Occidental Course

About the Course

Every year, a 10-day Vipassana course is organized at a rented retreat facility in Occidental, CA which is approximately one hour north of San Francisco. This site enables us to offset the high demand for 10-day courses during the holiday season. Students come from all over California, the US and the world to attend. The site accommodates 240 students, over 30 servers and four Teachers, making it one of the largest such Vipassana meditation courses in our tradition worldwide. The facility is otherwise used year round for camps for children or adults.

Apply to sit or serve

Click here to apply to sit or serve the course.
If you are an old student and wish to come a few days early to help with course organization, set-up or cleanup, please fill out this form. Set-up days this year are December 16 to 18. Clean up day is December 29.


Accommodations

The cabins are heated and comfortable. There are six bunk beds in each cabin, with twelve people per cabin. There are no private cabins for individual accommodation at this site. The shared bathrooms and shower blocks are in separate heated buildings a short walk from the cabins. Students should bring their own bedding including bedsheets, pillows, blankets, sleeping bags, etc.

The course site is rugged, with uneven and sometimes steep terrain, gravel/dirt roads, etc. Please let us know if you have any difficulties walking moderate distances, climbing steps, or any other special needs that should be brought to our attention.


Food

Simple vegetarian food is provided and most people with vegan diets or gluten sensitivities find there is enough variety to choose from during the course. Given the number of students on the course as well as the nature of the facility, we are not able to provide special meals. If you have strict dietary restrictions please apply to a course at one of our established centers, which may be able to more easily accommodate special dietary needs.


What to Bring

Bedding:

  • 2 sheets, pillowcase, and a pillow, sleeping bag and /or blankets.

Meditation gear:

  • Meditation cushions: We supply a large base cushion for every student. We have a limited supply of smaller sitting cushions, so please bring any additional cushions that you may need.
  • A shawl or light blanket other than your sleeping blanket for use in the meditation hall.

Clothing:

  • Bring enough comfortable, warm loose-fitting clothing for 10 days. Laundry is limited to hand-washing in basins
  • BE PREPARED FOR RAIN AND COLD WEATHER
  • Jackets, sweaters or shawl, hats, gloves etc.
  • Umbrella / Raincoat
  • Waterproof Shoes
  • Alarm Clock (NO CELLPHONES ALLOWED during the course)
  • Flashlight

Toiletries:

  • Bring towel, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, shaving and sanitary supplies etc.
  • Please do not bring perfumes or scented soaps/creams/lotions etc. as these can disturb others during meditation.

Please note:

If desired, valuables may be checked in for safe keeping during the course. Cell phones must be checked in or left in the car.

Students are asked NOT TO BRING the following:

  • Personal food items.
  • Reading materials or writing journals.
  • Perfumes or scented soaps/creams/lotions etc. as these can disturb others during meditation.
  • All students should observe the rules for modest dress as outlined in the Code of Discipline booklet. Shorts, sleeveless or low-cut tops, tank tops, transparent, tight or revealing clothing, etc. are not permitted. Tights or leggings should be worn only under a knee-length top or skirt.


Address and Directions

CYO Camp
2136 Bohemian Highway, Occidental, CA. 95465

Rideshare Board

If you need a ride or can offer a ride, you can sign up on the rideboard link given in your acceptance email. Any questions regarding the rideshare process can be directed to: [email protected] .

Public Transportation

If you are flying in for the course, Sonoma County airport is the closest (~17 miles). San Francisco (~75-85 miles) and Oakland airports (~80-90) are also okay. Avoid San Jose airport (~105-120 miles).

There is no direct public transportation from San Francisco or Oakland or Bay Area that comes all the way to Occidental. Please use Google Maps to assess different options that may work for you better. Options listed below first bring you to Santa Rosa.

From Santa Rosa to Occidental

  • Take a cab -- this is by far the easiest way to reach Occidental from anywhere in Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa Transit Mall and Sonoma County Airport are about ~30 mins to CYO Camp by cab.
  • The Mendocino Transit Authority runs limited buses -- please check the website for latest updates. From Sonoma County Airport, on route #95 Northbound bus, the driver can be asked to make a stop at Freestone and it is 2 miles from CYO Camp. Please call at (669) 280-0442 to arrange pickup from Freestone bus stop. This bus only runs once a day.

From San Francisco city to Santa Rosa

Please check The Golden Gate Highway and Transportation District website for buses from San Francisco city to Santa Rosa. There are currently two options which can take ~2hrs: Northbound #101 Regional Bus and Northbound #172 Commuter Bus to get off at Santa Rosa Transit Mall bus stop.

From SFO Airport or Oakland Airport

Here are the options:
  • Try to find a ride directly from the airport on the rideshare board.
  • Take public transportation into San Francisco City and then take a bus to Santa Rosa (see above).
  • Groome Transportation offers shuttles from SFO and OAK airports to Santa Rosa. Please visit the website for schedule, timing, and fares.
  • From Santa Rosa Park & Ride shuttle stop, take a cab to the CYO Camp. Alternatively, you can also try to find a ride on the rideshare board from the stop in Santa Rosa -- it is on the way for almost anyone driving to CYO from the Bay Area.

For further questions about transportation email: [email protected] or call ‪(669) 280-0442.

Course Finances

All courses are offered free of charge and are run on a voluntary donation basis only. Donations are accepted only from those who have completed at least one ten-day course with S.N. Goenka or one of his assisting teachers. Someone taking the course for the first time may give a donation on the last day of the course or any time thereafter.

In this way courses are supported by those who have realized for themselves the benefits of the practice. Wishing to share these benefits with others, one gives a donation according to one's means and volition. Such donations are the only source of funding for the courses in this tradition around the world. There is no wealthy foundation or individual sponsoring them. Neither the teachers nor the organizers receive any kind of payment for their service. Thus, the spread of Vipassana is carried out with purity of purpose, free from any commercialism.

Serving the course

If you are an Old Student (i.e. have completed a 10-day Vipassana course in this tradition), you are welcome to help organize the largest non-center course in North America!

If you wish to serve on the course itself, please fill out an application to serve on the schedule page.

Since this course is held at a rented facility, a lot of effort goes into preparing the site for running a meditation course. e.g.

  • trucking in all the materials
  • setting up the meditation hall, dining hall, dividers etc.
  • posting signs and marking course boundaries
  • preparing food
  • overseeing parking
  • registering students, etc.
Similarly, once the course is over, the rental site needs to be restored to the way it was at the beginning and all the materials need to be loaded and stored away.


All of this effort is carried out by old student volunteers. If your schedule permits, please consider arriving before or after the course to help with set up and clean up.

For the December 2023 course, we can use help from December 16-18 for SETUP and on December 29 for CLEANUP. If you are interested in serving, please fill out this form.

We hope to have a team of 30 servers for each day. If you arrive on December 16 or 17, you have the option of staying overnight at the CYO site. Please note that only old students may help with the course set up. All students, however, are welcome to stay after the course ends to help with packing things away. We should be able to finish clean-up by 12pm on December 29.

If you are available to help out, please let us know of your availability by sending an email to [email protected] or calling ‪(669) 280-0442 (please leave a voicemail) and let us know: your first and last name, what dates and times you plan on arriving and leaving, your phone number and whether or not you'll be staying overnight at CYO.



Contact Us

Email: [email protected]
Phone: ‪(669) 280-0442‬ [Text or Voicemail]
Apply for the course: https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/schedules/schsantosa