Weekend Single Day Retreats

No Toys Retreat - With Matthew Daniell

Sat 12/21/19 - 9:30am to 1:00pm

We fill our lives with toys, playthings, and objects. If we remember our relationship to toys as children or the versions of toys, we may fill our lives today with fond memories, or realities of lots of unused stuff.  Did they, and do they actually fill our hearts and minds with lasting happiness in the way we thought they would when we got them? 

In our meditation practice do all of the techniques, inner pep-talks and psychological strategies that we employ work to stabilize and open the heart and mind effectively?  Do they at times become inner toys that we play with but don’t see that they are actually adding complexity to our inner journey, blocking the freshness and joy of clear direct seeing?  Do reading and podcasts and the teacher’s words sometimes become things that block this simplicity as well? 

In this retreat we will emphasize ‘putting away our toys’ and practice together in simple silence without verbal guidance, and with an emphasis on inner simplicity in using the tools for practice we already have.  Exploring this bare bones approach to practice in the shared support of each other’s presence we may find a mature simplicity in moments of being present that is resilient in the face of difficult emotions, nourishing, joyful and wise; no toys needed! 

There will be an extended period for discussion towards the end of the retreat.  This retreat is designed for experienced practitioners.

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Stopping Our Argument With Life - Combo Option - With Rebecca Bradshaw

Fri 01/03/20 - 7:00pm to 8:45pm

This is the combo option which includes Friday's offering, "Why do we like thinking so much and what to do about it" from 7-8:45pm, where Rebecca will lead a sitting followed by a talk and discussion regarding this topic, and then on Saturday morning Rebecca will lead a half day retreat from 9am-12:30 entitled "Stopping Our Argument With Life".  Rebecca will focus on coming out of our thoughts and into sense-based reality, where we can see more clearly the ways that we argue with life. Life always wins! This intimate connection with our own experience offers us the chance to explore where we get stuck and to develop peace with the world as it manifests.

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Choose this option if you want to attend both of Rebecca's offerings on Friday and Saturday.

The weekend program begins with Friday's offering, "Why Do We Like Thinking So Much & What To Do About it" from 7-8:45pm and then continues with Saturday's half day retreat "Stopping Our Argument With Life" running from 9am-12:30pm.

To sign up for Friday's talk only, please go to "Other Offerings" and choose "Why Do We Like Thinking So Much & What To Do About it", or to sign up for just Saturday's half day retreat gp to "Weekend Single Day Retreats" and choose "Stopping Our Argument With Life - Saturday Option".  

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Stopping Our Argument With Life - Saturday Option - With Rebecca Bradshaw

Sat 01/04/20 - 9:00am to 12:30pm

Coming out of our thoughts and into sense-based reality, we see more clearly the ways that we argue with life. Life always wins! This intimate connection with our own experience offers us the chance to explore where we get stuck and to develop peace with the world as it manifests.

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A prelude to today's retreat begins on Friday evening from 7-8:45pm - "Why Do We Like Thinking So Much & What To Do About it".

You can sign up for one or both of Rebecca's weekend offerings. 

To sign up exclusively for the morning half day retreat, you can register below.  To sign up for Friday's talk only, please go to "Other Offerings" and choose ""Why Do We Like Thinking So Much & What To Do About it", or to sign up for both the Friday evening talk and Saturday morning half day, go to "Weekend Single Day Retreats" and choose "Stopping Our Argument With Life - Combo Option".  

To pay by check or read our refund policy, click here

Calm, Still, Quiet: Winter Retreat (changed to Saturday only) - With Chris Crotty

Sat 01/18/20 - 9:00am to 5:00pm

In winter, the stars seem to have rekindled their fires, the moon achieves a fuller triumph, and the heavens wear a look of a more exalted simplicity.

                                                                                 - John Burroughs

Winter is a natural time for turning inward, while retreat provides an opportunity to focus attention on your meditation practice and contemplate the Buddha’s teachings. In this retreat with Chris, the outer stillness of the natural world supports us in quieting our mind, and directly experiencing the calm and stillness of concentration. With a mind free from distraction, we use mindfulness (insight meditation) to investigate the path to peace taught by the Buddha and perfected during retreat practice for over 2500 years. Combining periods of sitting and walking meditation, with Dharma teachings, the winter retreat is held in noble silence.

This retreat is suitable for beginners and ongoing practitioners who wish to further their practice–meditation instruction and dharma teachings will accommodate all experience levels.   

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This "residential weekend" retreat has been changed to a Saturday only retreat due to a scheduling conflict.  We are sorry for the inconvenience.

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The Mindful Moment: A Retreat for Beginning and Newer Students - With Ted Jones

Sat 01/25/20 - 10:00am to 12:30pm

Insight meditation is a time-tested method of mind training that enables us to change our relationship to each moment’s experience, and thus our lives. In this retreat, specially designed for beginners and those with limited meditation experience, we will systematically explore (through sitting and walking meditation periods, teachings, and discussion) how to calm and steady the mind and see more clearly.  As we strengthen this capacity we begin to move from suffering and reactivity to responsiveness, freshness and ease. We learn how to touch and live in the mindful moment.

Read About Ted Jones

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Loving Kindness Retreat - With Matthew Daniell

Sat 02/01/20 - 9:30am to 1:00pm

The Dalai Lama said that “love is a not a luxury, but a necessity,” yet in our hearts we often do not feel love for ourselves or others and we bear the painful consequences.  In this workshop, we will explore time tested Buddhist practices which tap the power of intention through offering phrases of loving kindness (metta) to ourselves and others. When cultivated, loving kindness practice helps us to heal our own hearts by loving ourselves more deeply.  It can also help us touch those in our lives and the world with a deeper sense of love and connection.  All are welcome.

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