Silent Samattha-Vipassana Meditation Retreat / August 28th – September 1st
August 28 @ 6:00 pm - September 1 @ 6:00 pm
Dates: August 28th – September 1st
About the retreat:
Finding our true ground
This silent meditation retreat will give time for going deeper into the meditation practice, for which instruction and dharma talks will be given daily.
Some meditations will be guided while some will be in silence.
The aim is to reconnect with the deeper silence within and explore the nature of our minds.
We will practice both sitting and walking meditation, and some of these practices will be in nature. We will also include Metta (loving-kindness) meditation and conscious body work
. 
About the teachings and practice:
The path of meditation gradually awakens us to our true ground of being. This can be both painful and joyful. In sustained practice we see the psychological patterns that have dominated and even contaminated our ground. We can observe how these patterns sustain egoic structures which, over time, we come to believe is our true ground. Such patterns, however, arise from the unconscious where family, cultural and ancestral influences assert themselves.
Meditation practice becomes a way to see these patterns and to re-discover the innate wisdom that seeks enable growth towards the uncovering our true ground and letting go of dominant egoic structures. The Buddha said that ego is illusory and that the true ground is empty; an emptiness that is vibrant with potentiality. The Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung said that all that is in potentiality seeks to become manifest in consciousness.
The meditation practice in this retreat will be of the Samatha (calm) – Vipassana (insight) tradition, also incorporating metta/loving kindness and nature based practice. Jung’s psychology of the unconscious will help to guide us through the material that inevitably and necessarily arises, opening us to the presence of sunyata/ emptiness and towards resting in the heart. Each day there will be a period of mindful work to bring our practice into practical engagement.
Timetable*
Wednesday:
- Arrivals from 4.00 pm
- 6.00 pm Welcome, Introduction to the retreat and Meditation practice
- 7.30 pm Dinner
- 8.45 pm Meditation practice & start of silence
- 9.45 pm Resting, sleeping, dreaming
Thursday / Friday / Saturday:
- 6.30 am Rise
- 7.00 am Meditation practice
- 9.00 am Breakfast
- 10.00 am Mindful work / Karma yoga
- 10.45 am Break
- 11.00 Meditation practice
- 1.00 pm Break
- 1.30 pm Lunch
- 2.30 Rest period
- 4.00 pm Opening to Nature: forest walk.
- 5.00 pm Tea
- 5.30 pm Stephen’s talk / Q & A
- 6.30 pm Meditation practice
- 8.00 pm Dinner
- 9.00 pm Heart meditation (with some breathwork)
- 10.00 pm Resting, sleeping, dreaming.
Sunday:
- 6.30 am Rise
- 7.00 am Meditation practice (with some qi gong)
- 9.00 am Breakfast
- 10.00 am Mindful work/karma yoga
- 10.45 am Break
- 11.00 Meditation practice / Q& A /end of retreat sharing
- 1.00 pm Break
- 1.30 pm Lunch
- Afternoon depart
*This might slightly change due to weather conditions
Food:
We offer 3 courses of vegetarian, homemade, love-infused, and occasionally home-grown food, served in a self-service style.
We try to source as much local and organic food as possible.
A Welcome drink and some snacks are also served at the start of the retreat.
Teacher:
Stephen was born in London in 1960. As a teenager, he was drawn to religion and spirituality and has followed that thread all his adult life. He studied Theology and Religious Studies and later trained in Analytical Psychology to become a psychoanalyst (Jungian).
He attended his first 10 day vipassana retreat age 20 and for five years trained in Tai Chi and meditation with Tew Bunnag, founder of the European School of Tai Chi. He later completed his Vipassana teacher training with the Thai master, Dhiravamsa.
Never seeing any discrepancy between Buddhist practice and the deeper currents of the Christian mystical tradition, in his early 30s, Stephen was ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church; in this capacity, he offered spiritual and pastoral care in inpatient and community psychiatric care. From here he went on to work privately in psychoanalysis.
Coming to live at Les Gavatxes, Stephen feels will enable him to bring together many threads of his spiritual journey, particularly to offer psychological insight within the practice of meditation. He looks forward to welcoming people on retreat here and accompanying people on their journeys of inner discovery.
Price:
335€ – shared accommodation
375€ – individual accommodation
More Information and Registrations:
info@lesgavatxes.es
+34 621208264 (Whatsapp – Sara)
Language: English and Spanish
