forested hills, to the West and Northwest, Samadhi House overlooks Haro Strait, the Canadian Gulf Islands, and Vancouver Island. Only one other cabin is visible. There are no other houses in sight except across the water on Vancouver Island, no sounds of traffic or people, just the peace, beauty, and stillness of nature.

At night you’ll hear the song of frogs, and from dawn till night that of a large variety of birds, including bald eagles, hummingbirds, herons, and many more. Samadhi House also overlooks Lime Kiln State Park, said to be the premier spot in the world to view Orca whales from land. Between May and September, they may often be spotted breaching, cavorting, and blowing as they feed on the local salmon near the shores of the park. They really seem to consciously commune with their human audience. Note they are not visible from the house. The park is a 6-minute drive away.

Facilities

Samadhi House is a 3000+ square foot, 4-bedroom home, fully remodeled about 10 years ago. It can accommodate up to 9 retreat participants, but more likely your retreat will be entirely private. You can choose one of the two private rooms, which share a bath, or the dormitory with its own separate bath.

What about meals on the retreat?

Your retreat includes all meals. We’ll provide the food, and those present for the retreat, including Ajayan, will share in making the meals and cleanup. As it’s your personal retreat, you determine the schedule of your meals.

The Samadhi household is typically vegetarian and gluten-free, and for the most part, sugar- and dairy-free. However, we are happy to do our best to accommodate you. Please email Ajayan with your dietary wishes or requirements.

Cost

Please email Ajayan to schedule your retreat and determine cost depending on length of stay and type of room.

Travel to and from Samadhi House

  • Most access San Juan Island from Washington State via the Anacortes ferry. See the current ferry schedule. We recommend you make reservations. If you make arrangements with us, we can also pick you up in Friday Harbor if you wish to walk on the ferry.
  • You can also fly right to the island from SeaTac with Kenmore Air and we can pick you up in Friday Harbor. These flights are reasonably priced and it’s a beautiful 30-minute flight. Highly recommended!

How do I book my personal meditation retreat?

To book your personal meditation retreat, email Ajayan. Provide:

Cancellation policy

Samadhi House is also supported by vacation rentals. When you book your retreat, we will block the calendar for the entire house for the time of your retreat, so cancellations can be costly for us. Vacation rentals actually bring in more than double the retreat fee per day (depending on time of year). But we feel the highest and best use of the house is for retreats, and so we want to make it as easy as possible for you to come and meditate. For this reason, we’ve made our cancellation policy for retreats much more flexible than for our vacation rentals: