Volunteer
Thank you for your interest in volunteering!
Apply for a Volunteer Position
- Volunteer: Fill out a Volunteer Application for the various volunteer positions.
Current Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities
- These change regularly, please fill out a Volunteer Application even if nothing is listed that works for you.
- Audio Editor/Upload Dharma Talks: This is done remotely, no need to be at IRC. This is a shared job so can easily accommodate time away.
- 1-2 hours after each retreat. Usually 1-2 retreats per month.
- Occasional light editing (such as trimming beginning silence) and use of Google Sheets.
- Handyperson: a local person to help our Facilities Manager with repairs and maintenance of the center. One or two days a month.
- Online Retreat Manager: Co-hosting the Zoom sessions and supporting the yogis and teachers as needed.
- Essential to be tech savvy and available to serve for 2-3 retreats each year.
- There are 2 managers one serving the “morning” and the other taking over at 1:30 pm Pacific time. East Coast managers would take the morning part.
- Prerequisite: participation in two weeklong online retreats with Insight Retreat Online. See here for more info.
- Technology Support, Onsite: Someone who lives locally to support IRC’s computer systems, network and recording/audio system.
- Web Developer: Implement and test, back & front-end WordPress features and plugins. Understanding of WordPress and some combinations of HTML, CSS, PHP, SQL and JavaScript. Linux and Ansible helpful. Part of a team. There are variable options on time required.
Come to IRC for a Work Day!
- Monthly Work Day: RSVP here. A time to help care for IRC and to meet other fellow volunteers. You can help with either indoor or garden tasks. For monthly reminders, JOIN our work day email list.
Resident Trainee Dharma Program (RTDP):
IRC offers a program for a limited number of practitioners who wish to deepen their Buddhist practice by living in a residential setting with a focus on Dharma service. There are usually between 6 and 8 such “resident trainees” at any given time, and the program requires a one-year commitment; depending on circumstances, it may be extended for up to three years.
The program is an opportunity for training, growth, and maturation in Buddhist practice and sangha life. Service work and training includes supporting retreats and retreatants and helping to maintain the facility. The program includes participating in formal Buddhist practice (e.g., meditation instruction, Dharma talks, and meetings with teachers) and Sangha practice (including Dharma and community meetings and living under Buddhist community guidelines). The resident training is based on the Dharma principle that everything is practice.
Like all programs at IMC and IRC, this residential program is offered without charge to individuals who are accepted into the program. It includes room and board at the IRC center in Santa Cruz, supplemented by an optional scholarship generally in the form of a $250 per month stipend to cover incidental personal expenses.
In the Resident Trainee Dharma Program, one’s immersive Buddhist training and voluntary service are inseparable, making retreat practice available to the larger community.
Click here for more information and/or contact newrtteam@insightretreatcenter.org
- Requirement: Three years of dedicated Buddhist practice, participation in at least one IRC residential retreat, and a one year commitment.
- Fill out a Resident Trainee Application.
- Note: Here and elsewhere, the terms Resident Trainees (RTs) and Resident Volunteers (RVs) are used interchangeably to describe the participants in the RTDP.
Service Leaders:
Five Service Leaders, experienced retreat practitioners, both sit the retreat and serve the retreat in leadership positions as cooks and managers. For more information, see Service Leader Descriptions.
If after reading the descriptions, you are interested in periodically serving IRC retreats, please fill out a Volunteer Application.
Questions? Contact volunteer@insightretreatcenter.org