Summer retreats at the Nyingma Institute
| June 10, 2013 | to | August 12, 2013 |
Summer 2013 Retreats
: Continuity and Transformation
For forty years, the Nyingma Institute has offered a gentle path of self-knowledge and altruistic service based on the Buddha’s teachings. This summer, we continue to deepen this tradition by offering summer retreats for a range of interests and ages. The summer begins with two weeks of Tibetan Yoga retreat, Attuning to the Present Moment (June 10-15), and Kum Nye for Healing (June 17-22). Meditators of all ages will benefit from the retreats Mindfulness and Faith (June 24-29) and Reflection and Insight (July 1-6). Later in July, advanced retreats present teachings on how to release a lifetime of conditioning (July 8-13) and prepare for the time of death (July 15-20).
Meditators who wish to break through to the next stage of development will be interested in Stages of Meditation (July 22-27). Finding Freedom (July 29-August 3) presents basic teachings of the Buddha, along with meditations to foster discernment. Lightening Mind (August 5-10) joins powerful Kum Nye practices with insight meditations and dream yoga practice to bring about a transformation of consciousness. Finally, a skillful means retreat, Transitions (August 12-17), show how to utilize change, even difficult transitions, to deepen well-being.
Join us for a week or for the entire ten-week series of retreats for an unparalleled journey into understanding, in which we glimpse the immense goodness at the heart of our human being.
Residential costs for retreats include either a shared or private room. Both residential and nonresidential retreats include meals. A private tour of retreat facilities available by appointment. See our photo albums on Facebook for a virtual tour. Click here for the 2013 Spring Program and Summer Retreats Booklet (PDF).
June 10-15: Kum Nye: Attuning to the Present Moment (KNR503)
Kum Nye begins with stillness: relaxing, and breathing. Movement begins slowly, arising from a present, centered point. Exercises emerge gently, touching each sense and expanding perceptions and feelings beyond limitations. A journey into embodiment, this retreat’s practices form a path on which participants move past judgment and preconception to the freshness of the present moment. From this point of balance a rich tapestry of positive feelings flow into body, senses, and mind.
Cost: $390 (nonresidential); $650 (residential). Instructors: Santosh Philip, Donna Morton, and the Kum Nye faculty.
June 17-22: Tibetan Yoga (Kum Nye) for Healing and Energy (KNR505)
“The unique value of the Kum Nye system of relaxation is that it views the body and mind holistically, working to integrate and balance the physical and the psychological to achieve health.” Tarthang Tulku, Tibetan Relaxation.
Activating the body’s natural ability to heal, movement, breath and self-massage techniques awaken inner vitality as they harmonize and calm mind, feeling, and perception. This retreat presents Kum Nye exercises suitable to all ages and abilities. Participants learn to listen to the wisdom of their body as they master fundamental methods for self-healing. Lectures introduce principles of Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine including suggestions for healthy eating attuned to the seasons.
Cost: $390 (nonresidential); $650 (residential). Instructors: Santosh Philip, Donna Morton, and the Kum Nye faculty.
June 24-29: Mindfulness and Faith (DHS515)
“Like an advanced guard, faith goes before us, encouraging us to enter an ever broader realm of experience and knowledge. Through such experience and insights, we learn to trust the teachings of the Dharma and become more willing to pass beyond the boundaries enforced by doubts, fears, and emotionality.” Ways of Enlightenment.
Faith, the focus of our heart, can guide and deepen mindfulness practice. In this retreat, faith is cultivated through contemplating the immeasurable aspirations of the Buddhas to benefit living beings. Mindfulness, wakeful awareness that observes immediate experience, is developed through sustained walking and sitting meditation. Confident and joyful, the combined power of mindfulness and faith energize our steps on the path to awakening.
Cost: $390 (nonresidential); $650 (residential). Instructors: Sylvia Gretchen, Olivia Hurd, and the meditation faculty. Based on Ways of Enlightenment: Buddhist Studies at the Nyingma Institute. Prerequisite: Sincere interest in the Buddha’s teachings.
July 1-6: Reflection and Insight: Making Peace with Ourselves (MED506)
Through chanting, meditation and Tibetan Yoga practices we arrive at a place of safety and quiet in our minds. From within this inner peace we are guided compassionately toward relaxation of our habitual emotional reactions so we may see through them to our intrinsic freedom. As our problems and internal conflicts start to lose their apparent substance we discover joy in the flow of energy that is life. With this appreciation as our foundation, we realize that we can be satisfied without needing anything to be”solved”.
Cost: $390 (nonresidential); $650 (residential). Instructors: Olivia Hurd, and the meditation faculty.
July 8-13: Cutting through Conditioning (NPS502)
This retreat presents powerful techniques designed to release the accumulated habits of a lifetime. Time itself–the process of change and evolution–guides our journey. We learn how to ‘enter’ into each moment of our lives—past, present, even future. Under the gaze of awareness, a moment unfolds like a delicate blossom, revealing the knowledge we need. We realize that each stage of life, even those that are dark and difficult, presents a distinct patterning and a special wisdom. Space opens up between us and the compelling forces of habit. Layers of accumulated conditioning become workable and transparent.
Cost: $390 (nonresidential); $650 (residential). Instructor: Sylvia Gretchen. Prerequisite: experience with Nyingma Psychology, meditation, and Dharma Studies. Note that this retreat will be translated into Portuguese.
July 15-20: Preparation for the Time of Death (NPR501)
Meditation practices given in this retreat help forge a link to the power of time to carry us out of fear and uncertainty into clarity and ease. Specific meditations inspire insight unrelated to the self or any fixed identity, preparing us for death and, paradoxically, for the fullness of life. Instructions on the stages of dying and death based on Nyingma teachings help us negotiate this critical journey.
Cost: $390 (nonresidential); $650 (residential). Instructor: Sylvia Gretchen, assisted by the meditation faculty. Prerequisite: experience with Nyingma Psychology, meditation, and Dharma Studies. Note that this retreat will be translated into Portuguese.
July 22-27: Stages of Meditation (MED504)
Classic Buddhist teachings outline a clear progression of meditation practices that lead to awakening. This retreat is a contemplation of one such text, the Bhavanakrama by the famed 7th century master, Kamalashila. Guided study of the text will be interspersed with practice of the meditations it describes. Includes both Shamatha (calming) and Vipashyana (insight) meditations.
Cost: $390 (nonresidential); $650 (residential). Instructors: Sylvia Gretchen and the meditation faculty. Prerequisite: Two years of meditation practice. Prepare to be challenged to deepen your meditation.
July 29-August 3: Finding Freedom (DHS507)
We study and practice teachings of the compassionate Buddha that awaken our ability to attain true freedom and to put an end to suffering. Topics covered include the Four Noble Truths, the Eight-Fold Noble Path, and the power of virtue and merit.
Cost: $390 (nonresidential); $650 (residential). Instructors: Buddhist Studies faculty. Based on Ways of Enlightenment: Buddhist Studies at the Nyingma Institute. Prerequisite: Sincere interest in the Buddha’s teachings.
August 5-10: Lightening Mind (DHS510)
“Through meditation, you can understand how awareness itself has various densities and levels, and how images are projected before it. Awareness is self-stimulating: it creates images which ‘freeze’ and become ‘real’ when we identify with them.” Tarthang Tulku, Crystal Mirror IV.
Mind can transmit wisdom that penetrates the veils of illusion, revealing the sparkling reality of what is. We practice “watching the watcher” and work with dream awareness, staying within a light, incisive quality of mind. Working with dream practice to balance the mind and heighten awareness, we “wake up” within the dream.
Cost: $390 (nonresidential); $650 (residential). Instructors: Sylvia Gretchen and Santosh Philip, assisted by the Buddhist Studies faculty. Prerequisite: Experience in meditation.
August 12-17: Skillful Means: Transitions (SKM501)
Change may not always be welcome, but it is a fact of life. This practical Skillful Means retreat offers exercises and discussions that help us face the challenges and reap the opportunities of transitions in our work and life. Whether a transition comes as a reward or is forced upon us, we can follow the way of skillful means, putting aside the self-image and winning through to the easeful mind of self-knowledge. Practices focus on removing obstacles that steal the joy of willingness and stand in the way of living to our full potential.
Cost: $390 (nonresidential); $650 (residential). Instructor: Barr Rosenberg.
Enroll early reserve your choice of accommodations. Learn More at the Nyingma Institute!
