Daily hour practice isn't cutting it for me, so I've been looking around for retreats. I've done a 10-day Goenka retreat before, and enjoyed it, but personally felt we jumped into vipassana too quickly, reminded frequently via audio to focus on the scanning.

Is there a retreat that just focuses on building concentration/samatha?

Preferably: Intensive practice (many hours of meditation / day) that, if done with the right effort, would lead towards access concentration and jhanas? (I'm aware "goals" are self-defeating, but I'd like to really nail down the practice/process that happens to be oriented in that direction... want to sharpen my concentration first before really going at vipassana).

Preferences:

• No air pollution
• Range 20-30 days (My thinking: best do something more than 10 days, less than 6 months before committing to a long retreat
• Good teachers
• Not too expensive

Not sure if it is too expensive but....


http://www.leighb.com/meditate.htm

Can always apply for scholarship funds through the open dharma foundation - https://opendharmafoundation.org/

This is awesome and timely! Literally just got Brasington's book today from the library. Have you taken one of those retreats?

And the Open Dharma Foundation looks awesome