Nature is a teacher. But can humanity learn enough to help us through these difficult times? Just how are we to understand and integrate nature’s teachings? Exploring ecoDharma is a winter retreat of practice woven into the web of ecology as it manifests in the land, in our own consciousness, and within community.
The retreat will connect us with the inner and interpersonal resources which can help us respond to the cries of the world with courageous compassion. Through these weeks of practice and study we will search for the power to overcome the alienation and exploitation which so characterise the current social and ecological crises. We will discover the deeper perspectives that can help us to act creatively and authentically. We will discover how the unfoldment of our own nature is rooted in the unfoldment of the world.
Exploring ecoDharma brings the methods and insights of the Buddhist tradition into association with emerging ecological perspectives. Together they offer means to counter the destructive tendencies of industrial growth society, and sources for the renewal ways of living that support a life affirming future.
This retreat will model a truly holistic practice. Grounded intimately in the elemental and wild landscape of the Serra de Carreau, our daily life will be simple, nourishing and connected. We will root ourselves in the practice of meditation and the insights stemming from it. We will use study, dialogue, and workshops which engage our emotional, visceral and creative energies. The event will pass through the stages of study, into deepening reflection & meditation, and finally explore how we will carry our learning into the world. The programme will be punctuated by a number of solo days in silence amidst the wild.
EcoDharma is all about connection. The way we treat the environment, the way we treat other species, and the way we treat each other – are all interlinked. We will explore how to apply this understanding to our personal and collective ethics. We will explore how to move from ways of living based on domination and control to those based on co-operation and partnership. We will explore how to leave behind isolating assumptions about ourselves and nature, and embarce life affirming connections in community with others and the living earth.
Places are limited.
• To discover how to recognise and learn from the truth-teachings nature has to offer us; allowing these to help us open to deepening insights into the nature of reality.
• To intensify our meditation practice and become more integrated with our deepest nature.
• To gain wisdom from our experience of ecological consciousness, realising its implications for our own lives in terms of personal and collective ethics.
• To feel ourselves deeply embedded in nature, so as to draw nourishment, strength and understanding from it.
• To equip ourselves spiritually and practically as actors in the world; to find our power as part of a growing movement of people acting out of courageous compassion; and connect with each other as collaborators in creative engagement with our times.
• To live simply and sustainably amidst the wild natural ecology of the Serra de Carreau in a way that helps us enter into an intimate dialogue with the non-human world.
• To explore the ecology of community, learning the lessons of the ecological world in terms of social systems and community, modelling these during the event.
• To learn to relate to nature in non-dualistic terms, healing the alienation of our industrial growth society: from nature, from each other, from the wild!
• To use holistic learning methods to engage the whole self and the emergent qualities of community.
Guhyapati is the founder of the ecodharma project. Living in the wilds for the last decade his background includes radical activism, mountaineering and committed Buddhist scholarship and practice.
Maitrisara is the secretary of the Network of Engaged Buddhists. Her background is in community organising, learning and engagement working mostly with charities and community organisations. As a highly experienced facilitator, she is fascinated by ways of creating positive learning communities.
Shantiprabha has over 30 years experience of Buddhism and meditation. He brings unique experience of inter-personal and communication skills such as reconciliatory justice and conflict mediation practices derived from his work in prisons and social justice programs.
Suggested contribution €500 (euros) in the dana economy