Abiding Light Coast Retreat
In-Person Only.
Join us for the Dekeling Community’s annual retreat on the Oregon Coast. Led by George Draffan.
Following on the Monsters Under the Bed class, in this retreat, we’ll explore how our habitual patterns of confusion and reaction can be transformed into freedom for ourselves and benefit for all sentient beings. What awakens us from self-cherishing and self-grasping are compassion and wisdom, and they are practiced together from the beginning of the path to the end.
“First, there is meditation on relative awakening -- wishing, from the depths of your heart, that all beings will have happiness, freedom from suffering, and complete buddhahood. Then view everything you do as being for the welfare of all beings... Meditation on ultimate bodhicitta is remaining in the mind as it naturally is, a state in which all thoughts of perceiver and perceived, self and other, are [recognized as] devoid of [intrinsic] reality. Practicing in that way brings the realization and attainment of ultimate bodhicitta. [Other than these two] there is no Dharma other than this.” (from A String of Pearls by Gampopa)
This four-night residential retreat will integrate contemplation, meditation, chanting, gentle movement practice, individual interviews, and group discussion. We’ll be at a stunning forested retreat center on a sandy beach on the Oregon coast. The setting is ideal for contemplation and walking meditation.
This retreat is open to all levels of experience, but if you haven’t participated in a residential retreat before, please contact George george.draffan@gmail.com before registering.