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Summer 2012 Retreats

United States - West Coast - California

Nyingma Institute

The goal of these retreats is to lead each participant to discover sources of nourishment that do not diminish with age nor disappear with death. The retreats guide us in a search to find ways to transform memory into wisdom; to transform loss into generosity; to transform the accumulated sorrows of a lifetime into pure love; to transform even pain and death into brilliant awareness.

The first week of retreat (June 11-16) is all about cultivating serenity. Meditation, contemplation of gentle Buddhist teachings, and the beauty of the Nyingma Institute work together to bring participants to a point of deep calm. Techniques for maintaining inner peace in daily life ensure that these experiences will continue after the retreat.

In two weeks of Tibetan Yoga retreats (June 25-July 7), participants discover new ways of ‘operating’ the senses. Deep tones are found within each sensory ability that do not depend upon what we sense. Through gentle Kum Nye practices that can be done at every stage of life we tap into these tones, developing an abiding trust in our capacity for connection and communication.

“Cutting through Conditioning” (July 9-14) presents powerful techniques from Nyingma Psychology to release the accumulated habits of a lifetime. We focus on the power of time to change us and everything we know, seeing how each stage of life we pass through, even those that we may know as ‘difficult’ has a distinct patterning and special wisdom to reveal. When we ask, “How did this moment of time arise?” the delicate blossom of the present moment is not crushed by the weight of past conditioning. A space opens up between us and the compelling force of habit. We can look through layers of conditioning, using awareness like a microscope that penetrates to core of wisdom.

The “Preparation for the Time of Death” retreat (July 16-21) will present an outline of the teachings the Tibetan tradition for the time of death. Its focus will be on gentle awareness practices that can be utilized at the time of death and beyond to ease and open this transition into an opportunity for tremendous knowledge.

“Entering Openness” (July 23-28) brings the realization of change and impermanence to bear on the negative forces of anger, attachment, and ignorance, making way for an experience of the openness of being. Classic Tibetan teachings on the nature of mind and consciousness blend with powerful analytic meditations to foster these insights. Turning to the Buddha’s teachings on self-mastery (July 30-August 4), we learn to relax ordinary mind and attachments. Reorienting awareness through study, analysis, and meditation, we form a lasting partnership with an enduring lineage of compassionate wisdom. Establishing a bond of loving kindness with all living beings, we come to the end of loneliness. Our heart learns to speak in gentle tones, and there are no unhappy endings.

In the final week (August 6-11) of this summer’s retreats we shift to an exploration of how we communicate and connect with ourselves and others. The Skillful Means approach points out how every task, no matter how small, can be the means for deepening what has value.

Following is a list with catalog numbers, brief descriptions, instructors and costs.

Please refer to the “Finding Inner Peace Retreat” Daily Schedule below as an example of a typical Nyingma Retreat Schedule.

June 11-16: Finding Inner Peace MED502

Finding tranquility, even in the midst of a busy life is the goal of this retreat. Focusing on calming meditations (shamatha) reveals the clear, luminous nature of mind itself.

Primary Instructor: Olivia Hurd.