“This revolutionary act of treating ourselves tenderly can begin to undo the aversive messages of a lifetime.” ~ Tara Brach
The Buddha taught that you can search the entire universe for someone more deserving of your love and affection than yourself, and you will not find that person anywhere.
And yet, for many of us, it seems much easier for us to offer our care, compassion, and even forgiveness to others than to ourselves. We tend to beat ourselves up, or give ourselves an unnecessarily hard time for our “perfectly human” imperfections.
During this silent daylong retreat, we’ll be exploring a variety of different ways that we can offer more of our love, care, and forgiveness to the person we spend the most time with in this life – ourselves.
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Meditation practice itself has often been defined as a process of learning how we can more calmly observe the constant flow of old and new, birth and death, in each moment, and more fully and compassionately experience both the ache of letting go, and the joy of beginning again.
During this silent daylong meditation retreat we’ll be exploring how we can offer ourselves the kindness and care we need to let go of the way things were, and to welcome with joy all that is new in our lives – including our view of ourselves as new, too.
The format will include both guided and silent meditation, a dharma talk, and walking meditation both inside and on the lovely, spacious church grounds. Lunch will be in silence, and participants are asked to bring their own.
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“Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” ~ Buddha
In the Buddhist teachings, we are taught that the difficult energy of anger is simply a common human emotion, and not something we need to deny in ourselves.
Instead, we’re urged to mindfully recognize, get to know, and investigate every level of our anger, so that we can more wisely and compassionately direct its powerful energy, let it transform us, and then courageously let it go.
Because the truth is: if we continue to cling to our anger, or allow it to cause us to react in ways that are unskillful or even harmful, this can not only greatly affect the quality of joy, ease, and peace in our own lives, but also in the lives of others.
During this silent meditation retreat, we’ll be exploring how we can work with our minds, bodies, and hearts to help us cool the flames of anger within us, and cultivate more patience, kindness, joy, and ease in our own lives, as well as out in our world.
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“Through mindfulness, we discover a truth that is deeper than beliefs. These truths will transform our character, our deepest sense of being. What we say and do comes to be in harmony with who we are. If we don’t become someone who is true, we have no peace nor freedom. When our life is firmly based on truth, peace is not something we have – it is who we are.” ~ Gil Fronsdal
As the teachings show us, without a strong commitment to courageously face the truth within ourselves and our own hearts, our practice will ultimately not lead us to the freedom from suffering we desire.
If we are serious about discovering for ourselves what leads to happiness and freedom from suffering … we need to strive to be impeccably honest with ourselves – which is often incredibly difficult.
During our time together, we’ll be gently exploring ways in which we can begin to take a more courageous look inside our own hearts through mindfulness meditation practice to discover what is true, and start loosening the grip of suffering that has been holding us hostage.
We’ll be gathering for our retreat on Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5:00 p.m in the beautiful, peaceful sanctuary of Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains, VA. Best known for its lush, rolling landscape and equestrian traditions, The Plains is located about one hour west of Washington, DC, and about a half an hour from the Shenandoah Mountains.
Learn more HERE
