Retreats are held on a 10-acre parcel of forestland near Mendocino, California, five miles from the Pacific Ocean. (Participants will be sent a map giving the exact location and detailed directions to the retreat center.) The property is now partially development as a retreat center, with two structures currently in place: a small house (see photos) and a 16 ft diameter yurt. Details of plans for future developments will be shared with participants. Ample parking is available, so participants may bring their own cars if they wish. Mendocino is roughly a three-hour drive (north) from San Francisco International Airport.
CIPHER currently has no employees and therefore does not need (or intend) to make any profit by conducting such retreats. Each participant will be asked to pay for an equal share of the cost of food and any other retreat-related expenses. This is likely to be approximately $75-100 per participant; any surplus funds will be used to help cover the cost of running future retreats.
Although retreats will normally include free time in the afternoon for local sight-seeing, participants should be prepared to view their stay as a time to concentrate on philosophical dialogue, reflection, and meditation, not as a vacation holiday spiced up with a little philosophy here and there. With this in mind, outdoor work on the property (e.g., gardening, building steps, etc.) will also be available for those who wish to help out on a voluntary basis.
Due to the partial state of the center's development, all participants for now will be asked to share tasks such as cooking, cleaning up after meals, and tending the wood stove (i.e., making sure that enough chopped wood is available to keep the fire going). Participants will be divided into four "teams" for this purpose. Breakfasts will be simple, self-serve meals; cleanup teams will also lay out and clear up the breakfast foods; cooking teams will be responsible for lunch and dinner. The schedule for rotation of these duties might look something like this:
Team 1: Monday cook; Tuesday tend the fire; Wednesday cleanup after meals; Thursday off
Team 2: Monday off; Tuesday cook; Wednesday tend the fire; Thursday cleanup after meals
Team 3: Monday cleanup after meals; Tuesday off; Wednesday cook; Thursday tend the fire
Team 4: Monday tend the fire; Tuesday cleanup after meals; Wednesday off; Thursday cook
It is recommended that participants not bring along valuables that might attract theives: keep in mind that you will not have individual rooms to lock your belongings in. Likewise, participants will be asked to agree that neither CIPHER nor the property owners will be held liable for any injuries incurred during your stay.
The retreat center in its current state of partial completion has access to:
- 2 telephones (incoming and calling card calls only)
- cooking and refridgeration facilities (food will be provided; cooking and cleaning duties will be shared)
- heating by wood stove and electric oil heater
- four locations for sleeping: 1 carpeted bedroom; 1 uncarpeted loft; 1 converted garage/office; 1 16-ft diameter yurt
- 2 toilets
- 1 shower/bath
During your stay at the center you will NOT have access to:
- internet connection
- fax machine
- laundry machine (please bring enough clean clothes for the entire retreat)
- bedding (please bring a sleeping bag and your own towel)
A detailed schedule for the January 2001 retreat is also available.