Annual Summer Meditation Intensive—July 2018
With Lama Willa Blythe Baker, Lama Liz Monson, Lama Karma Chotso, Brendan Kennedy, Camille Hykes, Kathe McKenna and Lama David Miller
July 1 - 31, 2018
Attendance dates for the Summer Meditation Intensive have changed – we are now asking participants to register and attend a week at a time, in full. Each separate week is a retreat within the Month-Long Meditative Container. If you would like to attend more than one consecutive week, please register for both weeks and you can experience a continuous retreat.
Week 1
July 1-6: Resilience Through the Life Story of the Buddha (this week has been cancelled)
Week 2
July 7-13: Heart Cultivation: Slogan Practice and Tonglen
**Registration is now closed**
Live-Streaming registration is now closed
Lama Willa, Lopon Liz, & Camille Hykes:
The second week of the July month-long Practice Intensive will focus on the teachings and practices of Heart Cultivation (Lojong). Heart Cultivation, a lineage that derives from the teachings of Atisha, emphasizes that every moment of our lives can be practice. We will explore how difficult states and obstacles are especially welcome opportunities for transformation. Textual study sessions will focus on Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Bodhicaryavatara) and Jamgon Kongtrul’s The Great Path of Awakening. Retreatants are requested to purchase and bring these books with them. A practice interview with Lama Willa or Lopon Liz is guaranteed. Interviews are scheduled at time of check-in, not before.
Week 2 Special Event (open to the public!): July 8, 4-5pm Bodhisattva Vow Ceremony
Week 2 Program Curriculum & Schedule questions: elizabeth@naturaldharma.org
Week 3
July 14-21: Vajrayana as a Path of Compassion
**Registration is now closed**
Lopon Liz, Lama Willa, Kathe McKenna, Lama Karma Chotso, Brendan Kennedy
How is Vajrayana Buddhism a path of compassion? In this week-long intensive, we will explore different dimensions of the vibrant tradition of the Vajrayana as a path of compassion, the branch of Buddhism extending from the Himalayan Regions of South Asia. We will explore some of the Vajrayana’s key features, such as:
- Reverence, as a stance of profound appreciation and willingness to be transformed by the power of sacred view, meditation, and action.
- Generating wholesomeness, the practices of arising, dissolving, and resting in our own inherent nature.
- Outer, inner, secret, and innermost secret retreat. How to create the conditions for engaging in sacred world, whether we are practicing being in retreat with a group, alone, or in our daily lives.
- How the Vajrayana cultivates relationship and the interpersonal through connecting with the lineage.
- Some teachings & study of Creation and Completion.
A practice interview with Lama Willa or Lopon Liz is guaranteed. Interviews are scheduled at time of check-in, not before.
Week 3 Special Event (open to the public!): July 15, 4-6pm Vajrasattva Empowerment and Transmission
Week 3 Program Curriculum & Schedule questions: elizabeth@naturaldharma.org
July 24-31: Restricted to Vajrayana Level III students
Registration is available directly from the Program page. **Registration is now closed**
Week 4 Special Event (open to the public!): July 31, 10-11am Fire Puja
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Daily Practice Schedule:
6:30-7:00 Sunrise Meditation
7:00-7:30 Breakfast
8:30-10:00 Yoga or Movement Practice
10:20-11:10 Dharma Teaching
11:30-12:15 Meditation Practice (guided)
12:15-3:00 Lunch and Mid-day Break
3:00-3:45 Meditation Practice (silent)
4:00-5:30 Dharma Study Session (M,W,F: Teacher-guided, all other days: Self-guided)
5:45-6:30 Meditation Practice (guided)
6:30-8:00 Dinner and Break
8:00-8:45 Evening Meditation (silent)
About the Teachers
Lama Willa Blythe Baker
Lama Willa Blythe Baker, Ph.D. is the Founder of Natural Dharma Fellowship in Boston, MA and its retreat center Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. She was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after twelve years of monastic training and two consecutive three-year retreats. She also […]
Learn more about Lama Willa Blythe BakerLama Liz Monson
Lama, Managing Teacher, Spiritual Co-Director Elizabeth Monson, PhD, is the Spiritual Co-Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship and the Managing Teacher at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. Liz was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after over 30 years of studying, practicing, and teaching Tibetan Buddhism […]
Learn more about Lama Liz MonsonLama Karma Chotso
Lama Karma Chötso began her study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism in 1982 when the fully enlightened master Kalu Rinpoche bestowed the Kalachakra Empowerment in New York City. She was fortunate enough to continue to take teachings and empowerments from Kalu Rinpoche, who ordained her as a novice Buddhist nun in 1986 prior to her entering […]
Learn more about Lama Karma ChotsoBrendan Kennedy
Brendan Kennedy has been practicing Tibetan Buddhism for over 30 years. His main teachers are: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dilgo Khyentse Rimpoche, Chatral Rimpoche, Sokste Rimpoche and Lama Surya Das. Drawing on his deep study of Ramana Maharishi and Nisagardatta Maharaji, Brendan illuminates the complementary similarities between Dzogchen and Advaita Vedanta through experiential teaching. Brendan […]
Learn more about Brendan KennedyCamille Hykes
Camille is a Dharma Teacher with Natural Dharma Fellowship. She is the Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship’s Margha Program, which offers year-long training in natural meditation and practices of bodhicitta. Teachers and sources of inspiration for Camille Hykes include Nyoshul Khenpo, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Robert and Rachel Olds, Lama Willa Blythe Baker, Charles Genoud, Anam […]
Learn more about Camille HykesKathe McKenna
Kathe McKenna currently serves as President of Natural Dharma Fellowship’s Board of Directors. She is deeply engaged in shepherding this unique, collaborative Buddhist dharma vessel. She helped launch the feisty, multi-faceted human service provider, Haley House, and led it through 50 years of organic growth. Kathe’s roles as mother, wife, and grandmother have enriched her vision and sparked […]
Learn more about Kathe McKennaLama David Miller
Lama David Miller took refuge in 1999. In 2007, he completed 3 year retreat at Kagyu Thubten Choling Monastery in New York, earning the title of Lama. His teachings emphasize Vajrayana Buddhist practices applied to modern life and contemporary times. Along with this is a strong emphasis on the integration and application of dharma practice in […]
Learn more about Lama David MillerCategory : Meditation Retreat