A Silent Insight Meditation Retreat
Taught by Howard Cohn
Non-Residential, Three Nights
(THIS RETREAT WILL BE RESCHEDULED – CHECK BACK SOON!)
Garchen Buddhist Institute
Arizona
Insight Meditation
Vipassana (insight) is the simple and direct practice of moment-to-moment mindfulness. Through careful and sustained observation, we experience for ourselves the ever-changing flow of the mind/body process. This awareness leads us to accept more fully the pleasure and pain, fear and joy, sadness and happiness that life inevitably brings. As insight deepens, we develop greater equanimity and peace in the face of change, and generosity, compassion, and wisdom become the guiding principles in our lives.
Vipassana (insight) is the simple and direct practice of moment-to-moment mindfulness. Through careful and sustained observation, we experience for ourselves the ever-changing flow of the mind/body process. This awareness leads us to accept more fully the pleasure and pain, fear and joy, sadness and happiness that life inevitably brings. As insight deepens, we develop greater equanimity and peace in the face of change, and generosity, compassion, and wisdom become the guiding principles in our lives.
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Our Teacher Howard Cohn is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in the San Francisco Bay area. He has guided a local sitting group in San Francisco, been in private practice as a psychotherapist, and led Vipassana retreats worldwide since 1985. He incorporates the influences of Theravada, Zen, Tibetan Dzogchen and Advaita Vedanta in his teaching, with an emphasis on reawakening our intrinsic freedom. Among his many teachers and mentors are Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, U Pandita Sayadaw, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, and the Advaita Vedanta Master H.W.L. Poonja. |
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The Retreat
This residential retreat will follow the Buddha's path of cultivating awareness through the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. You will realize that your awareness is your best friend. As the poet Kabir said, we don't realize that what is most alive lives inside our own house, and so we wander around confused. Sitting and walking in silence, we can befriend ourselves.
We will explore awakening and freedom, the central purpose of the Buddha’s teaching. A committed meditation practice provides the opportunity to realize an unfettered heart and mind, opening the way for genuine happiness. Practice helps us move beyond our usual spiritual or material comfort zone and opens us to a wider view of ourselves and our world. Through Insight Meditation and Loving-kindness, we can release our hearts from constriction and confusion and experience freedom and ease.
The retreat is composed of instructions, sitting meditation, walking meditation, question and answer sessions, and evening Dharma talks, and is suitable for beginners and experienced practitioners alike. Silence is observed throughout the retreat in order to provide an optimal environment for internal work. We will be given instructions for the practice of loving kindness, cultivating friendship toward oneself and all other beings.
There will be guided movement sessions Friday and Saturday afternoons, and interviews with the teacher will be scheduled as time and numbers permit.
Set-up and check-in for participants will be from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm on Thursday, September 26. No lunch will be served Thursday, and the retreat begins at 2:00 p.m. The retreat ends after lunch on Sunday, September 29.
Registration will be open to 50 participants, and minimum age to participate is 15.
This residential retreat will follow the Buddha's path of cultivating awareness through the practice of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. You will realize that your awareness is your best friend. As the poet Kabir said, we don't realize that what is most alive lives inside our own house, and so we wander around confused. Sitting and walking in silence, we can befriend ourselves.
We will explore awakening and freedom, the central purpose of the Buddha’s teaching. A committed meditation practice provides the opportunity to realize an unfettered heart and mind, opening the way for genuine happiness. Practice helps us move beyond our usual spiritual or material comfort zone and opens us to a wider view of ourselves and our world. Through Insight Meditation and Loving-kindness, we can release our hearts from constriction and confusion and experience freedom and ease.
The retreat is composed of instructions, sitting meditation, walking meditation, question and answer sessions, and evening Dharma talks, and is suitable for beginners and experienced practitioners alike. Silence is observed throughout the retreat in order to provide an optimal environment for internal work. We will be given instructions for the practice of loving kindness, cultivating friendship toward oneself and all other beings.
There will be guided movement sessions Friday and Saturday afternoons, and interviews with the teacher will be scheduled as time and numbers permit.
Set-up and check-in for participants will be from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm on Thursday, September 26. No lunch will be served Thursday, and the retreat begins at 2:00 p.m. The retreat ends after lunch on Sunday, September 29.
Registration will be open to 50 participants, and minimum age to participate is 15.
Location and Facilities
The retreat will be held at Garchen Buddhist Institute, a beautiful Tibetan Buddhist center in the pinion-juniper hills about one hour northeast of Prescott. This tranquil location offers solace and serenity, and imparts sweeping views of the Sacred Peaks to the northeast, the red rock country of the Mogollon Rim and Verde Valley, and the landscape surrounding the Prescott area to the southwest.
For driving directions to Garchen, please visit this page on their site: https://garchen.net/our-location/
This is primarily a camping retreat, and dormitory beds are also available. Except for those who reserve dormitory beds participants must bring their own pads and bedding. They may sleep in the stupa, in the temple, in the bunk room, in their vehicles in the parking lot, or in the unimproved Forest Service camping area adjacent to the parking lot. The camping area has level tent sites, a portable toilet, and is a short, downhill walk from the other facilities. No fires are allowed in the camping area.
All participants will have access to the restrooms with showers near the meditation hall.
There are other sleeping areas available that are reserved and paid for separately, not through the Prescott Insight registration process. These are listed on the "Accommodations" web page of the Garchen Buddhist Institute website and available only by contacting The Institute directly. On that page, three options are available to us during the retreat: the Tashi Gatsal Ling house, Deluxe Retreat Cabin, and Rustic Retreat Huts. Any cost for these would be in addition to our basic fee of $150 and paid directly to The Institute. Please direct your questions to the Garchen Buddhist Institute office: (928) 925-1237, or questions@garchen.net.
The fees listed for all other accommodations on their web page will not apply during the retreat.
Cost and Registration
The cost of the retreat WITHOUT a bed in the dormitory is $150. This includes space to bed down, vegetarian meals, and access to showers. For the same fee we also have the use of a few beds in the bunk room adjacent to the dining hall, available on request during the registration process.
The cost of the retreat WITH a dormitory bed is $210. There are nine dorm beds available in five rooms — two people in each of four rooms, and one person in the fifth. The beds are available to the first nine people who request them during registration.
The above fees are for our use of the facilities, our meals and other expenses. Please plan to pay by check through the US Postal Service — we do not currently accept credit cards.
Some scholarship help is available for those with financial need. If you are unable to pay part or all of the retreat fee, please email us here after registering, and before August 29, 2019.
Our teacher receives no compensation for his teachings — honoring the Buddhist tradition, he offers his time, energy, and wisdom free of charge. The teachings of the Buddha have been sustained by the 2,500 year old tradition of dana, a Pali word meaning "generosity.” Retreatants are encouraged to help Howie lead a life devoted to teaching the dharma by offering a donation, in any amount, at the retreat's end. In the act of giving, we develop our ability to let go, cultivate a spirit of caring, and honor our inter-connectedness.
REGISTRATION WILL OPEN RIGHT HERE, IN EARLY FALL, 2020
To get on the mailing list for news on this and other retreats please use the form on our Connect page.
If you have further questions about the retreats contact Bradley here: prescottinsight@gmail.com
Top photo of Sacred Peaks: Bradley Martin
Bottom photo courtesy of Garchen Buddhist Institute. Used with permission.
Bottom photo courtesy of Garchen Buddhist Institute. Used with permission.