Friday, August 23rd to Sunday August 25th
In this silent retreat we will take a deep dive into the true nature of reality, emptiness, based on the eighth verse of the much-loved text, Eight Verses of Training the Mind. This remarkable text, composed by Bodhisattva Langri Tangpa, an eleventh-century Buddhist Master from Tibet, reveals the essence of the path to enlightenment in eight verses. It shows how we can transform our mind from its present confused and self-centred state into the perfect wisdom and compassion of a Buddha.
At last year’s Island Retreat we meditated on the first seven verses; this year we will focus on the eighth verse, and in particular, we will explore the emptiness of phenomena which is explained here in a unique and very special way.
There are eight phenomena (production, disintegration, impermanence, permanence, going, coming, singularity and plurality) that we think about in a mistaken, or extreme, way: we believe them to be inherently existent. Our minds that grasp at these eight extremes are different aspects of our self-grasping ignorance.
Gen Delek and Gen Sanden will bring out the practicality and relevance of this subject to our daily happiness. We will understand how our self-grasping ignorance causes us to experience endless suffering and problems, and how to cease this ignorance permanently by meditating on the emptiness of all phenomena. Thus we cease our suffering permanently and accomplish the real meaning of our human life.
Furthermore, through all the above practices,
Together with a mind undefiled by stains of conceptions of the eight extremes
And that sees all phenomena as illusory,
May I and all living beings be released from the bondage of mistaken appearance and conception.- Verse 8 from Eight Verses of Training the Mind
Retreat Schedule
Friday, August 23rd
From 5:00pm Registration
6:00 - 7:00pm Supper
7:30 - 8:45pm Session 1
Saturday , August 24th
7:30 - 8:30am Breakfast
9:00 - 10:15am Session 2
10:15 - 11:00am Break
11:00 - 12:15pm Session 3
12:30 - 1:30pm Lunch
4:30 - 5:45pm Session 4
6:00pm Supper
7:30 - 8:45pm Session 5
Sunday, August 25th
7:00 - 8:00am Breakfast
8:30 - 9:45am Session 6
9:45 - 10:15am Break
10:15 - 11:15pm Session 7
11:15 - noon Clear up!
Fees & Registration
Only a few spots still available - Book now!
Shared Accommodation (2 Twin Beds): MEMBERS $350/person | NON-MEMBERS $465/person
Shared Accommodation (1 Queen Bed): MEMBERS $350/person | NON-MEMBERS $465/person
Single Occupancy (1 Twin Bed): MEMBERS $535/person | NON-MEMBERS $620/person
About the Teachers
Gen Kelsang Delek, the Resident Teacher of KMC Vancouver, is teaching these classes in May. She is a senior Teacher in the New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU). She has been a Kadampa Buddhist nun and Teacher under the guidance of her Spiritual Guide, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, for almost 30 years and has been the Resident Teacher at Kadampa Centres in Canada, Japan and the UK.
Gen Kelsang Sanden is a Canadian Buddhist monk, and the second Resident Teacher of Kadampa Meditation Centre Vancouver. He has been a long time student of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, the founder of the New Kadampa Tradition. He is well loved for his compassion, sense of humour and the clarity of his teachings.