In this retreat we will look at the teachings of the Faith Mind Poem and take up the practice of no preferences. To allow anything to appear whether it be strange, awkward, sexual, dark, chaotic, or beautiful. All of it is free to come and go unfettered, carrying with them the full range of thought and feeling. Through this process we may just find where […]

While practicing basic aesthetics and techniques of brushwork, we will notice... Step by step, we will find ways to foster the joy and serene excitement that can be applied to everyday life. Using a variety of papers and brushes, we will experiment with artistic interpretation […]

Being the Bowl is the profound study of staying unconditionally with one thing. How can we return, again and again, to just this one thing through the cascade of our ever-changing moods and emotions? How can we meet ourselves freshly each moment? How can we challenge ourselves to respond spontaneously, allowing ourselves to hear, feel, […]

We are the first humans to live with the knowledge that our planet is not immortal. How can art address that? What is our responsibility as poets? In this workshop we’ll explore the place where language comes up against this undeniable new fact of life. A mix of exercises and discussion, the workshop will focus on how we can use the act of writing not only for powerful expression, but also to open ourselves to perceptions that surprise us into deeper understanding.   We will work directly with selected “objects” from the natural world, using each as a focus of interdependence and the understanding that no one thing exists by itself. I like to think that we are re-weaving the web of relations, gazing into Indra’s net, jewel by jewel. Please don’t let financial issues prevent you from attending a program at the Monastery. If you can’t afford the program fee, there are options. 

Through retreat, meditation, dialogue, sharing and personal storytelling, journaling and ritual, we will together unpack how patriarchy has shaped our expressions of masculinity and the self more generally. We will take up a dharmic lens to examine our relationship to violence and domination, power, femininity, love and sexuality along a path to unveiling and honoring […]