Faith Gardner
How Can I Serve?
July 10-13
3 Nights
$195 ($95 deposit) Dana
Many spiritual traditions practice serving others as a means of expanding compassion. And many of us just plain “feel good” when we have the sense that our actions are making a difference for someone. Whether we join the Peace Corps, share a meal, write a check, or open a space for a fellow commuter to merge onto a highway, we all “serve.” From the really big perspective we could say that service is just another concept and holds no place for us in awareness practice – if “self” and “other” is illusion - but it is a concept that impacts and motivates us nonetheless. So what do we mean when we speak of serving others? What about service is important to us, even compelling? How does service support our practice of awareness and turn us toward freedom? And when and how does service, in spite of our intentions, become an expression of ego?
This retreat offers us the opportunity to discover ourselves through the powerful tool of awareness. The silence of our retreat environment supports these explorations. But that doesn’t mean our scheduled discussions can’t be lively and forthright. So, come prepared not only to get some good meditation time in (sitting and walking), but also to participate in discussions and exercises designed for you to focus inward and explore whatever is available to you on your spiritual adventure. This retreat is suited for those new to meditation and first-time retreat-goers as well as seasoned practitioners.
Faith Gardner has practiced Buddhist meditation in the Zen tradition for over twenty years, six of them in monastic training. In her uniquely American Zen style, she has led retreats and workshops at Southern Dharma and elsewhere around the country. She now lives in Durham, NC, guides a meditation group, and “serves” as a site supervisor for Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.