Meditation in its broadest meaning is the cultivation of mind and heart in search of the most important thing life has to offer. On the cushion and walking, we cultivate qualities of heart and mind that are less commonly found in the hustle and bustle of modern life. As meditation supports and enhances all aspects of life — behavior, personality, love, work, service, and our truest needs — these become opportunities for the meditative path as well.
The Buddha awakened through a Noble Quest. He sought the wisest, most effective response to the primal concern of his time — suffering. He needed a profound inquiry enabled by resolution, clear thinking, and supreme focus. With all pre-existing answers coming up short, he opened his mind radically through paying careful attention to the nature of mind-body processes.
The Buddha left us teachings that share what he learned from the path of liberation. The noble eightfold path outlines and structures these perspectives brilliantly. In the moments when we bring the same commitment to inquiry and openness to our exploration of the noble eightfold path, we too awaken and are free.
This retreat provides ample opportunity for sitting meditation and walking in whatever space you have chosen in which to practice this online retreat. While this pandemic is raging, we will make use of the free app/software Zoom to forge our sangha. Noble eightfold path teachings will be used for inquiry and reflection. Opportunities to send questions to Santikaro via the chat function in Zoom will be available. Even online, we wil create a sangha of similarly intentioned friends who support each other.
This will be an online retreat, in which you will participate using the Zoom app for phones or tablets which is freely available from your app store, or the Zoom Client for Meetings for computer uses available for download from the Zoom website (https://zoom.us/download), also free.
This retreat will extend from Thursday June 4th at 10 AM to Sunday June 7th at 1 PM.
Being online means that a schedule will be provided that we will follow and which will delineate the times during which we will receive talks from Santikaro, sit for meditation, engage in walking meditation or other meditate practices, or break for meals or evening sleep. There will be opportunities using the chat function in Zoom to forward questions that will be answered by either the host (technical questions) or Santikaro (dharma questions). Each of us will therefore be even more self-disciplined than we would normally be at a physical retreat, hopefully a great benefit for us practitioners.
After you register, Santikaro will send more details and suggestions. A few days before the retreat begins, we will send necessary Zoom information for joining the meetings.
Tickets will cost $115. This will be the cost whether you attend for all four days (recommended) or only a few of them.
This will be the first ICMC online retreat – and we look forward to the rich practice experience it will offer us!