MEDITATION & BACKPACKING RETREAT
GRAND STAIRCASE–ESCALANTE NATIONAL MONUMENT
April 12 – 18 , 2020
A Sky Mind Retreat
Cost: $400 - $300 (sliding scale)
Scholarships available.
Retreat Teacher: Susie Harrington
For this retreat we do ask that you have at least 7 nights of residential retreat experience (these can be multiple retreats).
The retreat and waitlist are full. If you're interested in being notified when future retreat registrations open please sign up for the newsletter, below.
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MEDITATING IN THE DESERT: Again and again the Buddha recommended practice out of doors. As our society separates us further from our true, wild nature, this recommendation could not be more appropriate. This is an opportunity to “return home,” to deepen our practice, and to travel through an extraordinary wilderness. We will participate in an age-old tradition of going into the wilderness as a support for spiritual practice and inquiry. Immersed in nature, and in the quiet of our meditation practice, we will open ourselves to the interconnectedness, preciousness, and beauty of our true nature. Sitting in the beauty of canyon country gives us ready access to rapture, that quality of delighted interest and awe, and one of the seven factors of enlightenment. In many retreats, we're asked not to look around. In this retreat, we'll be encouraged to look around a lot and to delight in what we see.
We will be following the same route as past successful Escalante retreats, which touched surprising depths of practice and Sangha companionship. This will be a seven (7) day meditation retreat in the Buddhist tradition. It will be a special opportunity to practice the art of walking meditation, as we will be backpacking 2-5 miles many days through the beautiful slickrock desert. Most of our time will be spent in Noble Silence, allowing the attention to turn inward, though there will also be times for daily check-ins, Dharma discussion, and meetings with the teacher. Days when we break our formal practice for a few hours to hike in silence will mix with layover days, when we will be able to follow a more conventional sitting-and-walking schedule in incomparable settings.
The retreat begins and ends in Boulder, Utah. Carpool information will be provided, and those coming from the Salt Lake City or other airports will be encouraged to carpool to the retreat. The retreat is limited to 10 participants and a commitment and deposit are required to hold your place.