Dedicated Practitioner Program (DPP8) Application

Applications to be accepted starting May 15, 2025. All applications will go through a review process by the teachers. Important note: Scholarships are very limited and reserved for those who are truly experiencing financial hardship.

PROGRAM DATES: May 2026 – May 2028

Residential Retreat Dates: all retreats are held in-person at Spirit Rock; five immersive, 7-night retreats focusing on study, practice and connection in Sangha.

Retreat 1: May 10 – 17, 2026
Retreat 2: Nov 14 – 21, 2026
Retreat 3: May 16 – 23, 2027
Retreat 4: Nov 14 – 21, 2027
Retreat 5: May 15 – 22, 2028

Open to: Everyone

PROGRAM PREREQUISITES

To ensure a strong foundation for all participants, applicants should meet the following prerequisites:

• Retreat Experience: At least 50 nights in residential retreat practice within the Insight Meditation (Vipassana) tradition. This does not include daylong or non-residential retreats or online retreats
• Daily Practice: At least five years of consistent Dharma practice.
• Sponsoring Teacher Recommendation: A letter of support from a recognized Vipassana teacher who knows you and your practice.
• Personal and Interpersonal Maturity: Participants should be able to​:
  • Demonstrate resilience and self-responsibility: While DPP is a supportive community, it is not a therapeutic space for processing personal sensitivities or for avoiding conflict or discomfort. The Dharma invites us to meet challenges with curiosity, courage, and self-inquiry. DPP is more than a mere study program, it offers an opportunity to embody the liberatory practices in our daily lives, within community, that we will be studying. Participants should be willing to engage with discomfort as part of the practice and take personal responsibility for their emotional reactivity by applying the principles of non-harming and the use of kind and wise speech as outlined by the Five Precepts.
  • Navigate relational challenges with care: Engage with teachers and peers in a way that is respectful, grounded, and compassionate, even when conflicts arise.
  • ​Approach a wide range of perspectives with openness: Show a genuine willingness to learn from those with different backgrounds, histories, and viewpoints, approaching differences with genuine curiosity and humility.
  • Engage mindfully with identity and the impact of privilege: Demonstrate a willingness to explore structural and internalized conditioning. Approach conversations about identity and culture with awareness—acknowledging the impact of words and actions while allowing space for human mistakes, learning, and repair.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

This two-year program is for Insight meditation practitioners who want to deepen their practice and understanding of the Buddhadharma—through immersive, residential retreats, study, and shared practice. As a community, we’ll look closely at the roots of suffering and the Buddha’s path towards freedom, gaining a deep understanding of what it means to be liberated. We will focus on cultivating wisdom, compassion, and ethical mindful action into everyday life, staying close to the Buddha’s original teachings in the Pali Canon and how the teachings can support us in contemporary life. DPP is an opportunity to engage in a systematic investigation of many of the foundational lists from the teachings of the Buddha.

Inherent within the Dedicated Practitioners Program is a commitment to build a wide-ranging, welcoming community of refuge where everyone—of all races, genders, orientations, backgrounds, abilities, education, and economies—can feel supported in their practice.

Program topics will include:
The Four Noble Truths
The Eightfold Path
The Brahmaviharas
The Three Characteristics of Existence
Ethical Living
The Paramis
Samadhi
The Foundations of Mindfulness
Dependent co-arising
Karma and Interdependence
Kalyana Mitta
Liberation

– DPP is Not A Social Justice Training: Though Dharma encourages awareness of systemic suffering, this is not an activism or social justice training. Our aim is to deepen practice, which will naturally inform engagement in the world and provide the resilience to support us in whatever activism we are called to.
– DPP is Not A Trauma-Healing Program: While Dharma practice can be deeply healing, this program does not provide therapeutic support for processing significant trauma. Our focus is on deepening Dharma practice, not clinical or therapeutic care.
– DPP is Not A Teacher Training Program: If you’re interested in teaching or leadership, Spirit Rock periodically offers other programs.

PROGRAM COMPONENTS and REQUIREMENTS

• Attendance at all five 7-night residential retreats at Spirit Rock
• Monthly small group meetings (up to 15 people). Facilitated by teachers to explore the key teachings.
• Buddy Groups (up to 5 people): peer facilitated for more intimate group reflections.
• Completion of monthly homework including readings, reflections, and practices (readings will draw heavily from suttas (teachings) in the Pali Canon)
• Sponsoring Teacher Recommendation: A sponsoring teacher is the person who will recommend your participation in DPP. They should be someone who currently teaches at Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, East Bay Meditation Center, Gaia House, or other Insight meditation centers or sanghas. They should know you and your meditation practice, and be supportive of your application to DPP8. If arranged, they may also serve as your mentor during the program. We will send them a brief recommendation form to fill out in support of your application.
• Mentoring Teacher: Everyone will need a mentoring teacher, who will provide 6-12 one-to-one practice meetings during the course of the program. We encourage you to reach out to teachers you have practiced with, who you have worked with and who know your practice to request if they’d be willing to mentor you in DPP. Your sponsoring and mentoring teachers may either be the same person, or different. If needed, we will support you in finding a mentoring teacher. Click here for more detail on mentorship.
• Commit to maintaining both meditative and daily life practice
• The practice of dana (generosity) to support program teachers, group leaders and mentoring teachers
• Meeting all financial obligations outlined in this application relating to program fees

IMPORTANCE OF SANGHA

With the spread of mindfulness outside of traditional Theravada countries, often taught by teachers with little direct contact to the Pali teachings, every generation must take time to find the roots of their understanding in the recorded words of the Buddha and his earliest community. If we study alone, we often feel a limited understanding of these ancient texts, yet together they can come more alive. Also, many past students of DPP have forged life-long friendships from within the program.

During free time around non-silent meals on the retreats, and any time in the months between retreats, students are encouraged to organize self-led student groups on topics of shared interests. This is to further extend the Dharma presented formally by the program teachers and to raise topics not covered in the formal DPP curriculum.

APPLICATION TIMELINE and PROCESS

May 15 – August 15, 2025: Applications accepted between these dates. Incomplete applications cannot be processed.
August 15, 2025 – Application deadline. All applications sent after this date will automatically be put on a waitlist.
June 1 – September 30, 2025: Applicant interviews (via Zoom, details to follow later).
October 30, 2025: Final notifications sent out to all applicants via email.
December 1, 2025: Final commitment and payment deadline; 25% deposit required at time of acceptance; $200 non-refundable fee, if cancel prior to Jan 5, 2026.

Applications will open May 15, 2025. Close August 15, 2025. Applications received after August 15th will be considered after the initial round of acceptances.

PROGRAM FEES

Participation in DPP requires a financial commitment. Payment plans are available for all levels of the sliding scale. Scholarship support is available to anyone experiencing financial hardship; however, scholarships are limited.

Upon acceptance into DPP and to secure your spot, ALL participants will be asked to pay a minimum deposit of 25% (based on the rate you select). Should you need to cancel prior to Jan 5, 2026, all of the deposit is refunded except for $200 non-refundable fee.

You may pay the entire program fee in full or set up an installment plan for the remainder of the balance (after the initial 25% deposit). The payment plan will start the month following your deposit; and debit over 18 monthly installments during the first year and a half of the program. Installments can only be set up on credit cards. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Standard Sliding Scale:
Supporter Rate – $24,260 (w/guaranteed single room)
Benefactor Rate – $19,500
Sustainer Rate – $15,230 (covers cost of program)
Basic Rate – $11,030

Scholarship Sliding Scale:
Scholarship Rate 1 – $7,900
Scholarship Rate 2 – $5,500

Program fees include:

• Accommodations and meals at all five residential retreats
• Program materials, via our Online Learning Platform
• Access to online community building groups

Program fees do NOT include:

• Teacher support (dana) at all retreats; which is typically offered after each retreat
• Texts and some supplemental books required by the teaching team
• Transportation costs to/from your home to Spirit Rock
• Mentor and monthly group teacher support (dana) for meetings with a mentoring teacher

CANCELLATION POLICY & FEES

Participating in DPP8 will require your commitment of both time and financial resources. We will not be able to fill your space once the program starts. If you need to withdraw from the program, the following fee structure will apply.

$200 non-refundable, flat fee (All applicants) = on or before Jan 5, 2026 (deducted from your 25% minimum deposit)
10% fee* = Jan 6 – Mar 7, 2026
15% fee* = Mar 8 – May 8, 2026
25% fee* = May 9 – Nov 12, 2026
45% fee* = Nov 13, 2026 – May 14, 2027
65% fee* = May 15, 2027 – Nov 12, 2027
85% fee* = Nov 13, 2027 – May 13, 2028
No refunds = On or after May 14, 2028
*Fee deducted from refund; fee is a percentage of the total amount agreed to pay.