Join Dharma Teachers Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat for their popular winter retreat at Clear Sky Centre in Eastern BC. This year’s retreat will be four weeks in duration, and will cover Mahamudra and the Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification).

We highly recommend you attend the entire one month retreat. There will also be the option to attend 2 weeks if one month is not possible. This retreat fills up fast, in which case preference will be given to those retreatants attending for the full month.

Retreat Details

-Mahamudra: Dec 19 – Jan 1, 2015
-The Path of Purification: Jan 2 – Jan 16, 2016
-Mahakala Wongkur: Jan 2, 4pm.

Mahamudra

(Fri., Dec. 18, 2015 – Fri., Jan. 1, 2016)

Have you noticed that life is in constant motion? In fact, the whole universe is one continuous movement of everlasting change.

“Maha” means “great,” while “mudra” means “seal” or “mark,” as well as “movement.” Mahamudra practice is watching the moving mind or consciousness in all its aspects – including sensation, feeling and thoughts – going through its changes.

And it’s important to note that the still mind also exists, as the consciousness that watches these changes; Mahamudra practice observes that as well.

What are the difference and similarities between the moving and still mind? How do they relate? How can the mind said to be moving and still at the same time?

Come join us for our Mahamudra retreat to explore the mind in motion and the mind at rest.

Is there a mind that can observe both the stillness and the movement? If so, what is it like in all its manifestations? How and why does it change? Stay at rest?

We may feel that we have good days and bad days, “up” moods when we’re happy and dark moods when the world or other people aren’t doing what we’d like. On completing this retreat and returning to our daily lives, we will be much less ruffled and disturbed and buffeted by the events of our daily life. We’ll have discovered that what we are going through are simply weather changes – the weather of the mind.

 Course Outcomes

• Learn how to develop and grow our understanding of Mahamudra.
• Learn to contact and understand the nature of the mind that is unaffected by troubling thoughts and emotions.
• Develop a greater sense of calm and focus.
• Increase the amount of bliss available to us.
• Recognize, identify and build on the strengths and positives already in our lives.
• Access more energy and focus to accomplish our aims and meet our aspirations.
• Enjoy a greater sense of freedom, spontaneous joy and clarity in our daily life.

Expectations and Inspirations

To succeed with this practice, participants will:
•   Show up early for classes and participate in all scheduled teachings, group meditations and other activities scheduled during the course.
•   Foster and maintain an atmosphere of trust and acceptance in the community of practice that has gathered for this course.
•   To stay focused on the retreat outcomes, refrain from reading materials not related to this course, while using note-taking and journal writing as a means of recording reflections.
•   Engage mindfully in daily scheduled Karma Yoga (“Path of Service”) practices at Clear Sky, as part of one’s spiritual practices during retreat.

Optional reading:

The Mahamudra: Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance.*

By the Ninth Karmapa.

If you’d like to read this book to support your retreat experience, we recommend you bring it to the course and read it during the course.

*The above book hyperlink is to an older edition of the book that Doug and Catherine Sensei are using.  Feel free to buy the newer edition, however page references will be different.

Dāna

This retreat is offered by Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat on the basis of dāna, or generosity practice. Learn more about dāna.

Vissudhimagga: The Path of Purification

(Fri., 1 Jan – Sun., 17 Jan 2016)

Building on the Mahamudra retreat, the Visuddhimagga or Path of Purification empowers us to maintain our newfound insights when the mind gets more involved with all the different moving parts – including sensations, feelings, states of mind and other people – that we encounter in our daily lives. We’ll begin the retreat with an energizing Mahakala wong kur and sadhana practice.

The fifth-century Visuddhimagga is a foundational text examining Buddhist meditation techniques and doctrine, designed to lead to enlightenment.

And in order to get there from here, we train ourselves to secure the mind/body continuum in wholesome states while we are living and working in the world. To this end, we first need to develop this ability in our contemplative practice.

This is one of the primary functions of meditation: the world and our day-to-day lives simply move too quickly to be able to establish wholesome states there initially. Meditative or contemplative training forms the basis or platform, from which we launch our wholesome states into our daily lives.

The spiritual path has three phases: purification, illumination and beatification. After the purification has been undertaken, illumination and beatification naturally follow. In this sense, the major work of the spiritual path is purification. The illumination of enlightenment and the supreme happiness or blessed state (called “beatification” in centuries gone by) are the inevitable harvest of the rich psychic composting and seeding undertaken with purification.

This retreat (we prefer to call it an ‘advance’) provides tools and methodology to help us maintain a clear mind and an open heart out there in the busy, complicated and often confusing world.

Retreatants are cordially invited to a soiree after the retreat end, at Sensei and Cata’s on Sunday, 17 January. We recommend it as a way for retreatants to transition back into daily life and socialization, and as a testing ground for maintaining our wholesome retreat states in active situations. We also recommend it for having a good time.

Course Outcomes

• Learn the Buddhist philosophical basis for “ethical behavior.”
• Learn how to integrate ethics, meditation and knowledge for improved quality of life and creative productivity.
• Experience a range of meditation techniques to broaden our experience and understanding of the Path of Purification.
• Discover the difference between knowledge and information, and what transforms these into wisdom.
• Complete a body of purification practices.
• Personally experience the connection between purification and illumination, which inevitably leads to a beautiful state of wellbeing.

Expectations and Inspirations

To succeed with this practice, participants will:
•   Show up early for classes and participate in all scheduled teachings, group meditations and other activities scheduled during the course.
•   Foster and maintain an atmosphere of trust and acceptance in the community of practice that has gathered for this course.
•To stay focused on the retreat outcomes, refrain from reading materials not related to this course, while using note-taking and journal writing as a means of recording reflections.
• Engage mindfully in daily scheduled Karma Yoga (“Path of Service”) practices at Clear Sky, as part of one’s spiritual practices during retreat.

Optional reading:
The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga.
By Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa, translated by Bhikkhu Ñanamoli.

If you’d like to read this book to support your retreat experience, we recommend you bring it to the course and read it during the course.

Hardcopy:  The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga

Free downloads: The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga

Dāna

This retreat is offered by Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat on the basis of dāna, or generosity practice. Learn more about dāna.

Testimonials

 

[tmls category=”20″ layout=”tmls_slider” style=”style2″ image_size=”large_image” image_radius=”large_radius” text_font_family=”” text_font_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”16px” name_font_family=”” name_font_color=”#000000″ neme_font_size=”14px” neme_font_weight=”normal” position_font_family=”” position_font_color=”#777777″ position_font_size=”12px” order_by=”rand” order=”DESC” auto_play=”true” transitioneffect=”crossfade” pause_on_hover=”false” next_prev_visibility=”tmls_visible” next_prev_radius=”large_radius” next_prev_position=”” next_prev_bgcolor=”#F5F5F5″ next_prev_arrowscolor=”tmls_lightgrayarrows” scroll_duration=”500″ pause_duration=”9000″ ratingstars=”enabled” ratingstarssize=”16px” ratingstarscolor=”#F47E00″ ]

Visit the Clear Sky website for bookings & registration: