Weekend Retreat at the Centre

Seeing and Listening: A Revolution in Daily Living Beyond Thought and Fear With Richard Waxberg and Deborah Kerner September 23 – 25, 2016 For the third year running Richard and Deborah joined us for a weekend of inquiry into ourselves and the structure of our consciousness. As their outline for the weekend described it, “this explorative journey we take together emphasizes what Krishnamurti referred to as deep “listening and seeing”, the open door through which unexamined beliefs, concepts, and ideas can be revealed beyond the limitation of thought and time, without judgment or resistance. This dimension of seeing and listening is like turning a powerful light on our conditioned responses, the normally hidden unconscious layers of conditioned thinking…. Within an atmosphere of freedom, affection, and mutual support, we are inquiring together into what is preventing us from unburdening ourselves from the past and our feelings of psychological fear and limitation.” A video of Krishnamurti in dialogue with Pupul Jayakar was shown on Saturday night and found by some to be quite a radical departure from the way K had presented his teachings in the past and to demonstrate a different quality of relationship than the usual K dialogues. There were times of rest and opportunity to enjoy the lovely setting of the Centre. Delicious meals were provided by Pearson College. Otherwise, the weekend consisted mostly of group dialogue initiated by short passages which were read at the beginning of each session. Seventeen people participated, including facilitators and staff. The dialogue was skillfully guided by Richard and Deborah and moved along with contributions from the participants. It certainly produced some in depth investigation and sharing, as well as some challenging and intense interactions in the group. By the end of the weekend everyone seemed to feel it had been a very meaningful and rewarding process.