the Fall retreat with santikaro— Online, on Zoom

A wall painting at Buddhadasa Bhikkhu’s Garden of Liberation, Santikaro’s spiritual home, shows a meditator sitting peacefully in a huge serpent’s mouth. This image challenges us to find our way of living balanced and relaxed among the many dangerous fangs of the world. 

The many pairs of opposites, whether seeming positive or negative, are creations of perception and opinion that can lead away from the Middle Way of Non-Suffering. Pursuing them knocks us off course. 

To avoid the fangs of duality, the practice of kindness, ethics, composure, insight, and equanimity allows us to live with peaceful balance rather than driven by our likes and dislikes. Journeying the path of understanding, insight, and non-clinging, we find joy, serenity, and composure right here in this present reality, no matter how difficult or exciting.

This retreat will explore these themes within noble silence, friendly sangha, sitting and walking meditation, and mindful living.

The retreat is suitable for beginner and advanced practitioners alike.

At-Home Retreat Information

Teaching will take place online via Zoom. Download Zoom here. If you already have Zoom, please make sure it is updated to the latest version.

The Zoom container provides support for those of us who are able to dedicate each retreat day to meditation practice. For those with pre-existing commitments (care-giving, medical appointments) the online sessions support a more meditative and reflective container for fulfilling our outer responsibilities, while we also set aside time for our spiritual commitments.

Prior to the retreat, you will receive Zoom information, as well as a link to a "home page" that will contain the retreat schedule as well as other details. The sessions will be recorded and recordings posted to the home page each day.

Daily Schedule

There will be Four Zoom sessions each day. Please incorporate walking meditation, contemplation, study, and reflection on your own, as you are able.

6:30-7:00 am (on your own) Loosening and Limbering (eg. yoga, qi gong)

7:00-8:00 am (Zoom) Guided meditation

10:00-11:00 am (Zoom) Group silent meditation followed by Questions for Reflection Practice

1:30-3:00 pm (Zoom) Silent meditation followed by Q&A

7:00-8:30 pm (Zoom) Dhamma talk followed by silent meditation*Sunday ends at 3pm

Registration Fee

There is a $50 non-refundable fee that will be donated to Kevala Retreat (Santikaro's practice center). This fee is to encourage commitment to full participation. No one will be refused because of inability to pay this fee. Please email us if you cannot afford the fee so that we can make other arrangements.

Dana

In addition to the registration fee, Santikaro and Kevala retreat are entirely dependent on your practice of dana (giving). Dana is a millennia-old system of reciprocity and interdependence which supports teachers and centers while allowing Dhamma offerings to be made accessible to all. Please plan to contribute according to your means, at the conclusion of the retreat. For more information on dana, go here.

If you have any questions, please contact us at events@insightchicago.org

Santikaro studied with Ajahn Buddhadasa during the last nine years of his life, became his primary translator, and continues to share his "naturalist" approach to Buddha-Dhamma. Ordained as a Theravada Bhikkhu in 1985, Santikaro spent most of his monastic life at Suan Mokkh (southern Thailand). During this time, he led Dawn Kiam, a small monastic community for foreigners and was active among socially engaged Buddhists in Asia. He returned to the USA in 2000 and left monastic life in 2004 to found Kevala Retreat (then Liberation Park). His understanding of life has been enhanced by the Enneagram, feminism, cancer recovery, and trauma healing. He continues to teach nationally and internationally, and to translate the work of his teacher. He teaches Buddhism and meditation with an emphasis on the early Pali sources. He has led meditation retreats for more than thirty-five years, with a special fondness for mindfulness with breathing.

Read more about Kevala Retreat at www.kevalaretreat.org