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Authentic Presence: Reawakening Spiritual Confidence In-Person Retreat
July 1, 2023 - July 14, 2023
A two-week meditation retreat offered in partnership with The Wisdom Seat, the Open Heart Project, and Drala Mountain Center
Susan Piver, joined by Michael Carroll and Loden Nyima, will guide participants during this special retreat.
Our modern life presents us with a profound spiritual paradox: while we build remarkable technology, impressive resources, and growing prosperity, we also encounter a world filled with numbing devices, growing anxiety and distressing poverty. We build fresh, inspiring human connections around the world via social media, yet we are haunted by incessant digital reminders to become a better version of ourselves — faster, smarter, richer, better looking, and more productive. We humans are building a miraculous world, yet, somehow, we find our confusion, fear and anxiety blossoming as well.
Exploring such a paradox need not be so distressing, however. In fact, maybe such circumstances are inviting us to reawaken our spiritual confidence. Drawing on the profound Mahayana tradition of the Bodhisattva, this retreat will explore such questions as:
- How can formless meditation help us rediscover our natural confidence?
- How can we skillfully offer compassion, wisdom, and dignity to a world in need of our help?
- Why is the “wisdom of a broken heart” so central to the practice of meditation?
- Is meditation a “socially responsible gesture”? and if so, why?
- What is “threefold boredom” and how can it help tame modern-day speed and aggression?
In this two-week retreat, we will practice formless meditation intensively, exploring techniques passed down through Mahayana Buddhism and the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Refuge and Bodhisattva Vows will be offered.
Participants can expect a deep, contemplative environment, focused primarily on six to eight hours of daily meditation practice with supportive talks and interviews. There will also be time for rest and connecting with nature.