FCM Fall Retreat at the Franciscan Center
Key Points of the Path of Awakening:
Teachings of the Zen and Great Perfection Masters
October 20-24, 2016
The Fall retreat is for practitioners who already have developed a grounding in mindfulness meditation, mindful living, and have attained a grounding in emotional stability. Utilizing various pith teachings, Dharma verses, and extracts from longer texts, Fred will present the key points of practice for those who seek to utilize Dharma as a path of purification and transformation.
While the ordinary practices of mindfulness and mindful living can bring greater stability into one’s life, the true practice of meditation is to not only to heal, but to facilitate a significant experiential transformation in the spheres of one’s body, speech and mind. To accomplish this, the practitioner must be committed to courageously stepping into unknown and sometimes uncomfortable territories of personal experience to shed the skin of their habitual tendencies and let go of skewed and distorted ways of perceiving themselves and others.
Fred will be presenting these teachings and practices with clarity and concreteness so that they can become on-going life practices each participant can embrace. As usual, this will be a silent retreat. The silence affords participants the opportunity to deepen their meditative experience while absorbing the experiential meaning of the teachings and practices presented during the retreat.
The retreat is being held in Tampa, Florida at The Franciscan Center, located on the Hillsborough River. The registration fee covers both room and board (three vegetarian meals daily), as well as any administrative and incidental expenses connected to the retreat. The teachings are offered in the Buddhist tradition of Dana, wherein the teacher freely gives of him or herself to the students out of gratitude for what has been received from their teachers and a desire to be of service. The student’s response is also based on Dana, i.e. generosity that naturally flows from a sense of appreciation of the value of Dharma and gratitude to the living lineage.
The retreat begins with dinner on Thursday, October 20th, and ends after lunch on Monday, October 24th. We ask that all retreatants attend the entire time of the retreat; if you cannot arrive by 6 pm on Thursday, October 20th and stay until lunch on Monday, October 24th, please do not register. No late arrivals or early departures are permitted, as they significantly interfere with the process of retreat for everyone.
The Franciscan Center has both single and double occupancy accommodations. If you are seeking double occupancy and have someone you wish to room with, please indicate their name when you register. Otherwise, you will be placed in a room with another participant who has requested double occupancy as well. The registration fee for single occupancy is $430 and the fee for double-occupancy is $380. A limited number of Retreat Scholarships may be available. Please click here to see FCM’s Retreat Scholarship Policy and for an Application, which must be submitted prior to the registration deadline for this retreat.
Please note that participation in this retreat is only open to members of the Florida Community of Mindfulness. While participation in our local sanghas and Days of Mindfulness is open to everyone, membership in FCM is for persons wanting to deepen their practice of living an awakened life by being part of a dedicated practice community, having a direct relationship with a Dharma teacher, and participating in practice opportunities such as Intensives and longer retreats.
The retreat registrar will be sending additional information to accepted registrants before the retreat begins, including directions to the Franciscan Center and other retreat information.
The last day to register for the retreat is September 25, but registration is limited. You will be notified if you have been accepted into the retreat or whether you have been placed on the waiting list by September 27. To register, please click on this link.
