An active meditation retreat that focuses on body, speech and mind

Our lineage of modern awakening draws its roots from the cutting edge teachings of Namgyal Rinpoche. Clear Sky Retreat Center is delighted to host this retreat based on Namgyal’s incredible dharma and therapeutic tools for awakening, drawing on the collection of his teachings, Body, Speech and Mind, transcribed by Cecile Kwiat.  The retreat dates are December 31-January 17th.

Retreat Overview

Ever wish there were a manual for how to be the best person you could be? Namgyal Rinpoche’s Body Speech and Mind could be that book: it’s best described as a seminal manual for evolutionary human development.

While largely “Buddhist” in content, Body Speech and Mind is Universalist in intention and humanist in scope.

These teachings show us how to understand the essence of Mind, particularly as it manifests in our day-to-day world. In turn we learn how that understanding helps us to unfold as richer, clearer and more integrated people. It maps out a truly creative path for the awakening of human society.

At Clear Sky and through Planet Dharma, we embody this through our practice and training, particularly our Awakening through Action (Karma Yoga) programs. This retreat will cover the theory of as well as solitary and group meditation practice itself, with a taste of the Awakening Through Action via daily mutual support for the optimal functioning of the retreat.

Course Outcomes

What will be covered in this course?

The backbone of both this book and this retreat consists of the Satipatthana Sutta, The Four Foundations of Mindfulness Sutra.

What will this learning do for me?

Satipatthana practice both broadens and deepens awareness. It is often called “mindfulness,” but mindfulness can be passive and unfocused. Our practice pushes the envelope of what “mindfulness” means: it  trains us to be ever more mindful of how we’re feeling, what we’re doing and how we’re manifesting, and also to be mindful of being mindful. As such, we suggest the term intentional awareness: we are not only aware, but aware of being aware. It is mindfulness with a kick.

So what difference does being more aware make?

As humans we live in four worlds. We live in an environmental matrix of earth, water, air and fire, upon which all life depends. We live in a social world of interdependence that requires clear communication and compassionate engagement for a balanced and harmonious life, including our interactions with many other species. We live in an economic world that allocates resources and assigns values. Lastly, we live in an unseen and unnamed spiritual world.

To claim our birthright as human beings, we need to be skilled in all four world, particularly the last one. This last world raises our eyes from the merely mundane, so we can perceive mysterious and sublime phenomena and qualities. These nourish our souls, inspire us to gracefully navigate the challenges of the other three worlds, and generally make life worth living.

How will this help my life?

Body, Speech and Mind offers us a map, an atlas, a schematic and a system. Through the four worlds, it focuses our spiritual aspirations to enliven and enrich, to strengthen and cherish, and to guide and predict our awakening—and by implication, our evolutionary future. This is how we shape our own evolution, and that of the planet.

In retreat we’ll undertake exercises for each of the four foundations of mindfulness: awareness of the body, awareness of the feelings, awareness of states of mind, and awareness of contents of mind.

This more all-embracing and widely-encompassing awareness is then applied in all four of our worlds (environmental, social, economic and spiritual).

We then integrate the awareness cultivated on the cushion with that developed through exercises during retreat. The integration allows us to take what we learn on the meditation cushion back into our day-to-day lives. This enhances and embellishes our sense of accomplishment and confidence in all that we do: our relationships, our work and how we offer our gifts to the world.

Supported by this powerful inner work, we’re empowered to make a difference in the world during these critical transitional times. More and more we become positive role models of transformation who can wield the tools that support others to join us on this transcendental journey.

More Details

International retreatants are recommended to arrive on Fri Dec 30 to help overcome jet lag before retreat starts.

The retreat will start with a bonfire on the night of Dec 31, 2016.

Body, Speech and Mind is part of Planet Dharma’s Year of Victory program and is also the title of a book by Namgyal Rinpoche, an incredible body of work that is subtitled “a manual for human development”.

Please note that all retreat balances are due Nov 30.