Meditating with Snyder and Rasmussen

JhanasAdvice.com

Tina Rasmussen and Stephen Snyder have a new teacher-in-training, Brian Gavin. He is now authorized by them to give Dharma talks and will soon be learning how to lead daylong meditations. Brian shares his own experience in the area of “first sit to first jhana” in a clear way and inspiring way. He is very dedicated to the practice as a great yogi and has attended all of their long retreats to date. A professional geologist of 30 years and avid cyclist, Brian travels extensively.

• Arrange a Dharma talk with Brian
  

Spirit Rock Daylong: Sat., Jan. 14, 2012
Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California is hosting a second daylong meditation. The last one was attended by 120 meditators and was a great opportunity to introduce many people to serenity meditation practice.

Other Upcoming Retreats and Events

• Introduction to Concentration Meditation 3-day Retreat: Dec. 9-12, 2011 at Cloud Mountain in Castle Rock, Washington
  
• Brahma Viharas 3-day Retreat: March 23-26, 2012 at Cloud Mountain in Castle Rock, Washington
  
• Daylong Retreat and Evening Dharma Talk: Saturday April 21 & Sunday 22, 2012 at Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group in Sacramento, California
  
• Purification of Mind 13-day Retreat: Sept. 8-21, 2012 at Cloud Mountain in Castle Rock, Washington
  
• Purification of Mind 25-day Retreat: Oct. 13-Nov. 8, 2013 at Samish Island Retreat Center near Bellingham, Washington
  

Why would anyone go on a meditation retreat?

Carlin Green (on retreat with Abhidharma expert Sayalay Susila, August 2011)

Insight meditation master Pa Auk Sayadaw's chief female disciple, Sayalay Susila, gave a week long end-of-summer insight (vipassana) meditation retreat. This is Part 1 describing its benefits and the experience of various attendees.

BHAVANA SOCIETY, West Virginia - Many people desire to meditate but do not know where to start. Maybe they have already started and they do not know how to make progress. Perhaps they feel lost, unguided, and are beginning to to think, “I can’t do this by myself; I’m in over my head.”

• Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche once said, “In the beginning, deciding to try the practice of meditation is just leaping to some conclusion about what to do. In doing the practice at the beginning, rather than really meditating, you just imagine that you are meditating. So to begin with, the whole practice is based on confusion.”

I felt that confusion for many months. My progress was slow, cluttered, and unclear. Then suddenly the opportunity to attend a retreat presented itself. I followed my intuition, desiring to deepen and strengthen my practice. I found myself on a five-day retreat in the mountains of West Virginia.

What is a retreat? Why would anyone want to attend one?

When one really yearns to know the way something happens or functions, what do they do? In sports, we use a slow-motion camera to break down and dissect the process, say, the batter’s swing.



Just so on retreat. The mind is allowed to slow down, to become clear and simple so we can see its many aspects. We do not need to worry about anything. We let go, leave our daily concerns behind. And like muddy water, the mind settles down. It becomes clearer and sharper as the clutter settles out.



Another wonderful benefit to going on retreat is constant access to a teacher. Someone is there to guide, to direct the practice in a very beneficial way. The confusion of not knowing what to do or how to do it is replaced by confidence in a tangible meditation practice.

Sayalay's PowerPoint presentation on Abhidharma

During a retreat, one is surrounded by like-minded people, walking the same path, providing one another inspiration and energy.



What is it not? A retreat is not some strange regimented religious "boot camp" forcing recruits to follow a set of austere rules.



A retreat is an incredibly caring, open, and friendly environment where retreatants' needs are met by people who genuinely care about the progress and well-being of participants. It is a place where one can make real progress watching the mind open up like an intricate bud unfolding in the nurturing sunlight.

• Sayalay Susila talks on DharmaSeed.org
• Sayalay Susila talks on DhammaWeb.net
  
  

"Be Here Wow!" Wes Nisker at ATS

Against The Stream: Buddhist Meditation Society

Mindfulness Meditation and Modern Science:

A Path of Liberation and Amazement

&

Half-Day Retreat with Wes Nisker

• Saturday May 28, 2011
• 9:30 am - 1:00 pm
• 4300 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA 90029

"Oh wondrous creatures,

by what strange miracle

do you so often

not smile?"

-Hafiz, Sufi poet

Many of us are amazed when we read the latest scientific discovery about the size of the cosmos or the workings of biological evolution. But few of us know how to bring that sense of wonder and delight into our lives. In this workshop we will make creative use of classic Buddhist meditation techniques to help us embody the amazement of being alive and human.

During the day we will explore:

• the evolutionary origin of our body and emotions
• practice traditional Buddhist reflections on death and dying
• examine our nature "as" nature
• explore the tricky delusions of mind and the mystery of consciousness itself.

In the process we will find relief from our personal dramas and gain a new sense of meaning in our lives. The talks and discussions will present both traditional Buddhist views of self and reality, as well as some of the latest information from evolutionary biology and psychology to support and guide the meditations. The workshop will include plenty of poetry and a little crazy wisdom as well.

• Cost: $30 plus chance to offer dana to the teacher. Scholarships are available; no one is ever turned away for lack of funds. Call or write for more info.

CLICK TO REGISTER

Wes "Scoop" Nisker is a Buddhist meditation teacher, author, radio commentator, and performer. His books include the bestselling classic Essential Crazy Wisdom; The Big Bang, The Buddha, and the Baby Boom; Buddha’s Nature; and his latest, Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again!

Wes is also the founder and co-editor of the international Buddhist journal Inquiring Mind. He is an affiliate teacher at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, and does regular workshops at Esalen Institute and other venues. For the past several years Wes has been performing a comic monologue entitled "Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again!" which was recently staged at the esteemed Berkeley Rep theater.

Wes’s famous tag line is: “If you don’t like the news, go out and make some of your own.” wesnisker.com or scoopnisker.com