We wanted to find a place that would be naturally conducive to cultivating awareness:

• Where people could find deep rest, reconnect with the world, their life, their body-putting worries and anxieties aside.
• A temporary monastery-a place where time can slow down, as we enter the safety and ease of the community that gathers here for retreats.
• Not an institution.
• A place where the land itself, and ancestors of the land, still have voice.
• A place where people could feel safe speaking their truth, knowing that they will be heard.

The teachings and practices of the Dharma support the development of clarity, vitality, engagement, joy, intimacy, and integrity, and above all the capacity to recognize that we are not separate from each other or the world.

• We wanted to create a space where we could find ways to embody and celebrate that development, free from affect; aware not only of the miracle of our lives, but also of the responsibility that arises in the face of injustice and oppression in all its forms. We wanted to find ways of teaching that take into account the exploitation, violence, and oppression in the World-not to create a merely social Dharma, but rather to express the understanding that to avoid the most difficult issues that face us is to miss the possibility of a truly integrated practice.

All the conditions and circumstances of our lives, individual as well as collective, are calls for us to Awaken!

• We wanted to find a place where we could develop Spiritual Practices that are grounded in ancient wisdom, but also spontaneous, and spacious; a place where we can remember that life is too serious for us to ever take it, or ourselves, too seriously. A place where we can remember that life is too miraculous for us to be solemn or gloomy.
  
• to live in our bodies, to trust the wisdom of our bodies, and the wisdom of the body of the Earth.
  
• to continue to create contexts of diversity, in all its forms: diversity of race, culture, genders, sexualities, gender identities, generations, ability . . .
  
• to continue to search for new ways to express our understanding of Buddhism, and Buddhist Teachings and Practices, as that understanding evolves. Buddhism is our first language, our 'native tongue'. That does not mean we are always fluent when we try to say new things, or to say known things in new ways. We will trust our clumsiness as we trust all things in life, including our desires, as things by which we can always learn more deeply. We will also continue to honor and deepen our understanding of, and our gratitude for, all the traditions that nourish and inform us.

We sit on the rough stucco of the gate at Manzanita Village in the starlight and marvel at the Milky Way,
and the outlines of the rolling hills,
no signs of human habitation or activity,

We wonder at our good fortune
at having found such a place as this-
so conducive for the deepening of our life in the world.

Those who think that Spirituality is different from Politics do not understand Spirituality; and those who think that Politics is different from Spirituality do not understand Politics. Gandhi

TOUCHING THE EARTH. A practice drawn from Thich Nhat Hanh's tradition. A series of contemplations in which we bow to touch the ground with our shins, palms, and forehead, in honor and gratitude for our Body, our Ancestors, the Religious tradition(s) of our birth, Friends, the Land we inhabit, our Enemies, adversaries, rivals, anyone for who we hold some animosity, and for the Dharma and all of our Teachers. Click here for a version of this practice

WALKING MEDITATION. "Not coming and not going."

Two Gathas for walking meditation:

1. I touch the earth
The Earth touches me
I heal the Earth
The Earth heals me
I am the the Earth
The Earth is me.

2. I walk in the steps of my ancestors
My ancestors walk in my footsteps
I walk with all being living on the Earth
All living beings walk with me
I walk with all future generations
All future beings walk with me.

INTERACTIVE EXERCISES. We have found that there are some specific interactive exercises that are helpful to balance, deepen, and give context to our practice. They are not intended to break the continuity of focused awareness, rather to help awareness become more resilient.

SAMU. There is always a period for kitchen prep., cleanup, gardening, and other tasks that are necessary for the running of the retreat and of Manzanita Village. We see this as part of practice, a useful element that helps us to connect with the community and the land.

SWEAT LODGE. In the past we have started longer retreats with an optional sweat lodge, run by neighbors from the Santa Ysabel Reservation, We hope that we will begin this practice again in the not too distant future.

COUNCIL. The practice of Council (deep listening, circle talk) has been an integral part of our retreats from the beginning. It is the practice of speaking and listening from the heart. Inspired by ancient, non-hierarchical, models of community and communication that go back, probably, to the earliest times of our species, when we first came into voice. It is a way of truth-telling, conflict resolution, and of simply being present with each other.

WHAT IS A DHARMA TALK?
When you really hear a Dharma talk, you also hear the Dharma talk given by the flowers on the altar, and the tree outside the door. Thich Nhat Hanh

THE ELM DANCE. A simple circle dance which we dance at the start of every day of retreats. Originating in the Baltic, used by the West German environmental movement in the 1980s, and coming to us in its present form from Joanna Macy when she returned from Novozybkov, a town close to Chernobyl, in 1992. It is a dance by which we ground ourselves in our intention to practice for the well being of all beings. We dance two rounds, once in silence; then in the second round we speak out the names, of people, places, species, watersheds, individuals, that may be in our hearts. By naming out loud we widen the circle of our awareness and we open to the grief and joy of living in these times, connected, not separate from the world.

Joanna Macy's Description of the Elm Dance

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CONCENTRATION AND AWARENESS. If we think of Concentration as pinpoint attention on a chosen object (such as the breath) we can understand Awareness to be concentration moving within the flow of the events of our life. As we cultivate the ability to sustain awareness in the course of everyday life, we gain insight into our unconscious tendencies and habits. We learn to see ourselves in new ways, with new options and choices.

CONTEXT. In order to meditate we need to prepare to prepare. 'Practice' is both meditation and the preparation for meditation. Each supports the other. Preparation is learning that change is possible. Meditation is effecting that change.

NON ATTACHMENT. The Buddha's teaching of causality and inter-dependence implies that we are all attached, interconnected in the web of life. There's no point in denying that connection. The problems we encounter, and the real essence of the Buddha's teaching, has to do with 'clinging', getting hung up on particular aspects of the web of life, often out of habit, unconsciously.

NO SELF. The Buddha's language was very specific. Anatman (anatta) denies the existence of a particular conception of 'self' (Atman) current within Yogic systems of thought. The word anatta is better translated as "no separate self." We can understand Sunyata , often translated as "emptiness", as "empty of separate elements." Our bodies are made up of stardust, ancestors, the food we eat, the things we have done. Our thoughts and inner experience are made up of ideas, conclusions, presumptions, memories and dreams. Nothing is entirely disconnected, everything is shared, everything has an interplay of causes and circumstances that make it possible.

BELIEF. Not entirely a religion, not a philosophy, nor a psychology, nor a moral code . . . all of those things . . . What the Buddha taught were practices. Buddhist teachings are best taken as models by which we might transform ourselves rather than descriptions of reality in any absolute way. The Four Noble Truths, for example, are truths in so far as we use them to uncover truth within ourselves-rather than being absolute statements on the nature of reality.

FAITH. That each one of us has resources and capacities by which we can learn and hold steady no matter what happens to us.

Trusting. Confidence.  Easing into the miracle of living.

WALKING BACKWARDS INTO SAMSARA. Not backwards exactly, but returning to what we thought we had left behind.
-Transcendence, not as departure from the world (in a space shuttle, perhaps?), but as having an bigger perspective so that we don't get so caught up in minutiae and anxiety.
-Dedicating the fruits of the work of practice to the well being of all living things because we see no separation between ourselves and them.

We dedicate our practice to the well-being of all living beings.

We understand that our practice bears fruit when we let it pass through us

as a gift dedicated to all of life. . . 

so that all being are free from exploitation and oppression,

animosity, injustice, fear, hunger, and greed. . .

so that we all come home to the basic ground of our being . . .

in love, compassion, serenity, and joy.

We commit ourselves to work for the happiness of all living beings.

May all beings be happy and safe. May we and all beings be liberated.

May we be happy. May all beings be free.

 

ANCESTORS. Remembering and honoring the countless generations that came before us. Blood ancestors, spiritual and cultural ancestors, those who once lived where we now live-land ancestors.
-Learning to know our ancestors as a living presence, inside us and around us.
-Recognizing the healing that takes place from that remembrance.

I walk upon the rich soil of many traditions, cultural and religious.
Michele Benzamin-Miki

I always wondered at the fact that I have been a 'Buddhist' teacher for twenty years, then I remembered that I am a poet and that poets can do anything. Our practice is to evoke the openness, the imaginative fluidity, the playfulness, the absence of dogmatic assertion, that characterizes the poetic sensibility.
Caitríona Reed

Sometime things appear to be different, even when they share a common origin,essence, and purpose.

Only dogmas are in fundamental disagreement with each other. Genuine spiritual practices have no argument.

When the present Dalai Lama first visited a Japanese-style zen-center, he laughed and exclaimed, "How wonderful that the Dharma can manifest in such different ways!"

The teachers at Manzanita Village have backgrounds in Zen Practice as well as the Theravada (Vipassana) tradition. Their appreciation of both, and their basic trust in the Dharma in all its forms, allows them to make use of the many approaches to practice that are offered in both the Zen and the Theravada traditions.

The word 'faith' implies confidence in a living process of transformation. It does not mean subscribing to a particular cultural form, or to a particular belief system; as though that form or belief represented a special expression of 'absolute' truth. There is no special, singular way; no separate chosen elite. Such constructs are the the stuff of cults and fundamentalism; based on primitive, separatist fear. Spiritual practice draws us into the human family. It does not pull us apart from it. Sectarianism invariably leads to violence and oppression, and is no substitute for genuine commitment to transformation, and a long-term practice that helps us realize that commitment.

At a time when so many different expressions of the dharma are available, it is certainly appropriate to skillfully use all teachings and practices that are beneficial to us. Our 'work' is to realize the truth of our life; and our capacity for awakening, and for helping other to do the same. This does not mean that we should casually shop around for whatever seems to appeal to us at any particular moment. It means that we can be renewed and inspired by various expressions of the Dharma, even though there may be dramatic cultural differences between them.

There are ten thousand 'Dharma doors'.
There are ten thousand paths leading to the ocean.

Vipassana

The word Vipassana is usually associated with the Theravada tradition as practiced in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. However, Vipassana is not limited to those cultures and is also found in other Buddhist traditions.

The essential elements of Vipassana are found in other sacred traditions and it has even been said that Vipassana, like Zen meditation, is a universal practice that does not necessarily have to be linked to a Buddhist world view.

The word Vipassana means both to 'look deeply' as well as 'to see clearly'. It is both active and passive. Open your eyes and you will see, and then keep on looking. Or perhaps, 'keep looking until you can really see'. Vipassana is sometimes also translated as insight—deeply learned insight into the basic interconnected nature of things — of everything! — all phenomena, people, plants, ideas, cities, tiny details, everything! — and that if you forget, and become invested in singular outcomes, in things having to always go your way, then you are liable to be uncomfortable, unhappy, distracted, and to make unskillful choices, which cause harm to yourself and others — this is the basic Buddhist teaching! .

The Buddha Accepts Nuns into the monastic community
from www.dhammaram.iirt.net

Vipassana meditation practices have evolved in large part from the Mahasatipatthana Sutta (The Longer Discourse on the Practice of Mindfulness) or (The Discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness) and other teachings given in the Pali Canon.

These teachings are instructions to systematically "observe of body in the body, feelings in feelings, objects of mind in objects of mind, and mind in mind." The wording specifically implies that these practices are for grounding ourselves in the reality of our experience. This is not a meditation practice for distancing ourselves from our experience, or for sedating ourselves.

Many translations and commentaries of the Mahasatipatthana Sutta are available. We recommend Thich Nhat Hahn's "Transformation and Healing." It is particularly useful as it compares three versions of the text; one from the Pali Cannon, another from the Sarvastavada Canon, and another from the Chinese Canon, and is at the same time accessible to beginners.

The teachings of the Theravada lineages handed down from generations of teachers, though sometimes different in style from each other, tend to be methodical and systematic. They support an approach to practice which is in many ways quite different from the approach of Zen.

Practicing for many years in both traditions we find that the two styles are entirely complimentary, each informing and supporting the other. We feel blessed to live at a time when diverse style and teachings are cross-pollinating each other once again, as they did in India two thousand years ago; and in China, Tibet, Korea, and elsewhere in more recent subsequent centuries.

Zen-Chan-Thien

The Japanese word Zen means meditation. The word is Chan in Chinese, Thien in Vietnamese, Son in Korean, The Sanskrit origin of these words is Dhyana—which means Meditation.

The meditation schools of East Asia trace their lineage back through the early Lin Chi schools to the great Bodhidharma, known as the First Ancestor, who is said to have arrived from India on the south coast of China around 475 C. E., bringing with him teachings largely influenced by the Yogacara and Vijññanavada schools of Indian Buddhism, based on the practice of instant, and instantly available, awakening

Variations of styles and practice are found in different cultures in East. Asia. Our practice draws particularly from our experience in the Thien lineage of Vietnamese Zen with our root teacher Thien (Zen) Master Thich Nhat Hahn, though we have had exposure to teachers in the Japanese and Korean traditions.

Bodhidharma. Yoshitoshi 1887

If you seek direct understanding, don't hold on to any appearance whatsoever, and you'll succeed. I have no other advice. The sutras say, "All appearances are illusions." They have no fixed existence, or constant form. They're impermanent. Don't cling to appearances and you'll be of one mind with the Buddha. The sutras say, "'That which is free of all form is the Buddha."

Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen. To know that the mind is empty is to see the Buddha. The Buddhas of the ten directions have no mind. To see no mind is to see the Buddha.  
from Red Pine's translation of Bodhidharma's Wake-up Sermon

A friend once visited a Zen Center to attend a retreat there.

He entered the tiny room where the teacher gave formal interviews. He bowed and sat on the cushion in front of the teacher. The teacher said, "Come closer."

In such rooms one is already sitting very close to the teacher. My friend edged closer."Come closer," said the teacher again.

Again my friend moved his cushion forward. His kneecaps were almost touching the teacher's. "Come closer," said the teacher. . . .

This is what our practice teaches us,
"come closer,"
"come right in,"
"you are not separate, and there is nothing to fear."

. . . . Or if there is something to fear, it is that we will shed the habits that confine us, which we image signify our freedom so long as we we are permitted to indulge them. Such habits constitute the illusion of freedom, because freedom is beyond habits or conditions. So some small part of ourselves is afraid that freedom will be a dull and featureless experience. In actuality it is an experience of the greatest possible intimacy, with ourselves, with others, with all things. "Come closer, come right in, home home!"

From www.joannamacy.net

Unblocking occurs when our pain for the world is not only intellectually validated, but experienced.
Cognitive information about the crises we face, or even about our psychological responses to them, is insufficient. We can only free ourselves from our fears of the pain--including the fear of getting permanently mired in despair or shattered by grief--when we allow ourselves to experience these feelings. Only then can we discover their fluid, dynamic character. Only then can they reveal on a visceral level our mutual belonging to the web of life.

When we reconnect with life, by willingly enduring our pain for it, the mind retrieves its natural clarity.
Not only do we experience our interconnectedness in the community of Earth, but also mental eagerness arises to match this experience with new paradigm thinking. Concepts which bring relatedness into focus become vivid. Significant learnings occur, for the individual system is reorganizing and reorienting, grounding itself in wider reaches of identity and self-interest.

The experience of reconnection with the Earth community arouses desire to act on its behalf.
As Earth's self-healing powers take hold within us, we feel called to participate in the Great Turning. For these self-healing powers to operate effectively, they must be trusted and acted on. The steps we take can be modest undertakings, but they should involve some risk to our mental comfort, lest we remain caught in old, "safe" limits. Courage is a great teacher and bringer of joy.

The Buddha encourages us to "Be a light unto yourself." At the same time he acknowledges that community (Sangha) and spiritual friendship (Kalyana Mitta) are essential in order to develop and deepen spiritual practice. We cannot work alone, nor is it necessary when there is such a wealth of collective spiritual experience to draw from.

A teacher encourages qualities that lead to self-sufficiency, maturity, and independence. The process is ongoing. There are times when we need regular contact with a teacher, and there are times when we need one-on-one guidance, spiritual counseling, or training.

Retreats, especially longer retreats provide the opportunity for both.

At other time Caitríona Reed and Michele Benzamin-Miki are available for private consultations.

"The gift of Dharma exceeds all gifts." The Dhammapada

Dana means giving, generosity, letting go, sharing what we have, know and are: these are vital aspects of spiritual practice.

Generosity ( Dana Paramita ) is first among the Six Paramitas (perfections) which constitute the practice of the Bodhisattva, which delivers us to the Other Shore of Enlightenment, Nirvana.

In Asia, the Buddhist community built the facilities and provided housing, food, clothes, medicine, transportation and educational materials for all who sincerely wished to practice Dharma, whether monastic or lay. For more than two millennia it has been considered extremely meritorious to support spiritual practitioners; many Buddhist families regularly tithed a portion of their income to the sangha members in their community. In the West, where Buddhadharma is still young, we have yet to reach this institutionalized level of development, gratitude and support.

The sublime Dharma cannot be measured in material value. There has never been a charge for the teachings. Yet there are, and always have been, costs involved in making teachings possible and teachers available. Traditionally, these have been covered by voluntary donations from those who value and participate in the teachings, and by their families and friends.

All the activities offered by Ordinary Dharma, Manzanita Village, and Tender Shoots of Joy, and its teachers are made possible because a number of dedicated people offer their services as teachers, organizers, cooks, managers, builders, fundraisers, etc.

All the fees for retreats pay for the actual expenses of the retreats and the travel expenses of teachers and staff; no fee whatsoever is charged for the teachings.

The teachers give enormously of their time, energy, experience, understanding and interest , without payment--and often without material security. However, unless teachers have the material support which allows them to live adequately in the modern world, they cannot continuously provide this valuable service. This includes all the expenses incurred by them while devoting themselves full time to Dharma work, including their room and board, clothes, dependents, medical bills, tools, and whatever is necessary to further continue their own spiritual study and practice, for the benefit of one and all.

There is no central church or organization behind the scenes, sending Buddhist teachers out to share the Dharma. Buddhist teachers traditionally teach only where invited. They depend for their livelihood on your generosity alone. Our ongoing efforts to provide opportunities to further develop wisdom and compassion through Buddhist meditation depend upon the goodwill and assistance of all the members of our sangha and friends.

Ordinary Dharma requests and needs your help in order to continue to fulfill its goals and objectives, in teaching the Dharma at Manzanita Village and elsewhere, and to support Manzanita Village as a sanctuary for Dharma Practitioners, and Social Activists drawing from the Dharma to sustain their work.

It is clear that many people attending retreats are unfamiliar with the traditional practice, the very concept, of "dana" (giving). Generosity reduces self-centered greed and covetousness, and cultivates loving-kindness and compassion; conscious generosity is actually not a sacrifice, but a great gift to our culture and entire society, our planet, to all of life, and to the giver him- or her-self. Few have clearly thought through its cause-and-effect nature: how one must let go, open, and empty oneself in order to be filled. It is said that one can receive as much as one can give; this is a basic spiritual truth. Through sharing we affirm our interbeing, the common ground of both the sublime Dharma and the noble Sangha, our community of kindred spirits.

All contributions are considered as offerings to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha; they are used solely for the purpose to which they are intended, and gratefully received and appreciated with the blessings, loving-kindness, and prayers.

Thank you very much.

May all being be happy,

Dana is the first of the six qualities known as The Paramitas, or The Perfections.

Dana is The Gift.
It is both giving and receiving.
It is abundance and scarcity.
It is responding effectively to what the world offers to you; as well as to what it asks of you.
It is recognizing that we start with nothing, that we knew nothing; that everything we now know, and will ever know, passes through us; through our eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skin, mind.
It is knowing that these are not boundaries; that they are themselves gifts, continually changing and adapting to circumstance.
It is gratitude and energy, confidence and a lightness that comes from knowing you are safe.
If you were to loose everything you would still be ahead.
Your connections mean that you have it all, always, forever.
The net of life is unbroken.

The practice of generosity allows you to support Manzanita Village and Ordinary Dharma, which in turn allows it to support you and others. Dana is not charity. It is not a tip. It is an opportunity to support something that works with integrity so that it can become your own.

You can help with your financial donation and regular membership dues, you can also help in many other ways, such as:

• Coming to retreats early to help clean and prepare.
• Many kind of maintenance work at Manzanita Village
• Different ways of promoting the work we do here
• Help with fundraising
• Transcribing tapes of Dharma talks
• Showing up and sustaining your own practice

It has been a tradition since the time of the Buddha that those who offer the teachings do not charge for their teaching. In Asia, where it is understood that the practice of generosity (Dana) forms the bedrock of a spiritual life, this tradition has evolved into a functional system.

Those who devote themselves to teaching are held in great respect and their communities take seriously the reciprocal responsibility for supporting the teacher and the teachings. It is understood that to support the teacher is to support oneself. The community assumes the responsibility of preparing food, constructing and maintaining shelter and providing the requisites of life for the teacher. This allows the teacher to devote him/herself to practice, study and to deepen his/her ability to share the Dharma.

As we introduce Buddhism to the West, teacher support is inevitably taking new forms. Unlike Asian monastics who take vows to never touch money. Western teachers participate directly in the cash economy and take care of their own needs, from food, shelter and clothing to medical care and ultimately their own needs in old age. Those who teach are often householders who support themselves, and sometimes a family with children, without the structure of a monastery or institution.

The exceptions to this are those Western monastics who have taken vows of poverty. They too, however, often struggle with inadequate financial support . At classes and retreats a "Dana basket" is provided to receive financial donations giving Sangha members the opportunity to support their teacher. This system of teacher support is radically different from that of most Western schools of training and personal growth where there is a fixed fee. This radical difference often goes unnoticed. The fact that there is no fixed fee guarantees that the teachings are available to persons of all economic levels. It also leaves each individual responsible for deciding what amount of support is appropriate.

Unfortunately, many Buddhist practitioners look upon Dana as a "tip" rather than an opportunity to practice generosity and provide significant financial support to their teacher. Many Christians follow a more generous practice of Dana. It is not uncommon for them to tithe 10% of gross income. At Dharma teachers' meetings the topic of Dana inevitably surfaces. Unless they have the good fortune of independent wealth, a spouse who supports them, fame and success in the marketplace with books and workshops, or a career (inevitably diminishing their teaching availability), teachers are subject to economic worries that distract them from teaching the Dharma.

To be a Dharma teacher requires a willingness to give deeply of oneself. When the community does not adequately take care of the financial needs of the teacher, it leaves too much of the responsibility of keeping the Dharma alive on the teacher's shoulders. It also shows that communities in the West do not adequately understand karma, interdependence and generosity.

Many westerners come to Buddhism with an unconscious belief that spirit and the everyday world are separate and that spirit is superior. Because the teachers' work is primarily in the spiritual realm this unexamined belief can lead to the mistaken notion that he/she should not be concerned with such mundane affairs as paying the bills incurred while living a reasonable western lifestyle. This places enormous idealized expectations on the teacher, and leaves the practitioner misunderstanding the intrinsic unity of spirit and daily life. People often ask for guidelines concerning Dana.

I suggest that they notice the fees charged for hatha yoga classes ($12-$20 per session) and residential workshops ($100/day in addition to room and board). While these reflections may be helpful, they do not provide a solution to the Dana dilemma. Perhaps we have something to learn from those teachers of Buddhism who set fees for classes or to belong to a center, charge for empowerments or have significant "suggested donation" amounts. "Fee for service" fits the conditioning of our Western minds. Can we find a balance between fees and the practice of generosity? This is one of the open questions as the Dharma comes to the West.

Robert Beatty is a psychotherapist, and Vipassana teacher, living in Portland, Oregon

We encourage you to give on a regular monthly basis to support the work we do, and the people who come, and will come in the future, to practice here.

Suggested membership is between $50 (minimum) and $150 a month, more if you are able. If you cannot support us financially then six days of work (60 hours) a year also qualifies you for membership and helps us with the upkeep of the center.

Membership gives you:

• 20% reduction of registration fee for retreats and workshops,
  or if you pay full registration amount you can upgrade to a private room (if available) at no extra cost.
• Interview/spiritual counseling with teacher/s — as available.
• Reduced rates for stays at Manzanita Village during non-retreat times.
• A means for you to practice Dana Paramita, the perfection of generosity, recognizing that all things are interconnected, and that there are time-honored models of mutual support beyond those presented within the dominant culture.

A suggested guideline for how much is appropriate for you to give as membership is to tally the equivalent of what you earn in an hour each week (e.g. if you earn $15 an hour, membership would be $60 a month.)

 

The following is taken from a personal reflection by a participant at the 2000 and 2001 winter retreats:

"What I loved about the Winter Retreat:
* The classical Buddhist forms of practice
* Wonderful mix of Classical Dharma and Engaged Dharma.
* The non-Buddhist Dharma practices that deepened mindfulness, insight, compassion, interconnectedness:

** Deep Ecology walks at the intersection point of chaparral forest and desert.
** Council practice with Talking Stick.
** The "Elm Dance", a simple yet deeply moving circle dance adapted in the aftermath of Chernobyl, allows us to embody the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, bearing witness to the suffering of the world, to the degree we are able.
** Many other practices. Some interactive, others contemplative; some of them improvised, some ancient.
** The diversity. Last year about 25 people participated in the retreat: 1/3 or more of them were People of Color, 1/3 or more were Queer (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgendered), differences of age, spiritual/religious background, physical abilities. I loved the easy blending of cultures, essences, sensibilities, energies. There was effortless "deep diversity" in a way that surpassed anything I'd previously experienced in a Buddhist, or Buddhist-inspired retreat.
It is not insignificant that each year on this retreat an altar is made to honor
Ramadan,
Hanukah,
Solstice,
Christmas,
Kwanzaa.
as well as the traditional Buddhist celebration of the quarter moon days

** The teachers are deeply seasoned in classical Buddhist practices, on the leading-edge of engaged spiritual practices, affirming of classical Buddhism and also appropriately critiquing of it (in the best spirit of the Buddha), deeply "real",

** How they wove various of their life-practices (poetry, martial arts, activism, etc.) into the retreat in ways that enriched the retreat experience and modeled "what's possible" in terms of bringing all of oneself into the service of the Dharma.

** The land. The chaparral forest, on desert's edge, beneath countless stars is itself a teacher."
Deep Peace,

Lawrence Ellis