Mantras of Awareness (Online)

This is the ONLINE component of the retreat. If you’d like to register for the RESIDENTIAL component, please click here.

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.

This online retreat offers an opportunity to deepen your practice from wherever you are, with the support of a shared field of practice and community. Daily teachings, meditation, qigong movement, and dyad communication provide opportunities to explore the Mantras of Awareness both individually and in relationship—with your fellow online retreatants as well as with those retreating at Wonderwell.

All are welcome, regardless of experience or physical ability.

Typical Retreat Schedule

(All times are Eastern time zone)

First Day — Opening 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.

These times are just for reference. An expanded schedule will be provided in pre-retreat information emailed during the week prior to the event.

Zoom Link

The Zoom link will be sent several days before the retreat to all those registered. If you register after that date, you’ll receive the link with your confirmation email shortly after submitting your registration. If you don’t see an email from Natural Dharma Registrar or Wonderwell Mountain Refuge, it may have mistakenly gone to your spam folder or to Promotions or Updates in Gmail.

Important: Please put these this email address in your Contact or Safe-Send list to make sure you receive our emails:

• register@naturaldharma.org

Program Cost

Our program fees provide essential support to our non-profit operations and NDF’s mission to spread the Dharma in accessible, relevant, and creative ways. Our goal is that no one misses out on our events due to lack of funds. Thanks to our generous donors, we are able to offer tiered pricing and additional support to fit varied financial situations: 

• May All Beings Benefit! *– supporting access for all and general support for NDF operations
• A Middle Way – covering the base cost
• Held in Sangha Loving-kindness – offering ease when financial resources are limiting

If the lowest cost tier creates an obstacle to your attendance, please see our financial support options on the registration page. The process is simple and does not require extensive information. Financial aid is immediately approved using discount code options that allow you to contribute the most you are able while honoring your particular resources.

* The difference between the May All Beings Benefit! tier and the Middle Way tier will be considered a tax-deductible donation and will be acknowledged as such in writing. Contributing at this level helps us offer financial aid to other participants. Thank you!!

Access to Recordings

NDF offers unlimited access to recordings, which are available in your user dashboard (more information about user accounts provided in pre-retreat materials). If you have a user account, please register with the same email you use to log into your dashboard. If not, an account will be created for you using your registration address.

Availability will vary depending on the type of event and the backlog for our precious resource volunteers. Thank you for your patience.

Natural Dharma Fellowship Full Calendar