Reflective Meditation: Intentional Stillness and Activity
LIMIT OF 20 PARTICIPANTS. NOW FULL, but please register to be on the waiting list.
Reflective meditation develops awareness and calm; but it’s not enough to just be settled in meditation. It’s necessary to allow these qualities to inform the activities of our lives.
Along with reflective meditation practice, consider what you would like to choose as an activity for this retreat. What do you want to dedicate some time to? What do you want to know more about? What do you value? Some possible areas are: your job, movement or exercise, political action, creativity or hobby, family, health activities or issues, reading and studying in more depth. Base your choice on the conditions in your life now.
We are asking people to commit to attending all days and as many sessions as possible during that time. Limiting the retreat to 20 people, we will form groups that will stay together during the retreat so you can see how this practice develops within yourself and others.
With Linda Modaro and Nelly Kaufer
Thursday, September 24, 2020 – Monday, September 28, 2020
Online
During this online retreat, we will teach an open meditation practice that is followed by reflection and journaling. We welcome continuing students, mentees who want to offer this orientation to their communities, as well as meditators who are new to our orientation towards meditation practice and retreats. The roots of this practice are to be found in the Buddha’s early teachings and are based on learning to trust the ways of knowing that develop in meditation, enabling you to be more responsive and present in your life.
Thursday night, September 24th
*All times are in PDT
5-6:30pm Dharma conversations and small group conversations
7:30-8:30pm Meditation and reflection
Friday – Monday, September 25th-28th (Monday ending at 6:30pm)
*All times are in PDT
9-10am Daily online group – short talk, meditation, reflection, short sharing
10:30-11:30am Reflection Group – longer time to explore your experience in meditation and activity
3:30-4:30pm Meditation and reflection
5-6:30pm Dharma conversations and small group conversations
7:30-8:30pm Meditation and reflection
WHY MEDITATE AND REFLECT?
We believe that you can learn beneficial ways of meditating by seeing how your mind operates within meditation. This kind of “seeing” can be naturally developed through recollection and reflection, whether done in a journal or expressed verbally to an experienced teacher or peers.
Most likely you will have a goal in mind when you come to meditation practice. What is in your mind and heart matters deeply and does not need to be separated out from your meditation practice. Much of the learning comes from your own recognition and insight, rather than from an authority, a tradition, or any dogmatic and rigid way of thinking about meditation. More on this is here: https://satisangha.org/meditation
Feel free to reach out and contact us to better acquaint yourself with our philosophy:
Linda Modaro: linda@satisangha.org or Nelly Kaufer: nelly@pinestreetsangha.org
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
We offer a schedule that includes several meditation sittings sessions per day, dharma talks, small group reflection, individual sessions if desired, and free time.
If you have not been on a retreat with us before, please schedule a time to speak with one of the teachers so you can better acquaint yourself with our philosophy.
Our orientation to meditation seems to help develop some of these aspects and qualities:
• An independent, flexible meditation practice that can be done anywhere, anytime.
• Relief from reactivity by being able to tolerate and appreciate the range and complexity of difficult mental and physical states.
• The cultivation of a self-honest and safe inner environment where you can learn to meet whatever your mind comes up with.
• Peaceful, relaxed and stress-free states of mind which allow you to rest, take ease, and be less impulsive.
• The development of qualities such as awareness, kindness, patience, curiosity, friendliness and generosity.
Additionally, we have seen:
• By articulating and describing your meditation sittings, you can learn to discern many experiences which are not often languaged in meditation or life.
• Becoming aware of your patterns and habits in meditation can facilitate personal insights into your behavior and relationships.
SUPPORT & DANA RANGE
Sati Sangha has a desire to lead a generous, respectful life and to share it with others. Your giving and generosity for the teachings will be received with gratitude.
For retreats and larger workshops we have established our registration fees and dana as a range, rather than setting one amount to cover expenses with a request for an additional donation for the teachings. The low end of the range covers expenses for the online retreat. Payment at the higher ranges support the teaching for Linda and Nelly, and students experiencing financial challenges. We do not want to turn anyone away for lack of financial resources. Your support will benefit both Linda and Sati Sangha, and Nelly and Pine Street Sangha.
Deposit: $50 non-refundable deposit
Suggested Support and Dana Range: $100-700
Pandemic Assistance: pay as you are able
Sati Sangha will be taking care of the dana for this retreat and splitting it with Pine Street Sangha. Deposits and support/dana can be given via paypal or check. Please note that it is for the online retreat. https://satisangha.org/donate/
RETREAT TEACHERS
I started “seeking” in my early twenties. Unsure what I was looking for, I experimented with many eastern practices and landed in traditional Chinese medicine studying and teaching Qi Gong, Tai Ji and Acupuncture for over fifteen years. Taoist philosophy led to Buddhist philosophy and psychology after a near death experience in 1998 and changed the course of my spiritual practice, teaching, and work with others. I trained and worked closely with the teachers in the Skillful Meditation Project and Recollective Awareness Meditation, put together by Jason Siff. Eventually, I had to leave the SMP home, and founded Sati Sangha so that I could continue teaching Buddhadharma and Reflective Meditation. Thirty years of listening, observing, teaching and being taught by patients and students; traveling to China, Nepal, Iran, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada integrating aspects of their cultures. I try to hold this all lightly, yet I cannot deny the sense of having ‘a calling’ rather than a job.
Nelly Kaufer is the founder and lead teacher at Pine Street Sangha, a Meditation center in Portland, Oregon. Witnessing an intimate understanding of dharma along with a kind regard for the variety of meditative experiences, she teaches Reflective Meditation. Nelly was introduced to Vipassana (Mindfulness) meditation in 1978 on retreats taught by Ruth Denison and began teaching women meditation soon there after, as there were no female teachers in her community at that time. She co-authored A Woman’s Guide to Spiritual Renewal (HarperOne,1994), a book for which she interviewed women about their spiritual experiences. In the 1990s she completed a 3-year mindfulness teacher training with Jacqueline Mandell. Nelly met Jason Siff at a Buddhism and Psychotherapy conference in 2004, entered the Skillful Meditation Project teacher training several months later and completed this in-depth training in 2008. Nelly is a psychotherapist in private practice, integrating Buddhist psychology into her clinical orientation and in continuing education workshops for mental health professionals. I think what really attracts me about this approach is the spirit of exploration and the quality of kindness to myself and others that seems to arise from the practice.