Heavenly Messengers: Awakening through Illness, Aging and Death (236R21)
Debra Chamberlin-Taylor, Bonnie Duran, MPH, DrPH, Leslie Booker and Eugene Cash
January 25 - 29, 2021
Registration open until the end of the day (Pacific Time) on January 24, 2021. A waiting list will be created if the retreat fills early.
Retreat Description:
The Buddha called sickness, aging, and death “Heavenly Messengers” because they can powerfully guide us toward awakening. At this retreat we’ll learn to open our hearts and minds to all aspects of life, including the Heavenly Messengers. This opening cultivates the awareness, acceptance, and nourishing wisdom needed to meet life’s inevitable changes with more ease. Learning to embrace impermanence helps us embody the awakened heart-mind that holds our fears, vulnerabilities, and sorrows in wisdom, compassion, and peace. Practices for meeting suffering and fear with mindfulness and lovingkindness will be taught daily.
The simultaneous public health, social justice, environmental and political crises we currently face are also Heavenly Messengers.
This retreat will be an inspiring and powerful opportunity to develop a more accepting relationship with change and death. This new relationship to change brings more freedom to enjoy life and a fresh appreciation for this precious moment.
This “workshop-style” retreat will be held in morning and evening silence, with interactive exercises each afternoon.
All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.
General Daily Schedule (for middle days of retreat; schedule subject to change; times are Pacific Time)
Note: Opening Day starts at 9:00 a.m. and Closing Day starts at 5:45 a.m.
5:45am – 6:30am Sitting Meditation (Self-Guided)
6:30am – 7:30am Break
7:30am – 8:30am Sitting Meditation with Instructions, Q and A
8:30am – 9:15am Walking Meditation OR Small Group Practice Meeting (For Some)
9:15am – 10:00am Sitting Meditation
10:00am – 10:45am Walking Meditation OR Small Group Practice Meeting (For Some)
10:45am – 11:30am Sitting Meditation
11:30am – 1:30pm Break
1:30pm – 2:00pm Sitting Meditation
2:00pm – 4:00pm Interactive session
4:00pm – 4:30pm Sitting Meditation
4:30pm – 5:45pm Break
5:45pm – 6:30pm Dharma Talk
6:30 Further Practice or Sleep
About the Teachers
Debra Chamberlin-Taylor
Debra Chamberlin-Taylor has been meditating since 1973 and has led retreats that combine spiritual and psychological growth since 1978. In addition to practicing Vipassana, she has been influenced by Dzogchen, Diamond Heart and devotional practices. She also leads workshops on the embodiment of awareness and love in relationships in our diverse world. For audio recordings […]
Learn more about Debra Chamberlin-Taylor
Bonnie Duran, MPH, DrPH
Bonnie Duran met the Dharma in 1982 when she sat a month at Kopan Monastery in Nepal and learned Vipassana in Bodh Gaya India. Since then, she has taken teachings from many western teachers including Marcia Rose, Joseph Goldstein, and Jack Kornfield, as well as Thai, Burmese, and Tibetan Monastic teachers. Bonnie is a graduate […]
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Leslie Booker
Booker brings her heart to the intersection of Dharma, Embodied Wisdom, and Liberation; using this framework to support folks in creating a culture of belonging. She shares her offerings as a university lecturer, public speaker, and Buddhist philosophy and meditation teacher. Booker began training at Spirit Rock through the Mindful Yoga and Meditation training (2012), […]
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Eugene Cash
Eugene is the founding teacher of San Francisco Insight. He has been a Buddhist teacher since 1990. He is a senior teacher on the Spirit Rock teacher council. Eugene’s teaching is influenced by many streams of Buddhism–– Theravada, Zen and Tibetan. He is also a Diamond Approach teacher. He’s passionate about practicing 24/7, supporting awareness, […]
Learn more about Eugene Cash