Our goal in this practice is not to extinguish all thoughts, but to change our relationship to the thinking mind, maybe even befriend it. There's a lot we can learn about different kinds of thoughts and their impact—those that are skillful or unskillful, those that lead to happiness or to suffering. Imagine that your mind is a blank screen on which these thoughts are projected and just be interested in this process. Thoughts are not the enemy, they’re a naturally arising phenomenon in the mind. We're just trying to learn about them, how they work, and how this world gets created for us through them.
Anushka Fernandopulle
Residential Retreat Teacher
Anushka Fernandopulle is a Spirit Rock Core Teacher who has trained for over 35 years in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. Anushka studied Buddhism at Harvard College and then spent four years in full-time Dharma and meditation training in monasteries and retreat centers in the US, India and Sri Lanka. Anushka was invited to teach Dharma in 1998 and later graduated from a four year retreat teacher training program with Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Carol Wilson and other leading Western Buddhist meditation teachers from IMS and Spirit Rock.
Anushka teaches retreats and workshops around the world, including in South America, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. Her teaching is informed by nature, creative arts, political engagement and modern urban life. Anushka has taught Spirit Rock's monthlong retreat, Metta retreat and in multiyear study programs like Dedicated Practitioner's Program and Advanced Practitioner's Program.
Anushka lives in San Francisco and also works as a leadership coach and management consultant, influenced by a BA from Harvard, an MBA from Yale and certification in professional Coaching. She has served on many nonprofit boards as well as serving as a mayoral appointee on a San Francisco City Commission. She has been engaged with movements for social justice and civil rights throughout her life. Her writing has been featured in publications like Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, Turning Wheel, Inquiring Mind, and the Huffington Post.
Anushka Fernandopulle's Upcoming Programs
Retreat | On-Land
November 1 - November 6, 2026 | Sunday - Friday | 5 nights
Finding True Refuge: A Retreat for the LGBTQIA+ and GNC Community
For those who identify as LGBTQIA+. Spaces Still Available! Explore Buddhist practices and teachings of liberation in our LGBTQIA+ and GNC (Gender Non-Conforming) community. Together, we will practice mindfulness and heart-fulness, embracing all of our experience with loving awareness and deep acceptance. There will be an emphasis on cultivating a continuity of awareness in all activities (sitting, stillness, standing, walking, movement, eating) with a relaxed and gentle presence. Through these practices, we will explore what true refuge means for us individually and for our community.
Retreat | On-Land
February 2 - March 28, 2027 | Tuesday - Sunday | 54 nights
2027 Insight Meditation 2-Month Retreat - Application
Application Open! An extended period of retreat offers the rare opportunity for sustained, dedicated practice. This retreat emphasizes quieting the mind, opening the heart, and developing profound clarity and depth of Insight practice. Instruction will follow the traditional Four Foundations of Mindfulness combined with training in lovingkindness and compassion, and practice will be structured around a daily schedule of silent sitting, walking, Dharma talks, and practice meetings with teachers.
Tara Mulay
Tempel Smith
Tuere Sala
Anushka Fernandopulle
Devin Berry
Guy Armstrong
Susie Harrington
Mei Elliott
Kodo Conlin
Kirsten Rudestam
Rasika Link (Movement Teacher)
Teresa Todoroff (Movement Teacher)
Namu (Teacher in Training)
Rae Houseman (Teacher in Training)
Mia Monos (Teacher in Training)
Adam Stonebraker (Teacher in Training)
Retreat | On-Land
February 2 - March 1, 2027 | Tuesday - Monday | 27 nights
2027 February Insight Meditation 1-Month Retreat - Application
Application Open! In this rare opportunity for sustained, dedicated practice, this extended retreat emphasizes opening the heart and developing profound clarity of insight. The teachings will encompass training in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and the heart qualities of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, with a daily schedule structured around periods of silent meditation, guided instructions, Dharma talks, practice meetings with teachers, and optional mindful movement.
Tara Mulay
Tempel Smith
Tuere Sala
Anushka Fernandopulle
Devin Berry
Rasika Link (Movement Teacher)
Namu (Teacher in Training)
Rae Houseman (Teacher in Training)
Retreat | On-Land
July 7 - July 25, 2027 | Wednesday - Sunday | 18 nights
18-night Retreat: Summer LovingKindness & Insight Retreats
Registration Open. For those seeking an extended retreat experience this summer, we encourage you to consider attending both the Summer Lovingkindness Retreat (July 8–17) and the Summer Insight Retreat (July 17–26) as one continuous 18-night retreat. These two retreats are intentionally designed to complement one another, offering a rare opportunity to deepen in both heart and wisdom practices.
This combined retreat supports a natural progression in the meditative path: cultivating lovingkindness (mettā), the brahmavihāras, and samādhi as a foundation, followed by insight practices (vipassanā) grounded in that settled, compassionate presence. Teachers see this integration as essential. Uniting these practices brings enhanced clarity and depth to both. While each retreat may be attended on its own, we strongly recommend that practitioners who are ready for a longer commitment join both as one cohesive training. BOTH retreats are silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups meetings, or other practice meetings.
Tempel Smith
Anushka Fernandopulle
John Martin
Bonnie Duran
bruni dávila
Pawan Bareja
Marcy Reynolds (Movement Teacher)
Retreat | On-Land
July 7 - July 16, 2027 | Wednesday - Friday | 9 nights
Summer LovingKindness Retreat
Registration Open. The Buddha’s liberating teachings on the four divine sanctuaries (brahmavihāras) include meditations on universal friendliness (mettā), compassion (karuā), altruistic joy (muditā), and equanimity (upekkhā). Aimed at purifying our hearts and developing concentration (samādhi), these divine sanctuaries aid our ability to both find inner peace and powerfully engage with the world. This silent retreat will deepen our understanding of selfless love and its role in ending suffering. This retreat is silent except for small groups meetings and other practice meetings with teachers.
Tempel Smith
Anushka Fernandopulle
John Martin
bruni dávila
Pawan Bareja
Marcy Reynolds (Movement Teacher)
Retreat | On-Land
July 16 - July 25, 2027 | Friday - Sunday | 9 nights
Summer Insight Meditation Retreat
Registration Open. The Buddha's unique Insight meditation techniques open a direct experience with our human mind and body, allowing us to deeply see into the nature of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self. Having these direct insights uproots the ignorance keeping us trapped in repetitive cycles of suffering. This retreat is silent except for small groups meetings with teachers.
Tempel Smith
Bonnie Duran
Anushka Fernandopulle
bruni dávila
Pawan Bareja
Marcy Reynolds (Movement Teacher)
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Anushka Fernandopulle through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.