Concentration, Awareness & Bodcihitta – Awakening the Mind of Compassion and Wisdom

Name: Concentration, Awareness & Bodcihitta – Awakening the Mind of Compassion and Wisdom
Start: 2024-09-16T11:00:00-07:00
End: 2024-09-20T16:00:00-07:00
Location: Bethlehem Centre, Nanaimo

Schedule

Mon Sep 16 2024 at 11:00 am to Fri Sep 20 2024 at 04:00 pm

UTC-07:00

Location

Bethlehem Centre, Nanaimo | Nanaimo, BC

Concentration, Awareness & Bodcihitta – Awakening the Mind of Compassion and Wisdom
With Dr. Cheryl Fraser
September 16 - 20, 2024
A retreat for Advanced Students (and some dedicated beginners)
As so many appreciative students know from direct experience, Dr. Cheryl is a highly regarded Dharma teacher who has been teaching at Bethlehem and elsewhere for many years now. In this retreat, Cheryl will teach on the topics of Concentration and Awareness. Often we seek a clear mind by practicing intensive meditation. We seek as though that clear mind is outside of our regular experience, as though we somehow need to “get it” from somewhere. But instead of seeking elsewhere, we simply need to uncover the clear, calm, awake mind that is already present. Can you relax and let your attention settle so that the luminous awareness under the busy mind can be contacted? For the Awake, a Compassionate mind is available at all times.
What’s more, while a desire to reduce our own suffering brings us to the path of Dharma, Bodhicitta is what will escort us along the path. Bodhicitta is the desire to help liberate all beings from suffering. In this retreat, you will begin to experience the shifts in mind and the confidence in awakening that occurs when we are driven by Right View and Right Intention.
This silent meditation retreat will focus on practices that help liberate the peace, joy, and kindness of the Awake mind. The primary practice will be Anapanasati – or mindfulness of breath – with an emphasis on single-pointed concentration. We will also explore the practice of Mahamudra or Open Awareness meditation.
This retreat will also assist students to build strength or merit, through the exploration of the seven factors of mind that help us to create happiness and peace from the inside out. These factors are Mindfulness, Curiosity, Energy, Rapture, Tranquility, Concentration and Equanimity.
This silent retreat will include sitting and walking meditation. Some practices will utilize guided visualization. There will be some yoga classes offered (moving meditation in the form of yoga is an excellent support for the sitting meditation practice). There will be daily Dharma talks and some group and possibly individual interviews with the teacher. This five-day retreat is most suitable for experienced students who have a daily meditation practice and/or have attended at least one silent retreat. However, interested novices are welcome provided you are willing to jump in and participate fully in the retreat.
NOTE – For the best experience, the teacher recommends that you choose the residential retreat option. Staying on-site will support your practice with minimum distractions. However, if for budgetary considerations the commuter option is best for you, please note you will be required to be at Bethlehem Centre from the morning meditation at 7 am through the end of the evening talk at 9 pm. Thank you.
About Teacher Dr. Cheryl Fraser
Dr. Cheryl Fraser has been studying Buddha-Dharma for 20 years and teaches in the Namgyal lineage tradition. Her root teachers are the Venerable Kyabje Namgyal Rinpoche and Lama Mark Webber She also studied with Lho Ontul Rinpoche and Phillip Moffit, former Esquire magazine editor-in-chief and C.E.O., a Buddhist teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. As a registered clinical psychologist in private practice who specializes in couples, and long-time practitioner in both the Vajrayana and the Theravada Vipassana traditions, Dr. Cheryl draws extensively from Western science and psychology, skillfully applying even the more complex teachings of Buddha-Dharma and meditation to “real life.”