Retreat with Scott Kiloby at KECC, November 22 – 27, 2019

Five Day Inquiries Retreat with Scott Kiloby,
November 22 – 27, 2019
At KECC

We were fortunate to have Scott join us for the sixth year running, this time for a five day intensive retreat exploring his “Living Inquiries” and “Kiloby Inquiries” methods of self inquiry. Scott is the founder of the Kiloby Centre for treatment of addictions in Palm Springs, California. A total of eighteen people were in attendance for the retreat, which began on a Friday evening with a talk on the topics of “awareness, awakening, embodiment, readiness, honesty, authenticity, intimacy, and inquiry.” Scott pointed out skills can be taught but readiness cannot. He questioned what stops people from doing the self inquiry work and suggested a number of factors, always emphasizing the need for each one of us to look for ourselves. Resting as awareness is the basic practice, whereas his other techniques are to be used when resting is not easily accessible. Other talks throughout the retreat focused on describing his inquiry methods, some of which were new since his last visit, the nature and trajectory of “awakening”, the need to learn skills for working with our conditioning, contractions in the body, the challenges of the embodiment process, and working with trauma. Interspersed were sessions working with the inquiries experientially and practicing them so we could do them on our own after leaving the retreat. There were a number of practice sessions in pairs with participants facilitating each other. This produced some deep work and insights. An assistant was available for private sessions if desired. All the work was supported by the basic practice of resting in and as awareness, which involves recognizing that awareness is our essential nature. From there we can observe everything that arises in and as awareness without taking on the belief that we are those phenomena, without identifying with the thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Scott mentioned that his work was influenced in its development by J. Krishnamurti and is in essence very similar to that of Krishnamurti. Participants familiar with Krishnamurti’s teachings experienced the Inquiries to be an effective way of applying K’s teachings in a very specific and practical manner.
Other activities over the five days included plenty of Q and A opportunities, a Krishnamurti video, time for self-reflection, walks, and sharing at meal times. Spontaneous conversations took place in the unstructured periods. Meals were provided by catering from Glenrosa Restaurant and Toque. We were also treated to a delightful music concert organized by Chanda Siddoo and featuring her own compositions. The concert was described as an offering to combat the threat of nuclear war and to inspire peace on our planet. By the end of the retreat there was a strong sense of unity and affection amongst the group members – a direct result of the honesty and authenticity of the sharing and working with the sometimes difficult issues of our human experience. It was an opportunity much appreciated and valued by all the participants. It is a great joy and a privilege to have Scott at our Centre and we look forward to his return at about the same time next year to continue with the exploration of awareness and its embodiment into all aspects of our life experience.