Misplaced Pages

#484515

29-663: IMS offers Buddhist meditation retreats at two facilities – the Retreat Center and The Forest Refuge – in rural central Massachusetts. Both centers teach vipassanā . In 1990, a closely related but independent educational center, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, was founded by Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg on land adjoining IMS. From 1996-2006, IMS offered a correspondence course developed by its founders Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg entitled Insight Meditation which consisted of 12 audio cassettes and

58-560: A monastery . Some retreats for advanced practitioners may be undertaken in darkness , a form of retreat that is common as an advanced Dzogchen practice in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism . Spiritual retreats allow time for reflection , prayer , or meditation . They are considered essential in Buddhism , having been a common practice since the Vassa , or rainy season retreat,

87-432: A day. Meals are taken in a formal meditation ritual of ōryōki . Work periods in westernized sesshin are sometimes scheduled and may comprise one to two hours of the day, usually in gardening, cooking, or cleaning. The sesshin schedule typically allows for four to five hours of sleep per night, though practitioners occasionally will spend much of the next-to-last night of a five- or seven-day sesshin in zazen . This

116-630: A different connotation in Sufi terminology in which it refers to the act of self-abandonment in desire for the Divine Presence. In complete seclusion, the Sufi continuously repeats the name of God as a highest form of remembrance of God meditation . In his book, Journey to the Lord of Power, Muhiyid-Did ibn Arabi (1165-1240 A.D.) discussed the stages through which the Sufi passes in his khalwa . Ibn Arabi suggested: "The Sufi should shut his door against

145-484: A workbook. The course later evolved into Insight Meditation: An In-Depth Correspondence Course , with 24 audio CDs and an 88-page workbook. Vassa is a basic practice for Buddhist monastics . During this three-month retreat, monks seclude themselves and follow a tight regimen of meditation and dharma study. Every year, the Insight Meditation Society runs a three-month course that has been called

174-816: A year at many Zen centers , especially in commemoration of the Buddha 's awakening to full enlightenment ( anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi ). At this Rohatsu sesshin, practitioners seek to relax and quiet the mind to the point of cessation of mental chatter and emotional impulse, samadhi , kensho , or satori . A sesshin schedule in the West will typically allow anywhere from nine to fifteen periods of zazen per day, 30–40 minutes each, with ten-minute periods of walking meditation ( kinhin ) between zazen periods. Traditional sesshin are more intensive, with meditations lasting 30–60 minutes each, with an absence of any rest or work breaks and sleep limited to less than five hours

203-772: Is an annual three-day movement (held at the Araneta Coliseum ) founded in 1983 by Msgr. Cesar B. Pagulayan and organized by Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) Parish under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cubao . Spiritual retreats were introduced to the Church of England by priests of the Anglo-Catholic Society of the Holy Cross in 1856, first for clergy, and then also for laity. These retreats lasted five days. The Society of

232-436: Is called yaza and is much revered as a particularly effective time to meditate when the thinking mind and ego lack the energy to derail practice. It has been reported that at least three days of sesshin are usually required for the practitioner to "settle down" into the sesshin routine to a point where the mind becomes quiet enough for the deeper types of meditation and samadhi to begin. Some people unfamiliar with

261-843: Is from surat al-Baqarah. Khalwa is still practiced today amongst authorized Sheikhs, such as Mawlana Sheikh Nazim Al-Haqqani , Lefka , Cyprus . Meditation courses or retreats, either in a group or solo, are a common part of many meditation traditions. [REDACTED] Media related to Retreats (spiritual) at Wikimedia Commons Sesshin The way The "goal" Background Chinese texts Classical Post-classical Contemporary Zen in Japan Seon in Korea Thiền in Vietnam Western Zen A sesshin (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching

290-1080: Is in progress, anyone who is not already participating in the retreat is welcome to attend the evening talks about the teachings, known as dharma talks. Those with insight meditation experience are also welcome to attend group sittings." Dharma talks are available for free download, a service provided by Dharma Seed . Retreat (spiritual) The meaning of a spiritual retreat can be different for different religious communities. Spiritual retreats are an integral part of many Buddhist, Christian and Sufi communities. There are many different types of spiritual retreats such as wellness retreats, mindfulness retreats, spa retreats, adventure retreats, detox retreats, yoga retreats, and religious retreats. In Buddhism, meditative retreats are seen by some as an intimate way of deepening powers of concentration and insight. Retreats are also popular in Christian churches, and were established in today's form by St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556), in his Spiritual Exercises . Ignatius

319-521: Is that by which everything is created, none other than God most High.) The practice of khalwah is regularly followed by the Sufis, with the permission and the supervision of a Sufi authority. The Sufis base the assigning of forty days of khalwa period on the forty days Allah had appointed for Musa (Moses) as a fasting period before speaking to him, as mentioned in different chapters in the Qur'an. One of them

SECTION 10

#1732780135485

348-603: The Society of Jesus (Jesuits), whose founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola , as a layman began, in the 1520s, directing others in making (participating in) the exercises. Another form the Exercises came in, which became known as the nineteenth "Observation", 'allowed continuing one's ordinary occupations with the proviso of setting aside a few hours a day for this special purpose.' The spiritual exercises were intended for people wanting to live closer to God's will for their life. In

377-422: The "marathon of meditation". Save for triweekly interviews with instructors and nightly lessons, the retreatants observe full silence. In Theravada tradition, after lunch, they do not eat another meal, but are allowed snacks and drink tea, which is not accepted by many Buddhists as proper practice. The center's courses provide instruction and practice in vipassanā or mettā meditations. When a Retreat Center course

406-655: The 17th century, retreats became much more widespread in the Catholic Church. Retreats were not originally seen as suitable for women, but in 1674 Catherine de Francheville ( fr ), supported by the Breton Jesuit Vincent Huby ( fr ), founded a retreat house for women in Vannes . This developed into a community of laywomen, who also founded a daughter house in Quimper , but were dispersed by

435-437: The 19th century, in order to promote spiritual renewal, far from the city and in nature. These camps were an opportunity to pray, sing and listen to sermons for several days. Various church associations have also established campgrounds or conference centers in isolated locations, which provide retreat times for children and adults. The translation of khālwa (from Arabic الخلوة) is seclusion or separation, but it has

464-671: The French Revolution. Some however came together to found schools, and additional communities were established in England, and later in Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy. These developed in the course of the 19th century, under the name of La Retraite ( fr ), into a religious Congregation of nuns. The active involvement of the sisters in retreats was curtailed later in the 19th century, but blossomed again after

493-405: The Holy Cross's first retreats were held in secrecy. The practice was spread by Anglo-Catholic priests such as Francis Henry Murray , Alexander Forbes , and Thomas Thellusson Carter . The Oxford Movement further spread the practice of retreats to many devout men and women, borrowing upon Catholic practices. Their retreats were typically 3–4 days, and featured much silence and prayer. At

522-616: The Second Vatican Council, involving among other activity an extension of the community into Chile, South Africa, Cameroon and Mali. Following the growth of the Cursillo movement in Spain in the 20th century, similar retreats have become popular, either using licensed Cursillo material or independent material loosely based on its concepts, leading to the development of the three day movement . The Family Lenten Retreat

551-636: The desert (as with the Desert Fathers ), or in a monastery, is nearly as old as Christianity itself, the practice of spending a specific time away with God is a more modern phenomenon, dating from the 1520s and St. Ignatius of Loyola 's composition of the Spiritual Exercises. The fasting of Jesus in the desert for forty days is used as a biblical justification of retreats. The retreat was popularised in Roman Catholicism by

580-404: The end of the 19th century, and in the first years of the 20th century, retreats began to spread among the working classes and beyond those of notable devotion. These retreats were less ascetic in character, and included more conversation and leisure. They typically lasted 1–3 days. In Evangelical Christianity , times of spiritual retreat were encouraged by the development of camp meetings of

609-627: The heart-mind") is a period of intensive meditation ( zazen ) retreat in a Japanese Zen monastery , or in a Zen monastery or Zen center that belongs to one of the Japanese Zen traditions outside of Japan. While the daily routine in the monastery requires the monks to meditate several hours a day, during a sesshin they devote themselves almost exclusively to zazen practice. The numerous 30- to 50-minute-long meditation periods are interleaved with short rest breaks, meals, and sometimes short periods of work (Japanese: 作務 samu ) all performed with

SECTION 20

#1732780135485

638-688: The process have reported becoming disoriented and fearful of incurring psychological damage during sesshin. Some Zen centers do not allow novices to attend long sesshins without much prior experience and screening by the practice leaders. Sesshin can lead to deep experiences of awakening that may at times be somewhat traumatic, akin to a " spiritual emergency " or symptoms of Kundalini Syndrome . While this may seem daunting at first, people who practice regular zazen do not usually have problems with sesshin. Heightening of senses may arise during sesshin. Sometimes practitioners report that food has incredible flavor and colors become more vivid and pronounced. There

667-588: The same mindfulness ; nightly sleep is kept to a minimum, at six hours or fewer. During the sesshin period, the meditation practice is occasionally interrupted by the master giving public talks ( teisho ) and individual direction in private meetings (which may be called dokusan , daisan , or sanzen ) with a Zen Master . In modern Buddhist practice in Japan and the West , sesshins are often attended by lay students and are typically one, three, five, or seven days in length. Seven-day sesshins are held several times

696-710: The veil and the unveiling. The degree of the Divine Presence is made clear to him, the garden (of Eden) and Hell are revealed to him, then the original forms of the son of Adam, the Throne of Mercy. If it is appropriate, he will know his destination. Then he will reveal to him the Pen, the First Intellect (as it is called by Sufi philosophers), then the Mover of the Pen, the right hand of the Truth. (The "Truth" as defined by al-Jeeli

725-409: The world for forty days and occupy himself with remembrance of Allah, that is to keep repeating, "Allah, Allah..." Then, "Almighty God will spread before him the degrees of the kingdom as a test. First, He will discover the secrets of the mineral world. If he occupies himself with dthikr, He (God) will unveil to the secrets of the vegetable world, then the secrets of the animal world, then the infusion of

754-464: The world of life-force into lives, then the "surface sign" (the light of the Divine Names, according to Abdul-Karim al-Jeeli, the book's translator), then the degrees of speculative sciences, then the world of formation and adornment and beauty, then the degrees of the qutb (the soul or pivot of the universe-see #16) Then he will be given the divine wisdom and the power of symbols and authority over

783-421: Was established by the founder of Buddhism, Gautama Buddha . In Zen Buddhism retreats are known as sesshin . The Christian retreat can be defined most simply as a definite time (from a few hours in length to a month) spent away from one's normal life for the purpose of reconnecting, usually in prayer, with God. Although the practice of leaving one's everyday life to connect on a deeper level with God, be that in

812-461: Was later to be made patron saint of spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922. Many Protestants , Catholics and Orthodox Christians partake in and organize spiritual retreats each year. Meditative retreats are an important practice in Sufism , the mystical path of Islam . The Sufi teacher Ibn Arabi 's book Journey to the Lord of Power (Risālat al-Anwār) is a guide to the inner journey that

841-413: Was published over 700 years ago. A retreat can either be a time of solitude or a community experience. Some retreats are held in silence , and on others there may be a great deal of conversation, depending on the understanding and accepted practices of the host facility and/or the participant(s). Retreats are often conducted at rural or remote locations, either privately, or at a retreat centre such as

#484515