NOTE: Retreat registration usually opens 3 months before the date the retreat begins and most other events usually open 4 to 6 weeks before the event. Occasionally there might be exceptions. 
 

 
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The Visiting Monk Program
Deepen your practice and train as a monk in the Visiting Monk Program at the Monastery. This program is our most advanced and challenging training opportunity. It is recommended only for those who are steeped in practice and have participated in all of the training opportunities that the Monastery offers--retreats, workshops, email classes, etc. It is offered on a month by month basis throughout the year. Email us at information@livingcompassion.org if you are interested in this program. There are prerequisites for this training.

Your Practice (a Monastery retreat)
Customize this retreat based on what is current for you in your practice. Through group discussions and individual guidance, you will be facilitated in exploring the aspect of your practice you choose to focus on. There will also be time for a Monastery nature walk, working meditation, afternoons of sesshin-style sitting practice, yoga, and skills workshops around Recording and Listening and reflective listening.

June 1-8 - Register

There Is Nothing Wrong with You (a Monastery retreat)
This is the challenging, joyous, fulfilling, courageous, demanding, loving, kind, and compassionate work of freeing oneself from the ravages of conditioning and self-hate. It is a great first retreat, a prerequisite to many of our other retreats, and well worth repeating--often.

July 13-20 - Canceled     August 3-10     September 11-18

What You Practice Is What You Have (a Monastery retreat)
"The quality of your life is determined by the focus of your attention." This retreat reveals the how of that practice maxim and provides many tools to enable us to have the life our heart desires. It's like no other retreat we've offered. Let go all your assumptions about "Zen Retreats" before you sign up for this one. This is an advanced retreat and requires a deep grounding in Zen awareness practice, as well as a committed recording and listening practice. A "There is Nothing Wrong with You" retreat or a "Not What, But How" retreat, plus at least one email class with Cheri on Recording and Listening, are prerequisites for attending this retreat.

September 21-28

Rest and Be Thankful (a Monastery retreat)
It is often difficult to find time to rest as we go about our busy lives. Give yourself an opportunity to let go and rest in the tranquil silence of the Zen Monastery. A weekend of peaceful ease awaits you. There will be time for relaxation, meditation, and group discussions. Let yourself receive with a thankful heart all that tends to get overlooked in our fast-paced lives. Arrive Friday and depart Sunday afternoon.

July 5-7 - Register     August 30 - September 1     October 25-27

Not What, But How (a Monastery retreat)
The Buddha taught that suffering exists and explained how it works. The attention on "how" is a unique aspect of this practice. Seeing how suffering works, the process, is key to understanding how to end suffering. The new, exciting, revised curriculum of this retreat introduces us to those tools that assist in looking at the ways we cause ourselves to suffer. Based on the five processes that form the foundation of this practice—beliefs and assumptions, sub-personalities, projection, disidentification, and centering—the retreat will be an inspiration to newcomers and old-timers alike.

August 17-24 - Register

Be the Person You Want to Find (a Monastery retreat)
Be the person you want to find. Based on the book by the same title, this 5-day retreat facilitates an exploration to the challenges of connection, love and authentic relationships.

May 22-26 - Register

How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything (a Monastery retreat)
We are conditioned to believe that waking up and ending suffering is a long, hard process. Not true! If we examine how we do anything in life, we will learn what keeps us from choosing freedom. Join us for a retreat at the Monastery to explore how you do anything is how you do everything!

June 26-30 - Register

The Depression retreat
How we treat ourselves when we are depressed is more important than getting over depression. Based on the popular, "The Depression Book," this retreat provides a compassionate and supportive environment in which to explore depression.

July 24-28 - Register

Precepts Retreat (a Monastery retreat)
The rosary and the key are symbols worn by those who have made a commitment to live by the Precepts of this practice. What are Precepts? What do they represent? Why do we commit to them? How do we know we are ready to deepen our commitment to practice and take this next step? This retreat is an assisted exploration of the Precepts, culminating in the sacred Precepts ceremony. It is possible to attend the retreat without attending the ceremonies. Please email the registration office if you are interested in taking Precepts this year.

October 12-19

I Don't Want To, I Don't Feel Like It: Transcending Resistance
A new retreat with Cheri and Ashwini on what stops us from having the life we want to have. It is based on their new book, I Don’t Want To, I Don’t Feel Like It: How Resistance Controls Your Life And What To Do About It.

    •  September 4-8 – East Coast

2013 New Year's Retreat in San Rafael, California
There's an adage that states, "How you end one year is how you will spend the next." As Sangha we want to spend each moment practicing conscious, compassionate awareness. Welcome in a new year of practice with Sangha in the beautiful surroundings of the Santa Sabina retreat center.

December 27 - January 1

Reflective Listening Buddies Program
This program offers the opportunity to connect with a participant in another part of the country (or another country) weekly for 30 minutes of practice support.

July 15     October 15

Email Classes
Email classes are a perfect opportunity to deeply explore an aspect of practice. Assignments on the topic of the class are emailed twice weekly. You then work on the exercises, send in what you see, and receive guidance. Exchanges are posted anonymously so all participants can benefit from what Sangha is seeing and the Guide is offering in response.

    •  July 16 - Aug. 13, 2013 - Register  "The Enneagram: How the types resist and embrace
       practice"
    •  October 25 - November 19, 2013 - Topic to be announced

At-Home Retreats
These retreats offer a full day of teleconferenced, at-home practice. Each retreat includes group discussions and exercises on a special focus for the day, such as relationships, working, art, mentoring, and more!

November 16     December 14

Guidance Days for Monthly Donors
Guidance Day offers an opportunity for Monthly Donors who contribute $45 or more a month to schedule a phone guidance session with a monk or senior practitioner. For more information about our Monthly Donor program, please visit: http://www.livingcompassion.org/monthly-donor-program.

November 9     December 7

	Mark Your Calendar!