The Heart of Awakening: Awareness, Radical Acceptance and Change 

A Day Long Retreat 

On Saturday September 21st, 2024 from 10 am to 4pm, In-person and on Zoom.  

We need to have a positive sense of trust, a willingness to look at our own sense of despair, inadequacy, fear, loss, grief, in a way that is not just thinking about it, but noticing that it is “like this.” Ajahn Sumedho

Would you like to deepen your meditation practice?  The biggest challenge most of us face is to accept that this moment is "like this".  When we encounter experiences that we don’t like, our deeply conditioned tendency is push them away. If we are touching a hot stove top, that makes sense.  When we are encountering a difficult mental or emotional state, it can be counterproductive. Weather it is external or internal. Spiritual practice is always inviting us to be conscious of our deep conditioning so we can have freedom of choice. 

Awareness is step one in allowing change. Acceptance is the second step and in many ways acceptance rides on awareness’s wave. Pioneering Psychoanalyst Carl Jung said, “We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate. It oppresses.” These are challenging words. Acceptance sounds like the opposite of change. Its not. The opposite of change is resistance, the unwillingness to dance in reality as it is evolving. 

Rumi wrote "It is through love that pain turns to medicine".  How could this be?  How can awareness, acceptance, and compassion practices turn emotional pain into something that heals rather than is a cause of suffering?  You are invited to join this day of practice as we explore these questions experientially through meditation.  This day of meditation will include periods of sitting, walking and movement meditation. There will also be a Dharma talk and opportunity for personal sharing

Location:  Portland Insight Meditation Community and on Zoom.  Location and Zoom link information will be sent to you when you register. 

Suggested Donation:  $70.00   No one turned away due to inability to pay.  Scholarship options are available. 

Registration:  Registration required.  No one turned away due to inability to pay.  For more information and to register, click HERE