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No meat, no electricity, no phones. This is a vacation? No, it’s more than that: For many soul-searchers, abstinence and simplicity are not only necessary but desirable ways to achieve a deeper level of consciousness. At these four retreat centers (two are working Buddhist monasteries), you may find inspiration and awareness while hiking, gardening, practicing archery, or soaking in hot springs.

Awakening at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
On the Map: Tassajara serves as a road-trip refuge for city dwellers to the north and south: It’s a five-hour drive down from San Francisco and an eight-hour drive up from Los Angeles.

Essence: Set at the end of a remote 14-mile, single-lane mountain dirt road, this Western Buddhist monastery has been around for a century, the last 40 years with the San Francisco Zen Center. It opens its doors to the paying public during guest season (from late April to early September), welcoming 10–20 attendees at a time on average (often more women than men). Some visitors bring partners or friends; others bring family. But you’ll see few, if any, children under age 12: Guests are typically in their 30s, 40s or 50s.  Due to its somewhat inaccessible location (it is not near an airport and you must rent a car), most visitors are from California.

Stimulation: Take your pick from a variety of structured seminars and programs — from “The Nature of Zen” to “Law Dharma” for lawyers to “Cooking with Big Mind” — led by resident Zen priests and visiting yogis, therapists, chefs and philosophers. Guests are free to engage in traditional Buddhist practice if they choose to. Zazen, or sitting meditation, begins at 5:50 a.m., though plenty of guests stay in bed.  Or steal away to soak in the on-site Japanese-style hot springs or wander into the hills of the surrounding Ventana Wilderness.

Rest: Meandering paths lit with kerosene lamps lead you to your private or shared rustic cabin or dormitory room. While there is no electricity, most accommodations come with a toilet and sink. Showers are available in the bathhouse.

Sustenance: Enjoy three tasty vegetarian meals daily with fresh-baked bread, soups and selections such as spicy North African stew, roasted carrots and couscous, and flan.

Book Your Stay: From $130 for weekend retreats; lodging starts at $85 per night and includes meals and all facilities; sfzc.org/tassajara

Nature-Nurture at Tara Mandala Buddhist Retreat Center

On the Map: Just outside of Pagosa Springs, CO, 90 minutes east of Durango, where you can reserve a Tara Mandala Shuttle from the La Plata County Airport ($100 round trip).

Essence: Named for Green Tara, a compassionate, female Buddha, this 700-acre mountainside San Juan Wilderness retreat center is — not surprisingly — most popular with female Buddhist pilgrims from all points global. In fact, some 95 percent of visitors come from far beyond southwestern Colorado to meet and learn from Western-born Buddhist nun Tsultrim Allione, who once served alongside Mother Teresa in Calcutta.

Stimulation: Learning balances meditative study, creative contemplation (through watercolor, sculpture and collage), work (basic cleaning duties) and play (free time for exploring the surrounding San Juan National Forest). Most participants (anywhere from 30–150 at a time) come alone, with more women attending than men. Tara Mandala also features an annual summer family retreat, teaching ecological principles as well as Tibetan Buddhist concepts.

Rest: You’ll camp at 7,500–8,000 feet elevation with no phones or electricity. Bring your own tent or rent one for $20 per day (B.Y.O. pillow and sleeping bag). A partially solar-powered community building houses toilets and showers. Bare-bones cabins and yurts are available (from $35 per day), but these are typically reserved well in advance by visitors who come for a personal retreat (apart from those on Tara Mandala’s calendar).

Sustenance: Three vegetarian meals a day means wholesome buffets (plenty of choices) prepared with organic and locally grown produce. You can also bring your own snacks, provided they are sealed in airtight containers (black bears have been sighted in these mountains).

Book Your Stay: From $450 for a 6-day retreat, includes instruction, material fees, food and campsite facilities; taramandala.com

Organic Discovery at Wattle Hollow Retreat Center

On the Map: The Center is set just outside of West Fork, AR, about an hour and a half southwest from Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Bentonville, AR. (Reserve a shuttle for approximately $100 round trip or rent a car and drive in.)

Essence: You’ll find plenty to ponder at this wooded 40-acre eclectic meditation center: for one, its undisturbed natural surroundings. While just a 3.5-mile run northeast of Devil’s Den State Park, Wattle Hollow is less than an hour southwest of Wal-Mart’s world headquarters. Even more of a reason to appreciate Wattle Hollow’s sustainable architecture; called cob housing, three of the seven lodgings on the site have been hand-sculpted from clay, straw and sand. Rooms are bathed in light from salvaged colored-glass windows.

Stimulation: Wattle Hollow’s offerings include yoga/spa weekends (with restorative asanas, green-clay facemasks, paraffin wraps and salt scrubs) and a naturalist-led bird walk. But many guests — from visiting Buddhist nuns and international scholars to moms retreating from the kids — find themselves in what owner Joy Fox calls “the Wattle Warp” — ambling along shimmering green Lee Creek, tiptoeing on Wattle Hollow’s quarter-mile Peace Path or soaking in the outdoor hot tub.

Rest: As one might expect of hand-sculpted lodging, accommodations are rustic. There are heated dormitories and cabins; some, such as the newly completed Cob Castle, have running water and toilets; others are set near communal outdoor composting toilets and shower structures. Private retreat cabins are available for groups of up to seven guests booking together. The center sleeps a total of 23, plus tent campers. Visitors come from all over the country and average 40 years of age, with a 2:1 ratio of women to men.

Sustenance: Gourmet vegetarian offerings during workshops include multigrain cereals, fresh-baked cookies and breads, and stir-fried seasonal veggies with tofu and almond sauce.

Book Your Stay: From $35 for the first two nights, and $25 thereafter for solo stays (yoga/spa retreat weekend is $125 per person and includes meals, lodging, spa treatments and Iyengar instruction); wattlehollow.com
Serious Searching at Zen Mountain Monastery

On the Map: Mount Tremper, NY (3 hours northwest of New York City)

Essence: According to the ancient Chinese art of geomancy (the study of Earth’s energies), a site located at the confluence of two rivers, with a mountain to the north, is an auspicious place for religious practice. It is no wonder Abbot John Daido Loori designated this 230-acre wilderness wetland parcel at the junction of the Beaverkill and Esopus rivers in the Catskill Mountains (beneath Catskill State Park’s majestic Tremper Mountain) as headquarters of his Mountains and Rivers Order of Zen Buddhism.

Stimulation: The weekend Introduction to Zen Training retreat, held monthly in spring and summer, is the starting point for most newcomers. ZMM’s teaching model is from the Eightfold Path, incorporating the study of Buddhism, art (such as painting and calligraphy), work (like gardening or cooking) and body practice (such as Japanese archery, called Kyudo, and chi kung). At this working monastery, you’re bound to encounter a quieter, more disciplined crowd of soul searchers, practicing Buddhists and international pilgrims of all ages and walks of life.

Rest: Unisex dormitory rooms are spartan. You’ll sleep in rough-hewn bunks with a traditional gong as your alarm clock, sounding at 5 a.m. sharp (4:30 a.m. in spring and fall) — and mandatory lights out at 9:30 p.m. While up to 30 people at a time attend the retreats, the monastery prefers that attendees come alone, due to the spiritual nature of the experience.

Sustenance: There are three vegetarian meals a day offering modest yet satisfying portions of flavorful selections such as fresh-baked bread, tofu-carrot casserole and warm beet soup.

Book Your Stay: From $225 for a retreat weekend, includes food and lodging; mro.org/zmm/

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