Practical Emptiness: The Womb of Love and Compassion (246R21)
Nikki Mirghafori, PhD and Sayadaw U Jagara
April 8 - 11, 2021
Registration open until 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time) on April 7, 2021. A waiting list will be created if the retreat fills early.
Retreat Description:
At its core, the Dharma is practical, and the teachings on emptiness (Suññatā) are no exception. Far from being bleak and nihilistic, emptiness practice liberates experience to be appreciated in richer fullness. The profound teachings on emptiness, however, often feel conceptual and illusory, or even unapproachable. This online retreat is an invitation to open to the accessible and practical teachings on emptiness, to be witnessed internally and externally, both during formal practice and in our daily lives. Seeing experience through this lens offers freedom from the prison of our limited conceptual framework, the contraction of which can lead to greed and grasping or hatred and aversion, and the whole entangled web of suffering. When all drops away, the groundless ground of love and compassion emerges.
Schedule (all times listed in Pacific Time)
Opening Day
2:00 pm Tech Open House
3:00 pm Retreat Opening Session
4:00 pm Walking Meditation
4:30 pm Dharma Talk and Sit with Guidance
5:45 pm Meal Break
7:15 pm Sitting Meditation with Guidance
8:00pm Rest, or further practice
Main Days
6:00 am Movement Meditation (self-guided)
6:30 am Sitting Meditation
7:15 am Breakfast break
8:45 am Sit with Guidance and Dharmette
9:45 am Walking meditation
10:00 am Small Group Session (for some)
10:30 am Sitting meditation
11:00 am Small Group Session (for some)
11:15 am Walking meditation
12:00 pm Sitting meditation
12:30 pm Meal break
2:00 pm Walking meditation
2:30 pm Sitting Meditation with Guidance and Dharmette
3:30 pm Walking meditation
4:00 pm Sitting meditation
4:20 pm Stretch break
4:30 pm Dharma talk and Q/A
5:30 pm Walking meditation
6:00 pm Meal break
7:30 pm Sitting meditation, ending with reflection
8:15 pm Open practice session
Closing Day
6:00 am Movement Meditation (self-guided)
6:30 am Sitting meditation
7:15 am Meal break
8:45 am Sitting Meditation, Dharmette and Announcements
9:45 am Walking meditation or Mediation Space Cleaning
10:00 am Closing Session
11:00am End of Retreat
All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.
About the Teachers
Nikki Mirghafori, PhD
Nikki Mirghafori, PhD, is a Buddhist teacher and Artificial Intelligence scientist. She is a lineage holder in the Theravada tradition, empowered by the living Burmese meditation master Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw, with whom she practiced the jhanas and detailed analytical (Abhidhamma-style) vipassana. She also received empowerment from the Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Insight Meditation Society, […]
Learn more about Nikki Mirghafori, PhD
Sayadaw U Jagara
Born in Canada, Sayadaw U Jagara, originally named Martin Boisvert, embarked on his spiritual journey in the mid-1970s under the guidance of Robert H. Hover. In 1979 he received ordination as a monk from the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw in Burma. For the next 15 years, he resided in Sri Lanka, where he blended the practice […]
Learn more about Sayadaw U Jagara