The Heart of Mindfulness: 4-Night Silent Meditation Retreat

RETREAT BY INVITED PRESENTER

As the year and all its intensity come to a close, we invite you to join us for a contemplative and spacious meditation retreat on this beautiful campus. Creating a nourishing pause before the demands of the holiday season and the start of a new year, we will rest and restore our nervous systems, enliven and deepen our meditation practice, and give ourselves the gift of a winter solstice reset. 

STAY SAFE DURING COVID-19: We are committed to your health and safety. As a Space2Meditate community, we request that all attendees be fully vaccinated, in order to minimize risks. Masks indoors will be optional, but encouraged, and we will ask retreatants to take a rapid home test prior to arriving at the retreat center. Please read Dharmakaya’s COVID-19 Precautions & Preparations to understand our additional strategies.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Heart of Mindfulness is a 7-day silent meditation retreat that emphasizes an embodied and integrated understanding of mindfulness. We share the practices on the premise that anyone in a human form can access them, with simultaneous deep respect and acknowledgment of the Buddhist roots and Asian lineages that have stewarded this wisdom for countless generations.

The daily schedule will integrate sitting and walking meditation, mindful movement and periods of informal practice, all held within the container of noble silence. The retreat leaders will offer meditation instruction and talks aimed at illuminating the foundational principles of mindfulness, drawing significantly from Buddhism’s early canon, such as the Ānāpānasati Sutta and Satipaṭṭhāna Suttas. Participants will have an opportunity to meet with the retreat leaders in a small group setting to discuss their experience and ask questions. 

A NOTE ON SILENCE

A willingness to explore the practice of collective silence is expected, as the retreat will be held in noble silence. This includes the temporary renunciation of electronic devices – some call this “detox”!  We will have wake up bells for morning meditation. Such silence and the lessening of input allow for our meditation to deepen, and our nervous systems to unwind in ways that are typically impossible in our busy lives. Silence is a rare and nourishing gift we can offer each other. Teachers will be offering instruction and talks, and there will be opportunities for Q&A as well as meditation interviews. 

RETREAT HIGHLIGHTS

• A spacious schedule, including unstructured time for rest, walks in nature and just being
• A range of meditation practices rooted in the Buddhist tradition and designed to train the mind and cultivate the heart
• Dharma talks exploring the themes of the retreat
• Interactive sessions with question and answer periods
• Small group meditation interviews with the teachers
• Silent and guided meditations
• Mindful movement sessions
• Opportunities for Buddhist chanting and ritual
• A closing listening circle
• Delicious all-vegetarian meals with locally sourced ingredients
• Non-silent meals at the start and end of the retreat, to ease in and out of silence.
• Expansive wooded grounds with beautiful paths, flora and fauna
• Option to extend your stay for Personal Retreat

OPEN TO ALL MEDITATORS

The retreat is open to meditators who yearn for the nourishment of deep silence. It assumes prior meditation experience and some degree of regular practice. It can be suitable as a first silent meditation retreat who are ready for an immersive experience, as well as for those with extensive “time on the cushion” and knowledge of the teachings. Furthermore, we will explore the themes in ways that are meaningful for all, whether anchored in the Buddhist tradition, in other traditions, or no tradition at all. 

This retreat can be a qualifying retreat for participants planning to pursue MBSR teacher training and most other teacher training pathways.

SCHEDULE

(subject to change)

Monday, December 11

Tuesday, December 12 -Thursday, December 14

Friday, December 15