Darkroom Retreat 2025 : In-Depth Taoist Practices

About the Darkroom Retreat

This is the most awaited event for anyone willing to try and experience in-depth Taoist practices with Grandmaster Mantak Chia! These workshop practices take place in the Darkroom designed according to Taoist traditions. During the workshop, you will be completely free from any external light source (except Day 1) and you will have 3 meals a day according to Taoist Pi Gu diet.

In the darkness, you can enter a primordial state —accessing spiritual and psychic realms of consciousness and reuniting with your true self. You become a conductor of universal energy as the darkness activates the deepest centers of the brain, the glands in the Crystal Palace.

Pi Gu Fasting Diet includes Taoist practices, energy meditations, and specific ways of chewing food. This Darkroom Pi Gu state gives tremendous healing power.

You will get step-by-step explanations and guidance on meditations to quieten your mind and give your body an incredible rest, supporting its natural rejuvenation. 

Join us for 1, 2 or 3 weeks in Tao Garden, Chiang Mai (Thailand).

Recommendations for the Darkroom Retreat

Basic knowledge of Fundamental practices such as Cosmic Inner Smile, Six Healing Sounds, Fusion of the Five Elements, Microcosmic Orbit, Iron Shirt Qigong, and Tao Yin, which bring the body into a state of balance and tuning. A physically fit vehicle is the foundation stone from which to launch astral travel into multi-dimensional orbits and higher cortical activity. If you haven’t already taken Fundamental Practices earlier, we recommend doing so and attend Winter Retreat. Learn more about Winter Retreat. 

During the darkness retreat, you will be completely free from any external light source and all types of animal and dairy protein except for egg-whites to cover your body’s protein and calcium needs. Chlorophylle will be provided daily. Juices, sesame, herbal detox teas, vegetable broth and fruits will be provided to you 3 times per day.

All participants are encouraged to engage in a healthy preparatory diet and bowel cleansing process starting 4 weeks before the retreat. Diet should be rich in Vitamin D, beta-carotene like choleric, calcium (2,000 gm), magnesium (500 mg), and zinc (20 mg/day).

We recommend eating less food 1 week before arrival and check-in at the Tao Garden at least 2 days before the retreat (for additional fee, please contact [email protected]) to prepare the body, clean the colon and do the recommended blood tests (optional).

Tao Garden Darkness facility

Master Chia researched modern Darkness technologies for many years. He made visits to darkness retreats in other countries, to gain insights on the best designs for meditation and for comfort. Eventually, the Tao Garden Darkness building was constructed, based on all available information and latest technologies. The facility is the perfect Inner Alchemy Chamber, conducive to meditation and providing comforts and necessities for up to 60 people.

The Tao Garden Darkness is enclosed and encased in a light and sound-proof sheath. The building is constructed of bricks made from the red earth of Thailand, containing all of the properties of natural rock in a cave. The earth was mined and hydraulically pressed into bricks, thus preserving the constituent elements and minerals of the parent materials. The Mother Earth power is retained in the modern structure.

The facility consists of a large, central meeting room for meditation and for dining. Two tiers of bedrooms surround the central area, each with a private bath. The entire facility is ventilated with fresh air intakes and air conditioning systems.

The Universal Healing Tao Darkness is currently the largest and most advanced Darkness meditation facility in the world.

What is Pi Gu?

Pi Gu is an ancient Taoist method of fasting for spiritual and healing purposes. It translates from Chinese as “stop eating grain.”

Used by ancient Taoist masters during their months or years of solitary retreat in pursuit of enlightenment, the practice centers on a simple diet of fruits, teas, nuts, and eggs paired with special chewing techniques. 

During the Pi Gu state, the need for food decreases yet the body’s energy levels actually increase. The body gathers Qi (Life force) not from food but from Taoist practices and the “golden elixir” produced by the special chewing practices. This Qi charges your internal organs, activating the body’s natural healing abilities and enabling you to draw energies from the Earth and Universe. In the pi gu state the body automatically balances itself, the mind is more relaxed, and sleep improves.

During the workshop you will be served with specially prepared food to meetthe particular requirements of the body, mind, and spirit in attaining the goals of darkness enlightenment. Fresh juices and soups are served for breakfast and a light organic meal is served in the afternoon. You will also get special herbal detox tea and supplements prepared according to Taoist Darkroom traditions.