Buddhist Studies, Community Program or Event, Introductory
Winter Retreat; Mindfulness, Perception, and Magic
Mindfulness, Perception, and Magic
“By relaxing the mind, you can reconnect with that primordial, original ground, which is completely pure and simple.
Out of that, through the medium of your perceptions, you can discover magic.”
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Since time immemorial cultures across the globe evolved practices to maintain a shared understanding of interdependence and sacredness. According to the Shambhala teachings our nature as humans and the nature of all existence is primordially good. However, when we doubt or lose contact with this truth, we invite chaos and suffering into our minds and world.
Through mindfulness meditation and seeing the sacredness in everyday life we can transform fear and doubt into an unshakable confidence in our true nature. By connecting to the goodness and timeless wisdom of the natural world, we can discover ordinary magic.
In the context of this 6-day meditation retreat we will explore our relationship to the awake phenomenal world. Since the senses are our gateway to life, we will investigate how they work, how they can be both an obstacle and an asset in our quest to discover how to perceive directly and clearly– in our quest to live life in touch with reality and our true nature.
This community practice container will include guided meditations, talks by the teachers, group discussion and exercises exploring our perceptions, and a concluding celebration. This city retreat is a rare opportunity to strengthen our mindfulness practice, to feel deeply and sensitively the ground of nowness and so experience the wonder and awesome magic of the world as it is.
“The epiphany of awe is that its experience connects our individual selves with the vast forces of life. In awe we understand we are part of many things that are much larger than the self.”
Excerpted from Awe: The Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder by Dacher Keltner
Please note: Registration for this program is limited. Please register as soon as possible to ensure you have a spot. A waiting list will also be started when we reach our limit.
The cost for 2 days only is $120.
If you would like to register for two days only please register below, and note in the comment section that you are only doing the two days.
In order to pay ( for the two days ) please contact our Treasurer at [email protected]. We appreciate payment in advance of the retreat.
If you have any questions contact one of the co-coordinators, Linda Gould. [ [email protected] ]
About the Teacher:
Kim Kelso was a member of the Victoria Shambhala Centre for 10 years and served as co-Director for two of those years. In 2008 she moved to Arizona to look after her mother. There she joined the Phoenix Shambhala Centre and taught extensively in Phoenix, Tucson and Albuquerque. She also started a small and thriving meditation group in the little mountain town of Yarnell, Arizona where she lives.
Kim discovered Shambhala in 1980 in Nelson, B.C. She began teaching in 1992. She has taught the Way of Shambhala, and Buddhist studies curricula, has offered other classes as needed, she was a Scorpion Seal student from 2009 – 2018. She finds the Buddhist teachings to be profound, and particularly refreshing, unbiased, and practical. She is especially inspired by the vision of Shambhala with its foundation of Basic Goodness, its path of warriorship and its notion of Enlightened Society.
She is looking forward to returning to the Victoria sangha for a week of sharing and mutual enrichment.
Things you need to know:
Do you need to do the whole retreat?: People may attend the first two days, after that the retreat container will be closed. Cost for two days is $120.00
Vajrayana practices: People will have daily opportunities to do their Vajrayana practice during the retreat. This will be self guided.
Dates: Please click on Date Details + above
Prerequisites: None, everyone is Welcome
Cost: If the prices listed do not work for you please contact the coordinator to discuss our Generosity policy