YMCA Estes Park Retreat 2026 ~ The Sun, My Heart

When the September 11, 2001 attacks happened, I was in California, about to give a public talk. Of course the whole American nation was shaken by the news. The energy of anger and fear was tremendous and I could feel it. It’s very dangerous if we unconsciously allow that kind of energy to penetrate and harm us.

So the talk I gave that night was about calming strong emotions. When a whole community is afraid or angry, their energy is very strong which can create a desire to strike back right away. But action pushed by the collective energy of anger and fear is not usually right action. We can start a devastating war very easily.

— Thich Nhat Hanh (from No Mud, No Lotus)

Today, in remembrance and marking the the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we offer this photo album of the recent YMCA Estes Park retreat and the teachings of our beloved teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, who always guided us toward cultivating deeper understanding, love, and compassion for our individual and collective transformation, healing, peace, and freedom.

For almost a decade, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) came to the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado to offer mindfulness retreats for thousands of people. In 2007, Thay specifically asked the monastic community to continue offering retreats in this sacred place, even if he could no longer be physically present. In 2024, Deer Park Monastery hosted the “Earth Our True Nature” retreat for the first time since Thay’s last retreat there in 2011.

Now, two years later, we returned to walk in Thay’s footsteps once more. From 9 – 15 August, 2026, Deer Park and Plum Village monastics hosted “The Sun My Heart” retreat, welcoming nearly 400 participants from across North America and beyond. We gathered together as one big spiritual family to practice Thay’s teachings of Engaged Buddhism, surrounded by the beautiful nature of the Rocky Mountains.

Throughout this precious week, we had the opportunity to nourish ourselves with the Dharma rain through inspiring Dharma talks, presentations and workshops on the the Five Mindfulness Trainings and Beginning Anew, daily sessions of total relaxation and Touching the Earth, and Questions and Responses. Amidst the local wildlife of deer, elk, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and beautiful hummingbirds, we were able to restore our connection to nature, to experience our profound interbeing with Mother Earth, and to cultivate transformational healing in ourselves, in our relationships, and in the world.

Recognizing that families are at the heart of our community, we offered special programs for children, tweens, and teens. Together, we also enjoyed walking meditation, silent sunrise sitting meditations, guided meditations, Dharma sharing, and mindful meals in silence. We ended this beautiful week with Transmission Ceremonies for both the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings and the Five Mindfulness Trainings, in which people committed to a path of practicing and living in a holistic, ethical way in order to cultivate deeper understanding, compassion, and love for themselves, others, and the world.

In his Dharma talk, Brother Phap Luu shared that when Thay left Vietnam in the 1960s to come to the west to call for peace, his teacher gave him a short and powerful teaching: “walk without contention”. This teaching still resonates deeply today as many of us question how we can walk without contention and in peace in a polarized world facing polycrisis. This is both a koan and a deep practice that we navigate individually and collectively.

When Sister Dinh Nghiem opened up for questions after her Dharma talk, she was asked if she missed Thay. She responded that of course she misses Thay… however the joy of seeing his continuation through all the monastic and lay practitioners outweighs her missing of him.

We are so grateful to all of you who continue Thay through every mindful breath and every mindful step. We know you are there, and we are so happy.

We invite you to delight in some of these cherished moments in this photo album and celebrate the joy, beauty, and togetherness of our beloved community in the stunning setting of the Rocky Mountains.

All photos are courtesy of Song Lu and Deer Park Monastery.