Where: Milo McIver State Park, Kingfisher Campground, about 40 minutes southeast of Portland
When: Thursday, July 9, 2026 to Sunday July 12, 2026
Cost: Gift Economy
RSVP: register here!
Overview
This “sangha retreat” will offer seclusion from the busyness of daily life, a drop-in to the natural world, and an opportunity to nourish our spiritual practice, strengthening our connection both to the dhamma as well as the sangha (the spiritual community).
There will be a light daily schedule, including morning and evening meditation, shared dinner, and an optional afternoon community-building activity.
However, the majority of the day will have an open schedule, where you can follow your own rhythms of what feels supportive, whether that’s connect with each other, explore the State Park (hiking trails, river, frisbee golf course, etc.), or just take time in further contemplation and quiet.
This is also an opportunity to bring alive the generosity mindset, as it will be a largely community supported & created event.
As a note, this is not a “meditation retreat,” where there is an expectation to be silent, still, slow-motion Buddhas. It’s a “sangha retreat,” where you can certainly take plenty of time in solitude and quiet if you like, but the underlying idea is to channel a spirit of openness and ease, where interaction with others is not a distraction or obstacle but rather a gift.
All backgrounds or experience levels are welcome!
Daily Schedule
Thursday
Arrival 2 to 6pm
6:30-7:30pm — Dinner
8:00-9:15pm — Evening Meditation + Short talk + discussion
After 9:15pm — Functional speech only
Friday/Saturday
Before 8am — Functional speech only
8:00-9:15am — Morning meditation + short talk + discussion
2:00-3:30pm — Optional activity*
6:30-7:30pm — Shared dinner
8:00-9:15pm — Evening meditation + short talk + discussion
After 9:15pm — Functional speech only
Sunday
Before 8am — Functional speech only
8:00-9:15am — Morning meditation + short talk + discussion
1:00pm — Check-out time
* The activities are not set yet, but will likely be something like Insight Dialogue (relational meditation), or a service-oriented arts & crafts project, like making cards for people going through hard times
* Functional speech means abstaining from typical conversation, but welcoming any important logistical or purposeful speech, i.e. “the bathroom is out toilet paper – where can I find more” or “I have a pounding headache – is there any medicine?”
Community Supported
This is envisioned as a community retreat — it’s going to take a lot of helping hands to make it work.
For the three shared dinners, we’ll probably need 2 to 6 volunteer cooks each, as well as volunteer dish washers. Specific food logistical info will be sent to all attendees upon registering.
For the community kitchen, supplies people can bring include camp stoves (plus fuel), cooking pots & pans, cooking utensils, cooking oil, a shelter tent, five gallon water jugs, liquid soap, bins to store community food, outdoor camp lights, etc.
As some people likely won’t have camp supplies, volunteers to bring extra tents, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, camp pillows, etc.
Offering rides to folks, coordinating people on what to bring, or any number of other offerings will also be appreciated.
If you have an idea for how to make such an event go more smoothly or add some extra touches, let me know!
Registration
Click here to RSVP!
As of June 5th, we have 33 people signed up to stay overnight, including 28 for the full weekend, and 5 for a partial weekend. There are also a few other regular sangha members who told me an overnight stay wasn’t realistic, but they would likely come for a day.
I had initially set a semi-hard cap at 40 people, including overnight attendees and day visitors.
In turn, we’ll leave four or five spots open for day visitors, reserved for people who have come to a Path of Sincerity event on at least 20 different days; i.e. people who are personally invested in the sangha.
This leaves two or three spots for overnight camping — at this point, I’m going to close it for partial weekend campers, and leave it those last spots for folks who can come for all three nights — either loved ones of regular attendees or anyone who has come to the sangha before.
To keep some cohesiveness in the container, everyone is highly encouraged to attend the morning and evening meditation. Everything else is optional.
Important Notes & Frequent Questions
Carpooling requested. We are allotted a maximum of 30 cars, though the site parking lot isn’t so big, so this would be very tight. Additionally, five are included in the price, and after that, each additional car costs $10 per day.
Out-of-town participants. If you are coming from out of town, it’s likely that a community member could host you the night before or night after if that makes coordinating travel easier. Also, it’s likely there would be enough bonus camping supplies for you to borrow.
Camp supplies. It’s okay if you don’t have camp supplies, like a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, or a camp chair. I imagine there will be plenty of folks who have extras that can bring them for you.
RVs. We’re allowed one RV at the site (no generator), but camper vans and those little pod trailers with a bed are fine.
Commuting. As the State Park is only 40 minutes from Portland, you are welcome to join as a “commuter,” arriving by 7:45am, staying the day until 9:15pm, and then going home to sleep.
Breakfast, lunch, snacks & drinks. It’s bring your own supplies for breakfast, lunch, snacks, hot drinks, and so on. However, we’ll have a dāna table, if you want to bring snacks, coffee or tea to be shared.
Showers & bathrooms. There are hot showers, but they are on the opposite side of the campground, about 2 miles from our campsite. There are two flush toilets + outdoor water faucets inside our campsite.
Screens. This weekend is an invitation to take a break from the screens. In turn, the shared spaces will all be screen-free. I believe there is cell service, so if in your tent, something comes up and you need to use the internet in silence, you are welcome to do so there. Similarly, if you need to make a phone call, you may leave the campsite (a 5 minute walk), and make your call outside of earshot of the other participants. However, if it doesn’t feel important, I suggest powering down for the weekend!
Campground Layout
The Kingfisher campground is massive. There are two nice big shaded areas, one which will be a kitchen area, and the other, the meditation area. Then there is a huge open field, which is primarily where we’ll camp. Of course, there’s also the parking lot and restroom area.
It’s within Milo McIver State Park, which has hiking trails, a river, a frisbee golf course, and a river-like lake that offers some of the best kayaking & standup paddle boarding in the Portland area.
Cost
Like everything else, this retreat is offered on the gift economy, aka donation.
Before even thinking about finances, I invite you to consider this as a community-supported event. How could you bring a spirit of generosity, whether that’s offering rides, bringing supplies for the community kitchen or folks without camp gear, helping coordinate, or any number of other avenues of giving?
Financially, there is never any requirement to donate anything. You are welcome here without conditions. If you’d like to help cover the camp rental fee, or help nurture the community along by supporting these types of events, donations are always appreciated.
Questions
Send any additional questions or comments to David AT Pathofsincerity DOT com.
Also, on the community Discord, there is a specific channel devoted to the sangha retreat 2026. If you want to engage in any community discussion around the event, ask questions of each other, and so on, you can do so there.