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Breathing Meditation Retreat 2022

May 20, 2022 - May 29, 2022

Breathing Meditation

Meditation Retreat | May 20-29, 2022

Join Catherine Pawasarat Sensei for a ten day meditation retreat on the powerful practice of breathing meditation. Like a vipassana retreat, you will learn sitting meditation. Additionally this retreat takes you beyond only the sitting posture, to include all four postures, for a dynamic integrated meditation practice. In-person and Online options available.

Registration deadline for in-person retreatants is May 6th 2022. Registration deadline for online retreatants is May 13th 2022.

OverviewRegistration
breathing meditation retreat

The meditation on Mindfulness of Breathing is not only suitable for all beings, it is also the direct way to enlightenment.

Namgyal Rinpoche

Breathing Meditation Retreat 

Breathing. You can’t beat it, for life, and as a meditation practice. Breathing meditation is suitable for all types of people.  It develops concentration, calm, bliss and insight – altogether leading to awakening and healing.

This meditation retreat will be led by Catherine Pawasarat Sensei at Clear Sky Meditation Center in Eastern BC. Catherine Sensei will have just completed a three month meditation retreat just prior to teaching this course.

An online option is also available for those not in Western Canada, to make participation possible from anywhere in the world.

While we believe any undertaking can be a vehicle for awakening, there’s no substitute for the power of one’s own profound experience of truth, gained through meditation. This is why meditation is one of the four foundational practices of our teaching.

A guiding text for this retreat is the Ānāpānasati Sutta, or Mindfulness of Breathing Discourse.  In it, the Buddha describes 16 steps of practice divided into four areas of mindfulness.

This simple yet powerful framework will extend your meditation experience to everything from subatomic particles to the vastness of space, and all that’s between.  It includes practice in all four postures – sitting, walking standing and lying down. 

 

Meet the Teacher

Catherine Pawasarat Sensei

Catherine Pawasarat Sensei is a contemporary Dharma teacher, attendant, consort, co-teacher via Planet Dharma and co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center. 

She has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts.

More About Sensei | About the Lineage

What Do Previous Retreatants Say?

Cheryl Bate

The anapanasati sutta created a deep, deep experience for me. I was finally able to understand the 16 steps and the 4 tetrads much much better. It’s a whole new world.

Cheryl Bate
Clinical Counsellor, Private Practise, Whistler, BC
Zoe Moores

I enjoyed reconnecting with my body, with nature and with joyful memories during the retreat. Some of this was inspired through the breathing practice, and some through searching for moments of piti which we could easily connect to. There was an easing during the retreat, as well as some moments of deep connection and understanding. This time, it was hearing spaciousness explained in a different way.

Zoe Moores
Translator, trainer, researcher
James Stewart

The breathing retreat was fantastic for me on so many levels! As my first retreat, it really taught how me to deepen my budding meditation practice. Catherine Sensei is warm, knowledgeable and led a wonderful course.

James Stewart
Dr. Duncan Cryle

Sensei, fresh from a 3 month retreat, gave beautiful, grounded and profound teachings on breathing practice. The retreat worked seamlessly between those of us with the fortune to be in person, and those joining online. Felt I could go very deep over the ten days with a transformative combination of a great teacher, a deep practice, a sincere group of co-retreatants, and 310 acres in the mountains!

Dr. Duncan Cryle
Ph.D IBM executive

Course Fees & Requirements

All Retreatants: A Dāna Based Retreat

This retreat is offered on the basis of dāna (generosity).

Dāna is a Sanskrit term meaning “generosity”, and is the traditional way in which Buddhist teachings are offered.  With dāna, we give as a mutual exchange of generosity. You may have come across this in the form of “pay from the heart”. It’s our joy to offer this course, and we trust you’ll match our time, energy, and passion by giving an amount of money that feels good and healthy to both you and us.

You will be sent a link to offer “dana” to the teachers after registration. 

For more information on dāna click here.

For Online Retreatants: Admin Fees & Requirements

In order to bring you this retreat at home, there is an additional admin fee* of $250 CAD. The admin fee is to cover the costs of running these online courses – for equipment and software to provide you the teachings online.

If you are taking this retreat online, we require that you devote your full attention to the retreat for the entire week.

Requirements include:

  • Block out the retreat duration and be focused on the retreat for this entire period, using this time and participating in the retreat as if you were at Clear Sky in person.  This includes a rigorous, full, daily meditation schedule.
  • Participate in all of the daily classes and group practices via online streaming.
  • Set up a quiet space or location where you can focus on the Meditation Retreat, and not need to engage in conversation or work with others.
  • Put away your phone, digital devices and other distractions.
  • If there are enough people in the same time zone as you, you could also make a cohort to meet to do a group practice throughout the retreat.
  • Note: full details/ requirements will be sent to you after registering

 

About the administrative fee*

In a traditional model of in-person teachings, a retreat center or urban meditation center invites teachers to visit. In these cases the centers have infrastructure and organization costs to cover, which might be covered by an admin fee. For the teaching itself, dāna to the teachers is offered in a bowl. This honors both the sustainability of the teachers and of the supporting center.

We’ve tried to recreate this approach online.
The teachers’ time and the teaching themselves are offered on the basis of dāna, separate to the admin fee. With our dāna offering we are making a direct gift of generosity to the teachers to support their teachings and livelihood. Learn more about the practice of dāna here.

The admin fee goes to support the infrastructure and organization necessary to support them to teach. As anyone with an online business will know, it can be surprising the costs of setting up a good infrastructure to support effective teaching and connection online.

Below are a few of the work and benefits that your admin fee payment is supporting:

  • high speed internet (to allow interviews and classes on-line)
  • online class systems (Zoom)
  • registration / admin systems (Eventbrite, Basecamp)
  • communication systems to keep everyone informed, share connection details, teachings and other resources (Mailchimp)
  • online storage (for example, Dropbox, to allow us to let students watch recordings and to store and share selected teachings in other forms such as podcasts and videos after the Teachings)
  • quality sound, video and editing equipment (both for live teachings and to provide good enough quality for later sharing as podcasts and video). We are regularly updating our equipment to improve your user experience.
  • online calendar booking system to allow students to book interviews
  • website hosting and maintenance for sharing upcoming courses, teachings, blogs and other resources.

May all our efforts be sustainable, abundant and for the benefit of all beings!

*We also do not wish to exclude anyone from the Teachings, so if you are not currently in a financial position to afford the admin fee, please contact us so we can support you to attend.

We welcome any questions. Please feel free to contact [email protected]

Retreatants at Clear Sky: Lodging Fees & Covid 19 Protocols

In addition to Dana to the Teacher, Clear Sky Meditation Centre provides an incredible space for your retreat.  Situated on a beautiful 310-acre property in the Rocky Mountains, the center and its karma yogis provide you nourishing daily meals and comfortable accomodation. Read more: Staying with us (Clear Sky Meditation Centre)

Please go to the retreat registration page for this retreat for details of the all inclusive fee for the retreat.

Covid-19 Protocols

Our retreats comply with current BC Covid-19 Health Orders.  Please refer to those provincial guidelines as well as the Canadian federal travel guidelines, especially if you are planning to travel to Clear Sky Center in person.

Detailed Daily Schedule

Specific times may change (MST)

RETREAT DAILY SCHEDULE
6:30 – 7:30 AM Walk &/or Personal Practice
7:30 – 8:15 AM Breakfast: Prepare, eat, clean up
8:15 – 8:45 AM Walk &/or Personal Practice
9:00 – 10:00 AM Class with Teachers
10:00 – 10:30 AM Walk
10:30 – 11:30 AM Group Practice lead by Sangha
11:30 – 12:30 PM Personal Practice
12:30 – 1:30 PM Lunch: Prepare, eat, clean up
1:30 – 3:00 PM Personal Practice
3:00 – 4:00 PM Group Practice lead by Sangha
4:00 – 5:30 PM Personal Practice
5:30 – 7:00 PM  Dinner: prepare, eat, clean up
7:00 – 7:30 PM Walk &/or Personal Practice
7:30 – 8:30 PM Group Practice and Q & A with Teachers
8:30 – beyond Personal Practice & bed

 

Ready to Register?

Please click on the buttons below to register for either retreat option. If you  If you have questions about the retreat, please phone 250-429-3929, or contact [email protected]

 

 

Registration deadline for in-person retreatants is May 6th 2022. Registration deadline for online retreatants is May 13th 2022.

lungs breathing meditation

Details

Start:
May 20, 2022
End:
May 29, 2022
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Venue

Clear Sky Meditation & Study Centre
3567 Cockell Rd
Bull River, British Columbia V0B1N0 Canada
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