Winter Meditation Retreat: Weekthüns III and IV with Acharya Emily Bower

Deepen your connection to your practice and open your heart in this two week-long meditation intensive.

These two weeks are part of a dathün (literally "moon session"), a month-long group meditation retreat for both new and experienced meditators, is a powerful training ground for the creation of compassionate society. The retreat will include meditation instruction and guided sessions of sitting meditation practice to stabilize the mind, as well as contemplative meditation to develop insight and open the heart of compassion. Acharya Bower and other staff will give teachings on the view and practice of meditation and retreat. The retreat will also include private interviews with a qualified meditation instructor. Participants will practice silence and mindful speech; periods of meditation-in-action including cleaning, meal prep in the kitchen, and community tasks; and walking meditation. Meals will be taken in the meditation hall using Oryoki practice (traditional Japanese monastic meal practice). The daily schedule begins at 6:30 a.m. with wake-up and ends at approximately 9:30 p.m.

Acharya Emily Bower started practicing in the Shambhala community in 1987, the year that Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche passed away. She met Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in 1991, when he came to teach in Berkeley, CA, where she was living at the time. She became his student then and has served as his editor for various projects including his first book, Turning the Mind into an Ally. She has studied kyudo with Kanjuro Shibata Sensei and she is a lifelong member of the Dorje Kasung. She attended dathün in January of 1991, and following that she joined the staff of Karmê Chöling, where she lived for three years, and where she had the opportunity to participate in numerous dathüns. She currently lives in Boston, MA, and works as a professional book editor with Shambhala Publications. She has been an acharya since 2004.

Please arrive between 10AM-4PM on December 25. View Detailed Program Information.

Program content will consist of sitting and walking meditation, talks and discussion.

First Night
2:00pm – 4:00pm Arrival & registration
6:00pm – 7:00pm Dinner
7:00pm Orientation, program activities
10:30pm Curfew

Typical Day
7:30am – 8:30am Breakfast
9:00am – 12:30pm Sitting
12:30pm – 1:30pm Lunch, ROTA, free time
3:00pm – 6:30pm Sitting
6:00pm – 7:00pm Dinner
8:00pm Evening Sitting
10:30pm Curfew

Last Day
7:30am – 8:30am Breakfast
9:00am – Departure