The Sufi Alchemical Retreat:
Individually Guided Retreats
guided by Saki Lee
IN PERSON:
Thursday MAY 6 - Thursday MAY 13, 2027
at beautiful Lioba Monastery
Herenweg 85, 1935 AH Egmond Binnen
(for practical info for Lioba go to top of this page and click on section you wish information for)
“I wandered in the pursuit of my own self.
I was the traveller, and I am the destination.”
— Hazrat Inayat Khan
An individual retreat is a sacred pilgrimage — a time to reconnect with the divine presence within yourself. It is an opportunity to step away from the demands, responsibilities, and accelerated pace of daily life, and to make space to listen more deeply to your soul.
Retreat invites us to examine, explore, and embrace the deeper dimensions of our being — those qualities of soul that can become covered over by the noise and distractions of outer life. Through silence, solitude, focused spiritual practice, and the beauty of the natural surroundings at Lioba Monastery, we create conditions that support the unfurling of the quiet guidance and wisdom of the soul, and that which gives true meaning, purpose, and joy to life.
There is also an alchemical process of transformation that unfolds during retreat. Turning inward does not always immediately bring mystical visioning or heavenly attunement. Often, retreat first invites us to encounter ourselves more honestly — both our light and our shadows.
If we are willing to embrace the whole of who we are, retreat can become something like the training of a mountaineer preparing for a summit climb. It becomes an opportunity to cultivate discipline, inner stamina, resilience, and trust — developing the inner resources that help us navigate life’s challenges with greater wisdom, presence, and faith.
My teacher, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, often referred to retreat as a “dress rehearsal for daily life.” Within a sacred and protected environment, retreat offers space for healing, renewal, inspiration, and a deepened trust in the guidance that quietly emerges from within.
At Lioba Monastery, retreat unfolds within a peaceful and contemplative setting that supports silence, reflection, spiritual practice, and renewal. Each retreat is individually shaped according to your intentions, life circumstances, and spiritual needs, while offering enough spaciousness for your own inner rhythm to emerge naturally.
Individual retreats may include:
• Silence and contemplative practice
• Sufi meditation and breath practices
• Sacred music, prayer, and zhikr
• Reflection and journaling
• Inner listening and guidance
• Spiritual healing and attunement
• Soul renewal and deep rest
• Integration of life’s transitions and challenges
This is the only seven-day individual retreat being offered at Lioba Monastery this year. Participation is limited to eight participants, so early registration is recommended.
Please visit the Pages Menu for further information.
Those joining the retreat will receive a pre-retreat questionnaire which should be completed and returned one week before the retreat begins.
May this time apart become a sacred threshold — a remembering of who you are beneath the noise of daily life, and a gentle return to the quiet wisdom that has always lived within you.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ONLINE RETREATS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR ACCORDING TO AVAILABILITY. CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE SITE
About Saki Lee
Saki Lee has been a student of Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan since 1974 and has devoted much of her life to the contemplative and mystical dimensions of the Sufi path. Deeply inspired by the retreat work developed by Pir Vilayat and further elaborated by Pir Zia Inayat Khan, she guides individual and group retreats that integrate silence, spiritual practice, inner listening, and soul renewal.
She serves as a senior teacher and guide within the Inayatiyya International and mentors retreat guides in both Alchemical Retreat and Healing Retreat approaches. Her work weaves together Sufi mysticism, contemplative practice, sacred music, breath practices, and pathways of inner transformation.
Saki has long been involved in leadership and training within the Inner School and continues to support spiritual development, retreat work, and the unfolding journey of mureeds on the path. Her deepest joy lies in accompanying others in discovering greater attunement to the soul’s wisdom and guidance.
Alongside her spiritual work, she has remained dedicated to sacred activism and service. As former Vice President of the Kinship concentration for Europe, she continues to support humanitarian initiatives, including refugee work, and hosts benefit world music gatherings in the Netherlands as a way of making love, harmony, and beauty more visible in the world.
Sacred music, community singing, spiritual guidance, and the Dances of Universal Peace remain central threads in her life and work.