Intensive Silent Vipassana Meditation Retreat for People of Color

“NOTE: We have a few spots still open. Please download the application and call the retreat manager’s office at 415-488-0164 ext. 262 AFTER 3:00 pm today, April 8, 2013. This retreat is for people of color to practice meditation in a community of other people of color. Learn about your mind and heart through engaging in the discipline of mindfulness meditation. We will practice sitting meditation and walking meditation to allow you to observe your life in the lab of our monastery. Participants will be expected to abstain from reading, writing, and technology to engage in the direct experience of life beyond our ideas of what it is. Participants will also be expected to follow the retreat schedule with the group and the specific Buddhist meditation instructions as provided by the teachers on this retreat (this is not a self-retreat or a place to do other spiritual practices). Teachers will provide brief meetings with retreat participants for guidance in the practice (small group or individual) two times during the retreat, so you need to be OK with quiet for most of the time (intensive silent meditation retreat of this sort can be strenuous and thus is not recommended for those with fragile psychological/mental health). The retreat will also be supported by dharma talks, guided meditations, including metta (kindness) practice, and yoga practice. If this all sounds good to you and you are a self-identified person of color who would like to practice in community, please come join us! Please note that this is not a drop-in retreat and prior registration is needed for attendance. In addition, all participants will be required to attend the duration of the retreat unless an emergency develops. Please bring your full and committed participation. The teachers are interested in deepening the practice of dedicated practitioners in communities of color as well as facilitating practice for beginners. Spirit Rock is offering this retreat on a sliding scale, $90 – $515 for the entire retreat. This will allow people to come according to their individual means. Because the low end of the sliding scale does not cover Spirit Rock’s operating expenses for this retreat, we ask that you pay at the highest level you can afford. This allows others who need to pay less the opportunity to attend. The teachings are offered by the teachers on a Dana or donation basis. The word “”dana”” simply translates into a heartfelt gift. At the end of the retreat, participants will be invited to support the teachers and Spirit Rock by voluntarily offering donations in three categories: first to support the retreat teachers, second to support the retreat cooks and retreat managers, and third to offer additional support to Spirit Rock’s operating expenses so that the important work of offering Dharma to multicultural communities, particularly in the form of this annual POC retreat, can continue.”