Profound Treasury Buddhist Retreat
Trust in the Heart
Loving Kindness and the Awakening of Buddhanature
September 17 - September 26, 2021
Trust in the Heart
Loving Kindness and the Awakening of Buddhanature
September 17 - September 26, 2021
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The Profound Treasury Retreat is a 9-day Buddhist meditation and study retreat based on the Buddhist teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. We welcome meditators of all ages and traditions to join us in studying and practicing in a contemplative environment on the coast of Maine.
From 1973 to 1986, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche offered his students a 3-month retreat called Vajradhatu Seminary, and the teachings from these seminaries have been compiled into three volumes known as the The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma. The Profound Treasury Retreat is modelled on these Vajradhatu Seminaries, using The Profound Treasury texts as the basis for study. The year 2020 was a tough one. Most of us had never experienced anything like the COVID pandemic before. It left us raw, grieving, and fearful. On top of that, every dreadful underlying issue we had buried under the rug—ecological devastation, deep-rooted racism, violence, oppression, political upheavals, mass shootings, and on and on —blasted to the surface and piled on. It was hard not to feel either overwhelmed or just plain numb.
Clearly, we have a lot to work with, both on the personal and on the collective level. Yet the times are untrustworthy, language is deceptive, and people are hateful and suspicious of one another. There are rising numbers of “deaths of despair,” as people lose hope. As we enter 2021, we need to find ways to heal and to rebuild trust. It is a time to let the cooling waters of kindness and compassion soothe us, so we can begin to release the pain and grief we hold within us. It is a time to draw on the power of kindness and compassion as a reliable source of personal and social transformation. In light of all this, in this year’s retreat we will focus on loving kindness (maitri) and compassion (karuna). These two powerful teaching streams are a continual source of strength and nourishment on the Buddhist path. The development of loving kindness begins with meditation. In meditation practice we get to know and trust ourselves on a deeper level, and we become friendly and kind to ourselves. That gives us the base of strength we need to reach out to others with compassion. The combination of loving kindness and compassion is the key that unlocks the wisdom and power of the bodhisattva path. The joining of the two provides the spark for awakening our buddhanature. The goal of this year’s retreat is to deepen our understanding and experience of loving kindness and compassion through both study and practice. We will have the opportunity to connect more profoundly with compassion practices such as the four limitless ones, the exchange of self and other, and sending and taking, or tonglen. |
* You will be directed away from ferrybeach.org
During the Profound Treasury Retreat, we practice and study topics from The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma, a compilation of the teachings that Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche gave over a span of 13 years at the Vajradhatu Seminaries, an intensive 3-month program of study and practice he offered to his students. Participants are strongly encouraged to study The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma, especially the suggested readings, to help prepare for the retreat.
For more information about the Profound Treasury Retreat, visit www.profoundtreasuryretreat.com
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Our mission at Ferry Beach is to awaken hearts to explore, grow and renew the spirit of universal love.
We work by creating programing and events in the areas of Arts & Culture, Education, Spirituality, Sustainability, Personal Growth and Justice & Action.
We work by creating programing and events in the areas of Arts & Culture, Education, Spirituality, Sustainability, Personal Growth and Justice & Action.
