AWAKENING - Dharmagiri

AWAKENING for our times “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” - Einstein We live in fragmented and challenging times on the cusp of revolutionary transformation or possible annihilation due to our collective ecocide. The times demand radical reflection and informed action. This training is designed to help us rewire ourselves so as to reconnect and reclaim the fullness of humanity. This involves touching our rootedness in the Ground of Being from which all other dimensions of our collective and personal lives unfold and act. In order to catalyze the transformations needed we will be drawing from ancient wisdom teachings, mindfulness practice, shamanic transformative process, psychotherapy, and depth ecology. The training consists of 3 modules led by 3 experienced facilitators. Venue: The Abbey, Glastonbury Somerset, UK Dates: April 1 – 5, 2014 July 24 – 28, 2014 November 5 – 10, 2014 Cost: £1,875

To book & more information: [email protected]

Core Faculty Thanissara is originally from London. She spent 12 years as a Buddhist nun in the Forest School of Ajahn Chah Thanissara has taught meditation retreats internationally the last 25 years and has an MA in Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy Practice from the Karuna Institute in the UK. Thanissara is co-facilitator of the Community Dharma Leader Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Centre CA, USA and has worked in South Africa as a meditation teacher the last 20 years where she also initiated and supports AIDS Outreach Projects. She is a guiding teacher of Dharmagiri and is developing Sacred Earth Society which is an inter-faith initiative exploring ways to respond to climate change. Ian Rees is a psycho-spiritual psychotherapist practicing in Glastonbury Somerset UK. He has been a therapist

for 20 years and spent 10 before that working in Probation Work and Social Work at all levels from Field Worker, Manager to Education Advisor for Mental Health at national level. He is an experienced trainer and taught at the Karuna Institute in Devon from 1999 to 2009; he designed and ran their MA programmes as well as being central to the teaching team. Since 2009 he has concentrated on developing the Annwn Foundation workshops which draw on Celtic Shamanic tradition and the Qabalah and presents this material in the UK and Israel. Ian is a guiding teacher of Dharmagiri.

Kittisaro is from Tennessee USA, graduated from Princeton as a Rhodes Scholar and went on to Oxford before going to Thailand to ordain with Ajahn Chah in 1976. He was a Buddhist monk for 15 years and during that time helped develop Chithurst Monastery and the Devon Vihara in the UK. He teaches internationally in the States, Europe, South Africa, and Israel. He has studied and practiced Chan and Pure Land Buddhism for 35 years informed by the Chinese school of Master Hua. Kittisaro has completed two year long silent self retreats and teaches in-depth meditation retreats at Dharmagiri. He has initiated and supports a number of Outreach projects focusing on alleviating the impact of AIDS in South Africa. Kittisaro is a guiding teacher of Dharmagiri Hermitage and Chattanooga Insight.

OVERVIEW OF TRAINING While this training draws from many traditional and contemporary sources, its fundamental template is the ancient map of consciousness from the Buddhist tradition. This will be considered alongside maps and models such as the Qabalistic Tree of Life and the Celtic Cross/Wheel. The intention of the training is to prepare for an increasingly intensified local and global context due to climate change and its underlying causes of over reliance on fossil fuel and our addiction to dysfunctional patterns of living that undermine a sustainable world. While this training encourages a working knowledge of our current global situation, its primary focus addresses a radical transformation of consciousness. When awareness is cultivated, we see and feel clearly that the world we live in is not a lifeless object out there to exploit. Instead direct knowing of the intimate and non dual nature of all things informs every aspect of our personal and collective lives. This shift of perspective best equips us for optimum and dynamic response by enabling the compassion and clarity needed to explore ways of challenging the depth of insanity found in corporate and political realms that prefer power and money over sustainability and social equity. To better inform ourselves, an aspect of the training will also encourage investigation of the issues underlying climate change alongside realizable solutions. Ultimately this training offers a collective journey into the reality of our current context, with its shadows and potentialities, and aims to seed shifts of consciousness which ripple out into shared, empowered and engaged skilful responses within the world. MODULE ONE: APRIL 1– 5 Establishing the Ground; Creating Sanctuary & Entering the Journey Refuge, Unifying Body, Heart & Mind, Protecting Heart & Mind. Metaphors for the journey of transformation X Deepening and expanding refuge using this three-fold template: • Buddha (Christ) Teacher/ aligning to the Deep Mother/ Gaia and touching the ground. • Dharma (The Unnamable, God) Awakening teachings & inner guidance. Listening to the speaking world. • Sangha (Holy Spirit) Power of practice. Field of relationship &world as sangha. Communing with the Ancestors. X Establishing ground in presence and clarity: The healing, mystery and magic of focused and applied awareness. X Shamanic Consciousness: Entering the otherworld, finding and working with the Totem companion and guide/s. X The living world: Maintaining relationship with the field of all beings. X Keeping Faith with the Ancestors. X Use of mantra as source of protection and alignment with spiritual power.

MODULE TWO: JULY 24 – 28 Entering the Intimacy of All Things Wisdom – Mother of the Buddhas; A Non Dual World X The heart of transformation – an intimacy with all things, drawing from the Heart Sutra, the Gospel of St. John and the Book of Nature. X Living from the non dual or the place of “becoming feminine.” X Laying the ground for relationship within depth spirit: Connecting with earth & the enlightened archetypal dimension. X Use of ceremony, mantra and ritual. Shadow work relating to gods and demons. Transforming fear & denial. X Exploration of feeling nature: The felt-sense as sphere of unresolved trauma; as conduit for connection, creativity and intuitive process and as ground for equanimity. X Rewiring our brain – mindful and grounded embodiment X How do we wish to engage: What is our unique call to response in these times?

MODULE THREE: NOV 5 – 10 Dreaming a New World into Reality Aligning with the Bodhisattva Idea; the Saint; the Master, the Shaman - the hollow bone that conducts the blessing X Exploration of the Bodhisattva practice. X Gestures of the awakened mind as modeled by Kuan Yin. Parallels in other traditions: the Last Supper; & the Feast of the Cauldron. X Depth exploration of prayer and healing in Buddhist, Judeo/Christian and Celtic traditions. X Living ethics: Personal & collective ethics, social justice, living in a diverse world. Ethical activism: The pathology of power & wholesome use of power X Looking at positive innovation where leading edge change-emergence is happening: New energy, exploring activism & change organizations. X Models of courage, resistance, clarity and effective communication. X Finding your own narrative and allies for the work. X Creating a personal framework which maintains the field of blessing and well being in a fast changing world.

VENUE: THE ABBEY HOUSE – GLASTONBURY, SOMERSET, UK. Our venue is set in the heart of old Avalon, current day Glastonbury, in Somerset, South West England. Avalon is a place of great mythic importance in both pre Christian and Christian legend and tradition. It is associated with King Arthur and Guinevere and the training place of those affiliated with the energy of the Priestess and Goddess. It is said to be visited by Joseph of Arimathea who planted the Holy Thorn Tree, and who brought Jesus as young boy to this “green and pleasant land.” It is the place of the ancient feminine whose healing waters flow from the Chalice Well and the domain of the mythic Tor whose energies focalize the Heart Chakra of the planet. It is the Isle of Apples of the Celts and to this day a place of pilgrimage, vision and healing. We are delighted to launch this work in the holy lands of Avalon and within the grounds of the old Abbey where our venue, Abbey House, is placed.

  If you would like to attend this training, or if you have any further questions, please contact us at: [email protected]. Once you have registered your interest, we will ask if you wish to confirm your place. If so, you will need to make an initial deposit of £625. The additional payment of £1,250 needs to be made before the course begins. However it is also possible to make an arrangement with us if it is easier for you to stagger your payment over a longer period of time.