Barbara Brodsky & John Orr
Vipassana and the Open Heart
October 10-14
4 nights
$260 ($130 deposit) Dana
A retreat is a wonderful opportunity to experience our own inner being while sharing in the support of others. Mindfulness throughout the day will be a focus, with alternating periods of sitting, standing and walking practice.
The primary practice taught is Insight Meditation (Vipassana). This is a simple and direct practice: the moment to moment investigation of the mind/body process through calm, focused awareness which allows us to experience sensations, emotions, thoughts and consciousness with greater clarity and balance. This frees our mind from conditioned patterns of self‑centeredness, negativity and confusion, and opens our heart to deeper wisdom and compassion. This process of opening compassionately to ourselves moves from the sitting period to the whole of our lives. Additional in this retreat will be work with the practices of loving-kindness, equanimity, compassion and sympathetic joy, which support insight practice.
The retreat will be held in silence, with instructions for beginning and advanced meditators, evening dharma talks, and optional yoga, group meetings and private interviews with the teachers.
Barbara Brodsky is a dharma teacher who leads retreats worldwide. She is the founder and guiding teacher of Deep Spring Center in Michigan which offers vipassana classes, retreats, and dharma discussions. She is an ordained interfaith minister. She has been practicing meditation since 1960 and teaching since 1989. Her teaching draws from both Buddhist and Quaker traditions. Her Buddhist training is in the Theravadin and Dzogchen traditions. Barbara became totally deaf in 1972. Living in silence has greatly influenced her life and teaching as have many years of involvement in nonviolent action for social change.
John Orr received training in Thailand and India and was a Buddhist monk for eight years. Since 1980 he has led retreats around the country. He currently lives in the Durham/Chapel Hill area.
Here is the daily schedule of the Barbara Brodsky - John Orr 2007 Southern Dharma retreat. The 2008 schedule may be different.
5:45 Rising Bell
6:15 First Sitting
7:15 Breakfast
8:00 Work Period
9:00 Clean Up
9:30 Sitting, Instruction
10:45 Walking
11:15 Sit
12:00 Lunch & Unscheduled Time
2:00 Optional Dzogchen Meditation on some days
4:00 Optional Yoga
5:00 Sit
5:30 Supper
6:45 Sit
7:30 Dhamma Talk/Discussion/Evening Practice
9:30 Rest