Sustainable Living Retreat (26 Nov – 6 Dec @ Dharmalaya)

2012 work retreat

What: Residential Retreat and Service-Learning Workshop
Topic: Sustainable Living in the Himalayas
Where: Dharmalaya Institute in HP, India
When: 26 November – 6 December 2014
Language: English (and Hindi if requested)
Facilitators: Mark Moore, Sourabh Phadke, et al.

Description: A ten-day inner/outer adventure in sustainable and compassionate living, providing opportunities for hands-on learning of various skills and concepts related to traditional earthen building, organic gardening, and natural landscaping, integrated with mindfulness, meditation and other inner explorations.

Workshops and groups sessions may include the following:

  • Hands-on education in traditional earthen architecture of the Himalayas
  • Natural landscaping and organic gardening
  • Meditation and yoga/chi kung (morning/evening sessions)

Cost: Rs 1200 per day (Rs 12,000 total) including comfortable tent/dormitory accommodation and healthy meals.

Information & Registration
For details and registration, visit the Dharmalaya Institute’s website.

Sustainable Living Work Retreat (25 Mar – 4 Apr @ Dharmalaya)

2012 work retreat

What: Service-Learning Retreat with SanghaSeva
Topic: Living in Balance: Contemplation, Compassion, and Sustainability
WhereDharmalaya Institute in Bir, HP, India
When: March 25 to April 4, 2014
Language: English
Facilitators: Zohar Lavie, Nathan Glyde, Mark Moore, Mai-Linh Leminhbach

Description: Residential service-learning retreat program at the Dharmalaya Institute. Possible workshops and groups sessions include the following:

  • Hands-on education in traditional earthen architecture of the Himalayas
  • Organic gardening and permaculture landscaping
  • Meditation and yoga/movement
  • A mixture of silent practice and group connection and activity

Please note: Space is limited, so advance registration and deposit are required.

For details and registration, please visit the SanghaSeva website.

Silent Meditation Retreat (17-24 March at Dharmalaya)

Group Sit

What: Silent Meditation Retreat with SanghaSeva
WhereDharmalaya Institute in Bir, HP, India
When: 17-24 March 2014
Who: Zohar Lavie & Nathan Glyde
Language: English

Description: Residential silent meditation retreat led by Zohar Lavie and Nathan Glyde of SanghaSeva. Simple accommodation in tents/dormitory in a beautiful Himalayan setting.

Note: Space is limited, so advance registration and deposit are required. 

For details and registration, please visit the SanghaSeva website.

“Subtle Consciousness Meditation” Retreat (4-9 Dec @ Deer Park)

What: “Subtle Consciousness Meditation” Retreat
Where: Deer Park Institute, Bir
When: 4-9 December, 2013
Who: Ven. Sudhammacara

This ‘Subtle Consciousness Meditation Retreat’ is based on the One Dharma Meditation Method compiled by Ven. Sudhammacara. It consists of three kinds of practice: mindfulness of body sensation, compassion meditation and ana-pana sati (mindfulness of in-breath and out-breath).

These practices enable us to dwell in the present moment.  Here and now, we gradually uncover our Subtle Consciousness which is usually clouded by our deluded, non-stop thinking. We go back to our true home with peace and joy after travelling abroad painfully so many years.In the end, we are finally discovering who we really are.

These intensive silent retreats will include regular sessions of sitting and walking meditation, accompanied by Dharma teachings and personal guidance. The retreats are open to both beginners and experienced meditators. From this year, the retreat will include Yoga classes. These will be led by Reiko Azuma, who has been teaching Yoga in Ven. Sudhammacara’s meditation retreats in Japan and Taiwan. Meditators get much benefit from Yoga exercises.

Guests and visitors who are not able to attend the whole retreat may attend some sessions only, but are requested to maintain silence around the meditation hall and dining area, to support the retreatants.

Teacher: Ven. Sudhammacara

Ven.Sudhammacara was ordained in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition in 1983, under Kosho Uchiyama Roshi lineage. He practiced and taught zazen meditation for more than 18 years, including several years spent teaching at Valley Zendo in Massachusetts, USA.

In 2001, he took Theravadan Bhikku ordination in the Burmese forest monk tradition under Pa-Auk Sayadaw, and trained in shamatha (calm abiding) and vipassana (insight) meditation in Burma and Sri Lanka. Since 2006, he has also been exposed to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Now he calls himself One Dharma Buddhist monk.

Ven. Sudhammacara has been a regular visiting teacher at Deer Park, where he offers mindfulness meditation retreats, since autumn 2007. Most of the year, he lives in Kamakura, Japan, where he teaches meditation at his centre Ippo-an (One Dharma Forum). He also leads meditation retreats in several sacred places (Kyoto, Kudaka-jima and Mitake-san) in Japan.

Ven. Sudhammacara  brings experience from the Japanese Zen tradition, the Theravada forest tradition of Burma, and the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Ven.Sudhammacara’s vast experience has shown him the pitfalls of commonly practiced meditations. His careful avoidance of Buddhist terms that can easily slip into jargon, makes retreatants rethink or let go of Buddhist conceptualizations (that many often automatically rely on, thinking they already understand the meaning without renewed consideration).

As well as this five-day silent mindfulness retreat, Ven Sudhammacara will also lead daily meditations and Dharma talks at Deer Park in early December.

For information: www.deerpark.in/programs/schedule/subtle-consciousness-meditation-retreat/

Shamatha & Vipasyana retreat as presented in Yogacara tradition (2-9 Nov)

What: Shamatha & Vipasyana retreat as presented in Yogacara tradition with reference to Anapanasmrti or Maitri meditation

Where: Deer Park Institute, Bir

When: 2-9 Nov, 2013

Who: Ven. Dhammadipa

Now 60 years old, Venerable Dhammadipa (lay name Thomas Peter Gutman) was born in Czechoslovakia in 1949. He studied Chinese Literature and Philosophy at Prague University, graduating in 1969, and then studied Russian literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he received a degree in 1973.

In the late seventies Venerable began his Buddhist studies in Berlin, where he had immigrated as a refugee after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. In 1977 he received a master’s degree in Chinese literature and philosophy at the University of Paris. In 1979, he enrolled at Nalanda University in India (where he also taught French and German) to study Sanskrit and Buddhist Philosophy. After receiving a degree at Nalanda in 1984, he returned to serve as the Associate Librarian at Berlin University.

In 1986, Venerable Dhammadipa went to Japan and studied under Zen Master Harada Serrei Roshi of the S t school (Caodong in Chinese) practice. He was given a Dharma name as Xing-Kong (meaning Nature of Emptiness).

In 1987, with the encouragement of Venerable Athurugiriye Nyanavimala Mahathera, Venerable Wijayasoma Mahathera, and Venerable Dikwelle Mahinda, he ordained as a monk in Meetirigala and was given a Dharma name as Dhammadipa (island of Buddhism or Dharma). He received the full Theravada Bhiksu ordination in Sri Lanka where he practiced meditation under the guidance of his preceptor, Venerable Nanarama Mahathera. In 1989, he received the Three Fold ordination as a Mahayana Monk in Hsi Lai Temple, Los Angeles and began Dharma teaching in US, Germany and Taiwan.

In 1996, Venerable went to Myanmar to practice meditation with the contemporary master Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw, and was recognized by the Sayadaw to be first of the Sayadaw’s Western disciples qualified to teach meditation. He has since been teaching Samatha (tranquil mental states) and Vipassana (direct seeing of the Dharma) meditation at monasteries and universities worldwide.

Venerable Dhammadipa speaks Czech, French, German, English, Russian, and fluent Chinese. He reads and translates Buddhist texts from Pali and Sanskrit. His translated works in French and Czeck include Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (Mahayanasraddhotpada-sastra), Entry into the Bodhisattva Path (Bodhicaryavatara) and a Collection of Han-San’s Poems. His teachings in Taiwan have been compiled and printed in Chinese.

Over the years Venerable has presented dharma teachings and led meditation retreats around Europe, North America, Taiwan and mainland China, India and Southeast Asia. Personally he has a gentle and easy going manner. His teaching follows the framework of the classic Theravada Buddhist commentary The Path of Purity (Pali: Visuddhimagga): one starts with training in the precepts (virtue) which lays the foundation for training in concentration and then the development of wisdom. Venerable teaches that knowledge of the Buddhist way should be applied in practice and verified first hand through direct experience. One should make a great vow to tread the way and realize the dharma for the benefit of all sentient beings.

 

For information: http://www.deerpark.in/programs/schedule/a-shamatha-and-vipasyana-retreat-as-presented-in-yogacara-tradition/

Discovering the Truth: Meditation Retreat @ Deer Park (30 April – 4 May)

What: Meditation Retreat
When: April 30-May 4,2012
Where: Deer Park Institute, Bir
Who: Venerable Aggacitta and Melitis Kwong

Discovering the Truth

Introductory Buddhism and meditation 5-Day Retreat

The main purpose of spiritual path is awakening. This awakening isn’t some supernatural awakening. It’s awakening to the truth.
— Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

Buddhism is not religion in the usual sense of the word. It is a method of investigation and contemplation that allows you to work skillfully with the positive potentials and negative energies of your own mind in order to achieve a wakeful state of well being.

In this 5 day introductory course on Buddhism and meditation, we’ll explore the basic principles of the different schools of Buddhism. The facilitators will present an overview of the history, philosophy and practices of the Buddhist path through Dharma talks, discussions, teaching DVD and meetings with Lamas and Khenpos in the near by monastery.

The program will include guided sitting and walking meditation, silent reflection periods and personal interviews with the meditation instructors.

Faculty:

Venerable Aggacitta is a Theravada monk from Japan. He trained under the Burmese and Sri Lanka Buddhist monastic tradition for 9 years. He has been studying under various teachers of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

Melitis Kwong is a long time student of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. She has completed a 3-year retreat in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

For more informationhttp://www.deerpark.in/programs/schedule/discovering-the-truth/

Living in Balance: Sustainability Service Retreat (Mar-Apr 2012)

What: Service Retreat at Dharmalaya with SanghaSeva
Topic: Living in Balance: Contemplation, Compassion, and Sustainability
Who: Zohar Lavie, Nathan Glyde, Mark Moore, et al
When: 22 March – 4 April, 2012
WhereDharmalaya Institute

Residential program at the Dharmalaya Institute. Possible workshops and groups sessions include the following:

  • Meditation
  • Hands-on education in traditional earthen architecture of the Himalayas
  • Organic gardening and permaculture landscaping
  • A mixture of silent practice and group connection and activity

For further details, or to register, please visit the SanghaSeva website.

Silent Meditation Retreat at Dharmalaya (14-21 March 2012)

What: Residential Silent Meditation Retreat with Ajay Pal Singh & SanghaSeva
Who: Ajay Pal Singh, Zohar Lavie, Nathan Glyde, Mark Moore, et al
When: 14-21 March, 2012
WhereDharmalaya Institute

Residential silent meditation retreat led by Ajay Pal Singh, hosted by Dharmalaya in collaboration with SanghaSeva. Residential program. Simple accommodation in tents in a beautiful Himalayan setting.

For further details, or to register, please visit the SanghaSeva website.