prajna mountain forest refuge - Upaya Zen Center

prajna mountain forest refuge
Wilderness Fast • June 26 – July 5, 2011
Invitation to Apply
April 4, 2011
Thank you for inquiring about the June 2011 Wilderness Fast. This 9-day retreat is sponsored jointly
by Upaya Zen Center and Prajna Mountain Buddhist Order. It will be our privilege to support this
ancient and deep practice for up to nine participants this year, and to learn from each of you as you
prepare and when you return from your solitude. Marty Peale, Caretaker of Prajna Mountain Forest
Refuge, will be your guide.
This retreat takes place at Prajna Mountain Forest Refuge, deep in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains,
approximately 50 miles north of Santa Fe, surrounded by three million acres of national forest, at 9,400
feet above sea level. On the afternoon of Sunday, June 26, at 2:00pm, we will meet at Upaya (elev. 7,200’)
and drive to the Refuge. There, we’ll set up camp, have dinner, and hold our opening council.
After breakfast on Monday, we’ll delve into our wilderness orientation. This includes:
• councils that are designed to help each of you hone in on and commit to the question or
intention that you are holding;
• interviews during which we learn a bit more in depth about you and your intention for fasting
at this time;
a review of practices and ceremonies that have proven to be helpful during such a solitary
inquiry;
• an overview of the lay of the land, natural history, appropriate use (and field testing) of our
minimal gear, and safety measures; and
• several periods of time during which you will be free to explore the area within a mile of base
camp, find your solo site, and set up your stone pile with your nearest solo-neighbor.
* Facilities at the Refuge include a log-cabin style lodge with a huge fireplace and kitchen, solar
electricity, running cold water, potable water, solar showers, a sauna, and an outhouse. We have
Internet and Skype, for use only in an emergency. We do not have cell phone reception.
1404 cerro gordo road • santa fe, nm 87501 • 505/986-8518

The wilderness fast itself is four full days and nights, beginning at dawn on Wednesday, June 29 and
ending at dawn on Sunday, July 3. We will ask you to take four gallons of water with you and to
consume most of it. We will ask you to take no food, unless a medical condition argues otherwise (in
which case, we should agree upon how to accommodate you, well before you arrive). We will provide
you with an equipment list that is spare but appropriate for this environment and season. We will work
closely with you to tailor your solo time so that it serves your intention as well as possible. (For
instance, some stay closer to base camp or set up a more frequent ‘check-in’ than others.) Before you go
out, we will ask you if you know how to ask for help, and how you would know you needed help. And
then, assured of your competence, we send you out ceremonially.
Your return at dawn on the fifth morning is both sobering and celebratory for those of us who have
held base camp and prayed for you, and for your companions in solitude. We break fast, ease gently back
into the field of words and the company of others, take the day to reflect and bathe, have an early dinner
that is dedicated to our gratitude — and that evening, begin a day and a half of Elders Council, in which
we bear witness to each other as you share what you can about your solo time. (For most, the insights
unfold and effects become apparent over time, but we begin here.) There is no way to describe the grace,
transparency, dignity, honor, and power of this ceremony — but you will see.
At the end of our Elders Council on Monday, July 4, we will have a celebratory dinner at the Refuge.
On the morning of the 5th, we will break camp and hold our Closing Council. That completed, we will
move into the next phase of our reentry into the human world, leaving the Refuge, returning to Santa
Fe for our final lunch together.
The Application Process
To apply, please send the following three documents to Marty (see contact info below). Please keep
copies of these documents for your records.
• Letter of Intention — The wilderness fast ceremony begins at the very moment you first
commit to going, typically months in advance of the actual fast. The preparatory phase that
follows this initial commitment is an essential part of the experience. Please pay attention from
this moment on. At the heart of this process is discovering the intention, the question, that
brings you to the fast. Why are you seeking this uninterrupted solitude? Why in wilderness?
Why with the ‘thin veil’ that fasting induces — the permeability and transparency that is more
accessible for most of us when we go so light, materially speaking? What question are you
holding at this time in your life? If you have many questions, is there a common thread? Is
something shifting, welling up, or letting go? Is this marking a significant time of change in
your life? Is this a time of celebration? Please state your intention, articulate your question for
the fast. When we come together, you will have several opportunities to fine-tune this
statement.
• Medical History Form (on the web site) — Please fill this out completely. Toward the end, you
will see that we ask you to describe in your own words your current level of physical health and
strength, exercise that you do, and anything unique we need to know about. We ask that you
share any physical or psychological concerns that you have about any aspect of this program
(e.g., camping, fasting, solitude, emotions, honesty, confidentiality). This is a rigorous program
that involves camping for eight days and nights without running hot water or

telecommunications in a remote location at 9,400 feet, four days of fasting in solitude, and an
exceptional degree of openness on the part of most participants. For your safety and ours, and
for “a future to be possible” in this work, we each must be in good health, honest, and fully
committed to participating in the entire program. We commit, in turn, to protecting your
confidence and to tailoring your solo time to address any special needs that may come to light.
We have formatted this Medical History Form as a Word document, so it should be possible
for most applicants to fill it out and return it to Marty by email. Please also sign a hardcopy and
return it by snail mail to Marty c/o Upaya.
• Liability Release and Acceptance of Risk Form (on the web site) — Please read this
document carefully, sign it, and return a signed hardcopy by snail mail to Marty c/o Upaya.
Acceptance
Within ten days of receiving your Letter of Intention, Medical History Form, and your signed
Liability Release and Acceptance of Risk, we will contact you and Upaya to confirm that we have or
have not been able to accept you into the wilderness fast program.
Registration
Upon acceptance, your deposit (handled by Upaya) ensures that you are registered for the retreat.
To hold your space on the retreat, we must receive your deposit within ten days of your acceptance.
$200 of your deposit is non-refundable. Please ask about Upaya’s cancellation policy for this program,
or find it on the Upaya web site.
Upaya will not have rooms for us before and after this retreat, so we will make other arrangements for
those who come early to acclimatize and those who wish to stay in the area on July 5. The cost of
housing and meals before and after the retreat is not included in the retreat fee.
Preparation
Upon acceptance, we will ask participants to send their deposits to Upaya, and purchase and read
The Trail to the Sacred Mountain — A Vision Fast Handbook for Adults, by Steven Foster and Meredith
Little (www.lostborderspress.com). We will send you:
• an equipment list that is appropriate for this location (do not rely on the list in the handbook);
• a recommendation that you keep track of your dreams and how your intention/question evolves
over time;
• information about the day-long Medicine Walk that you will do in late May, one month before
the fast begins; and
• a request that you send Marty (by email) a narrative about your medicine walk at least one week
before the retreat begins.
If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Marty. We look forward to meeting you and
learning with you in this time-honored ceremony.
Sincerely,
Marty Peale
mvpeale@gmail.com
c/o Upaya Zen Center
1404 Cerro Gordo Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501