Residential — Wild for Waking Up: A Retreat on Crazy Wisdom

Residential component of the hybrid retreat. For the online component, click here.

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“Every movement of the mind
Becomes bliss and emptiness;
All polarity disappears
When the mind emerges into nakedness.”

In these dark days, our world is facing the most tremendous challenges any of us have ever encountered. Warfare and unabated violence, violations of human rights and decency, the impending threat of even greater destruction, coupled with the breakdown of our ecosystems, biosphere, and the life-sustaining cycles of our planet have catapulted us into a realm of suffering and fear that is at the least, overwhelming and paralyzing, and at the worst, devastating to the very survival of the human race. What tools can we draw on? What ways of being, acting, and presencing can we access to allow us the resilience, force, and compassion to face forward into this time?

If this is a question that keeps you awake at night, this retreat is for you. Join Lama Liz and Matt as we dive into the phenomena of crazy wisdom as an expression of insight and action so powerful that it “opens the door of confidence,” “destroys the mountain of conceptualizations” and “radiates the intense heat of compassion” beyond all limiting thoughts and fears. Together, we will examine how our own innate “crazy wisdom” provides us with deep insight into the nature of reality, freeing us to dance in the charnel ground of our own grief, fear, and despair. By exploring the diverse manifestations of the “wildness” of our innate being, we discover that we do not have to be hemmed in by the dualistic frameworks we ordinarily inhabit for understanding self and other, and for acting effectively in the suffering world. Instead, we are free to access the innate kindness and powerful expressive love, the wildness of compassion unleashed, that is our birthright.

During this retreat, in addition to teachings on crazy wisdom, Lama Liz and Matt will transmit a the powerful practice of crazy wisdom known as the Sadhana of Mahamudra, a vividly poetic practice, discovered as a terma text by the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, that can catapult us beyond who we think we are, into a realm of fiercely compassionate action.

To prepare for this retreat, please consider acquiring and reading Lama Liz’s new book, Tales of a Mad Yogi: The Life and Wild Wisdom of Drukpa Kunley (Shambhala, 2021).

Here is a wonderful interview with Lama Liz Monson, speaking on “Understanding Crazy Wisdom in Vajrayana Buddhism” on the Noble Mind podcast platform. Lama Liz speaks about her motivation and process in writing this book and her understanding of how crazy wisdom can be useful in our own practice today.

This retreat includes the transmission for and in-depth instructions on the Sadhana of Mahamudra, a practice treasure text revealed at Takstang (Tiger’s Nest) in Bhutan by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche that focuses on the powerful form of Guru Dorje Trollo as the embodiment of crazy wisdom. This profound practice enacts the energy of crazy wisdom as a meditation designed to catapult the practitioner into the vastness and clarity of the mind’s essence, the true nature of things as they are.

SCHEDULE – All times are Eastern Time

Friday, April 1
3:00 – 5:00 pm            Check in
5:00 – 7:00 pm            Dinner Break
7:00 – 8:00 pm            Opening Session

Saturday, April 2 & Sunday, April 3
7:00 – 7:45 am             Morning Silent Meditation with Refuge
7:45  – 9:00 am            Breakfast and Morning Break
9:00 – 10:00 am           Teaching
10:15 – 11:15 am         Sadhana Practice
11:30 am – 12:15 pm   Small Group Session
12:15 – 2:30 pm           Lunch and Mid-Day Break
2:30 – 3:30  pm            Teaching
3:45 – 4:45 pm             Sadhana Practice
5:00 – 5:30 pm             Q&A
5:30 – 7:00 pm             Dinner Break
7:00 – 8:00 pm             Evening Session (flexible)

Monday, April 4
7:00 – 7:45 am             Morning Silent Meditation with Refuge
7:45 –10:00 am            Breakfast and Morning Break with time for packing
10:00 –11:00 am          Sadhana Practice
11:15 am – 12:00 pm   Closing Session

You must provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 on arrival at Wonderwell. Full vaccination does include a booster shot. We recommend that you take a photo of your vaccination card so that, if you forget to bring the card with you, the image will be on your phone.

Important information about 2022 retreats at Wonderwell: Information about pandemic safety protocols in place can be found on this page of our website. For details about Wonderwell itself, registration procedures, pricing, cancellation policy, and other FAQs, please use this link.

Wonderwell Mountain Refuge strives to offer retreats in a manner that is inclusive for persons of all means. If the full retreat cost would create an undue financial burden, we encourage you to apply for a scholarship. Please visit this page on our website learn more about financial aid. Depending on the type of work that you do, you may be eligible for a Hemera Contemplative Fellowship. Please click on this link for more information.

Cancellation Policy – Wonderwell charges a $75 cancellation fee for residential (onsite) retreat cancellations more than 4 weeks before the start of a retreat. Any cancellations between 4 weeks to 11 days prior to the program are charged a $150 cancellation fee. For any cancellations 10 or fewer days prior to the start date of the program, no refunds are offered. However, if you are feeling ill or have concerns about exposure to the COVID virus, please cancel your attendance at any Wonderwell retreat even at the last minute. In this case, we will provide a full refund of your payment.

USER ACCOUNTS & RESOURCES

The user account feature of our website provides a secure place where materials from your retreats can be posted and accessed. If you don’t have an account already, you’ll want to set one up as soon as you register.

• Paid resources – retreat recordings and other retreat materials – will only be available in the dashboard of your user account.
• If you haven’t already created an NDF user account, please visit our website to Create an account as soon as possible.
• User accounts are manually synced with the retreat 7–10 days after the retreat. Please be aware that this does not happen automatically with registration. It is a separate, manual operation.

Please visit the Technical FAQ page on our website for useful information about user accounts, helpful tutorials, as well as answers to many other questions. You can contact support@naturaldharma.org with questions about your user account.

Wonderwell Mountain Refuge Full Calendar