Spring Dathün – Intensive Meditation Retreat
Intensive Month of Meditation. A unique and transformative experience open to all. Dive into a month of intensive group meditation and discover your own wisdom. Taught in English. Translation upon request.
The birth of wisdom is a process of first understanding something theoretically, next exploring it in our direct experience, and finally, manifesting it in our whole being. A month-long meditation intensive perfectly allows for this process of touching our own wisdom. Sit our Spring Dathün and open yourself up to this profoundly transformative experience.
Meditation is the kindest gift we can give to ourselves. Like taking a great medicine, mindfulness and awareness practices can unblock obstacles like self-criticism, unworthiness and shame. We liberate our inherent dignity and sanity from behind such clouds and illuminate more clearly our path in life.
Classical teachings on meditation list ‘Four Foundations of Mindfulness’: Body, Feelings, Mind and Dharma. Thoroughly investigated and practiced, these instructions work like a map to the landscape of human experience, pointing out the illusion of self and how to balance being with ourselves, alone, and being in communication with the world. This balance is encapsulated by the ‘Touch and Go’ approach to meditation.
Practicing meditation in a thorough way over such a sustained length of time during a Dathün allows us to develop clear seeing and gentleness as the pace for our journey through life, and to use our own authentic heart as a compass.
Practice Sessions Include:
Mindfulness and awareness practices
Sitting and walking meditation
Individual meditation instruction
Talks by senior teachers
Body exercise
Study periods
Silence practice
Experiential exercises
Oryoki Mindful eating practice
For beginners as well as advanced practitioners, this programme will provide a powerful experience, regardless of age or stage in life.
Participants are encouraged to attend the entire Dathün. Those who are able to attend only two or three weeks are welcome to do so. Find registration for first two weeks here and registration for second two weeks here.
Sample Schedule
Each day follows a traditional schedule, incorporating the elements listed above:
7:00am Early Morning Practice Session with body exercises
8:00am Oryoki* Breakfast
9:00am Morning Practice Session
12:30pm Oryoki* Lunch
2:00pm Rota Period
3:00pm Afternoon Practice Session
4:30pm Tea Break
5:00pm Late Afternoon Practice Session
6:45pm Oryoki* Dinner
8:00pm Evening Practice Session
9:00pm End of Day
* Oryoki (meaning “just enough” in Japanese) synchronises mind and body by bringing mindfulness to how we eat. Eating oryoki-style, in a prescribed manner and sequence, follows a tradition that began in Zen Buddhist monasteries and has been practiced with Dathüns in the Shambhala tradition since their creation by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Practical information
Arrival day (Saturday 2 March): Intro talk at 8 pm. You’re invited to come from 4 pm in order to register and settle in your room. Dinner is served at 6.45 pm.
End of programme (30 March): Closing circle and Banquet in the evening.
Departure day (Sunday 31 March): You may leave anytime (no programme). You’re welcome to stay for lunch.
This programme is taught in English. Free translation into French or other languages needs to be confirmed. Important: translation services are possible only if you register your request at least two months in advance of the programme.
