The Journey of Awakening
This weekend retreat will take place July 23-25, 2010 at the Swanwick Centre, located in a spectacular 32 acre ocean-front setting in the Metchosin district of Victoria. It offers an affordable opportunity to explore and experience the awakening process in a beautiful, supportive setting that includes DVDs of recent talks with dialogues, or satsangs, given by Adyashanti and a LIVE skype (internet) satsang and Q&A session with Stephan Bodian.
Adyashanti (see www.adyashanti.org) is one of today’s foremost spiritual teachers. The author of Emptiness Dancing, The Impact of Awakening, and My Secret is Silence, Adyashanti offers spontaneous and direct non-dual teachings that have been compared to those of the early Zen masters and Advaita Vedanta sages. However, he says, “If you filter my words through any tradition or ‘-ism’, you will miss altogether what I am saying. The liberating truth is not static; it is alive. It cannot be put into concepts and be understood by the mind. The truth lies beyond all forms of conceptual fundamentalism. What you are is the beyond—awake and present, here and now already. I am simply helping you to realize that.”
A key to the art of living is seeing and meeting life more fully and directly. By way of Adyashanti’s fresh and engaging approach, this weekend will provide an opportunity to explore more deeply what prevents us from doing so and to awaken to the truth of one’s being.
In the retreat, themes such as the following will be explored:
Conscious Freedom
Rest as Awareness
Reality-Oriented Spirituality
The Unseen Presence of Being
The retreat will also include a LIVE skype (internet) satsang and Q&A session withStephan Bodian, a close associate of Adyashanti who has invited him to ‘share the Dharma’. Stephan Bodian is a spiritual teacher residing in San Francisco, apsychotherapist and a popular workshop leader who has been practicing and teaching the path of awakening for more than 35 years. For ten years he was editor of the Yoga Journal, a leading yoga publication in the U.S., and he is the author of the bestselling ‘Meditation for Dummies’ as well as the co-author of ‘Buddhism for Dummies’.
His book Wake Up Now: A Guide to the Journey of Spiritual Awakening has been endorsed by Adyashanti as ‘both profound and practical’ and ‘one of the most concise guides to spiritual awakening that I have read.’ Copies of it will be available at the retreat and Stephan will outline the stages of the awakening process and be available for questions.
Activities: Activities include DVD showings, the skype session, interactive opportunities, guided meditation and movement sessions.
A Supportive Environment: The Centre’s beautiful natural setting is ideally suited for deeper enquiry and the emergence of spiritual insight. To optimize this process and minimize distractions, silence will be requested for part of the retreat.
The Facilitators: This retreat is facilitated by Ralph and Madelaine Tiller. Ralph directs the East-West Clinic, a holistic health practice in Victoria. Madelaine is a registered psychologist who practices in Victoria and hosts inner wellness workshops. They are not formally affiliated with Adyashanti or his organization, but share a deep interest in exploring a conscious way of living.
Early-bird rates are very affordable. This residential retreat is also open to day participants and those wishing to attend only the live skype session.
Please contact swanwick@shaw.ca or 250-744-3354 for further information.