Everyday Nirvana, Every Day
Self-love, self-compassion, self-appreciation, self-balance and self-forgiveness…
Retreat Information
>> Retreat Overview
>> Retreat Commitment [Sajja]
‘Everyday Nirvana’ is a 5-day intensive residential retreat exploring ‘Buddhist’ practices that support our waking-up from cravings and aversions; that support our healing from addictions and compulsions, that support our recovery from greed and hatred and confusion.
The next Hungry Ghost retreat – ‘Everyday Nivana, Every Day’ will be : see Schedule.
‘Everyday Nirvana’ is an invitation to deepen our understanding of recovery from addictions and compulsions that manifest as Craving, Aversion and Confusion.
This mindfulness-based retreat is offered as an opportunity to expand and follow on from the wholly Buddhist approach to recovery as presented in the Hungry Ghost Recovery – ‘Being Human’ retreat.
Each retreat will comprise of a daily routine of sitting and walking meditation, Dhamma talks and optional interviews.
Each day will start with mindful movement, then a morning reading followed by a 30-minute period of silent meditation. Throughout each day there will be talks and discussions; and most importantly plenty of opportunity to practise sitting, walking and standing meditation. The essential practices of Loving Kindness, Compassion, Joy-gladness and Equanimity will be central to each day’s practice.
** For the ‘Everyday Nirvana‘ retreat at the Sunyata Buddhist Centre we will adopt the Eight Precept model of practice by adding three more training guidelines to the normal Five Precepts:
- To refrain from wearing make-up, perfume or strongly-scented deodorant, jewellery or immodest clothing; not playing radios, music tapes or musical instruments.
- To refrain from overindulgence in sleep.
- To refrain from eating after our main meal at lunchtime.
Some potential learning outcomes of this retreat
• Learning to stay with the uncomfortable – Right Now It’s Like This !?
• Develop an appreciation of the liberating distinction between ‘abstinence’ and ‘abandonment’.
• A continued deepening of one’s own mindfulness meditation practice as a basic attitude in everyday life.
• A better understanding of the Buddhist principles and practices of mindfulness-based harm reduction, relapse prevention and waking-up from ‘addictions’ and compulsions.
• A deeper understanding and appreciation of the difference between ‘abstaining’ and ‘abandoning’ addictions, compulsions and harmful behaviour (i.e. the Training Precepts compared to the commitment of a Sajja [Vow]).
• The opportunity to take part in and/or lead Buddhist-oriented ‘Sit-and-Share‘ peer led support meetings.
• The voluntary and optional opportunity to make a Sajja [intention/aspiration/commitment/vow] as an outward manifestation of the heart’s desire to move away from suffering towards the end of suffering.
Optional Sajja [intention/aspiration/commitment/vow] at the end of retreat.
RETREAT COMMITMENT: My commitment to each retreat is to prepare and share my formulation of these teachings for everyone’s benefit. However, we create a retreat together when we show up for ourselves and for each other. Retreatants are expected to adhere to the ‘Retreat Commitment’. Just as our ‘waking-up’ requires our complete wholehearted commitment and our full effort, so does attendance on any Hungry Ghost Retreat. It is a requirement on retreat that you attend for the whole retreat and take part in all sessions. For example, if you are not an ‘early morning person’ then this retreat is not for you.
DANA: I offer this retreat freely in accordance with the Buddhist tradition of Dana (the cultivation and practice of the virtue of generosity) where you are invited to contribute financially to the teachings and the mentoring provided based on your individual income and the value that you place on what has been offered. My livelihood and the future of ‘Hungry Ghost’ retreats is dependent on the generosity of Dana. There will be more details of this during the retreat.
Please contact me if you want to need more information.
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