Spirit Rock Meditation Center News and Schedule, Jan - May 2019

Spirit Rock spiritrock.org

news & schedule | jan ¡ may 2019

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SPIRIT ROCK NEWS | JAN – MAY 2019

Winter’s darkening seasons.

Another year in this changing body.

Evening’s reflections on the day’s choices.

Another morning of precious waking up.

A MESSAGE FROM MICHELLE LATVALA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

as we practice this buddhist path, we are able to hold the passing of time as a rich opportunity.

In this new year, let Spirit Rock be a support for your practice.

Let yourself be nourished by the Dharma, here and now: »» We offer you twenty 2-3 day COMMUTER RETREATS between January and May, including several in January to launch the new year with deeper practice— Liberating our Wisdom and Compassion, Seven Factors of Awakening, and Exploring Impermanence Through Living with Illnesses. We structure these non-residential retreats so you can commute home in the evening for sleep, family, or further practice; or stay in nearby accommodations. For non-residential program offerings, see pp. 12-31. For local lodging, see our list of offsite accommodations at www.spiritrock.org/off-siteaccommodations. »» We offer you more than forty DAY RETREATS, including several on Fridays—Focused Attention; Mindful Eating and Self-Care; and Anxiety: Not All in the Mind—as well as many more on weekends to support Dharma in your daily life, such as Dukkha and the End of Dukkha: Transforming Suffering and Reactivity; and Forgiving Yourself, Forgiving the World. See pp.

12-31 for a complete listing. We also offer customized Day Retreats for organizations seeking a Dharma-based day retreat experience suited to their team’s needs. Please reach out to trainings@spiritrock.org for more information. »» We offer you the second iteration of our popular DHARMA & YOGA TRAINING PROGRAM beginning in January. We are honored to offer this Dharma-intensive 200-hr yoga teacher training program which empowers you to share the gifts of practice with the wider community. See p. 9 for more information.

»» We offer you almost twenty RESIDENTIAL RETREATS, including new retreats like Trusting in Awareness, Trusting the Heart in mid-January, The Power of Insight Meditation in April, and True Belonging in mid-May. We continue our commitment to longer practice with our annual February and March month-long retreats and our precious monastic retreats in April and May. See pp. 36-41 for residential program listings.

This Dharma practice is a potent force in our lives and in our world. Last month, we freely offered our Retreat Center to the 24th Western Buddhist Monastic Gathering, a special week of fellowship and study for culturally western monastics representing three Buddhist traditions, eight different states, and four different countries; see p 5. And this month, I practiced alongside some of you during Reclamation of the Sacred: A Journey of Healing and Reconnection through Insight Meditation. I felt deeply nourished by these compassionate teachings and carry them into my service-leadership at Spirit Rock.

May the benefits of our collective practice find their way to you through this letter, through the programs we offer, and through the decisions we make here at Spirit Rock. Blessings and gratitude to our teachers, our ancestors, and each of you right now feeling the urgency of your practice towards freedom. May these practices be the source of your courageous actions in the world. We are so glad you are part of Spirit Rock.

Much gratitude,

Michelle Latvala

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SPIRIT ROCK NEWS | JAN – MAY 2019

SAY WHAT YOU MEAN

by OREN JAY SOFER (SPIRIT ROCK TEACHERS COUNCIL) Human life is a tapestry of changing emotions.

Our ability to relate wisely to this flow of emotions is among the most important skills we can develop. When understood, emotions give us valuable information about our own and others’ needs, key input about our environment, and robust guidance for navigating conversations. Our emotions are our mind and body’s age-old way of sending immediate, tangible messages to us about our relationship with the world.

How we handle emotions—our own and others’—can make or break a relationship. The intensity of our feelings can push us to say or do things that we later regret. Strong emotions can inhibit us from speaking the truth or sharing the things for which we long. Even our idioms point to the power emotions have to drive our behavior: we become “blind with rage,” “choked up,” “weak in the knees,” “bent out of shape.”

In a single day, how many emotions course through us? Though we have little choice over what we feel, we can have choice over how we handle our emotions.

A MYTHOLOGY OF EMOTIONS We each receive a kind of emotional inheritance. Wherever we’re born, we inherit generations of ideas, beliefs, and behaviors from our family, culture, religion, and society. Through the socialization process, we are given certain messages over and over again about what emotions we are allowed to feel and express based on aspects of our social location such as our gender, age, class, or race.

and ridiculed by other boys for crying, I learned it’s not safe to cry in public, especially not around other men. Although we each receive different messages based on our sociocultural location, almost all of us as children imbibe certain social rules about emotions based on our perceived gender: “Grow up. Be a man.”

“Big girls don’t cry.”

We have been systematically trained to avoid and suppress our emotions. These rules are not merely theoretical. Their impact on us as individuals can be felt every day through a deadening of our vitality; in the shame, depression, and anxiety that are so prevalent in modern society; and in our inability to manage emotions in relationships.

EMOTIONAL AGILITY Taking a cue from Buddhist teachings, the path through this murky terrain is the middle way between reactive expression and habitual suppression. Developing emotional agility involves three capacities: identifying emotions, finding balance with our internal experience of them, and expressing them openly without blame or judgment. The tools of mindfulness and the framework of Nonviolent Communication help us handle the intensity of emotions, to better understand them, and to channel their powerful energy toward more useful ends.

Adapted from Say What You Mean by Oren Jay Sofer © 2018 by Oren Jay Sofer. Reprinted in arrangement by Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO. www.shambhala.com.

For over two thousand years, aspects of Western philosophy and religion have posited a split between reason and emotion.

The “passions” of the heart are seen as irrational and “base.”

They drive us to do harmful things and threaten the fabric of the social order, so they must be subdued, tamed, and controlled by reason. Today, emotions are often associated with vulnerability, the feminine, weakness, and danger or with manipulation and subtle coercion.

OREN JAY SOFER holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University, is trained in Somatic Experiencing™, Nonviolent Communication, and is a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council.

Oren is the founder of Next Step Dharma, and author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.

This dichotomy set the stage for most of the ideas I was exposed to in public education. School is where we learn to reason.

Emotions are generally unwelcome and rarely discussed, let alone integrated. As a child, how often did your teachers ask how you felt?

I grew up Jewish in the suburbs of New Jersey. At home I learned that it was natural to express a colorful range of emotions. At school I learned hard lessons about what was and wasn’t socially acceptable. Sent out of class for raising my voice and cursing, I understood that it’s risky to express anger. Shamed by a teacher

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JAN

Skillful Speech in Difficult Situations

FRI

10:00 – 4:30pm | 5.5 CE Credits Available with Oren Jay Sofer

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SPIRIT ROCK NEWS | JAN – MAY 2019

SEVEN TREASURES FOR TRANSFORMATION

by ANANDABODHI BHIKKHUNI (SPIRIT ROCK TEACHERS COUNCIL) The Buddha offers a clear path to awakening, but it’s so easy to get pulled off track again and again. We want to be free from the burden of self and other, but again and again we get lured into chasing temporary pleasures and defending our sense of “me”.

The Seven Factors of Awakening are qualities that can transform the complications of a life or of a moment into a liberating Path.

As soon as we remember that we are caught in a story of self, the Path appears. Sati (mindfulness or awareness) brings us back into contact with what is actually happening here and now. We can make the mistake of getting caught in the content of the story and just go on adding to the sense of rightness or wrongness we hold about ourselves. Often just knowing that sati is present is enough to get us started on the Path.

A close friend of sati is dhamma-vicaya – inquiry into what is happening. Where in the body are we experiencing the tension, dullness, excitement or whatever may be present beneath the thoughts? This is not an intellectual inquiry, but a quality of ‘listening’, being interested and curious about what is present.

With viriya (energy) we can keep the inquiry going until things start to shift. Viriya is a steady, balanced energy that sustains our attention and inquiry. Apply too much energy and we get tense, not enough, and our mind wanders elsewhere. Viriya is just enough.

I have found that applying these three qualities, even in the midst of sorrow, can lead to the arising of piti (joy). Piti is the joy of clarity, the joy of understanding the truth-of-the-way-thingsare. It is a joyful response to being attuned to the impermanent nature of things.

We can invite the piti to soften and diffuse throughout the body.

Then we can let it go and invite passaddhi (calm) to enter our experience.

Passaddhi brings a subtler sense of wellbeing, a state of ease. As we allow the mind to rest in that gentle state, it naturally moves toward collectedness – samadhi. This samadhi doesn’t come through force or manipulation, but as a natural result of calming the mind.

The Path of Awakening is a path of developing and letting go.

With the quality of upekkha (balance) we let go of all goals and effort and just let the mind be with what is.

Whenever we remember sati, the Path opens. Somedays the practice goes easily, somedays it doesn’t. But if we remember these seven treasures, the Path will unfold right here.

Monastics from the 24th Western Buddhist Monastic Gathering held at Spirit Rock, October 2018.

Join us for a residential retreat May 5 – 9, 2019 with Ayya Anandabodhi, Ayya Santacitta, Venerable Dhammapida & Marci Moberg (yoga) exploring the Seven Treasures for Transformation, p.40.

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LOVE ALLOWS US TO DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS… BECAUSE IT IS WHO WE REALLY ARE. Dear Friends in the Dharma, We are surrounded by boundless beauty and an ocean of tears.

How do we both tend to our own heart with its joys and sorrows, and care for others?

So many people facing difficulties in life make a pilgrimage to Spirit Rock to find out. Your generosity—an act of love—opens the door for them.

Spirit Rock recently received a letter from a public school teacher: Public education broke my heart, and Spirit Rock helped mend it.

I am a Bay Area native, born and raised in Richmond, and being brought up by Chicana teachers, community organizers, and leaders, I felt called to teach young people of color and enter the school system. I taught middle school and first grade in Richmond for eight years before finally waving my white flag of surrender. I felt deeply overwhelmed and disillusioned.

A friend suggested that I attend a retreat at Spirit Rock. This changed the trajectory of my life forever.

For the first time in my teaching career—when my heart sank as I witnessed the trauma of poverty, racism, sexism and violence within the school system—I learned to create more space inside myself to hold the ache, turning toward my suffering with care, love, and compassion. I accepted myself: my imperfect, exhausted, uncertain human self, just as I was.

From this place of radical love and awareness, I found a new way to be. I now share mindfulness programming, serving Richmond youth in the school district. I don’t have words to describe my gratitude for the opportunity to receive these teachings and healings.

In these divisive times it’s often difficult to maintain a clear mind and an open heart. The Buddha taught practices to help, offering paths of caring action, developing compassion for all. Amidst the difficulties around us we can offer love, courage, generosity, and gratitude.

Yes, we are vulnerable. Yet, no matter what our struggle, we can walk with the beauty of a compassionate, caring, soaring spirit.

When you respond to the world in a loving way, you invite others to do the same. We all have the capacity to activate lovingkindness within each other.

When we founded Spirit Rock 30 years ago, no one imagined welcoming 40,000 people each year as we do now. Over this span of time, countless hearts have been opened and lives forever changed.

Today, I ask if you would consider making a gift to support the thousands of people who cultivate an open heart here, and in doing so, help mend the world.

Together, let’s support these powerful transformations of heart, of mind—and the entire world—by supporting Spirit Rock and all that we do here. Your gifts will sustain this sweet refuge for the next 30 years to come.

A blessing for you: May you be safe and protected, strong and healed, and most of all, may you live with the ease and joy of a loving heart.

With Metta,

Like this teacher, as you develop, tune into, and cultivate the capacities of mindfulness and loving awareness, the dimensions of Buddha nature begin to grow. Your clarity grows. Your integrity gets deeper. Your compassion grows. And your courage to act grows.

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Jack Kornfield

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL AND RIGHT AND REVOLUTIONARY IS HAPPENING...

I’m not a particularly emotional or corny person. I’m a recentlyretired Army officer and an attorney.

I tend to approach things with caution and a perhaps overactive cynicism. When I say that something in these teachings, and in the mission of Spirit Rock touches me deeply, I do not say it lightly.

As far as what inspired me to donate—I found the meditation practice offered at Spirit Rock touched something deep inside me that has not been awakened, as far as I know, my whole life.

Something beautiful and right and revolutionary is happening there.

I wanted to find a way to support something as simple yet profound as helping us all become more compassionate and connected to each other in this increasingly fragmented world, in our own fragmented country.

DEEPENING A CONNECTION WITH SPIRIT ROCK Consider joining Spirit Rock’s Stewardship Circle!

Staying connected to Spirit Rock and our deepest values, Stewardship Circle members offer $25 or more each month in support of everything we do here. And to show our gratitude, we offer members Dharma talks, livestreaming, articles, and more.

To join, contact Sharla Pidd at sangha@spiritrock.org or visit online: spiritrock.org/donor-circles.

So I am happy to donate to Spirit Rock. Thank you for your work!

Sincerely, Jen Brewer

YOU OFFER YOUR TIME, ENERGY, EXPERIENCE AND WISDOM TO KEEP SPIRIT ROCK HEALTHY AND VIBRANT. To our volunteers, benefactors, teachers and practitioners: thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us. We are tremendously grateful for this indispensable service. Your presence at Spirit Rock helps to cultivate a collective field of loving awareness...

If you are interested in sharing your energy and talents with us as a volunteer earning credits to attend programs in return, contact Juliana Birnbaum, our Volunteer Coordinator, at (415) 488-0164 x224 or volunteer@spiritrock.org.

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VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION APARNA BRANZ HOW DID YOU FIRST FIND OUT ABOUT SPIRIT ROCK? For years, I drove past Spirit Rock and wondered what it was and why I felt so drawn toward it, but unfortunately it was not yet the right timing for me. It was only after the dissolution of my 25year marriage that I finally made it to a Wednesday morning sangha.

Sylvia Boorstein was leading that day, and I had no idea what I was getting into, nor of the profound impact it was meant to have on my life. At the end of the dharma talk, I felt a tranquility that I had not felt before. It was like a new door had just opened up—inviting me in, offering me peace.

About six months later, I attended a Monday night with Jack Kornfield. His humble demeanor bespoke kindness and his teachings coupled with his wit resonated deeply with me.

It may be a mild exaggeration when I say Spirit Rock saved my life, but without the weekly teachings, I would be floundering in the aftermath of my separation and divorce. I learned to let go, to

be more accepting and less judgmental, to forgive - something I’d never thought myself capable of.

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO VOLUNTEER? Spirit Rock helped me cope with life, so it felt only natural that I’d want to give back. Volunteering gives me the opportunity to meet other practitioners both seasoned and novice. I enjoy the opportunity to invite and encourage everyone to make Spirit Rock their sanctuary as I have made it mine.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED AS A VOLUNTEER? I see all the ‘behind the scenes’ work that goes into making every retreat a comfortable and joyous experience. Everyone is so appreciative of every little thing and that has taught me not to be so exacting and hard on myself. I’ve learned to bestow on myself some of the same kindness I give to others.

WHAT HAS VOLUNTEERING ADDED TO YOUR LIFE? I feel blessed to be a part of this community and aim to carry the peace and gratitude I feel at Spirit Rock to my daily life. The wonderful atmosphere full of kindness and acceptance gives me a warm fuzzy feeling—it is a great way to live your life!

LOVING THE EARTH September 15, 2018 In conjunction with the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, September 12 – 14, Spirit Rock was honored to host the community for a special day of teachings. We hoped to inspire and motivate all who came through presentations, poetry, and music. Together, we explored how our practice can lead to greater consciousness and heal our planet in the face of climate change.

Share the day with us, now available online: ONLINE

LOVING THE EARTH: HEALING THE PLANET THROUGH MINDFUL ENGAGEMENT JAMES BARAZ & FRIENDS: JULIA BUTTERFLY HILL, JACK KORNFIELD, JOANNA MACY, ANAM THUBTEN, BELVIE ROOKS, NAOMI NEWMAN, ONE EARTH SANGHA & OTHERS WWW.SPIRITROCK.ORG/LOVINGTHEEARTH

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SPIRIT ROCK DHARMA & YOGA TRAINING PROGRAM Begins January 2019—Registration Open—RYT200 This immersive training addresses body, mind and heart through the study of mindful asana, pranayama, anatomy, mindfulness principles, meditation, and the wisdom teachings of Yoga and Buddhism. Students will develop both their personal practice, as well as the ability to guide and lead others. The heart of the practices will include the Brahma Viharas, with a focus on Metta, providing both refuge and support for kindness and compassion towards ourselves and others.

Teaching Team: Djuna Mascall, Leslie Booker, Anne Cushman, Mark Coleman, Tias Little, Sean Feit Oakes

DETAILS: • A five-month training program for meditation and mindfulness practitioners and aspiring yoga teachers.

• Fulfills the requirements for the Yoga Alliance 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher certification.

• Emphasis on the integration of meditation and mindfulness with movement.

• Specially designed to support more easeful participation for non-local participants.

• Exciting new feature of both non-residential and residential retreat days of training!

• Minimum of a two-year yoga and mindfulness practice required.

SCHEDULE: Foundational Buddhist Teachings Online Course — Completed within the first month of the program with Mark Coleman Foundations of Body, Mind and Heart — Djuna Mascall: 1/28 - 2/1 Embodied Dharma: Yoga, Connective Tissue & Inter-Being — Tias Little and Djuna Mascall: 2/1 - 2/3 Mindfulness of the Breath — Djuna Mascall: 3/4 - 3/8 Embodied Awakening: Trauma, Healing & Collective Liberation — Leslie Booker & Sean Feit Oakes: 3/9 - 3/10 Opening Space: Mindful Yoga & Embodied Meditation Residential Retreat 2-night/3-day residential retreat with Anne Cushman, Leslie Booker, Dawn Mauricio & Sean Feit Oakes: 4/24 - 4/26 Buddhism and Yoga: Integrating the Traditions — Sean Feit Oakes: 4/27 LEARN MORE OR REGISTER:

SPIRITROCK.ORG/DHARMAYOGA

The Wisdom Body — Djuna Mascall: 5/13 - 5/17 Evening Graduation Ceremony — Djuna Mascall & Team: 5/17 Closing & Integrating the Teachings — Djuna Mascall & Team: 5/18 - 5/19

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DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

DROP-INS, DAY RETREATS & COMMUTER RETREATS Spirit Rock offers a breadth of trainings, including commuter retreats, drop-in and day retreats, special events, weekly and monthly class series and online courses that open gateways to the Dharma and deepen understanding of the Buddha's teachings. We structure these offerings so you can commute home in the evening for sleep, family, or further practice; or stay in nearby accommodations. We invite you to review our offerings on the following pages. Details are subject to change; visit spiritrock.org for up-to-date information.

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DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

WEEKLY & MONTHLY DROP-IN PROGRAMS AT SPIRIT ROCK Community Welcome | Mondays, 6:15 – 7:00 pm This FREE program is for everyone who is new to Spirit Rock or interested in learning more about Insight (Vipassana) Meditation. You can give meditation a try, experiment with different postures and techniques, and learn more about how Spirit Rock can support you. It’s a wonderful opportunity to ask questions in a relaxed, informal setting and connect with others who are new to the Spirit Rock community.

Monday Night Dharma Talk & Meditation Group 7:15 – 9:15 pm | LIVESTREAM AVAILABLE JACK KORNFIELD, MARK COLEMAN & OTHERS Our Monday night drop-in program serves as an introduction to the practices of awareness and compassion that are the heart of our community and offers support and ongoing teachings to committed students. Fee: $15 - 30 sliding scale.

Wednesday Morning Meditation Group 10 am – 12 pm SYLVIA BOORSTEIN, DONALD ROTHBERG & OTHERS A sitting and practice-oriented discussion group, suitable for new and experienced practitioners. Fee: $15 - 30 sliding scale.

Thursday Women's Group | 10 am – 12 pm GRACE FISHER & OTHERS A place for women to come together, to share wisdom and to strengthen a sense of belonging in the world.

Fee: $15 - 30 sliding scale.

Dharma & Recovery Group | 7:15 – 9:15 pm KEVIN GRIFFIN & OTHERS - 2nd Friday of every month This group explores the intersection of recovery with Buddhist teachings and practices. All who identify with any of the full range of addictions, including substances, behaviors, habitual thought and emotional patterns are welcome.

Fee: $15 - 30 sliding scale.

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january

GENERAL INFORMATION JAN

01

TUES

RETREAT FOR NEW YEAR’S DAY 2019 SYLVIA BOORSTEIN & FRIENDS 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

LIVESTREAM AVAILABLE In the spirit of beginning again, with renewed zeal for the promised goal of a mind liberated from suffering and a heart available for impartial, compassionate response, we’ll spend this day practicing mindfulness and Metta meditation. Experienced and new practitioners will equally enjoy the combination of short teachings on the Eightfold Path, emphasizing the relevance of each Path part to a dedicated practice life on retreat as well as in daily life. Meditation sessions will be followed by questionand-answer sessions so that participants can receive guidance on their practice. Sylvia will be joined by her friends Brahmani Liebman leading mindful movement interludes in the day, Barbara Bogatin playing cello, and Barbara Borden, playing drums. Code: SB1D19. Livestream code: SB1L19.

SYLVIA BOORSTEIN, PhD, has been teaching since 1985 and teaches both Vipassana and Metta meditation.

Her many books include That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist and Happiness Is an Inside Job.

DAY RETREATS & COMMUTER RETREATS COST Non-residential programs vary in cost from $15+ for a drop-in class; to $45+ for Young Adults (18-26) and Seniors (65+ with limited income) for a daylong; to $75+ per day for day retreats and commuter non-residential retreats. Teacher support is built into these fees, and a portion of them may be tax-deductible. Please review our website www.spiritrock.org for detailed information for each program.

Spirit Rock deeply welcomes anyone with an interest in studying the Dharma and practicing Insight Meditation: all Spirit Rock events offer sliding scale fees and volunteer opportunities. We regularly hold ‘Dana’ programs allowing you to offer any amount, and scholarships are generally available. We are committed to ensuring that these teachings are widely accessible so that money isn’t a barrier to your practice.

VOLUNTEERING Volunteering is a meaningful way to participate in the Spirit Rock community. Volunteers help in every department and support every program. We hope you’ll consider offering us your time and energy helping with events, in housekeeping, on the land, in an office or in the kitchen. In gratitude for your service, volunteers receive free or reduced price attendance at programs. Contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Juliana Birnbaum, at volunteering@spiritrock.org or

JAN

05 SAT

INSIGHT MEDITATION: A PRACTICE OF MINDFULNESS, UNDERSTANDING AND FREEDOM MARK COLEMAN | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE In this day of mindfulness meditation, we will cultivate awareness that supports clarity, understanding and insight.

We will investigate how mindfulness practice develops insight into both the causes of stress and the causes of genuine happiness. We will develop tools to live with a genuine nonreactive freedom wherever we are, leading to the inner peace we all seek. Along with sitting and walking insight meditation practices, loving-kindness and compassion will be integrated throughout the day. There will be periods of meditation, talks, questions and discussion. Code: MC1D19.

(415) 488-0164 x224.

REGISTRATION Registration is available on our website. You can also mail a check to Spirit Rock, PO Box 169, Woodacre, CA, 94973. Please include your daytime phone number and email address and write the program code on the outside of the envelope and on your check. Pre-registration closes at noon Friday for weekend programs. For class series and other non-weekend programs, pre-registration closes at noon one business day before the program. In order to receive the pre-registration price, you must pay in full at the time you register. There is an additional $5 fee for registering at the door. To register by phone, call (415) 4880164 x219 or x266, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday to Friday.

CANCELLATIONS We do not offer refunds, but you can request a credit up to 4:00 pm two business days before an event (or Thursday for weekend

MARK COLEMAN, MA has been teaching Insight meditation retreats since 1997. He also leads wilderness meditation retreats, integrating mindfulness meditation with nature, and is the author of Awake in the Wild and Make Peace with Your Mind.

programs). We will credit your registration fee towards another non-residential program. Credits are not transferrable to residential retreats and must be used within one year of their date of issue. If you do not contact us prior to this deadline, no credit will be issued.

Credits cannot be accessed online; to request or use a credit, contact EventsRegistrar@spiritrock.org or call (415) 488-0164 x219 or x266, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm, Monday to Friday.

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DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

JAN

11

FRI

FOCUSED ATTENTION: MEDITATION FOR DEVELOPING CONCENTRATION & SERENITY

JAN

FRI

SUN

11 13

SAT

SUN

2-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT THE SEVEN FACTORS OF AWAKENING MATTHEW BRENSILVER 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

The Buddhist path is often characterized as a path of letting go.

We practice letting go of clinging. Yet, the path is not merely about what we relinquish, it is also about cultivation. What do we cultivate? The seven factors of awakening – mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity – refer to both psychological qualities we can develop as well as practices to be undertaken. When fully developed, they express a life of understanding and love. In this retreat, we will explore these qualities of heart and how they come to life in our practice. Code: MB1M19.

TINA RASMUSSEN, PhD, learned to meditate at age 13 and has been meditating 30+ years. She was ordained a Buddhist nun by Pa Auk Sayadaw of Burma, who authorized her to teach. She is co-author of Practicing the Jhanas, and several books on human potential, and works with students worldwide.

JAN

JAN

12 13

TINA RASMUSSEN | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

5.5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Focused attention returns awareness to one object of meditation, collecting the mindstream. This counteracts overstimulation from today’s world, with the damaging neurological impact of social media, texting, and technology that bombard us with messages and alerts. The practice “builds the muscle” of concentration, enabling us to turn away from our devices, allowing us to settle into the serenity of our deeper nature. We also see our habitual patterns that cause us to suffer both on and off the cushion. As we build capacity to turn away from these patterns, laser-like awareness can develop, leading to profound stillness and deep joy. Code: TR1D19.

JAN

3-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT LIBERATING OUR WISDOM AND COMPASSION ANNA DOUGLAS | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

“Just as in the ocean there is but one taste, the taste of salt, so in these teachings there is but one taste, the taste of liberation.” —Buddha The Buddha saw that for many beings, life is bound by greed, hatred, and delusion. But there is another way – the way of healing and unbinding the heart-mind into the experience of freedom. In this three-day retreat, we will highlight moments of genuine freedom in our experience. We will learn to rest in those moments, to soak in the state of freedom. Code: AD1M19.

ANNA DOUGLAS, PhD, has a background in psychology and art, in addition to more than 25 years of vipassana practice.

She has also studied with teachers in the Zen, Advaita and Dzogchen traditions.

MATTHEW BRENSILVER, PhD, began in the Tibetan tradition and has studied with Shinzen Young since 2003.

A SRMC/IMS/IRC Teacher Training Program graduate, he serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. Matthew teaches about the intersection of mindfulness and mental health at UCLA’s MARC and with Mindful Schools.

american sign language (asl) interpreters at spirit rock programs In furtherance of our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, we’ll spend 2019 experimenting with ASL interpreters at a few of our programs. Please spread the word to your Deaf and hard-of-hearing friends who would benefit from an ASL interpreter and are interested in learning more about meditation and the Dharma. Check our website for further details.

The following classes and retreats will have ASL interpreters for all Deaf and hard-of-hearing practitioners.

drop-in class: • 3rd Monday Night of each month Jack Kornfield, Mark Coleman and Friends

day retreats: • 2/23 - The Beautiful Path of Mindfulness: The Four Foundations with Mark Coleman • 3/23 - Living Wisely: The Buddha’s Teachings for a Mindful Life with Kate Munding

residential retreat: • 6/24 - 6/30 - Mindfulness for Everyone: The Basics and Beyond without the Hype with Diana Winston and Alex Haley — 7 Days/6 Nights

TO REGISTER AND FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION, VISIT SPIRITROCK.ORG

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DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT OFFERINGS: Continuing Education (CE) credit is co-sponsored by Spirit Rock and the Spiritual Competency Resource Center. CE credit is available for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, Nurses, Chiropractors, and Acupuncturists. Not all programs are applicable to every license; please check the web description for specific license applicability, number of credits offered per event, and learning objectives.

The Spiritual Competency Resource Center is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Spiritual Competency Resource Center maintains responsibility for these programs and their content.

Spirit Rock is a provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP16905.

DAY RETREATS & COMMUTER RETREATS OFFERING CE CREDIT: 1/5

Insight Meditation: A Practice of Mindfulness, Understanding and Freedom

1/11

Focused Attention: Meditation for Developing Concentration and Serenity

1/20

Dukkha and the End of Dukkha: Transforming Suffering and Reactivity

1/25

Skillful Speech in Difficult Situations

1/26

When the Past is Present

1/26–27 Exploring Impermanence Through Living with Illnesses 1/27

Wise Livelihood: Work as Practice

2/2

Forgiving Yourself, Forgiving the World

2/8

Mindful Eating and Self-Care

2/9–10

Releasing Trauma’s Grip: On and Off the Cushion

2/16

Heart Practices for Couples

2/17

The Neurology of Awakening

2/22

Leading by Example: Expanding the Bottom Line of the Heart

2/23

The Beautiful Path of Mindfulness: The Four Foundations

2/24

Qigong and Meditation: Healing and Awakening

3/8–10

The Challenge of Self-Love

3/9–10

Embodied Awakening: Trauma, Healing, and Collective Liberation

3/15

Bringing Intentions into Action: Embodying Wise Kindness

3/17

Uncovering your Natural Awareness

3/22

Calming the Restless Mind

4/6

Renew and Revitalize: Sustaining Yourself as a Care Provider

4/6–7

Releasing Trauma’s Hold on Meditation: Metta and Somatics

4/7

Transforming the Judgmental Mind

5/10–16 Maranasati: Contemplating Death / Awakening to Life

4/12

How to Make Wiser Decisions: A Dharma Guide

5/20–25 Insight Meditation: A Path of Wisdom Compassion and Freedom

4/13–14 Befriending Your Life: The Liberating Practice of the Brahma-viharas

The California Acupuncture Board has approved Spirit Rock as a Continuing Education Credit Provider, Provider Number 1425.

The California Board of Behavioral Sciences accepts CE credits for license renewal from programs sponsored by American Psychological Association approved providers.

The California Board of Chiropractic Examiners accepts CE credits for license renewal from programs sponsored by Board of Registered Nursing approved providers.

CE credit awarded for instruction time only. For general information, including attendance and cancellation policies, please see: spiritrock.org/continuing-education-credit.

RESIDENTIAL RETREATS OFFERING CE CREDIT: 1/8–15

6/3–9

January Metta Retreat

Awakening Joy

6/24–30 Mindfulness for Everyone:

The Basics and Beyond Without the Hype

4/13–14 The Joy of Samadhi (Concentration)

9/16–22 Finding Freedom in the Body

4/21

Introduction to Insight Practice Through a Systemic and Cultural Lens

10/17–26 Fall Insight Meditation Retreat

5/3

Cultivating Awareness, Insight & Peace in Nature

12/9–15 In The Presence of Love: A Metta and Qigong Retreat

5/3

Anger, Joy and True Power: A Day Retreat for Women

12/16–23 Insight Meditation Winter Solstice Retreat:

Embracing the Dark, Inviting the Light

5/5

Resilient: Cultivating an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength and Happiness

5/18–19 Keeping Cool in the Fire: Transforming Inner and Outer Conflict 5/31

14

Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

JAN

19

SAT

EASE OF BODY, PEACE OF MIND

JAN

20

WES NISKER AND KATCHIE ANANDA 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

This day retreat combines the traditional practices of Buddhist mindfulness meditation and yoga to help us embody the amazement of being alive and human. During the day, periods of meditation will alternate with yoga, allowing the techniques to support each other and create a sense of mind-body connection, vitality and well-being. The workshop will feature an exploration of Buddhist and Yogic philosophy, as well as plenty of poetry and good humor. There will also be ample time for discussion, as well as attention to individual challenges. Appropriate for both experienced and beginning students of mindfulness meditation or yoga. Code: WN1D19.

SUN

KATCHIE ANANDA is a yoga teacher and trainer certified in Anusara, Jivamukti, Integral and Ashtanga yoga. Yoga Journal named her one of the top five yoga teachers making change in the world.

JAN

SAT

MON

19 21

DONALD ROTHBERG WITH HEIDI BOURNE 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE The Buddha famously said, “I have taught one thing and one thing only, dukkha [suffering or reactivity or a sense of unsatisfactoriness] and the cessation of dukkha.” In this day retreat, we will explore this core teaching as it is expressed in the Four Noble Truths and the teaching of the Two Arrows. We will suggest ways to study and implement this teaching both in formal meditation and in everyday life, through practices and reflections that bring together the wisdom of seeing the roots of dukkha, the compassion and kindness that can hold our difficulties, and skillful action to transform dukkha. Code: DR1D19.

WES “SCOOP” NISKER serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, and is a meditation teacher, author, radio commentator and performer. His books include Essential Crazy Wisdom and Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again!

JAN

DUKKHA AND THE END OF DUKKHA: TRANSFORMING SUFFERING & REACTIVITY

DONALD ROTHBERG, PhD, has practiced Insight Meditation since 1976, and has also trained in Tibetan Dzogchen and Mahamudra practice. He regularly teaches insight and lovingkindness meditation, and on transforming the judgmental mind, mindful communication, and socially engaged Buddhism.

He is the author of The Engaged Spiritual Life.

HEIDI BOURNE is a mindfulness meditation teacher whose personal Insight practice is strongly informed by lovingkindness. She’s been guiding groups and individuals since 2005 and in the summer months offers wilderness meditation retreats. Heidi has a background in nursing and has been a small business owner in Arcata, California for 30 years.

3-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT

MANIFESTING OUR BELOVED COMMUNITY NOLIWE ALEXANDER AND KONDA MASON | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

In these times of uncertainty and social injustice, as the values that we hold dearly are being jeopardized, realizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of a Beloved Community can seem unreachable. If we cultivate the courage to walk the path of peace with loving awareness and fierce compassionate action, we can begin to manifest the dream of our collective liberation. You are encouraged to bring a journal or writing/drawing pad and an Ancestor item for an altar to remain onsite. This retreat will include honoring our ancestral roots, mindfulness practice, silent and walking meditations and group dialogues. Code: NK1M19.

NOLIWE ALEXANDER teachers throughout the Bay Area, facilitators community workshops, Buddhist meditation day retreats and class series programs. She dedicates much of her teaching to POC, LGBTQI and Elder communities. A graduate of Spirit Rock’s CDL4, she is currently in the Spirit Rock Teacher Training program.

KONDA MASON was introduced to Tibetan Buddhism in 1982. Her love for Vipassana began in 1996, working with Jack Kornfield. She completed Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader and is currently in the 2020 Teacher Training. She teaches daylongs and retreats and sits on the Board of Directors of Spirit Rock.

15

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

JAN

25 FRI

SKILLFUL SPEECH IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS OREN JAY SOFER | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

5.5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE How can we draw upon our spiritual practice in challenging moments of stress and tension with others? When things get hard, how do we handle it? Speech practice is one of the main ways to translate contemplative practice into life and relationships. In this day retreat, we’ll explore a range of tools for handling difficult conversations: how to get grounded in the midst of intense emotions; how to hold your own and respond skillfully in the face of aggressive speech; and how to transform your own negative emotions into powerful guides for action.

Code: OS1D19.

OREN JAY SOFER, SEP, holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University, is trained in Somatic Experiencing™, Nonviolent Communication, and is a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. Oren is the founder of Next Step Dharma, and author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.

JAN

26 SAT

WHEN THE PAST IS PRESENT DAVID RICHO | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE A poignant thing about us humans is that we seem hard-wired to replay the past, especially when our past includes emotional pain or disappointment. We tend to go through our lives casting new people in the roles of key people, such as our parents or past partners. This phenomenon, called transference, is unconscious.

What we transfer are feelings, needs, expectations, defenses, fantasies, beliefs, and attitudes. Transference is a way to tell the untold story inside us. Buddhism offers us a path to liberation from clinging. We will see how this can apply to how we hold and work through our past, through an exploration of how our childhood and our past relationships figure into our present relationships. Code: DO1D19.

DAVID RICHO, PhD, MFT, teacher, workshop leader and writer, works as a psychotherapist in Santa Barbara and San Francisco, CA. He combines Jungian, transpersonal and mythic perspectives in his work. He is author of several books including The Five Longings.

16

JAN

JAN

SAT

SUN

26 27

2-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT EXPLORING IMPERMANANCE THROUGH LIVING WITH ILLNESSES SHAHARA LAUREN E. GODFREY 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

11 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Living with illnesses, we experience a greater need to celebrate life and endless possibilities. Each moment is precious. Many of us yearn for the deepest compassion with our struggling selves, and to connect with the natural joy of living. This weekend retreat is open to people living with illnesses, survivors as well as caretakers, loved ones, and health professionals. Through writing, music, and sharing, we will explore our healing capacities. The retreat will include contemplative practices of walking and sitting meditation. Please bring writing materials and a small item for the altar. Code: SG1M19.

SHAHARA LAUREN E. GODFREY, PhD, has completed Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders and Dedicated Practitioners Programs and is a core teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, CA. Her primary practices are compassion and social activism.

JAN

27

SUN

WISE LIVELIHOOD: WORK AS PRACTICE NIKKI MIRGHAFORI | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

5.5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE | LIVESTREAM AVAILABLE Our practice does not end at the edge of our cushion. Our workplace can serve as our temple for daily life practice, where the proverbial rubber meets the road. Our work can serve as our sacred offering to the world, as well as the training ground where personal and interpersonal challenges are transformed into opportunities to grow, learn, and open our hearts. Our day retreat objectives are to foster intentionality in work as practice, and to impart practical tools and practices for developing the art of skillful, compassionate work. The day includes guided meditations, teachings, group interactive exercises, and Q&A. Code: NM1D19. Livestream code: NM1L19.

NIKKI MIRGHAFORI, PhD, studied jhanas & Vipassana with Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw who instructed her to teach. She is a Stanford-trained compassion cultivation instructor, a UCLAtrained mindfulness facilitator, and serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council and Board of Directors. She was previously incarnated as an artificial intelligence scientist.

TO REGISTER AND FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION, VISIT SPIRITROCK.ORG

FEB

FEB

FRI

SUN

01 03

3-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT EMBODIED DHARMA: YOGA, CONNECTIVE TISSUE AND INTER-BEING TIAS LITTLE | FRIDAY, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM SATURDAY & SUNDAY, 10:00 AM - 5:30 PM

ALL LEVELS WELCOME Yoga historically has emphasized connection to a unified field of being. In the microcosm of the body, all structures are interwoven.

Connective tissue is the physical structure that holds us together, connecting the liver to the lung, and the tibia to the tailbone. In the macrocosm of the larger world, all things are interwoven and interdependent. Thich Nhat Hanh has called this “inter-being”.

In this week-end immersion, we will practice movements that enhance the flow of fascia through the body, and through insight meditation and dharma study, we will investigate how all things within us and around us are interwoven. Code: TL1M19.

TIAS LITTLE synthesizes classical yoga, Sanskrit, Buddhist studies, anatomy, massage, cranial-sacral therapy, and trauma healing. He has studied the meditative arts and Buddhism for 30+ years and has an MA in Eastern Philosophy. Tias is the author of The Thread of Breath, Meditations on a Dewdrop, and Yoga of the Subtle Body.

FEB

02 SAT

FEB

08 FRI

MINDFUL EATING AND SELF-CARE: CULTIVATING KINDNESS, AWARENESS, INTENTION, AND SKILLFUL MEANS

february

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

ANDREA LIEBERSTEIN | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM 5.5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE This retreat is designed to guide you back home to the natural wellsprings of nourishment, both within you and outside of you.

Using five steps to mindful eating and living, and skillful means including loving-kindness and self-compassion practices, we will explore how to take action in our own lives, infused with wisdom and compassion, supported by wise intention, skills, and clear seeing, to live a fulfilling and well nourished life. The day will introduce eight aspects of ourselves that thrive on nourishment beyond food and the physical body, and include inquiry, sitting and walking meditation, dyads, movement, art, journaling and more. Code: AL1D19.

ANDREA LIEBERSTEIN, MPH, RD, RYT, is a mindful eating expert, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction instructor, registered dietitian, nutritionist, mindfulness-based coach, and registered yoga instructor. She has been teaching mindfulness meditation since 1993.

FORGIVING YOURSELF, FORGIVING THE WORLD GRACE FISHER | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

5.5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE How can we move in the world with greater freedom? Are there fights we can put down, resentments we can dissolve, pain we can release? By exploring how letting go of the need for things to be otherwise, we can explore the practice of forgiveness, and practice stepping through our suffering into a place of greater ease and happiness. By forgiving ourselves for our failings and imperfections, and forgiving the world for the essential laws of change and suffering, we can embrace the truth of our capacity to choose liberation. Code: GF1D19.

GRACE FISHER, LMFT, has been practicing Insight Meditation for over 15 years. She is a former lawyer who holds a Masters in Education from Stanford, a Masters in Counseling Psychology and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) in private practice working with individuals, families, and young adults in San Anselmo, CA.

As a bee gathering nectar does not harm or disturb the colour and fragrance of the flower, so do the wise move through the world.

—The Buddha (Dhp 49)

17

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

FEB

09 SAT

MINDFUL PARENTING AND TECHNOLOGY WILL KABAT-ZINN AND TERESA LAMENDOLA KABAT-ZINN | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

In this day retreat, we will explore mindful parenting, in the age of digital technology. Together, we will dialogue about the ways in which digital technology, social media, and constant contact with remote people, ideas, and communities affect our parenting, our children, and our family lives. We will explore how mindfulness and awareness practices can be cultivated and nourished to support healthy human relationships, and a healthy relationship with the technologies that we live with and use every day.

Code: WK1D19.

WILL KABAT-ZINN has practiced Insight Mediation for more than 15 years and has been teaching since 2007. He lives in the East Bay with his wife and two children and leads a weekly sitting group on Sunday evenings in Berkeley.

TERESA LAMENDOLA KABAT-ZINN, MA, is a life coach and parent educator who specializes in bringing mindfulness skills and awareness practices into the lives of parents.

She offers support, and training, to parents to help them bring greater awareness, clarity, and choicefulness to their parenting and everyday lives.

FEB

FEB

SAT

SUN

09 10

2-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT RELEASING TRAUMA’S GRIP: ON AND OFF THE CUSHION SAKTI ROSE | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

11 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE This two day immersion will offer Somatic skills, guided meditations and exercises exploring old identifications that give rise to stuck patterns of fight, flight, and freeze. Old trauma can leave physiological and emotional scars that alter neurological functions and leave us frozen, both on and off the cushion. By cultivating basic healing skills, we can recognize and reduce the painful effects of trauma and thereby free up energy for meditation, spiritual and daily life pursuits. With the educational tools taught in this class, our nervous system can begin to regain its capacity to self-regulate and increase our experience of true happiness and joy. Code: SR1M19.

SAKTI ROSE, MA, SEP, has practiced Buddhist meditation for over 35 years, and is a senior Somatic Experiencing™ Practitioner. She has taught mindfulness meditation in hospitals and meditation centers for over 15 years, and has a private practice in Marin County working with individuals suffering from trauma and stress related illness.

18

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

FEB

10

SUN

CULTIVATING THE UNDEFENDED HEART VINNY FERRARO | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

LIVESTREAM AVAILABLE Our time together will be spent exploring the sure heart’s release. We’ll look at cultivating different expressions of love, and working with what gets in the way. This path of awakening leads us towards the wisdom of how to more fully inhabit our lives. As our understanding deepens, we’ll learn how to care for our whole selves, and how to live life with a wiser and undefended heart.The day will include practicing mindfulness in many different ways, whether it’s sitting, walking, Q&A, or sharing together. Code: VF1D19. Livestream code: VF1L19.

VINNY FERRARO has practiced insight meditation since the early 1990s. He is a Senior Trainer for Mindful Schools, and has been teaching a weekly sitting group in San Francisco for 14 years. He is also a nationally recognized leader in designing and implementing interventions for at-risk adolescents and is a co-Founder of the Dharma Punx.

FEB

FEB

WED

SAT

13 16

4-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT BUDDHIST GODDESSES: EMBODYING WISDOM, POWER & LOVE ERIN SELOVER | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

We all embody a unique configuration of enlightened qualities that are waiting to emerge with the right conditions. However, without the right support these qualities can lie dormant and manifest in self-doubt, mood issues, addiction and disease.

It’s essential for the health of ourselves, our communities, and the earth herself that we express these qualities fully and courageously. This retreat is an opportunity to somatically identify, explore and empower our unique awakened energy through the exploration of Buddhist goddesses. The retreat will include silent meditation, movement and dharma talks; including the study of Buddhist goddess of non-dual wisdom, Prajnaparamita. Code: ES1M19.

ERIN SELOVER, MFT, teaches mindfulness-based classes throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in schools, mental health settings, and the private sector. She is a psychotherapist and a graduate of the SRMC/IMS/IRC Teacher Training Program and member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council.

19

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

FEB

15 FRI

MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION: CULTIVATING LIFELONG TOOLS TO REDUCE STRESS, PAIN, AND ANXIETY JUANITA DE SANZ | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE This day retreat is both an opportunity for new practitioners to explore, and those with more experience to deepen awareness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) practices.

We will cultivate intentional and skillful ways to be present with thoughts, feelings, and body sensations as they arise. The day will include: guided instruction in mindfulness practices, mindful movements to cultivate body awareness, small and large group inquiry and discussion, and an exploration of our ability to work mindfully with stress, pain, grief, and anxiety.

Code: JZ1D19.

JUANITA DE SANZ, MS, LMFT is a psychotherapist with over 20 years experience, an EMDR Consultant, and a certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher.

She currently has private practices in Marin and San Francisco, providing integrative psychotherapy to individuals and clinical supervision to therapists seeking EMDR certification.

FEB

16

SAT

HEART PRACTICES FOR COUPLES DEBRA CHAMBERLIN-TAYLOR AND GEORGE TAYLOR | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

5.5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE This Valentine’s weekend program is an opportunity for couples to awaken the heart of joy and love together. In order to be intimate, we must learn to be fully present. Through partner meditations, verbal and nonverbal communication exercises, and group sharing, couples will practice the art of intimacy and learn skills to deepen the shared journey. Please note: This event is not appropriate for attending alone as the majority of the day will be spent in partner practice. Code: DG1D19.

DEBRA CHAMBERLIN-TAYLOR has been leading retreats since 1978. In addition to practicing Vipassana, she has been influenced by Dzogchen and Diamond Heart®. She also leads workshops on embodiment of awareness and conscious relationships.

GEORGE TAYLOR, MFT, has been a licensed couple’s counselor for 25 years, and married to Debra ChamberlinTaylor for 35. He is the author of a Path for Couples. His great joy is in seeing couples find the deep well of love and laughter that a committed relationship offers to them.

20

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

FEB

17

SUN

THE NEUROLOGY OF AWAKENING RICK HANSON | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE The latest brain research is beginning to confirm the central insights of Buddhist teachings. Suffering, joy, and freedom all depend on what happens within your nervous system. Skillful practice, therefore, means being skillful with your own brain.

We’ll cover: the relationship between body and mind, mind and brain; strengthening neural factors of mindfulness; the role of concentration in practice; and how attending to our physiology (mindfulness of the body) affects the mind state and how thoughts arise. This experiential workshop will offer user-friendly information with lots of practical methods. No background in neuroscience or mindfulness is needed. Code: RH1D19.

RICK HANSON, PhD, is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley and New York Times best-selling author. He is the author of several books, including Resilient, Hardwiring Happiness, and Buddha’s Brain.

FEB

22 FRI

LEADING BY EXAMPLE: EXPANDING THE BOTTOM LINE OF THE HEART SYLVIA BOORSTEIN WITH HEIDI BOURNE 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

5.5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Wherever we are and whatever we do, the entirety of our lives is always with us. During this day retreat, we’ll explore mindfulness and generosity as foundational components in designing, cultivating, and sustaining a thriving organization. Whatever roles we hold in various realms, from organizations we’re a part of, to our home lives, the Dharma offers timeless teachings that support our efforts to awaken. By taking an expanded view of the Buddha’s teaching on Wise Livelihood, we’ll look at the connection between our work-lives and our home-lives, and explore how to make our whole lives our practice. Code: SB2D19.

SYLVIA BOORSTEIN - See bio on page 12.

HEIDI BOURNE - See bio on page 13.

TO REGISTER AND FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION, VISIT SPIRITROCK.ORG

21

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

FEB

23 SAT

THE BEAUTIFUL PATH OF MINDFULNESS: THE FOUR FOUNDATIONS MARK COLEMAN | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

24

SUN

QIGONG AND MEDITATION: HEALING AND AWAKENING DEBRA CHAMBERLIN-TAYLOR & MINGTONG GU 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Interested in living with genuine peace? The Buddha taught that there is a direct way for alleviating suffering and living with genuine ease, wisdom, and freedom in our lives: through cultivating the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. In this day retreat, we explore this liberating practice. We will investigate how mindfulness supports insights into what causes suffering and what creates happiness. What arises from this understanding is a tangible sense of inner freedom, spaciousness, peace, and letting go. ASL interpreter provided at this program for our Deaf and hardof-hearing practitioners. Code: MC2D19.

5.5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Health in our body and clarity in our meditation increases as energy flows more freely through the spine. In this day retreat, we’ll learn five simple qigong movements that awaken energetic wholeness in the spine and the entire body. We will experience how awakening the spine through qigong is a valuable support and complement to mindfulness meditation. These qigong practices release spinal stagnation and open a profound circulation of energy. This promotes health and well-being in body and mind. Code: MT1D19.

MARK COLEMAN - See bio on page 12.

DEBRA CHAMBERLIN-TAYLOR - See bio on page 19.

FEB

FEB

SAT

SUN

23 24

2-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT BODHISATTVA LEADERSHIP PAMELA WEISS | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

This 2-day commuter retreat will introduce the ancient Buddhist archetype of the Bodhisattva as a potent leadership model for our time. A Bodhisattva is a wise, sensitive person dedicated to helping alleviate suffering for all beings. Drawing on stories from the life of the Buddha, the myth of Inanna, and Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, we will uncover our heartfelt aspirations, and craft personal vows to support our engagement in the world. Our time together will weave guided meditation, talks, interactive exercises and ritual. Code: PW1M19.

PAMELA WEISS has practiced in the Zen and Theravada traditions since 1987. She is founder of Appropriate Response, bringing Buddhist principles and practices to leadership and organizations. Pamela leads a meditation group at San Francisco Insight, is a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council and co-leads the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders program.

A single word of truth which calms the mind is better to hear than a thousand irrelevant words.

—The Buddha (Dhp 100)

22

FEB

MINGTONG GU is an internationally recognized teacher and healer who received his training from grandmasters of China and Tibet and at the world’s largest qigong hospital.

He is the founder of the Chi Healing Center in Petaluma, CA.

ONLINE PROGRAMS | JAN – MAY 2019

CONNECT FROM WHEREVER YOU ARE — O N LI N E O FFE RI N GS — FOUNDATIONAL BUDDHIST TEACHINGS: Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Four Noble Truths, The Boundless Heart, and The Eightfold Path

LIFE AS PRACTICE: Discussions with Sylvia Boorstein & Friends SYLVIA BOORSTEIN Material available November 15, 2018 - June 30, 2019 Registration closes April 1, 2019.

MARK COLEMAN Material available November 15, 2018 – April 1, 2019 Registration closes February 1, 2019.

Code: MC1N19

Foundational Buddhist Teachings offers a core understanding of the Buddha’s teachings and Insight meditation practices.

This course emphasizes cultivation of mindful awareness and learning to apply and live these wisdom and heart practices in our daily lives. In each session, there will be guided meditations, lectures, discussion, and inquiry.

Session 1: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness — Developing Awareness Session 2: Four Noble Truths — Freedom From Suffering Session 3: The Boundless Heart — Love, Compassion, Joy & Equanimity

Code: SB1N19

Our focus in this online class will be on interactive discussion, virtual community building, current events, and how to bring our practice more fully into everyday life. Sylvia and guest Spirit Rock teachers will share practical tools to respond to these rollercoaster times with mindfulness, presence, and an open heart. Join us for heartfelt connection with sangha, meaningful shared moments, and plenty of Sylvia-style laughter! This new iteration will be interactive discussion based, and will include Q&A, small group exercises, guided meditation, and dharma vignettes.

COURSE INCLUDES: • 12 bi-weekly 45-min video conferences with Sylvia & friends (recorded and accessible for later viewing) • 11 video sessions • A downloadable course manual

Session 4: The Eightfold Path — The Buddhist Path to Freedom (Part 1) Session 5: The Eightfold Path — The Buddhist Path to Freedom (Part 2)

Participate from Home—

LIVESTREAMED PROGRAMS

COURSE INCLUDES: • 5 video sessions for self-paced participation • Teacher support: 2 video conferences with Mark Coleman for questions about meditation practice and teachings recorded and accessible for later viewing • Each session contains 4 dharma talks and 4 guided meditations

1/1 - Retreat for New Year’s Day | Sylvia Boorstein & Friends 1/27 - Wise Livelihood: Work as Practice | Nikki Mirghafori 2/10 - Cultivating the Undefended Heart | Vinny Ferraro 3/24 - Equanimity: Finding Balance in Our Practice | James Baraz 4/12 - How to Make Wiser Decisions | Oren Jay Sofer 5/5 - Resilient: Cultivating an Unshakable Core of Calm | Rick Hanson 5/10 - 5/12 - Loving Awareness | Jack Kornfield & Trudy Goodman

23

march

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

MAR

01 FRI

TECHNOLOGY AS AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO MINDFULNESS: PRACTICE AND REFLECTION MATTHEW BRENSILVER & RANDY FERNANDO 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM

While the value of technology is indisputable, compulsive use undermines many qualities developed by mindfulness. We train ourselves in meditation for perhaps 15, 30 or 60 minutes a day.

But the rest of time, our technology is training us. As corporations make money by keeping us glued to screens, there is a perverse incentive to hijack our attention – harming ourselves but also the fabric of our society. During this afternoon of practice and reflection, we’ll explore how we, as practitioners, can relate to technology in a sane way and use mindfulness to preserve a most precious resource: our attention. Code: MB1H19.

MAR

02 SAT

DJUNA MASCALL teaches Prajna Yoga nationally and internationally. She is a leader of the Spirit Rock Dharma and Yoga Teacher Training Program and a certified yoga therapist in private practice. Her offerings combine meditation and Dharma study with asana training designed to cultivate sensory awareness and embodied wisdom.

RANDY FERNANDO is a dedicated Buddhist practitioner and Co-Founder at the Center for Humane Technology, which strives to realign technology with humanity. As former Executive Director at Mindful Schools and product manager at NVIDIA, his work addresses the intersection between mindfulness and technology.

02 SAT

LIBERATION: A DAY FOR APP1 GRADUATES JOHN MARTIN & GUY ARMSTRONG 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Prerequisite: Completion of the Advanced Practitioners Program.

This day retreat is for those who have completed APP1 (Advanced Practitioners Program). The theme is Liberation, which was the theme for the final APP retreat last year. This quality of freedom, the very heart of the Buddha’s message, is expressed through a variety of teachings and practices which we will explore together during this day. John Martin who led the San Francisco APP group, will lead the day of practice. Guy Armstrong will be present for a portion of the day to lead a sit and to offer a talk. Code: JN1D19.

JOHN MARTIN teaches Vipassana, Metta and LGBTQI themed meditation retreats. He leads an on-going Monday evening meditation group in San Francisco. John has had a dedicated practice while being engaged in the working world and emphasizes practice for daily life. He serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council.

GUY ARMSTRONG has been practicing Insight Meditation for more than 30 years and began teaching in 1984. He spent a year as a Buddhist monk in Thailand. Guy is a Guiding Teacher of Insight Meditation Society (IMS), and author of Emptiness: A Practical Guide for Meditators.

24

DJUNA MASCALL | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Courage is a capacity of the heart that allows us to be stable amid fear and uncertainty. Through the power of mindful yoga asana and ‘somatic’ movement, we will release the contraction of fear to develop a full, embodied presence. With the body stable and grounded, we can cultivate the ability to meet what arises with a steady, courageous heart. We will learn meditation specific to working with fearful mind states, and pranayama to energize and support meditation. Our day together will weave dynamic and restorative yoga, breath work, Dharma, and meditation. Code: DM1D19.

MATTHEW BRENSILVER – See bio on page 13.

MAR

A STEADY, COURAGEOUS HEART: DHARMA AND YOGA

MAR

02 SAT

CHANTING AND MEDITATION: ENTERING THE STILL AND BOUNDLESS HEART JAI UTTAL & DEBRA CHAMBERLIN-TAYLOR 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

As we sing and meditate with our entire body, heart and spirit the “noise” of life can stop and we can reconnect with the sheer joy, depth and beauty of being. The heart is an honored gateway to our most profound and boundless nature. Using the ancient and sublime blend of kirtan (chanting) combined with periods of guided and silent meditation, we can open the heart of infinite love. Kirtan in the Bhakti tradition taps the nectar of spiritual longing and devotion, and invites us to surrender everything into the sacred. Code: JA1E19.

JAI UTTAL – In 30 years of commitment to the spiritual practice of kirtan, Jai Uttal has cultivated a voice and musical style that carries the listener into the heart of devotion, prayer, and healing, and to an ecstatic remembrance of the divine.

DEBRA CHAMBERLIN-TAYLOR - See bio on page 19.

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

MAR MAR

08 10 FRI

SUN

3-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT THE CHALLENGE OF SELF-LOVE: A WEEKEND OF INQUIRY, PRACTICE, AND SELF-COMPASSION RALPH DE LA ROSA | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

18 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE The energy of self-love is full of paradoxes. Self-love is what makes genuine connection to others possible. Self-love often triggers our self-loathing, shame, hurt, rage, and fear – and this is no accident. True self-love is the antidote to narcissism and self-centeredness. Blending Tibetan Buddhism, trauma theory, Internal Family Systems therapy; neuroscience, and social justice; this will be a potent weekend of transformative exploration.

Expect to gain a deeper understanding of self-love; clarity on your personal roadblocks to self-love; healing centered engagement; quiet periods for practicing self-Metta and processing; all in an atmosphere held with humor, radical acceptance, and spaciousness. Code: RD1M19.

RALPH DE LA ROSA, LCSW, has taught meditation since 2008, and is the author of The Monkey is a Messenger: Meditation & What Your Busy Mind is Trying to Tell You. He is a life coach and psychotherapist specializing in working with traumas (both large and small). His work incorporates psychoanalytic, Internal Family Systems therapy, somatic, and mindfulness-based approaches.

MAR MAR

09 10 SAT

SUN

2-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT EMBODIED AWAKENING: TRAUMA, HEALING & COLLECTIVE LIBERATION LESLIE BOOKER & SEAN FEIT OAKES 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE At the heart of both Buddhist and Hindu Yoga practices is liberation from suffering, and the awakening of wisdom and universal love. As we work to uproot suffering, we encounter both our personal hindrances and the ancient demons sustained in our communities and cultures: abusive power, oppression, bias and discrimination. Embodiment as the heart of practice weaves together the healing of individual and collective traumas.

In this study and practice weekend, we will explore nervous system physiology, individual practice and collective action, and connection to suffering and its alleviation as an integral expression of the Buddhist path. Code: BF1M19.

LESLIE BOOKER brings her heart and wisdom to the intersection of Dharma, embodied practice, and activism.

Working for over a decade with the most vulnerable populations in NYC, she shares her expertise nationally as a trainer and author. Booker will graduate from Spirit Rock’s Teacher Training in 2020.

SEAN FEIT OAKES, PhD, SEP, teaches Buddhism, Hatha Yoga, and Organic Intelligence® with a focus on embodiment, philosophy, trauma resolution, and social justice. He has studied in Zen, Tibetan, and Theravada Buddhist lineages, including as a monk in Burma, and was authorized to teach by Jack Kornfield.

25

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

MAR

15 FRI

BRINGING INTENTIONS INTO ACTION: EMBODYING WISE KINDNESS

MAR

REV. KEIRYÛ LIÊN SHUTT | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

SAT

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE We all have good hearts. Seeing suffering around us, our natural instinct is to act to alleviate it. And yet, given the countless sources of suffering in our world today, we can easily fall into the extremes of either spiritual bypass or compassion burnout. How do we know when to meditate, and when to get off the cushion?

Knowing “when” can be driven by many intentions: the alleviation of anger or fear, or the desire to support social justice. Together, we’ll explore how to more readily access our good heart’s deep intentions, and to transform it into wise action. Code: KL1D19.

16

15 17 FRI

SUN

AMMA THANASANTI WITH MELANIE DEMORE 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

When we cultivate loving-kindness, we bring an embracing attention to meet what is arising in our body, heart, and mind; choosing love over fear. This becomes the basis for radiating loving-kindness in the world; moving past isolation and connecting with others who may look and be very different from us. This day retreat will combine loving-kindness meditation, the connection that comes with spiritual song and movement integrating Gullah traditions, bringing disparate people into community cohesiveness, empathetic resonance, and joy.

Code: AT1D19.

REV. KEIRYÛ LIÊN SHUTT, LCSW, draws from her monastic practices in the U.S. and overseas to share ways in which the deep settledness of traditional practices can be brought into everyday life. She is the Guiding Teacher of Access to Zen Sangha and also teaches at San Francisco Zen Center and East Bay Meditation Center.

MAR MAR

LOVING-KINDNESS, MEDITATION, SONG AND MOVEMENT

AMMA THANASANTI is a California born spiritual teacher who has been committed to awakening since she first encountered the Dharma in 1979 and has been teaching meditation retreats around the globe since 1995. As a former Buddhist nun of 26 years, she combines the precision and rigor of 20 years in the Ajahn Chah Forest Tradition.

MELANIE DEMORE is a Grammy Nominated Vocal Activist, helping to preserve the African American Folk Tradition through song and Gullah stick pounding. Her career spans 30 years dedicated to the things that connect all of us through teaching, conducting, directing, and inspiring us, using her voice as weapon of mass connection.

3-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT CHANGES AND TRANSITIONS IN YOUR 40s AND 50s PHILLIP MOFFITT & ERIN SELOVER FRI, 1:30 PM - 5:30 PM; SAT, 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM; SUN, 9:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Change is a fact of life and yet we can find ourselves ill-equipped to manage it skillfully. The normal concerns that change brings up can lead to confusion, apathy, or poor decisions. In this workshop, you can learn skills to effectively respond to the challenges of change. Gain insights about your strengths and challenges in dealing with change. Recognize habits of mind that undermine you and learn practices to disengage from their influence. Create a strategy for effectively navigating your change. Code: PM1M19.

PHILLIP MOFFITT, MA, SEP, has practiced Vipassana since 1983. He is founder and president of the Life Balance Institute. He is a member of the Spirit Rock Teacher’s Council, and the author of Dancing with Life, Emotional Chaos to Clarity, and Awakening through the Nine Bodies.

ERIN SELOVER – See page 18 for bio.

26

MAR

17

SUN

UNCOVERING YOUR NATURAL AWARENESS DIANA WINSTON | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

5.5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Natural Awareness is an effortless, radiant, and spacious state of being that is available to any of us. While many mindfulness techniques emphasize focusing our attention, natural awareness invites us to relax our effort, broaden our attention, and become aware of awareness itself. In this day, we will explore how these different meditation practices relate to one another. We will then learn simple, doable practices to access natural awareness in meditation and connect with our luminous, natural awareness in life. Code: WT1D19.

DIANA WINSTON is the Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, and serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. She has practiced Vipassana since 1989, including a year as a Buddhist nun in Burma, and is the author of Fully Present and Wide Awake: A Buddhist Guide for Teens.

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

MAR

22 FRI

CALMING THE RESTLESS MIND

MAR MAR

23 24

HOWARD COHN | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

SAT

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE We all want a calm, peaceful heart and mind. Much of our restlessness and agitation stems from a lack of training and clarity of what’s happening in our mind and body moment by moment. Innocently, we try to alleviate our stress by dwelling in the past, planning the future, becoming disembodied and checked out, or lost in thought. During this day retreat together, we will explore meeting our experience with less reactivity and more calm presence. Using the practices of Insight Meditation and loving-kindness, we’ll deepen our understanding of the path to peace and ease that is our natural state. Code: HC1D19.

This weekend non-residential retreat introduces five factors that intensify concentration, strengthen focused attention, and characterize the blissful states of meditative absorption known as jhana: applied attention, sustained attention, joy, happiness, and one-pointedness of mind. Although these are called the Five Jhana Factors, they are not exclusive to jhana states. This program will provide practical instructions for developing and balancing these factors; distinguish between the jhana factors and the states of jhana absorption; and examine the powerful role that concentration plays on the path of awakening. Code: SC1M19.

HOWARD COHN, MA, serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, and has taught vipassana retreats since 1985. He has studied with teachers of several traditions, including Theravada, Zen and Dzogchen, and has been strongly influenced by H.W.L. Poonja. Howard has led the Mission Dharma sangha for 30 years, and is the author of Invitation to Meditation.

MAR

23 SAT

SUN

2-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT THE FIVE JHANA FACTORS: CULTIVATING CONDITIONS FOR DEEP CONCENTRATION SHAILA CATHERINE | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

SHAILA CATHERINE founded Bodhi Courses,an online Dhamma classroom, and Insight Meditation South Bay, in Silicon Valley. She authored two books—Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity, and Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhana and Vipassana.

LIVING WISELY: THE BUDDHA’S TEACHINGS FOR A MINDFUL LIFE

MAR

24

SUN

KATE MUNDING | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Having a daily meditation practice is like medicine for our agitated, anxious, and confused minds. But what about when we are “off the cushion”? How can we bring our meditation practice more fully into our everyday lives? The Buddha taught that full engagement in this practice includes living wisely. We’ll spend the day together exploring how to bring our practice into movement and activity, into our speech, relationships, and work environments. This day retreat will consist of silent movement and sitting practice, interactive group practices, Q&aA sessions, and teachings centered around sila (the practice of non-harming).

ASL interpreter provided at this program for our Deaf and hard-ofhearing practitioners. Code: MG1D19.

KATE MUNDING serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, and is a guiding teacher for the Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley (IMCB). She has praticed meditation in the Theravada tradition since 2004, and is the founder of Heart-Mind Education, providing mindfulness-based education programs, trainings, and resourcesto students and the adults in their lives.

EQUANIMITY: FINDING BALANCE IN OUR PRACTICE JAMES BARAZ | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

LIVESTREAM AVAILABLE Equanimity or Upekkha is a highly valued quality in Buddhist teachings. It is a Divine Abode, a Factor of Enlightenment, and the precursor to the experience of awakening. But what is equanimity? How can we cultivate it? Even more, how can we access it in our daily life, especially in times like these with so much uncertainty, fear, and sadness for the suffering in the world? This day retreat will include meditation instructions, periods of silent sitting and walking meditation, and talks on the theme on developing equanimity, both in our formal practice and off the cushion. Suitable for beginners and experienced students.

Code: JB1D19. Livestream code: JB1L19.

JAMES BARAZ is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock, and serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. He started the Community Dharma Leaders program and the Kalyana Mitta Network. James has taught the Awakening Joy online course since 2003, and serves an advisor to One Earth Sangha, which focuses on Buddhist responses to Climate Change.

TO REGISTER AND FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION, VISIT SPIRITROCK.ORG

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DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

MAR MAR

26 28 TUE

THU

3-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT ENGAGING THE DEEP HEART: A WRITING RETREAT ROGER HOUSDEN | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

This is a unique opportunity to explore our deep nature and to dive below the stories that so often entrance us. How have your losses touched and affected the way you move in the world? How do your personal relationships serve as mirrors for your connection with the dimension of spacious awareness in which we are an intrinsic part of a universe of love? We will investigate in writing our passions, our loves, our losses, and our deepest longings. Our writing, interspersed with meditation, will aim to take us beneath all our stories to the silence of the knowing heart. Code: RR1M19.

ROGER HOUSDEN is the author of twenty three books on poetry, art, and travel as pilgrimage. His work includes the best-selling Ten Poems to Change Your Life series, and his latest book, Dropping the Struggle: Seven Ways To Love the Life You Have.

MAR MAR

30 31 SAT

SUN

2-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT UNDERSTANDING AWAKENING TINA RASMUSSEN | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

What is awakening? Awakening is the inspiration for many of us in our spiritual journey, but may be unclear about what awakening really is, how it happens, and what we can commonly encounter on the spiritual path. This weekend retreat will provide an overview of awakening as it is understood in Theravadan Buddhism, as well as other traditions. Misconceptions will be clarified, and participants will have the opportunity to tune into their own aspiration to awaken. The retreat will include sitting and walking periods, time for journaling and reflection, teaching periods, and Q&A. Suitable for all levels. Code: TR1M19.

TINA RASMUSSEN, PhD – See bio on page 13.

MAR

A GRATEFUL HEART

SUN

VERLINDA MONTOYA & CAROL CANO 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

31

A day retreat for self-identified women of color Gratitude is literally one of the few things that can measurably change people’s lives. Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. It’s so simple, yet so powerful. In this day retreat, we will explore ways to increase our gratitude, through our teachings, group exercises, and traditional sweat lodge, and experience the divine in our hearts. These teachings are offered by Vipassana teacher Carol Cano and Native American Medicine Woman, Verlinda Montoya. Code: CC1D19.

For more information, visit spiritrock.org.

VERLINDA MONTOYA is an elder, medicine woman and spiritual leader from the Picuris Pueblo of New Mexico.

She founded Heart of Humanity.

CAROL CANO is co-founder and Guiding Teacher for the Phillipine Insight Meditation Community. She brings a unique blend of Basque, Native American and Buddhist influences into her teachings.

28

30 SAT

april

MAR

COME SEE FOR YOURSELF: THE ART OF SAMATHA-VIPASSANA WILL KABAT-ZINN | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

In this day of practice, we will weave together traditional approaches to Shamatha/Vipassana (tranquility and insight) practice and a series of body-based energy and awareness practices from the early Buddhist and Taoist traditions to support us in cultivating tranquility of mind, balance of body and energy, and the capacity to see into the nature of things with wisdom and clarity. The aim of this practice is liberation here and now for the benefit of all beings. Code: WK2D19.

WILL KABAT-ZINN - See page 18 for bio.

APR

07

SUN APR

06 SAT

RENEW AND REVITALIZE: SUSTAINING YOURSELF AS A CARE PROVIDER PHILLIP MOFFITT | 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

7 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE | A DANA (BY DONATION) DAY Care providing has obvious challenges — stress, energy demands, tension, and excess workload. And it has hidden costs — selfcriticism, sacrificing self-care, and despair. In this day retreat, we focus on renewal and explore some of the skillful means the Buddha taught that can mitigate the stress of care providing. You will learn the importance of placing attention, the art of letting go of expectations, how to determine what your true responsibilities are, and how to recognize and respond to the confusion that arises around care providing.Code: PM1G19.

TRANSFORMING THE JUDGMENTAL MIND DONALD ROTHBERG | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Judgments of a reactive and compulsive nature are very strong in most of our lives. They can distort our perceptions, make relationships with others difficult, and undermine our work. In this day retreat, we will examine what judgments are and how to work with them, using mindfulness, “heart” practices, and inquiry, helping us to preserve the discernment often found in judgments, while working through the destructive aspects of judgments. We will also explore how we internalize the judgments of our society in a number of ways, particularly related to race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. You will have the option of regular follow-up sessions. Code: DR2D19.

DONALD ROTHBERG - See page 15 for bio.

PHILLIP MOFFITT - See page 24 for bio.

APR APR

APR

SAT

SUN

06 07

2-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT RELEASING TRAUMA’S HOLD ON MEDITATION: METTA AND SOMATICS SAKTI ROSE | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

11 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE This continued immersion is designed for meditators who have found barriers in their meditative experience that inhibit progress on the path. We will deepen and build our somatic toolkit based on grounding, resourcing, and creativity, as well as lovingkindness practice to help heal old traumatic wounds that impact our meditative journey. Traumatic events leave physiological and emotional scars that alter neurological structures. By developing somatic skills, coupled with kindness practice, we can help regulate the painful effects of trauma and thereby free up energy for meditation and a full, energetic life. Code: SR2M19.

12 FRI

HOW TO MAKE WISER DECISIONS: A DHARMA GUIDE OREN JAY SOFER | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE | LIVESTREAM AVAILABLE We make decisions every day—from seemingly inconsequential choices, to larger ones that can affect the course of our life. How can the Dharma guide our choices to lead towards well-being and contentment? In this day retreat, we’ll explore a range of concrete, practical tools for making decisions that incorporate meditation, reflection, intuition, and inquiry. You’ll learn how to navigate the choices in your life with more confidence, clarity and ease, as well as how to find more balance with the results of the decisions you make. Our day will include silent meditation, movement, writing, and interactive exercises. Code: OS2D19.

Livestream code: OS1L19.

OREN JAY SOFER - See page 16 for bio.

SAKTI ROSE – See page 18 for bio.

29

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

APR

APR

SAT

SUN

13 14

2-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT BEFRIENDING YOUR LIFE: THE LIBERATING PRACTICE OF THE BRAHMA-VIHARAS SYLVIA BOORSTEIN | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

11 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE The premise that happiness, and freedom from suffering, is the direct reflection of the absence of negativity and ill-will in the mind is the basis of this weekend retreat. Meditation practices cultivating equanimity, goodwill, compassion, and empathic joy will alternate with didactic teachings linking these “sublime states” to the development of wisdom. The retreat will be held in retreat silence, and will include Dharma explanations and Q&A opportunities. The non-residential structure of this retreat will provide us with a real-life laboratory for practicing the skills of balancing and awakening the heart in daily life. Code: SB1M19.

APR

APR

FRI

SUN

19 21

3-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT DEPENDENT ORIGINATION: BREAKING THE CYCLE OF SUFFERING AMMA THANASANTI | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

The key to peace, joy, and happiness is release: a state of mind and heart not driven by a relentless insistence that life be other than it is. This capacity for freedom is available to each of us in every moment, but is often obscured by our agitated minds and wounded hearts. This weekend retreat will include periods of silence and guided meditation, as well as inquiry. In this way, relational contact and meditative qualities of the mind help bring root wisdom teachings into lived experience, as we explore together ways to end the cycle of suffering (dependent origination) - a core Buddhist teaching. Code: AT1M19.

AMMA THANASANTI - See page 24 for bio.

SYLVIA BOORSTEIN – See bio on page 12.

APR

20 SAT

APR

APR

SAT

SUN

13 14

2-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT THE JOY OF SAMADHI (CONCENTRATION) NIKKI MIRGHAFORI | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

9 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE The practice of samatha leads to the state of samadhi, where the mind is stable, bright, undistracted, and spacious. A dedicated practice of samatha can culminate in profound stillness, known as jhana, where the mind becomes fully absorbed in the object of attention. Trying to develop samadhi through Herculean effort with the force of a whip to stop distractions and pull the mind into one-pointedness can be self-defeating. A wiser approach, which we will explore together, is similar to training a beloved puppy: through gentle and affectionate instructions that are at the same time resolved and steady. A stable mind is more inclined to insight. Developing samadhi, to any extent available, serves as a doorway to freedom of our minds and hearts. Code: NM1M19.

NIKKI MIRGHAFORI - See page 16 for bio.

30

CRAZY WISDOM WES NISKER AND VINNY FERRARO 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Treat yourself to a relaxing day of sitting and walking mindfulness meditation interspersed with the poetry and humor of the ages.

The day will include guided meditations on the evolutionary origin of our body and emotions, reflections on aging and impermanence, and an exploration of the tricky delusions of mind and the mystery of consciousness itself. Throughout the day, we will hear from poets and crazy wisdom masters, from Lao Tzu and Rumi to Mark Twain and Lily Tomlin, giving us some perspective on this strange, impossible life we are leading. You may not get enlightened, but you are likely to have a few laughs and acquire a healthy dose of inspiration. Code: WN2D19.

WES NISKER - See page 15 for bio.

VINNY FERRARO - See page 18 for bio.

It is a great being who can see through all obvious delights as well as subtle pleasures, to be free from attachment.

The Buddha (Dhp 417)

APR

21

SUN

INTRODUCTION TO INSIGHT PRACTICE THROUGH A SYSTEMIC & CULTURAL LENS ERIN SELOVER | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

5.5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Insight Meditation, also known as Vipassana Meditation, is the 2,600-year-old practice of cultivating wise presence by bringing a caring, curious, and discerning attention to what is happening moment-to-moment. Conditioned to go after what we want and avoid what we don’t want, we often act from habit and reactivity instead of our deeper held values and beliefs. With mindful presence, we can learn to cut through habitual reactivity and access innate states of well-being, creativity, courage, and liberating personal and collective insight. Code: ES1D19.

ERIN SELOVER- See page 18 for bio.

MAY

03 FRI

CULTIVATING AWARENESS, INSIGHT & PEACE IN NATURE

may

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

MARK COLEMAN | 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Meditating in the serenity of nature provides a beautiful and supportive environment for cultivating natural mindful awareness.

In the stillness of nature, we will explore various sensory-based mindfulness practices as we sit and walk in meditation among the hills and woodlands of Spirit Rock. Through various nature-based meditations, we will explore the natural joy and insight that arises in nature, sense the interconnection between our inner and outer landscape, and discover how nature evokes the beautiful qualities of peace, wonder, and love. Particularly suitable for those wishing to learn to meditate outdoors and experience the fruits of naturebased meditation. Code: MC3D19.

MARK COLEMAN - See page 12 for bio.

APR

27 SAT

LGBTQI DAY RETREAT JOHN MARTIN | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM MAY

Open to all who self-identify as LGBTQI. We will come together for this day of Insight Meditation practice in the safety of community, embracing all of ourselves as we cultivate the wholesome and loving qualities of our hearts and minds. There will be guided sits, instructions and periods for walking practice. In addition, there will be opportunities for sharing within the retreat container. Code: JN2D19.

JOHN MARTIN - See page 22 for bio.

APR

27 SAT

BUDDHISM AND YOGA: INTEGRATING THE TRADITIONS SEAN FEIT OAKES | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Buddhism and Yoga, two of the diverse lineages of South Asian spiritual practice, are much more related than commonly thought.

While we may think of meditation and mindfulness as Buddhist, and postures and breathwork as Yoga (Hindu), both traditions teach meditation and physical practices aimed at liberation and the end of grasping and stress. New historical evidence reveals a deeply interwoven relationship between these ancient siblings, and we will explore this history through learning practices shared by both. This study and practice day will change your understanding of yoga and meditation, and give you tools to deepen in either stream. Code: SF1D19.

03 FRI

ANGER, JOY & TRUE POWER: A DAY RETREAT FOR WOMEN GRACE FISHER | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Open to all self-identified women.

Our anger can be frightening, confusing, or something we push away. It can also feel like a source of power. Yet, it’s rarely a source of our true power. We’ll explore our relationship to anger, and find ways to move into wise relationship with this energetic force. We’ll look at ways to clear away the reactivity that can fuel our anger, and allow wisdom to arise. We will balance this through an exploration of joy: the delight in beauty, kindness, and love. Together, we’ll look at these two factors - the wisdom that lies beneath our anger, and our joy - as the sources of our true power. Code: GF2D19.

GRACE FISHER - See page 17 for bio.

SEAN FEIT OAKES - See page 23 for bio.

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DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

MAY

04 SAT

MINDFUL OF RACE: ARTISTRY AS CULTURAL MEDICINE RUTH KING | 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

For self-identified People of color As we become more mindful and begin to acknowledge the prolonged, persistent, and spiritual thievery of racial suffering and injustice, the energy we need to heal becomes available to us, and we can use this energy creatively to serve and heal a larger heart. In our time together, we will hear teachings from the Buddha and from Ruth King’s new book, Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out, and explore what suffering has taught us about tenderness, and how expressing ourselves artistically is cultural medicine, supporting freedom, generosity, and social harmony.

Code: RK1H19.

RUTH KING serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, and teaches nationwide. She is an emotional wisdom author and life coach, and is the author of several publications, including Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible and Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out.

MAY

05 SUN

04 SAT

MAGNANIMOUS HEART NARAYAN HELEN LIEBENSON 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Based on Narayan’s recent book, “The Magnanimous Heart; Love and Compassion, Loss and Grief, Joy and Liberation”, we will explore what it means to live and to practice with a heart and mind that is spacious and buoyant in the very midst of loss and change. Is it possible to relate differently to our experiences than our conditioning dictates, and to bring all of our experiences into our dharma practice? We will explore these questions in a variety of ways throughout the day, including guided meditation, discussion, and Q&A. Code: NH1D19.

NARAYAN HELEN LIEBENSON is a guiding teacher at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, a meditation center in Cambridge, MA, where she has been teaching since it opened in 1985. Narayan is also one of the guiding teachers at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, where she offers residential retreats.

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RICK HANSON | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

6 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE | LIVESTREAM AVAILABLE The world is volatile and unreliable. So it’s vital to develop durable psychological resources such as grit, gratitude, and compassion: the inner core that remains unshaken no matter what life brings.

This is true resilience, the foundation of lasting well-being in a changing world and at the heart of the Buddhist idea of equanimity. In this day retreat, we’ll explore why suffering arises due to craving, why craving arises due to a sense of deficit and disturbance in the meeting of our needs and how to use positive neuroplasticity to grow inner resources like calm and confidence to soothe, ease, and replace old pain. Code: RH2D19. Livestream code: RH1L19.

RICK HANSON PhD - See page 19 for bio.

MAY MAY

10 12 FRI

MAY

RESILIENT: CULTIVATING AN UNSHAKABLE CORE OF CALM, STRENGTH, & HAPPINESS

SUN

3-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT LOVING AWARENESS: A NON-RESIDENTIAL RETREAT FOR EXPERIENCED MEDITATORS JACK KORNFIELD & TRUDY GOODMAN 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

LIVESTREAM AVAILABLE Prerequisite: Four years of mindfulness meditation practice.

Loving awareness, practiced as mindfulness and metta, is the gateway to liberation. During this 3-day non-residential meditation retreat, as experienced practitioners, we will join together to quiet the mind, open the heart, and see our human life with the eyes of wisdom. This is a new retreat form which will alternate sitting, walking, guided meditations and frequent periods of dialogue and Q&A throughout each of the days.

Code: JK1M19. Livestream code: JK1L19.

JACK KORNFIELD trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, India and Burma and holds a PhD in clinical psychology.

He has taught meditation since 1974 and is a founding teacher of IMS and Spirit Rock. His books include A Path with Heart, The Wise Heart and No Time Like the Present.

TRUDY GOODMAN, PhD, is founder and Guiding Teacher of InsightLA and is the Guiding Teacher and co-founder of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy in Cambridge, MA.

DAY RETREATS AND COMMUTER RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

MAY MAY

18 19

SAT

SUN

2-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT KEEPING COOL IN THE FIRE: TRANSFORMING INNER & OUTER CONFLICT DONALD ROTHBERG & STEPHEN FULDER 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

12 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Conflicts can be challenging, whether in close relationships, difficult personal choices, the workplace, political polarization, or relationships between ethnic groups. In this weekend retreat, we will suggest, using talks, meditations, and exercises, core principles and practices for working with conflicts, including those used by Stephen Fulder over many years of work on the front lines in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Guided by a vision of non-dual “conflict transformation,” rooted in the Buddha’s Middle Way, we will approach conflicts as opportunities for learning, reconciliation, steadiness, and compassion. Stephen Fulder will teach only on Saturday; Donald Rothberg will teach both days. Code: DR1M19.

MAY

31 FRI

MINDFUL LEADERSHIP: SEVEN PRACTICES OF A MINDFUL LEADER MARK LESSER | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

5.5 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Whether you are a CEO, a care provider, leading your family, or leading your life, we all lead and all have influence in many realms; usually much more than we realize. In this day retreat, we will practice developing ways to integrate mindfulness into our ability to envision, empower, connect, collaborate, and skillfully respond to change. This interactive workshop is structured around seven core practices, with an emphasis on embodiment: • Love the work • Do the work • Don’t be an expert • Connect to your pain • Connect to the pain of others • Depend on others • Keep making it simpler. Code: ML1D19.

DONALD ROTHBERG, PhD,- See page 15 for bio.

MARC LESSER is a CEO and Zen teacher, offering mindfulness trainings for leaders worldwide. He served as CEO and co-founder of Search Inside Yourself, and director of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. He is the author of several books, including Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons From Google and A Zen Monastery Kitchen.

STEPHEN FULDER is the founder and for 25 years, the senior teacher of the Israel Insight Society, the major dharma teaching organisation in Israel. He teaches many retreats, courses and classes annually and engages in peace work. His new book is: What’s Beyond Mindfulness: Waking Up to This Precious Life.

MAY

MAY

THU

SUN

23 26

4-DAY COMMUTER RETREAT THE FOUR FOUNDATIONS OF MINDFULNESS SALLY ARMSTRONG | 10:00 AM – 4:30 PM

The Buddha taught that there is a direct way for alleviating suffering and discovering peace, wisdom, and happiness: through cultivating the Four Foundations of Mindfulness or Satipatthana.

In this non-residential retreat, we will explore this liberating teaching that forms the basis for Insight Meditation practice.

There will be practices and reflections given during each day for continuing this mindful exploration at home. Free copy of Bhikkhu Analayo’s Satipatthana: The Direct Path to Realization included.

Code: SA1M19.

SALLY ARMSTRONG is a Spirit Rock Co-Guiding Teacher.

She has served Spirit Rock in a number of roles, including on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council and Board of Directors, and as co-founder and co-teacher of the Dedicated Practitioners Program. She began practicing Insight Meditation in India in 1981, and has taught since 1996.

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FAMILY AND YOUTH PROGRAMS

JAN

06 SUN

The Spirit Rock Family Program supports families in planting the seeds of the Dharma in their daily lives.

Through classes, day retreats and residential retreats, families, youth and parents learn to slow down, savor the present moment and re-connect with the wholesome qualities of heart and mind.

WINTER FAMILY DAY KATE MUNDING & EVE DECKER 10:30 AM - 3:00 PM

A wonderful opportunity to connect with your children, yourself and a community of supportive peers. Come play, share, learn and open your heart! We start our morning with a program for everyone, weaving the theme of the day into songs, skits and family activities. During the second half of the day, youth ages 4-14 will attend age-appropriate groups with our experienced Spirit Rock mindfulness leaders. They will play, make art, sing songs, and practice mindfulness together. Parents of children ages 4 and older will have an opportunity to meditate, hear a talk related to parenting as practice, and connect with one another through group discussions. Fee: $65 - 200 sliding scale, add $5 at the door. Code: FA1D19. VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED to assist with Family Days and attend free of charge; children are welcome to volunteer alongside an adult. For more info: volunteering@spiritrock. org or call (415) 488-0164, x224.

KATE MUNDING serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, and is a guiding teacher for the Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley (IMCB). She has praticed meditation in the Theravada tradition since 2004, and is the founder of Heart-Mind Education, providing mindfulness-based education programs, trainings, and resourcesto students and the adults in their lives.

EVE DECKER is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader Program. An accomplished musician, she teaches music and mindfulness to children and adults at East Bay Meditation Center, Spirit Rock and Aurora School in Oakland.

FEB

25

MON

APR

28

SUN

SPRING FAMILY DAY KATE MUNDING & EVE DECKER 10:30 AM - 3:00 PM

See description under the January 6 Family Day progam.

Fee: $65 - 200 sliding scale, add $5 at the door. Code: FA2D19.

LOTTERY OPENS FOR FAMILY RETREAT KATE MUNDING, AYYA ANANDABODHI, OFOSU JONES-QUARTEY, ALEX HALEY RETREAT DATES: JULY 31 – AUGUST 4, 2019 (5-day, 4-night retreat)

This popular retreat includes Dharma programming for children and adults: meditation, dharma talks, time on the land, a campfire, council practice, parent discussions groups, and experiential play that makes the dharma tangible for children through song, skits, stories, art, and games. Fee: Adults $1340 - 610 sliding scale; Children $880 - 400 sliding scale, plus dana to teachers and staff ; Code: 272R19.

FAMILY PROGRAMS | JAN – MAY 2019

JAN

FEB

SUN

SUN

13

17

WINTER TEEN MEDITATION SERIES MATTHEW MOREY & NIRALI SHAH 1ST FIVE SUNDAYS: 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM 6TH & FINAL SUNDAY: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

6-WEEK CLASS SERIES Learn meditation, relax deeply, speak your truth and develop your mind — all while hanging out with other great people your age.

Through the practices of mindfulness and Insight Meditation, we take the time to reconnect to ourselves in order to experience more peace, wisdom and compassion. Classes will include movement, community building games, meditation instruction and council, a practice of witnessing the group’s collective wisdom. The Teen series will culminate with a half-day of practice and a potluck celebration. The middle school series will culminate with an evening potluck. During the series for both the teens and middle schoolers, parents are welcome to read, meditate and connect with each other in the Spirit Rock foyer.

Fee: $120 – 240 sliding scale. Code: TE1C19.

JAN

FEB

SUN

SUN

13 10

5-WEEK CLASS SERIES—ALL TWEENS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL WELCOME!

See description for Winter Teen Meditation Series.

Fee: $100 – 200 sliding scale. Code: TE2C19.

KODO CONLIN took up solitary sitting in 2006. He trained at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and ordained as a priest in the warm-hearted lineage of Suzuki-roshi. Kodo feels equally a part of the Zen and Vipassana traditions: the practices of insight and the teachings of early Buddhism have been foundational.

JULIANA SLOANE co-leads a women’s sitting group in San Francisco, and loves sharing the Dharma with young people through Spirit Rock’s Teen and Family Program. She is passionate about the possibilities of personal and community transformation held in the Dharma, and brings this into her work with adults and youth alike.

MATTHEW MOREY, PHD, serves on the Spirit Rock Teen Teachers Council and co-teaches the Middle School and Teen Meditation Series. Matthew is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a practice in San Francisco.

APR

MAY

SUN

SUN

07 12

NIRALI SHAH is a certified mindfulness facilitator from UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center. She currently teaches meditation at technology companies and Insight Meditation Center, Redwood City, CA, as well as facilitates retreats with Spirit Rock and Inward Bound Mindfulness Education.

WINTER MIDDLE SCHOOL MEDITATION SERIES KODO CONLIN & JULIANA SLOANE 5 SUNDAYS: JAN 13 – FEB 10 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

SPRING MIDDLE SCHOOL MEDITATION SERIES ANDREW CHAIKIN & MICHELE ANDROPOULOS 5 SUNDAYS: APRIL 7 – MAY 12 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (NO CLASS SUNDAY, APRIL 21)

5-WEEK CLASS SERIES—ALL TWEENS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL WELCOME!

See description for Winter Teen Meditation Series.

Fee: $100 – 200 sliding scale. Code: TE4C19.

APR

MAY

SUN

SUN

07 19

SPRING TEEN MEDITATION SERIES JULIANA SLOANE & ANTHONY “T” MAES 1ST FIVE SUNDAYS: 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM 6TH & FINAL SUNDAY: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM (NO CLASS SUNDAY, APRIL 21)

6-WEEK CLASS SERIES See description for Winter Teen Meditation Series.

Fee: $120 – 240 sliding scale. Code: TE3C19.

ANTHONY “T” MAES has worked with Spirit Rock’s family program consistently since 2009, teaching day retreats, New Years’ teen retreats, and the Abhayagiri monastery weekend. “T” also teaches teen retreats for Inward Bound Mindfulness Education and is a teacher and coordinator of East Bay Meditation Center’s Teen Sangha.

ANDREW CHAIKIN is a graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders Program and Dedicated Practitioners Program and is a certified teacher of Search Inside Yourself. He leads a weekly sitting group in San Francisco and is the Coordinating Teacher of the meditation and yoga program at the San Francisco County Jail.

MICHELE ANDROPOULOS has been working as a Physical Education specialist within the Mount Diablo Unified School District for 18 years. Michele teaches 8-13 year olds combining physical activity with a mindful approach. She has been an active volunteer at SRMC and participating teacher at SRMC family days.

JULIANA SLOANE – See bio on upper right of page.

TO REGISTER AND FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION, VISIT SPIRITROCK.ORG

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RESIDENTIAL RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

36

RESIDENTIAL RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

RESIDENTIAL RETREATS

For 2,600 years, silent meditation retreats have been a central part of the Buddhist Path of Awakening. Time in retreat allows us to step out of the complexity of our lives to listen deeply to our bodies, hearts and minds. Spirit Rock retreats combine the fertile atmosphere of silence with time for meditation and walks in nature, supported by systematic Buddhist teachings.

Careful guidance and training is offered in meditation. Most retreats are suitable for both new and more experienced students of meditation. Residential retreats last from a few days to a full two-month retreat and all retreats are silent with some exceptions. Find inspiration for planning your next retreat on the following pages. For complete details of specific retreats, visit spiritrock.org/calendar/retreats. If you are able to attend a retreat on short notice, please join a waitlist as spaces regularly open up. For more information, contact Retreats@spiritrock.org or (415) 488-0164 x247 or x252.

37

GENERAL INFORMATION

RESIDENTIAL RETREATS

2019 ONE & TWO MONTH RETREATS FULL WITH WAITING LIST AVAILABLE An extended period of retreat offers the rare opportunity for sustained and dedicated practice. Our one and twomonth retreats emphasize quieting the mind, opening the heart, and developing profound clarity and depth of insight practice. Instruction will follow the traditional four foundations of mindfulness, combined with training in loving-kindness and compassion, through a daily schedule of silent sitting, walking, dharma talks and practice meetings with teachers.

For the month-long retreats only: Spirit Rock is extending the upper age limit of the young adult scholarship rate to individuals 18-32 years of age. This special rate is $35 per night. A limited number of special rates will be available.

Additional scholarship funding will be offered for our POC communities.

FEBRUARY INSIGHT MEDITATION ONE-MONTH RETREAT February 2 – March 2, 28 nights SALLY ARMSTRONG, JAMES BARAZ, KAMALA MASTERS, ANDREA FELLA, TEMPEL SMITH, ALEXIS SANTOS, MARTHA LINK (YOGA)

MARCH INSIGHT MEDITATION ONE-MONTH RETREAT March 2 – March 30, 28 nights DONALD ROTHBERG, SHARDA ROGELL, OREN JAY SOFER, HEATHER SUNDBERG, DARA WILLIAMS (MARCH 2 - 16) ARINNA WEISMAN (MAR 16 - 30), AMANA BREMBY JOHNSON (YOGA)

INSIGHT MEDITATION TWO-MONTH RETREAT February 2 – March 30, 56 nights

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COST Most residential retreats vary in cost from $99 a night to $150 a night. Single room guarantee rates are available, as well as commuter rates though both are limited. All rates include three meals a day unless noted; and all retreats have sliding scale rates and work exchange opportunities.

A portion of these costs may be tax deductible. Please review our website spiritrock.org for detailed information for each retreat.

In addition to the registration costs, which cover only a portion of the retreat costs, you are invited to support the teachings and the retreat through the practice of generous giving or ‘dana.’ Participants will be invited to offer dana (donations) for the teachers and retreat staff (retreat managers and cooks). This money is restricted to be used exclusively for their compensation.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, WORK EXCHANGE AND YOUNG ADULT RATES Financial assistance is available for all residential retreats through our scholarship fund; although Spirit Rock offers almost $500,000 in scholarships each year, we still find there are limited funds available for each retreat, so apply early. For all residential retreats, we offer a limited number of young adult rates which are available on a first-come, firstserved basis. We do not have a senior rate for residential retreats. We strongly encourage you to apply for a scholarship if you require financial assistance. For most retreats, we have two work retreatant roles — one in the kitchen and one in housekeeping. To apply as a work retreatant, you must meet the criteria outlined on our website.

Spirit Rock deeply welcomes anyone with an interest in studying the Dharma and practicing Insight Meditation. We are committed to ensuring that these teachings are widely accessible so that money isn’t a barrier to your practice.

REGISTRATION Retreats open for registration four months before the start date (longer if a lottery retreat). Check our website for specific open dates. We encourage you to register online; however, you may also download an application to submit via postal mail.

CANCELLATION FEES In general, the cancellation fee schedule is as follows: $100 for cancellation 8 weeks or more before a retreat; $175 for cancellation 4-8 weeks before a retreat; $225 for cancellation 1-4 weeks before a retreat; $300 for cancellation 1 week before a retreat. No refunds as of 3:00 pm on the last business day prior to the retreat start date. To cancel a retreat reservation, contact Retreats@spiritrock.org, so we have your cancellation in writing.

RESIDENTIAL RETREATS AT A GLANCE—2019

JANUARY Jan 8–15

Jan 16–21

January Metta Retreat Donald Rothberg, Anushka Fernandopulle, Konda Mason, Heather Sundberg, Melvin Escobar (yoga) registration opened 9/5/18 14 CE Credits Available

APRIL Apr 27 – May 4

Jan 22–26

Trusting in Awareness, Trusting the Heart

Jan 27 –Feb 1

Awakening Through the Body: Meditation, Yoga, and Qigong (Parallel)

John Martin, Erin Selover, Noliwe Alexander, Teja Bell (qigong) —registration opened 9/19/18

May 5–9

Heart of Awareness (Parallel) UWH* Sharda Rogell —registration opened 9/26/18

FEBRUARY Feb 2 –Mar 30 Feb 2 –Mar 2

Insight Meditation Two-Month Retreat (see One-Month listings for teachers) registration opened 7/18/18

May 10–16

MARCH Mar 2–30

March Insight Meditation One-Month Retreat Donald Rothberg, Sharda Rogell, Oren Jay Sofer, Heather Sundberg, DaRa Williams/Arinna Weisman, Amana Brembry Johnson (yoga) —registration opened 7/18/18

APRIL Apr 1–5 Apr 6–14

The Power of Insight Meditation Mark Coleman, Diana Winston registration opens 12/19/18

Mindfulness of Breathing: A Retreat for Experienced Practitioners (Lottery) Bhikkhu Analayo, Ayya Anandabodhi, Shaila Catherine —lottery opens 11/27/18

Apr 15–23

Apr 24–26

Advanced Practitioners Program (APP2) Retreat 1 Phillip Moffitt, Guy Armstrong, Susie Harrington, Anushka Fernandopulle, Brian Lesage —program participants only

Opening Space: Mindful Yoga & Embodied Meditation Anne Cushman, Leslie Booker, Dawn Mauricio registration opens 12/18/18

Seven Treasures for Transformation: A Monastic Retreat

Maranasati: Contemplating Death / Awakening to Life (Parallel) Eugene Cash, Bob Stahl, Bhikkhu Analayo (video guest teaching), Janice Clarfield (yoga) registration opens 1/9/19 18 CE Credits Available

May 10–16

True Belonging (Parallel) *UWH

May 17–19

May Benefit Retreat 2019

May 20–25

Erin Treat, JoAnna Hardy —lottery opens 12/11/19 Jack Kornfield, Sylvia Boorstein, Teja Bell —registration opens 2/12/19

Insight Meditation: A Path of Wisdom, Compassion, and Freedom Mark Coleman, Erin Selover registration opens 1/15/19 11 CE Credits Available

February Insight Meditation One-Month Retreat Sally Armstrong, James Baraz, Kamala Masters, Andrea Fella, Tempel Smith, Alexis Santos, Martha Link (yoga) —registration opened 7/18/18

Sally Armstrong, Ruth King, Bonnie Duran, Tempel Smith —program participants only

Ayya Anandabodhi, Ayya Santacitta, Ven. Dhammadipa, Marci Moberg (yoga) —registration opens 1/3/19

Debra Chamberlin-Taylor, Anne Cushman, Teja Bell (qigong) —registration opened 9/26/18 Jan 27 –Feb 1

Dedicated Practitioners Program (DPP6) Retreat 5

MAY

Winter Insight Meditation Retreat Howard Cohn, Lila Kate Wheeler, Ashley Sharp (yoga) registration opened 9/12/18

(CONT’D)

May 26 –Jun 2

Insight and Awakening Will Kabat-Zinn, Trudy Goodman —registration opens 1/28/19

JUNE Jun 3–9

Awakening Joy James Baraz, Debra Chamberlin-Taylor, Howard Cohn, Jane Baraz, Evelyn Larsen (movement) registration opens 2/6/19 11 CE Credits Available

Jun 10–16

Aging, Dying, and Awakening (ages 55+) (Parallel)

Jun 10–16

Awake in the Wild: Meditation in Nature Retreat

Anna Douglas, Eugene Cash, Konda Mason registration opens 2/13/19 (Parallel) UWH*

Mark Coleman —registration opens 2/13/19 Jun 17–23

The Nine Bodies of Consciousness: A Practical Map for Insight Practitioners (Parallel) Phillip Moffitt, Dana DePalma —registration opens 2/20/19

Jun 17–23 Jun 24–30

Spring Insight Meditation Retreat (Parallel) UWH* Matthew Brensilver, Brian Lesage registration opens 2/20/19

Mindfulness for Everyone: The Basics and Beyond Without the Hype Diana Winston, Alex Haley registration opens 2/27/19

12 CE Credits Available

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JULY Jul 1–7

OCTOBER

Carrying the Lamp of our Ancestors’ Wisdom & Heart: A Time of Healing and Creating Legacies—A Retreat for Self-Identified People of Color (Lottery) Noliwe Alexander, Konda Mason, JoAnna Hardy, Lama Rod Owens, Anushka Fernandopulle, Dawn Mauricio (yoga) —lottery opens 2/4/19

Jul 10–19

Jul 19–28

July Metta Retreat Tempel Smith, John Martin, Bonnie Duran, Anushka Fernandopulle, Marcy Reynolds (qigong) registration opens 2/12/19

Aug 5–11

Oct 17–26

Fall Insight Meditation Retreat

Oct 27–31

Loving Awareness: A Retreat for Experienced Meditators (Lottery)

Phillip Moffitt, Erin Treat, Matthew Brensilver registration opens 6/19/19 9 CE Credits Available

Jack Kornfield, Trudy Goodman, Teja Bell (qigong) lottery opens 5/22/19

NOVEMBER Nov 3–10

Family Retreat (Lottery) Kate Munding, Ayya Anandabodhi, Ofosu Jones-Quartey, Alex Haley —lottery opens 2/25/19

Insight Meditation for Young Adults (ages 18-32) Tempel Smith, La Sarmiento, Erin Selover, Marcy Reynolds (qigong) registration opens 4/3/19

Insight and Loving-kindness

Aug 18–27

Concentration Retreat

Matthew Brensilver, JoAnna Hardy, Vinny Ferraro registration opens 4/10/19

Aug 28 –Sep 2

Labor Day Insight Meditation Retreat

Aug 30 –Sep 1

Abhayagiri Teen Meditation Retreat

James Baraz, Sharda Rogell, Howard Cohn, Terry Vandiver (yoga) —registration opens 4/23/19 Ajahn Karunadhammo, Ajahn Nyaniko, Forest Fein registration opens 5/27/19

Mindfulness and Heartfulness for Insight and Liberation Anushka Fernandopulle, Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey registration opens 5/8/19

Finding Freedom in the Body (Parallel)

Community Dharma Leader (CDL6) Retreat 1 Eugene Cash, Pamela Weiss, DaRa Williams, Erin Treat program participants only

Nov 12–20

Advanced Practitioners Program (APP2) Retreat 2

Nov 22 –Dec 1

The November Insight Retreat: A Journey into Presence, Peace, and Gratitude

Gil Fronsdal, Susie Harington, JoAnna Hardy, Brian Lesage program participants only

Thanissara, Kittisaro —registration opens 7/23/19

DECEMBER Dec 2–8

Phillip Moffitt, Tempel Smith, Nikki Mirghafori, Beth Sternlieb —registration opens 4/17/19

SEPTEMBER

Sep 16–22

Anne Cushman, Leslie Booker, Dawn Mauricio, Sean Feit Oakes —registration opens 5/29/19

Joseph Goldstein, Kamala Masters, Ruth King, Mark Nunberg —lottery opens 2/14/19

Aug 12–17

Sep 10–15

Moving Into Meditation: Mindful Yoga and Embodied Dharma

July Insight Meditation Retreat (Lottery)

AUGUST Jul 31 –Aug 4

Sep 30 –Oct 6

Finding True Refuge: LGBTQI Community Meditation Retreat Anushka Fernandopulle, John Martin registration opens 7/31/19

Dec 9–15

Dec 16–23

In the Presence of Love: A Metta and Qigong Retreat

16 CE Credits Available Spring Washam, Erin Selover, Vinny Ferraro, Teja Bell (qigong) —registration opens 8/7/19

Insight Meditation Winter Solstice Retreat: Embracing the Dark, Inviting the Light Donald Rothberg, Heather Sundberg registration opens 8/14/19 14 CE Credits Available

Dec 27 –Jan 5

New Year’s Insight Meditation Retreat (Lottery) Eugene Cash, Pamela Weiss, DaRa Williams, Alexis Santos, JoAnna Hardy, Susa Talan (yoga) lottery opens 7/24/19

Dec 27 –Jan 1

Teen New Year’s Retreat (Location TBD) Teachers TBD —registration opens 8/28/19

Mary Grace Orr, Bob Stahl, Christiane Wolf, Marcy Reynolds (qigong) registration opens 5/15/19

15 CE Credits Available

Sep 16–22

Natural Liberation (Parallel) UWH*

Sep 23–29

Women’s Meditation Retreat

Wes Nisker, Vinny Ferraro registration opens 5/15/19 Spring Washam, Erin Selover, Konda Mason, Erin Treat, Kate Johnson (yoga) —registration opens 5/21/19

*UWH = Upper Walking Hall

Retreats in dark red = offsite

RESIDENTIAL RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

JAN

JAN

TUE

TUE

08 15

JANUARY METTA RETREAT DONALD ROTHBERG, ANUSHKA FERNANDOPULLE, KONDA MASON, HEATHER SUNDBERG, MELVIN ESCOBAR (YOGA)

JAN

FEB

SUN

FRI

27 01

7 nights, Tuesday – Tuesday 14 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE Metta, or loving-kindness, practice is the cultivation of the intention of benevolence as the orientation of our heart and mind.

It is also a path to wisdom. We develop our capacity for metta through meditation (which is practiced steadfastly on retreat) in order for it to manifest in an ongoing way in our daily lives. In this retreat, we will learn the formal practice of metta along with its companion practices of compassion, joy, and equanimity.

All four of these practices - known as the Brahma Viharas or Divine Abodes - strengthen self-confidence, self-acceptance, and steadiness of mind and heart, revealing our fundamental disposition toward kindness. Fee: $2000 - 900 sliding scale.

Code: 228R19.

JAN

JAN

16 21

WED MON

WINTER INSIGHT MEDITATION RETREAT HOWARD COHN, LILA KATE WHEELER, ASHLEY SHARP (YOGA)

5 nights, Wednesday – Monday This is a silent retreat designed especially for those relatively new to the practices of Insight Meditation (Vipassana). The retreat includes systematic instructions in Vipassana meditation —both sitting and walking, as well as loving-kindness practice, meetings with teachers, and evening talks highlighting the central teachings of the Buddha and their practical application to our lives. Fee: $1300 - 600 sliding scale. Code: 230R19.

JAN

JAN

TUE

SAT

22 26

TRUSTING IN AWARENESS, TRUSTING THE HEART JOHN MARTIN, ERIN SELOVER, NOLIWE ALEXANDER, TEJA BELL (QIGOING)

AWAKENING THROUGH THE BODY: MEDITATION, YOGA, AND QIGONG DEBRA CHAMBERLIN-TAYLOR, ANNE CUSHMAN, TEJA BELL (QIGONG)

5 nights, Sunday - Friday A river of presence and awareness flows through all of life, connecting us with ourselves and each other. On this silent retreat, we’ll open to a direct experience of this clear, wakeful presence through an unbroken, integrated flow of meditation in movement and in stillness. Through the forms of seated meditation, gentle yoga, and qigong, we will learn to sustain embodied mindfulness in a durable and flexible way that translates directly to our daily lives. This gives us the freedom to respond with wisdom and compassion to our challenges and to the suffering we encounter in ourselves and in the world, rather than reacting out of habitual conditioning. As we unwind our physical and mental contractions, we unveil our innate capacities for joy, wellbeing, and connection. Fee: $1300 - 600 sliding scale.

Code: 234R19.

JAN

FEB

HEART OF AWARENESS

SUN

FRI

5 nights, Sunday - Friday

27 01

SHARDA ROGELL

This retreat is an opportunity to practice a way of being that embraces the fullness and aliveness of the present moment.

Supported by mindfulness and the depth of silence, inwardly and outwardly, we will explore together a spontaneous, wise and open-hearted relationship with the moment-to-moment changing flow of life’s experience. Awareness practice can also reveal layers of physical and emotional tension and pain. As we open to the truth of our experience, we can cultivate a capacity for meeting and transforming suffering into a sense of deep wellbeing. By paying attention in this way, we come to understand how to free ourselves from deeply held patterns and awaken to our essential goodness as well as other beautiful qualities of our heart and mind. Fee: $1300 - 600 sliding scale. Code: 235R19.

4 nights, Tuesday – Saturday Taking refuge in silence, and within the container of the Spirit Rock land, we will practice mindfulness (present awareness) meditation and will cultivate the beautiful heart qualities of Metta (loving kindness) and Compassion. The teachings will also emphasize practical tools to carry the practice into daily life to support clarity, ease, and a sense of living in harmony with our heart’s deepest wishes. The retreat will include systematic instructions, guided meditations, sitting and walking periods, evening talks, and daily Qigong practice. Fee: $1000 - 500 sliding scale. Code: 231R19.

Speak or act with a peaceful mind And happiness will follow you Like a never–departing shadow.

—Dhamapada

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RESIDENTIAL RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

APR

APR

THE POWER OF INSIGHT MEDITATION

MON

FRI

4 nights, Monday - Friday

01 05

MARK COLEMAN, DIANA WINSTON

Have you ever been curious about Insight Meditation? This silent retreat will teach the essentials of this practice and offer key Buddhist teachings. We will explore ways to awaken our mind and heart so that we can learn to live a life of wisdom, compassion, inner peace, and freedom. This retreat will combine sitting and walking meditations, dharma talks and opportunities to meet with a teacher. An excellent opportunity for those new to retreat practice, and also ideal for experienced practitioners who wish to do a shorter retreat. Fee: $1000 - 500 sliding scale. Code: 240R19.

APR

APR

SAT

SUN

06 14

MINDFULNESS OF BREATHING RETREAT FOR EXPERIENCED PRACTITIONERS BHIKKHU ANALAYO, AYYA ANANDABODHI, SHAILA CATHERINE

8 nights, Saturday – Sunday Bhikkhu Analayo will introduce mindfulness of breathing in sixteen steps. He will offer meditation instructions and lead group discussions. Shaila Catherine and Ayya Anandabodhi will offer evening Dharma talks and meet practitioners for group interviews, assisted by Dawn Scott. The program will include self-scheduled practice periods in the morning, afternoon, and evening; participants need to have enough previous retreat experience to be able to structure their own sitting and walking sessions within this intensive retreat environment. Fee: $23001100 sliding scale. Code: 242R19.

APR

APR

WED

FRI

24 26

OPENING SPACE: MINDFUL YOGA AND EMBODIED MEDITATION ANNE CUSHMAN, LESLIE BOOKER, DAWN MAURICIO

2 nights, Wednesday – Friday Take a few days to open up space in your body, your mind, your heart, and your busy life. Unplug your devices, unwind your nervous system, nourish your spirit, and realign yourself with your heart’s deepest values and intentions. This silent retreat offers a seamless flow of meditation in stillness and in motion. Each day includes gentle guided yoga; seated, walking, standing, and lying down meditation instruction and practice; and dharma reflections and discussion. You’ll go home with powerful, practical tools for staying grounded and spacious in your daily life, while responding with wisdom and compassion to the suffering in the world and the urgent needs of our times. Fee: $700 - 300 sliding scale.

Code: 245R19.

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MAY

MAY

SUN

THU

05 09

SEVEN TREASURES FOR TRANSFORMATION: A MONASTIC RETREAT AYYA ANANDABODHI, AYYA SANTACITTA, VENERABLE DHAMMADIPA, MARCI MOBERG (YOGA)

4 nights, Sunday – Thursday The Seven Factors of Awakening are at the heart of Buddhist practice. These qualities can be thought of as “anti-hindrances,” counteracting those forces in the mind that keep us caught in delusion. Through cultivating mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquility, collectedness and equanimity, we transform ingrained habits that limit our growth and block our capacity to love. Through first meeting life as it is and starting where we are, we will turn our minds to these Seven Factors, each one leading to the next, setting the wheel of Awakening rolling. Registration Fee: $150, plus a donation to the teachers and retreat staff. Code: 248R19.

MAY

MAY

FRI

THU

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MARANASATI: CONTEMPLATING DEATH / AWAKENING TO LIFE EUGENE CASH, BOB STAHL, BHIKKHU ANALAYO (VIDEO GUEST TEACHING), JANICE CLARFIELD (YOGA)

6 nights, Friday – Thursday 18 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE The Buddha encouraged Maranasati practice to live an awakened life. This practice supports our appreciation of the preciousness of human birth and the development of equanimity with the difficulties of human existence. It helps us gain freedom from rigidity and clinging through a more expansive perspective of the inevitable and natural letting go. Maranasati matures our insight into impermanence and change, nourishing a skillful orientation to both life and death. In the retreat we will utilize the skills of loving awareness, compassion and investigation in our sitting practice, with some guided visualization and a period of contemplative inquiry each day. Bhikkhu Analayo will make a live, guest teaching via videocast (Zoom) at the retreat. Fee: $1600 - 700 sliding scale.

Code: 250R19.

Freeing themselves from longing, unhindered by habitual grasping, those who align themselves with the Way delight in non–attachment and, while still in the world, are radiant.

—The Buddha (Dhp 89)

RESIDENTIAL RETREATS | JAN – MAY 2019

MAY

APR

TRUE BELONGING

FRI

THU

6 nights, Friday –Thursday

10 16

ERIN TREAT, JOANNA HARDY

MAY

MAY

INSIGHT MEDITATION: A PATH OF WISDOM COMPASSION AND FREEDOM

MON

SAT

MARK COLEMAN, ERIN SELOVER

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5 nights, Monday – Saturday The experience of insight is essential to the realization of belonging to ourselves, to each other and to nature. As our capacity for wisdom and compassion deepens, our ability to bring about real and transformative change for ourselves and in the world increases. The emphasis of this retreat will be classical Buddhist teachings along with practices that open our hearts to ourselves and others. This retreat is for beginners as well as experienced practitioners. The retreat will be silent, with some periods of inquiry and sharing through relational practice. Fee: $1600 - 700 sliding scale. Code: 251R19.

MAY

MAY

17 19 FRI

SUN

AN INTIMATE BENEFIT WEEKEND RETREAT WITH JACK KORNFIELD, SYLVIA BOORSTEIN AND FRIENDS

11 CE CREDITS AVAILABLE In this mindfulness meditation retreat, we will explore the innate quality of awareness as the foundation for cultivating clarity, understanding, and insight into our human experience. We will investigate how, through mindfulness practice, we can develop insight into the causes of stress and the causes of genuine happiness. We will examine what it means to abide, with kindness and awareness, in the midst of life, so we can live with a genuine non-reactive freedom wherever we are. Fee: $1300 - 600 sliding scale. Code: 254R19.

MAY

JUN

INSIGHT AND AWAKENING

SUN

SUN

7 nights, Sunday – Sunday

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WILL KABAT-ZINN, TRUDY GOODMAN

JACK KORNFIELD, SYLVIA BOORSTEIN, TEJA BELL

2 nights, Friday – Sunday A small group of Spirit Rock supporters will gather for an intimate three-day retreat with Spirit Rock Founders Jack Kornfield and Sylvia Boorstein. Together we will develop the heart quality of love, dwelling in kind awareness as we practice metta and cultivate our natural capacity for care and connection, towards ourselves and all other beings. This foundation of goodwill—combined with compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity—can transform our lives. Attendance will be limited, and proceeds from this unique event supports scholarships and all we do here at Spirit Rock.

The base rate for this benefit weekend is $5,000; $4,500 of this amount is a tax deductible charitable contribution. Code: 252R19.

The ancient invitation of the Buddha was to “come and see” for yourself the truth of the way things are. In this retreat, we will weave together traditional approaches to Samatha-Vipassana (calming and insight) practice as well as body-based energy and awareness practices. This combination will support us in cultivating tranquility of mind, balance of body, and the capacity to see deeply into the nature of our own experience with wisdom and love. The aim of this practice is liberation, the freedom to be joyfully compassionate here and now for the care and benefit of all beings. Fee: $1800 - 800 sliding scale. Code: 256R19.

Meditation retreats can be powerful and transformative experiences, but how can we keep the practice alive in our fast-paced, modern society? How can we bring the values and intentions of contemplative practice into the complexity

Integrate the fruits of retreat into daily life

of our lives? In this six-week, online course, Spirit Rock-trained

NEXT STEP DHARMA

in-depth training to nourish the insights from a retreat.

SPIRITROCK.ORG/NEXTSTEP

meditation teachers Oren Jay Sofer and Jaya Rudgard offer

Enrollment in Next Step Dharma includes: • 21 short dharma talks and 16 guided meditations • 18 recorded interviews and 4 live Q & A sessions • 6 weeks of mentoring for your practice • lifetime membership in the Next Step Dharma community Next Step Dharma is an affiliate program of Spirit Rock.

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the spirit rock teachers council AYYA ANANDABODHI has practiced meditation since 1989

DANA DEPALMA has practiced Insight Meditation since 1993.

and lived in Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries in the UK for 18 years. In 2009, she moved to the US to help establish Aloka Vihara, a training monastery for women, where she now resides.

She holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She is a co-guiding teacher and Director of Faculty at Spirit Rock.

GUY ARMSTRONG has been practicing Insight Meditation

ANNA DOUGLAS has a background in psychology and art,

for more than 30 years and began teaching in 1984. He spent a year as a Buddhist monk in Thailand. Guy is a Guiding Teacher of Insight Meditation Society (IMS). He is author of Emptiness: A Practical Guide for Meditators.

SALLY ARMSTRONG is a Spirit Rock Co-Guiding Teacher. She

BONNIE DURAN met the Dharma in 1982. She teaches long

has served Spirit Rock in a number of roles, including on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council and Board of Directors, and as co-founder and co-teacher of the Dedicated Practitioners Program. She began practicing Insight Meditation in India in 1981, and has taught since 1996.

and short retreats and is a core teacher for advanced programs at IMS & SRMC. Dr. Duran is a Professor of Social Work & Public Health at the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute at the University of Washington.

JAMES BARAZ is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock, and serves

ANDREA FELLA has practiced Insight Meditation since 1996

on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. He started the Community Dharma Leaders program and the Kalyana Mitta Network. James has taught the Awakening Joy online course since 2003, and serves an advisor to One Earth Sangha, which focuses on Buddhist responses to Climate Change.

and began teaching in 2003. She teaches at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA, and around the US.

SYLVIA BOORSTEIN has been teaching since 1985 and teaches

ANUSHKA FERNANDOPULLE has trained for over 25 years

both Vipassana and Metta Meditation. Her many books include That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist and Happiness Is an Inside Job.

in Buddhist meditation in the U.S., India and Sri Lanka, and is a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. Anushka also works as a leadership coach and management consultant, and lives in San Francisco where she leads Monday Night Dharma.

MATTHEW BRENSILVER, PHD, began in the Tibetan tradition

GIL FRONSDAL has practiced Zen and Vipassana since 1975

and has studied with Shinzen Young since 2003. A SRMC/IMS/IRC Teacher Training Program graduate, he serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. He teaches about the intersection of mindfulness and mental health at UCLA’s MARC and with Mindful Schools.

and holds a PhD in Buddhist Studies from Stanford. He is founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA, and author of a translation of The Dhammapada.

EUGENE CASH is a founding teacher of San Francisco Insight.

JOANNA HARDY has been exploring and practicing multiple

He is also the co-founder and co-teacher of the Dedicated Practitioners Program. In addition, he teaches the Diamond Approach® in San Francisco and Holland.

traditions since 1999. In 2005, her focus landed on Vipassana.

Teaching in communities that don’t typically have access to the traditional dharma settings and building inclusive community are top on her list of priorities.

DEBRA CHAMBERLIN-TAYLOR has been leading retreats

SUSIE HARRINGTON teaches meditation nationwide and

since 1978. In addition to practicing Vipassana, she has been influenced by Dzogchen and Diamond Heart®. She also leads workshops on embodiment of awareness and conscious relationships.

is the guiding teacher for Desert Dharma, which serves many communities in the Southwest near her home in Moab, UT. She is a graduate of the Spirit Rock/IMS/IRC Teacher Training Program.

HOWARD COHN, MA, serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers

WILL KABAT-ZINN has practiced Insight Meditation for more

Council, and has taught vipassana retreats since 1985. He has studied with teachers of several traditions, including Theravada, Zen and Dzogchen, and has been strongly influenced by H.W.L. Poonja. Howard has led the Mission Dharma sangha for 30 years, and is the author of Invitation to Meditation.

MARK COLEMAN has been teaching Insight Meditation retreats since 1997. He also leads wilderness meditation retreats, integrating mindfulness meditation with nature, and is the author of Awake in the Wild and Make Peace with Your Mind.

ANNE CUSHMAN is a graduate of the SRMC/IMS/IRC Teacher Training Program. She’s the author of Moving into Meditation and the novel, Enlightenment for Idiots.

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in addition to more than 25 years of vipassana practice.

She has also studied with teachers in the Zen, Advaita and Dzogchen traditions.

than 15 years and has been teaching since 2007. He lives in the East Bay with his wife and two children and leads a weekly sitting group on Sunday evenings in Berkeley.

RUTH KING serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, and teaches nationwide. She is an emotional wisdom author and life coach, and is the author of several publications, including Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible and Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out.

KITTISARO, a Rhodes Scholar, trained in the Forest School

of Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Sumedho, and has practiced Chan and Kuan Yin Dharmas for 35 years. He helped found Buddhist monasteries and meditation centers in the UK, South Africa, and CA. Kittisaro co-authored Listening to the Heart, A Contemplative Journey to Engaged Buddhism.

JACK KORNFIELD trained as a Buddhist monk in Thailand, India

OREN JAY SOFER holds a degree in Comparative Religion

and Burma and holds a PhD in clinical psychology. He has taught meditation since 1974 and is a founding teacher of IMS and Spirit Rock. His books include A Path with Heart, The Wise Heart and No Time Like the Present.

from Columbia University, is trained in Somatic Experiencing™, Nonviolent Communication, and is a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. Oren is the founder of Next Step Dharma, and author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.

BRIAN LESAGE has taught meditation since 2000. He has

TEMPEL SMITH has been practicing Metta and Insight

studied in the Zen, Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism.

He was ordained in the Rinzai Zen tradition in 1996.

Meditation since 1989, including a year as a fully ordained monk in Burma. He graduated from the Teacher Training program led

by Jack Kornfield at Spirit Rock, is a core teacher in the Dedicated Practitioners Program, and has been leading retreats for more than 10 years.

JOHN MARTIN teaches Vipassana, Metta and LGBTQI

HEATHER SUNDBERG has taught Insight Meditation since

themed meditation retreats. He leads an on-going Monday evening meditation group in San Francisco. John has had a dedicated practice while being engaged in the working world and emphasizes practice for daily life. He serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council.

1999, completed Senior Teacher Training and is a member of the SRMC Teacher’s Council. She is a teacher for Mountain Stream Meditation Center in Nevada City, CA. Her teaching emphasizes Embodiment, Heart Practices, and Awareness Practices inspired by the Thai forest tradition.

NIKKI MIRGHAFORI, PHD, studied jhanas & vipassana

THANISSARA, MA, trained as a Buddhist monastic in the

with Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw who instructed her to teach. She is a Stanford-trained compassion cultivation instructor, a UCLAtrained mindfulness facilitator, and serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council and Board of Directors. She was previously incarnated as an artificial intelligence scientist.

PHILLIP MOFFITT has practiced Vipassana since 1983. He is founder and president of the Life Balance Institute. He is the author of Dancing with Life, Emotional Chaos to Clarity and Awakening through the Nine Bodies.

KATE MUNDING serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, and is a guiding teacher for the Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley (IMCB). She has praticed meditation in the Theravada tradition since 2004, and is the founder of Heart-Mind Education, providing mindfulness-based education programs, trainings, and resourcesto students and the adults in their lives.

WES “SCOOP” NISKER serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, and is a meditation teacher, author, radio commentator and performer. His books include Essential Crazy Wisdom and Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again!

SHARDA ROGELL began teaching Insight Meditation in 1985.

She brings a strong emphasis to awakening heartfulness and has been influenced by non-dual teachings, Dzogchen and the Diamond Approach®.

DONALD ROTHBERG, PHD has practiced meditation since 1976, and is the guiding teacher for the Path of Engagement program. Donald co-teaches the Wednesday morning class at Spirit Rock, and is the author of The Engaged Spiritual Life.

ERIN SELOVER teaches mindfulness-based classes throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in schools, mental health settings and the private sector. She is a psychotherapist and a graduate of the SRMC/IMS/IRC Teacher Training Program.

GINA SHARPE is co-founder and Guiding Teacher of New York Insight Meditation Center. She has been teaching the Dharma since 1995 and is particularly inspired by the potential and application of Dharma to transform and illuminate interpersonal and multicultural relations.

Forest School of Ajahn Chah for 12 years. She is co-fouder, with Kittisaro, of Dharmagiri Retreat in South Africa, Chattanooga Insight TN, and Sacred Mountain Sangha CA. Her latest book is Time to Stand Up, A Buddhist Manifesto for Our Earth.

ERIN TREAT has practiced Buddhist meditation for 20 years

and completed the SRMC/IMS/IRC Teacher Training Program.

She is the Guiding Teacher of Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center, and teaches at the Durango Dharma Center. Erin is influenced by her love of wild nature, Diamond Approach® training, and decades of somatics and bodyworker experience.

SPRING WASHAM has practiced meditation since 1997.

She is a founding teacher of the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, CA and author of A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage and Wisdom in any Moment. Spring is a pioneer in bringing mindfulness based healing practices into diverse communities.

PAMELA WEISS has practiced in the Zen and Theravada

traditions since 1987. She is an executive coach and the Founder of Appropriate Response bringing Buddhist principles and practices to leadership and organizations. Pamela leads a weekly meditation group at San Francisco Insight and co-leads the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader program.

LILA KATE WHEELER is a writer and teaches and practices in the Vipassana and Tibetan Nyingma Buddhist lineages. She is a co-leader of the Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program.

DARA WILLIAMS has practiced Vipassana meditation for 25 years. She serves as an IMS Guiding Teacher and is a core teacher in the 2017/2021 IMS Teacher Training Program. She is coordinating trainer for Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT) and has a private psychotherapy practice in NY.

DIANA WINSTON is the Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, and serves on the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. She has practiced Vipassana since 1989, including a year as a Buddhist nun in Burma, and is the author of Fully Present and Wide Awake: A Buddhist Guide for Teens.

LARRY YANG is a longtime meditator trained as a psychotherapist. He is interested in creating access to the Dharma for communities who have felt the experience of exclusion or difference. Larry is a teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center. He is the author of Awakening Together.

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SPIRIT ROCK TE ACHER S COUNCIL (CONT’D)

Teachers Emeritus AJAHN AMARO trained in Thailand with Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Sumedho. He is the former co-abbot of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery near Ukiah, CA. He is now abbot of Amaravati Monastery in the UK.

ROBERT HALL, MD, is a physician of the body/mind, a psychiatrist, poet and meditation teacher. He is a pioneer of the integration of bodywork, psychotherapy and spiritual practice. He lives and teaches at El Dharma in Todos Santos, Mexico.

MARY GRACE ORR is a Vipassana teacher and former Guiding Teacher of Santa Cruz Insight. She has practiced many spiritual disciplines for the past 25 years and has trained in the Diamond Approach®.

JOHN TRAVIS founded Mountain Stream Meditation in 1993 and opened a center in Nevada City, CA, in 2013. He has practiced meditation for almost 50 years and spent a decade living in Asia.

JULIE WESTER has been a teacher of Insight Meditation since 1985 and is a senior meditation teacher at Spirit Rock.

A student of sacred feminine wisdom traditions, her primary teachers have included Ruth Denison, Joanna Macy, Lama Tsultrim Allione and the women of her own family lineage.

Spirit Rock News © 2019 Spirit Rock Meditation Center | Jan - May 2019 Published three times a year by Spirit Rock Meditation Center P.O. Box 169, Woodacre, CA 94973 | (415) 488-0164 Design & Photography | Stacy Evett-Miller Photography | TwoIrises.com

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Spirit Rock

An Insight Meditation Center

5000 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard P.O. Box 169, Woodacre, CA 94973

spiritrock.org

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