Exploring the Dimensions of Self and No-Self

Throughout our lives, we seem to be asking the question, "Who am I?" Just when we think we may have a clear answer, the question becomes "Who am I not?" How perplexing!

Having a healthy self-image and knowing that we create our own reality is essential for our psychological well-being. At the same time, knowing who we are beyond our own creations is essential for our spiritual well-being.

This retreat will explore the dimensions of self and no-self through various meditations, contemplations, dharma talks, and teacher conferences. It will be a journey into the realm of time, space, and emptiness.

The Non-Dual Dimension of Life

There is only One Truth and it cannot be defined, explained, or put into words because it is beyond concept. It is beyond concept because concepts only define that which can be compared - those things that are dualistic in nature.

In the West, we use the word God to point to this Truth. The problem is that people then believe that there is such a "thing" as God, which is merely another concept. In the East, terms such as Buddha Nature, Buddha Mind, the Ground of Being, the Tao, the Void, and Nirvana fare no better. We are not saying that there is no Truth. It is just that words or concepts are not the Truth itself - they just point to it.

The focus of this retreat is to experience profound practices from the various spiritual traditions that support our ability to see through our mental constructs and enable us to have a direct experience of this "non-dual" Truth. We will explore practices from Theravadan, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism; from Mystical Judaism and Christianity; and from the Hindu Vedanta tradition. There will also be time for individual conferences with the teacher.

Cultivating True Intimacy

We have many relationships throughout our lives. However, we rarely experience these relationships without some form of psychological distortion. We frequently project our personal issues onto other individuals, sometimes reacting to them as if they were our parents, or other authority figures from our childhood. As a result of our projections and distortions, relationships are excellent mirrors that reflect where we truly are in our psychological and spiritual development.

Some paths focus on the mind, and some on the heart. Working with relationships as a spiritual practice requires us to focus on both. For relationships to be a path to awakening, we must be present during every moment of our shared experience. Although it is important to use all our relationships to support our spiritual development, it is essential to work with the ones we consider to be significant or "committed."

The foundation of a relationship designed to support spiritual awakening is the mutual intention to create an experience of intimacy. Intimacy can be thought of as the capacity to express our innermost truth within the context of our relationships. It is the ability to be authentic and self-disclosing. The better we are able to deal with self-exposure and the fear of rejection, the greater is the possibility of developing intimacy in our relationships.

Intimacy requires us to become warriors of the heart, remaining present with whatever difficulties may arise as we relate to others from this deep and open space. This can be a frightening idea for those who have experienced past betrayals, and are reluctant to expose themselves to additional emotional pain. We must learn to deal with these difficulties by developing a heart filled with compassion.

During this retreat there will be workshop activities, group discussions, contemplations, meditations, and private meetings with the teacher. This experience will focus on transforming our significant relationships, no matter how challenging they may be, to enable them to support and enhance our spiritual development."

Balancing the Mind and Heart

There are many myths associated with the birth and life of enlightened beings. Regardless of how unusual their lives are reported to be, as we read their stories it becomes apparent that prior to realizing their inherent divinity, they had to fully embrace their humanity.

Many meditators focus on the transcendent aspect of their practice and may neglect to balance the development of their wisdom with the cultivation of an open heart. This leads to experiencing a "glass ceiling" in terms of their spiritual development, where progress is halted because they are unaware of a blind spot in their practice.

This retreat will focus on developing a balance between wisdom and an open and loving heart. During the retreat there will be meditation instructions, dharma talks, and teacher conferences.

Erasing the Boundaries to Freedom

You have probably heard the statement, "You are already free," from one or more spiritual mentors. If that statement is true, why do we still experience confusion, emotionality, and reactivity? It may be because we are not seeing things as they really are.

There are two realities: conventional - how things appear to be, and ultimate - how things are in their own nature. To erase the boundaries to freedom, we are not denying the appearance of things such as our body, our mind, or our life's circumstances. Mere appearance does not cause suffering. To experience our inherent freedom, we need to stop clinging to appearances as if they were the ultimate realities of life.

This retreat will focus on differentiating between conventional and ultimate realities. We will practice meditations and contemplations designed to expose the ways in which we cling to concepts and beliefs that cloud our vision of ultimate truth. There will also be opportunities for teacher conferences.

The Bare Bones of Buddhist Practice

The focus of this retreat will be on reviewing the Buddha's Path to Purification as described in the Theravadan tradition. We will start with the basic meditations, the bare bones of what the Buddha taught. We will then move, step by step, through the more advanced practices and the corresponding Insight Knowledges that are the marrow of the Buddha's teaching. There will also be time for individual teacher conferences.

Self-Retreats

The original spiritual model for working with students was to develop a strong student/teacher relationship. The student would live with the teacher for days, weeks, months or even years. During that time, the teacher would begin to deeply understand the mind of the student, and the student would learn to trust the teacher's guidance.

Cultivating this type of teaching relationship is very difficult when the student is part of a large group, receives the same instructions as everyone else, meets with the teacher infrequently, and hears answers to questions other students ask that might be answered differently if addressed specifically to them.

The focus of a self-retreat is on supporting each participant in his or her quest for clarity and an open heart. There will be an individual meeting with the teacher each day and an optional question and answer session every evening. Aside from these events and scheduled meal times, each student will find his or her own practice rhythm for the retreat. A unique opportunity!