Mantras of Awareness (Hybrid Retreat)

Join visiting teacher Paul Weiss to explore the Mantras of Awareness, a system of practical phrases that can orient and support the mind in meditation and everyday life. Through meditation, dyad communication, and qigong movement, this retreat offers a direct and experiential way to deepen our practice and discover the awakening potential of these simple phrases.

The term “mantra” translates as “a technique to correct the mind; that is, to instruct and maintain it on a successful path of practice.” The Mantras of Awareness are not traditional mantras of seed syllables or esoteric meanings. They are mantric inasmuch as they are meant to be immediately and directly employed and integrated by the mind to help keep it aligned with our dharma practice.

Please join us to:

• Learn practical phrases—Mantras of Awareness—to orient the mind throughout meditation and everyday life.
• Work with the Mantras of Awareness as memorable tools for accessing the deeper dharma teachings contained within them.
• Experience dyad communication as a way of bringing these phrases into relationship and discovering their potential for shared awakening.
• Explore simple gestures—Mudras of Awareness—through qigong movement and posture as embodied expressions of fundamental states of being.

The Mantras of Awareness are a complete system of short instructive phrases, tested by Paul and his students over the last twenty years, that can support every dimension of our practice. They offer moment-to-moment support, correction, or orientation when integrated into our meditation practice. And they are also essential inspiration and support for how we practice in everyday life. The mantras speak to us at different levels, as needed. A mantra such as “Relax and Stay in Relationship,” for example, offers a several-point instruction that can lift the mind out of a confused moment in our meditation, or in our everyday affairs with others. While a mantra like “Just This,” when exercised consciously, can also help us bypass the mind’s tug and remain fully present to the moment’s practice; or it may point us to the primordial ground of ineffable being!

In this retreat we will explore and employ the whole system of mantras, examining their flexible applications in practice, as well as the wider dimension of dharma teaching inherent in each one. We will also introduce a potent dyad communication process as a key part of our practice together. Integrating meditation on the mantras with partner communication has been found to deepen their awakening power.

Finally, we will balance our sitting meditation with qigong movement practices. On this occasion we will reflect especially on the Mudras of Awareness—meditative movements, postures, and gestures that embody and awaken fundamental states of being.

All are welcome, regardless of experience or physical ability.

This Hybrid retreat is offered in person at Wonderwell (Residential option) and Live via Zoom (Online option). To Register, please choose one of the options in the YELLOW panel.

Typical Retreat Schedule

(All times are Eastern time zone)

First Day — Hybrid evening session begins around 7:00 pm.

Full-Day Schedule — Morning meditation 7:00 am; Breakfast break 8:00-9:30 am; Lunch break 12:00-2:00 pm; Dinner break 5:30-7:00 pm.

Last Day — The closing session typically ends by 12:00 pm.

Natural Dharma Fellowship Full Calendar