The Hermitage: 2013 Meditation Retreat Schedule

Beginner-level Meditation and Yoga
Combines physical yoga, sitting posture, breathing (pranayama) and clear meditation instruction guided by an experienced, knowledgeable and gentle meditation teacher. Ideal for both newcomers and long-term students, but especially adapted for the benefit of the complete beginner. In easy-to-follow steps, Alison will show you how to gain inner tranquillity, calm, personal insight, and a sense of renewed joy. She has personally studied under B.K.S. Iyengar and has decades of experience teaching yoga, on top of which she has added profound insight acquired through meditation.

Led by Alison Yarwood, certified IYAC yoga instructor.

• Silent Retreat
• Teachings/Yoga
• Body-work/Meditation

Kundalini Yoga and Meditation to Awaken the Heart
This retreat, in the sublime Sikh Tradition, will explore self-healing yogic techniques and meditation, to awaken the consciousness and the potential of the individual. Through the daily practice of powerful Kundalini Yoga Kriyas, Meditations, Mantras and Pranayama (breathwork), as taught by Yogi Bhajan, emphasis is on opening the heart and awakening the spirit within. With many practical teachings and tips for living a wholesome, healthy and happy lifestyle in this new Age of Aquarius, this retreat is great for both beginners and advanced students of meditation and yoga. Optional early-morning Sadhana practice will also be offered.

Led by Devmurti and Hari Amrit Khalsa, KRI-certified Kundalini Yoga Instructors, who have taught for over 30 years. They had the good fortune to study and live with the great Kundalini Yoga master, Yogi Bhajan, for over 25 years.

• Teachings
• Meditation
• Kundalini Yoga

Profound Calm-abiding Meditation
Focus is on silence and deep meditation practice, with an emphasis on gaining a profound experience of concentration, mental development, inner wisdom and self-transformation during the time of the retreat. Emphasis is on direct sitting meditation, focused concentration, with the goal of attaining Samadhi, blissful integration and dynamic awakening to one’s Inner Being. Students will leave at the end of the retreat with a clear understanding of how to continue to make progress amidst the turmoil and business of ordinary life.

Led by Connie Mitchell, Hermitage-certified Meditation & Yoga teacher.

• Silent
• Teachings/Private Interviews/Disciplined Meditation in Nature
  

Shamatha–Calm-abiding Meditation
This silent practice retreat will focus on developing deep states of meditation by means of concentration and peacefully calming the busy ‘monkey-mind,’ to attain steadiness, relaxation and clarity. Gain an understanding of the nine stages of calm-abiding that ultimate lead to the beatific state of Samadhi. Learn to establish a solid basis for health and well-being of mind and body. This retreat consists of daily teaching, followed by interview with the Lama, and with each practitioner encouraged to practice at his or her own pace, on their own in the midst of Nature. In fact, finding harmony between oneself and Nature is an important component of this practice. Calm-abiding is considered to be the foundation on which all other forms of successful meditation or inner work must depend.

Led by Lama Rodney P. Devenish.

• Silent
• Teachings/Private Interviews/Meditation in Nature

The Bodhisattva Path
The Bodhisattva Path is at the heart of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. In this retreat, we will examine the Bodhisattva Path in detail, and with a focus on how to live as a bodhisattva in today’s world. Texts will include The 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas, the Heart Sutra, and the Diamond Sutra, as well as teachings on Chenrezig.

Led by Lama Tsultrim Namdak (Lama Sidney McQueen-Smith).

• Silent
• Teachings/Private Interviews/Meditation

Transforming the Mind
The techniques of the Tibetan Buddhist path allow us to transform the mind through insights gained from examining the causes of our pain, our suffering, our neurotic pattens, confusion and habitual tendencies all which enslave and entrap us. This will be balanced through the Vajrayana practice of enhancing loving kindness and compassion for all sentient beings, using the classic text of Chenrazi, Lord of Love and Compassion. From this base, suggestions will be offered for the establishing of a practical daily meditation practice. Lama Shenpen has led a full life, first as a married mother with children and then as an ordained Buddhist renunciate. She teaches not only with the skill that comes from study and learning, but by the lived example of her purposeful spiritual life. In 1995 she completed the classical Three Year Retreat in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of her teacher, the renowned venerable Kalu Rinpoche.

Led by Venerable Lama Shenpen.

• Teachings/Meditation/Avalokitesvara Practice
  

A Meditative Approach to Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
These teachings will be of interest to those who suffer from stress, anxiety, and depression and their friends and families, as well as physicians, therapists and care-givers. The program is geared toward a secular audience as well as those with meditation experience. The language is straightforward, the approach practical and non-religious. The intention is to provide participants with some insight into how we humans get into unpleasant, negative, painful, and unproductive states of mind and to offer some useful meditative remedies. The suggestions are not meant to replace medical or psychological treatments that participants might already be involved in. They are meant to augment and support positivity and calm.

Led by Lama Gerry Kopelow (Lama Gyurme Dorje).

• Silent
• Teachings/Meditation

A Meditative Approach to Joy
Agitation is so pervasive in North American culture that many believe that inner calm is the ultimate goal of meditation practice. But the Buddha teaches that calm should not be regarded an end state in itself, rather as a reliable platform from which to launch further explorations of the interior landscape. This program is structured to do exactly that. First we will investigate meditative methods to establish and stabilize mental peace, and then we will investigate meditative methods to initiate and nurture joy. This program is a natural follow-up to the Stress, Anxiety and Depression workshop, but that program is not a required prerequisite.

Led by Lama Gerry Kopelow (Lama Gyurme Dorje).

• Silent
• Teachings/Meditation

Meditation on Love and Relationship
Maitri-bhavana, the cultivation of love in meditation, is an ancient technique that was originally taught by the Buddha. The practice focuses on awakening the heart and learning to break down the barriers protecting our vulnerability. In the abstract the aim is to learn to develop an unconditional love toward all beings, but in particular this meditation also changes how an individual functions in relationship. From the romantic to the spirtual, and everything in between, the greatest transformative force in the world is that of love. When love itself becomes the focus of concentration, individuals find themselves lifted from the mundane to the transcendental. They find themselves healed of past traumas and buried negative reaction-patterns. The walls come down and new life is born within them. Love conquers all. Love awakens the soul within.

Led by Lama Rodney P. Devenish.

• Silent
• Teachings/Meditation

Yoga Nidra - Meditation of Sleep & Dream
A process of awakening through the deep sleep state. Yoga Nidra is a meditation practice that has been taught in India since ancient times; references to the science of Yoga Nidra can be found in the early Mandukya Upanishad, yet few people know the technique. This is a rare opportunity to learn a unique method of accessing the wisdom, power, and natural luminosity within one’s being through the deep sleep state. Through Yoga Nidra individuals can attain well-being, happiness, health and mental balance, inner peace, and self-realization, using a path that is at once clear, easy, and direct. The skills learned in this retreat can be taken into daily life, providing you with confidence and courage to face all situations. Yoga Nidra is also helpful in dealing with depression, anxiety, and chronic pain.

Led by George McFaul, certified Yoga instructor, trained in the Yoga Nidra system.

Stillness, Compassion, and Wisdom
The Buddha was a great psychologist. He taught us to face life as it is. Life is filled with both joy and sorrow, gain and loss. The teaching of Buddha Dharma help us to understand and directly experience that while pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. States of fear, anxiety, sadness and discontent occur when we are not in alignment with reality: things change, and we need to change with them. A mind that comes to know this truth is a calmer, happier mind, and this creates a more compassionate, peaceful person. This silent meditation retreat will have periods of Vipassana (insight) and Shamatha (calm abiding) practice. There will be some guided meditation periods. Yoga will be offered to support and deepen the meditation practice. There will be daily Dharma talks and interviews with the teacher. Suitable for both beginning and advanced meditators.

Led by Cheryl Fraser Ph.D. who has been studying BuddhaDharma for 20 years. Her root teacher was the venerable Namgyal Rinpoche. Other teachers include Lama Mark Webber, Phillip Moffit, and Adrianne Ross. Cheryl studies and practices in both the Tibetan Vajrayana and the Theravaden Vipassana traditions. She is a clinical psychologist in private practice, and she writes a column for Best Health magazine. She teaches Dharma in an approachable, colourful and humourous style. She invites us to examine the question: How can I be happy for no reason?

• Silent
• Teachings/Meditation

Annual Mahamudra Retreat
(Prerequisite for attendance; see below)
In the Tibetan Kagyu school, the path of Mahamudra is considered the ‘pinnacle’ of ways to awaken to reality and attain personal realization; the fundamental means for coming to experience the true nature of the Mind directly. It is the very essence of all the teachings of the Buddhas and sages of the past and present. Inquiry is conducted in precise steps through a combination of intense meditation and pointed questions, according to a program proven meaningful for thousands of years. Strict silence throughout the retreat and many, many hours of disciplined meditation practice are expected from all who attend. Because it is important that those attending the retreat be familiar with Hermitage routine and the Centre’s style of meditation practice, the prerequisite for admission is that applicants have completed at least one Calm-abiding (Shamatha) retreat at the Hermitage. This highly disciplined retreat involves instruction each morning, followed by private interviews with the teacher, carried out in a traditional manner based on the Dharma lineage of Namgyal Rinpoche.

Led by Lama Rodney P. Devenish.

• Silent
• Teachings/Self-Inquiry/Meditation Practice

Shamatha: Deeper Still
This retreat will focus on deepening concentration toward the blissful integration of who we think we are with our true Inner Being. Evolve your understanding and experience of meditation, mind and the limitless potential of expanded states of Being. Return home with a renewed sense of awareness, peace and joy in life and in your meditation practice.

Led by Connie Mitchell, Hermitage-certified Meditation and Yoga teacher and co-Founder of the School of Natural Mind Meditation.

• Silent
• Teachings/Private Interviews/Disciplined Meditation in Nature
  

The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Insight into Life, Death and Awakening.
Every one of us must face death at some point; not only our own death, but also that of our loved ones. How do we deal with it? What can we make of it? The Tibetan Book of the Dead is an ancient text that pictures what happens when we die and explains how we can directly pray for and assist those who die, but the ancient text is hard to understand. With distinct insight based on years of personally assisting the dead and the dying, Lama Tsultrim Namdak Rinpoche, a fully ordained Buddhist monk and student of the leading Kagyu master Tai Situ Rinpoche, will ‘unpack’ the mysteries of the Tibetan Book of the Dead in a way to make it meaningful for Western seekers. Learn how you too can help others in the death process, as well as to prepare, using meditation, for your own demise. At root, understanding death is the key to life itself!

Led by Lama Tsultrim Namdak (Sidney McQueen-Smith).

• Teaching Retreat/Talks with the Lama/Meditation

Profound Calm-abiding in the
Midst of Nature
This gentle practice session in Calm-abiding Meditation will consist of daily teaching, followed by interview with the Lama, with practitioners encouraged to practice at his or her own pace, on their own in the midst of Nature. In fact, finding harmony between oneself and Nature is an important component of this practice. Our focus will be establishing a sense of peace and happiness. Happiness requires a sense of inner peace, coupled with self-esteem, for it to manifest in our being. As Lama often says, “For meditation to be successful, you must bring joy into your practice.” Joy and self-inquiry are the factors that can transform our life.

Led by Lama Rodney P. Devenish.

• Silent
• Teaching/Meditation

Living in the United States of Happy Mind
This weekend retreat will focus on developing the four wholesome mental states, known in Buddha Dharma as the Brama Viharas, or the Divine Abodes. These four psychologically healthy, happy mind states are loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. This silent retreat will have periods of vipassana (insight) meditation practice and periods of guided meditation practice on each of the four divine abodes. Daily Dharma talks/interviews with the teacher. The emphasis will be on opening the heart and thus allowing a deeper settling of the mind.

Led by Cheryl Fraser Ph.D. who has been studying Buddha-Dharma for 20 years. Her root teacher was the venerable Namgyal Rinpoche. Cheryl is a clinical psychologist in private practice, and she teaches Dharma in an approachable, colourful and humourous style. She invites us to examine the question: How can I be happy for no reason?

• Silent
• Teachings/Interviews/Meditation

Kundalini Yoga & Meditation to Awaken the Heart
This retreat, in the sublime Sikh Tradition, will explore self-healing yogic techniques and meditation, to awaken the consciousness and the potential of the individual. Through the daily practice of powerful Kundalini Yoga Kriyas, Meditations, Mantras and Pranayama (breathwork), as taught by Yogi Bhajan, emphasis is on opening the heart and awakening the spirit within. With many practical teachings and tips for living a wholesome, healthy and happy lifestyle in this new Age of Aquarius, this retreat is great for both beginners and advanced students of meditation and yoga. Optional early-morning Sadhana practice will also be offered.

Led by Devmurti and Hari Amrit Khalsa, KRI-certified Kundalini Yoga Instructors, who have taught for over 30 years. They had the good fortune to study and live with the great Kundalini Yoga master, Yogi Bhajan, for over 25 years.

• Teachings/Meditation/Kundalini Yoga