Retreat Title: Receptivity and Spontaneous Play
Led by Led by Tejananda and Vajraloka team members
Just sitting is a practice of receptivity. Or it’s a non-practice of just being - just
being 'whatever is'. Often, though, this approach ends up as ‘just thinking’ or
even ‘just spacing out’. When asked how to ‘do’ just sitting, Sangharakshita is
said to have replied ‘you just sit’. This is a perfectly adequate reply if you’ve ‘got
it’ with regard to the practice, but if you haven’t gelled with it, the question will
keep coming up again and again ‘am I doing this right?’
In recent times, this aspect of our system of practice has been reframed as
‘receptivity’. But, again, receptivity to what? And what is the ‘receptive quality’
in our being?
It’s not much use to answer these kinds of question from the thinking mind. The
Buddha said to Bahiya ‘train yourself to sense just what is sensed’. ‘Train’ points
to ‘do, look, feel’ - experience. That’s what this retreat will be about - discovering
and being our direct experience. Not being ‘with’ our experience: being it - direct,
unmediated experiencing. At which point, we may see directly who or what is
receptive - and that it isn’t ‘me’ at all. And we may also see that what receptivity
'receives' is not a world of things or objects, but the unending spontaneous play
of creative energy. Not a bad outcome for just sitting there doing nothing!
This retreat is suitable for people who have been meditating for at least 3 years
Start Date: 29th Jul 2016
End Date: 7th Aug 2016
Deposit: £70
Price: £360 (Full Price) / £324 (Conc Price)