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Application for Long-term Retreat at the CCR Sita Tara Villa Applicationadmin2022-08-09T15:03:05-06:00

Long Term Retreat at CCR Europe – Sita Tara Villa in Castellina Marittima

The Center for Contemplative Research in Castellina Marittima, Italy, has been established to nurture the conducive circumstances necessary for those who wish to enter into long-term solitary meditation retreat, with the aspiration of attaining unwavering samadhi, realizing the nature of the mind and of all phenomena, and entering the path of the Great Perfection for the benefit of all sentient beings.

All retreatants will have access to a qualified teacher via email and will also have the opportunity to engage with Lama Alan Wallace on monthly group Zoom calls with dedicated retreatants around the world.

The Application Process

    There are some firm prerequisites for entering long-term retreat at Sita Tara Villa:
  • In almost all cases, it is a required that you have attended (whether in person or by podcast) at least one 8-week retreat with Lama Alan Wallace prior to applying for a long-term retreat.
  • It is also requested that you be practicing under the guidance of Lama Alan, either personally, or by consistently following his teachings from afar, with the aspiration of coming under his personal guidance via email and in group Zoom calls while at Sita Tara Villa.
  • You must have completed at least one solitary meditation retreat in the past, of three weeks or more in duration.
  • You must have a current daily practice of shamatha meditation.

The requested donation for a room at the Villa is $400 (US Dollars) per month, for retreats of three months or more. This does not include food, travel, or other personal expenses. There will be a one-time cleaning fee of 50 Euros.

It is likely you will have a video interview with a teacher and a video interview with a CCR clinical psychologist prior to retreat acceptance.

The Application

The Long-term Retreat application can be accessed at the bottom of this web-page. The application can easily take over an hour to complete. You can save it along the way and come back later to work on it as you go. So be careful not to press “Send” until you’ve carefully reviewed your application.

When filling out the application, be prepared to answer many personal questions and provide emergency contact information, references, a description of your past practice and information about your spiritual teachers, as well as to submit a statement of 300-600 words describing why you would like to be accepted into retreat at Sita Tara Villa.

We ask for your honesty and full disclosure in providing answers to the application questions. Not doing so will be grounds for rejecting your application, or, if discovered after retreat entry, asking you to leave the retreat.

Please know your application information is kept confidential and will only be seen by Lama Alan Wallace, the Executive Directors of CCR and SBI, and one or more CCR teachers. Your personal information is not shared beyond these positions.

Once you’ve submitted your application, you will receive a copy of it at the email address you provide. Once your application is received, it could easily be several weeks before you hear from us. But you will hear from us! We wish you all the best in your application process, which can be an experience of discovery in itself.

APPLY NOW

There are 8 sections to the Application. We realize that English may not be your primary language. Please be assured that grammar and spelling are not criteria being evaluated. We are looking for your heartfelt honesty, the care and attention your put into your presentation (as in meditation), and the extent of your study, practice, experience, and dedication to the steady discipline of meditation in solitary retreat. Take your time and only submit the application when you feel ready.

At anytime you may use the "Save and Continue" functionality by scrolling to the bottom of the application form and clicking the "Save & Continue" link. This will create a link for continuing the form at a later date. Upon clicking the link, you will be presented with a custom link to the current state of your form submission, with the option of sending the link via email. Please note that links created will only last 30 days. After that period, the link will no longer be accessible.

Part 1: Contact Information

Name(Required)
Address(Required)
(include whether you are retired, on sabbatical, on retreat, or currently unemployed)
Date of Birth:(Required)
Are you an E.U. citizen?(Required)

Emergency Contact

Emergency Contact Name(Required)
Emergency Contact Address:(Required)

Part 2: Meditation and Study Experience

If so, may we contact him or her?
Have you participated in solitary retreat before?(Required)

Part 3: Plans for Practice

Have you taken Refuge in the Buddhist tradition?(Required)
Have you taken Bodhisattva Vows in the Buddhist tradition?(Required)
Are you a member of an ordained sangha (i.e., are you a monk or nun)?(Required)
Are you a Vajrayana practitioner?(Required)

Part 4: Environment

We recommend re-reading the website pages on Long-term Retreat and on CCR Europe in particular, including the current retreat environment at Sita Tara Villa. Please be realistic with yourself as you consider these questions.
Do you feel comfortable entering solitary long-term retreat in an atmosphere of deep silence in a shared house?(Required)
Sita Tara Villa is self-managed, therefore every resident contemplative will be asked to help maintain the Villa. This means sharing within the community the following responsibilities: the cleaning of the common area such as the kitchen, living space, bathrooms and around the villa, receiving package deliveries, and overseeing visiting workers for repairs when needed (which may take several additional hours away from meditation on occasion). Are you physically able and ready to participate in solitary or communal work practice for about 2-3 hours per week, plus some additional responsibilities on a rotating basis?(Required)
In addition to this, each resident contemplative is responsible for cleaning their own rooms and the bathroom they are using, preparing their own meals in one of two shared kitchens, and cleaning up after themselves. Retreatants are responsible for obtaining their own food supply, whether through mail order (a local supermarket, Esselunga, delivers to the Castellina area), or by occasional car trips to town. Are you prepared for this?(Required)
Do you have any specific skills, interests, and/or abilities in one or more of the following service areas: keeping a temple altar, property maintenance, gardening, Italian language skills, etc.?(Required)
Would you like to serve as Retreat Manager during your retreat at Sita Tara Villa? The retreat manager should have aptitude for work organization and is responsible for: (1) sharing, coordinating and overseeing the daily and weekly work responsibilities shared among all the resident retreatants, including cleaning and maintenance of the Villa and receiving package deliveries, (2) overseeing visiting workers for occasional repairs whenever it may be needed, (3) monitoring the overall condition of the physical and spiritual needs of the Sita Tara Villa community, (4) reporting needed repairs to the Managing Director, Paolo Mori, and (5) seeking assistance from the Director of Contemplative Training, Lama Alan Wallace, and/or from the Psychological Support Team when needed.
Ideally, the Retreat Manager would have some ability to communicate in Italian. The Retreat Manager will be compensated through a reduction in the requested room donation to 250 Euros per month (instead of 350 Euros). Would you like to serve as Retreat Manager?(Required)

Part 5: Psychological Health

Are you currently seeing a therapist?(Required)
Are you currently in treatment with a psychiatrist?(Required)
Have you ever been diagnosed with a psychological condition or mental illness?(Required)
Have you ever made a serious attempt at taking your own life?(Required)
Have you ever witnessed yourself (or had someone witness you), being emotionally unstable for periods of time during intensive meditation retreats?(Required)
At times in any long retreat, many people experience deep emotions, ranging from grief or sadness to exhilaration and ecstasy. Do you feel that you can handle such swings of emotion and the kinds of nyam, or meditative experiences, described in the teachings of The Vajra Essence?(Required)
Are there any traumatic experiences from your childhood or other periods of your life that you feel may potentially create problems in your meditation or interfere with your retreat in any way?(Required)
Do you feel you have sufficient preparation for entering a long-term solitary retreat by way of your past practice and experience in the Dharma?(Required)
Did you receive any psychological support in previous retreats that you have attended?(Required)
If yes, and if this was an 8-week retreat with Alan Wallace, may we contact the psychologist with whom you consulted at the time?(Required)
Do you give permission for a psychologist associated with the CCR to assist you if required?(Required)

Part 6: Physical Health

Do you have any history of physical illness or limitations that might be aggravated by, or interfere with, intensive and extended periods of meditation?(Required)
Are you currently taking any prescription medications for physical or psychological conditions?(Required)
If so, from the rural location of Castellina Marittima, it may be difficult to fill all medication prescriptions at a pharmacy in a timely manner. At the beginning of your retreat, it is necessary to bring all essential medications with you. Will you be able to bring prescribed medication with you or else have it delivered by mail while in retreat in Italy?(Required)
Do you have any medical needs that would require you to leave the Villa on a regular basis during your extended retreat?(Required)
Do you have any known allergies to medication, food, or environmental factors such as pollen?(Required)
Are you aware of your current daily health and are you good at maintaining a balanced and healthy diet, especially with sometimes limited resources? (You can order food supplements and easily-shipped supplies through the mail and you will be preparing meals for yourself in a shared kitchen.(Required)
Do you conduct regular physical exercise of any kind (including yoga, t’ai chi, walking, hiking, etc.)?(Required)
Do you currently smoke cigarettes or medical marijuana (includes e-cigarettes)?(Required)
Smoking will be prohibited throughout the CCR property in Castellina, both indoors and outdoors. Are you prepared for this?(Required)
Do you currently drink alcohol on a regular basis?(Required)
Will it be a problem for you to remain in retreat without drinking alcohol?(Required)
Do you currently use any recreational drugs (e.g. marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy)? All recreational drug and alcohol use will be strictly prohibited at all times on the CCR property and anywhere else a retreatant may be during the retreat.(Required)
Do you have any other specific physical or cognitive issues we should know about?(Required)

Part 7: Practical Considerations

Do you anticipate being able to donate 350 Euros per month to CCR Europe as your contribution for the services and housing provided at the Villa (including all utilities, but not including food and personal items)?(Required)
Do you have the support of your family and loved ones in your wish to enter long-term retreat?(Required)
If you are not an EU citizen, have you successfully been able to acquire short-term visas to enter Italy for three months or more in the past?
Do you anticipate being able to acquire such visas again?
COVID-19 Provision: We are taking every precaution to keep Sita Tara Villa free of any trace of the coronavirus for as long as the pandemic lasts, and we need everyone’s understanding and active participation to make this possible.
Are you able to be fully vaccinated (i.e., leaving two weeks after receiving your second vaccination shot) before arriving at the Villa?(Required)
If not, are you willing to abide by sanitary guidelines, both before your departure from home and once you arrive in Italy, to help keep yourself and everyone else at the Villa free of the coronavirus?(Required)

Part 8: Our Community Commitments to Courtesy and Respect

While staying at Sita Tara Villa all residents will be expected to follow the five basic Buddhist lay precepts of:
  1. Not intentionally harming life in any form, from a fellow human being down to the smallest insect.
  2. Not stealing. Although we may frequently make use of objects and property that is held in common to the retreat community, this means taking even greater care with these objects and dwelling places than we would with our own, and it means leaving behind, in good condition, all objects that you did not bring with you when you arrived or purchased personally once arrived. Any community objects accidentally broken or damaged will be replaced through an appropriate monetary or in-kind offering to be worked out in consultation with the Retreat Manager.
  3. No sexual misconduct. In strict retreat it is often appropriate for the contemplative to withdraw from sexual activity altogether. But most importantly, we will each observe extreme respect for every other person’s desire for solitude in retreat and the relationships in which they hold dear (especially when the other members of those relationships are not physically present at the Hermitage). Sexual harassment of any kind may serve as grounds for immediate dismissal.
  4. No false speech. While our “default mode in retreat is silence,” we will watch our speech in all forms (verbal, written, etc.) with utmost care, so that all representations we make of our experience or knowledge are as close to our own understanding of our inner and outer situations as possible.
  5. No intoxicants. Possession and/or use of any recreational drugs or alcohol is strictly prohibited and may serve as grounds for immediate dismissal.
Are you willing to abide by these precepts, whether or not you have formally taken them as a Buddhist lifetime vow?(Required)
In order to maintain the silence necessary for meditation retreat, no pets are allowed at Sita Tara Villa. Do you agree not to bring any pets?(Required)

References: Please ask two (2) people who know you well to provide confidential reference letters. These can be employers, spiritual friends, teachers, mentors, students—anyone you think knows you in different facets of your life. Please consider that such reference letters will help to paint a picture of you outside of your direct relationship with Lama Alan Wallace, and are essential for a highly selective application process such as this. Please contact the two people you would like to write your letters, explain what it is you are applying for, and give them the following email address (info@centerforcontemplativeresearch.org), to which they can submit their letters confidentially. In the subject line of the email, please ask them to put: “(Your Name)—Retreat Reference Letter”

Please be sure your Reference Letters are submitted within 3 weeks after the date you submit your online application.

Please type your full legal name. This is a digital signature and you agree that the application is true and complete.
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Contact CCR

1 Carmelite Way
P.O. Box 881
Crestone, CO 81131

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The Center for Contemplative Research is an IRS 501(c)(3) religious nonprofit organization.
Our Federal Tax ID (EIN) number is 85-1666977.
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