With Fred Eppsteiner

Dates: April 16 - 19
Registration Deadline: March 19
Suitability

This retreat is appropriate for individuals who have previous experience with the mind trainings (Lojong) and those new to them. It is open to persons (member and non-members) who have attended a retreat with FCM or another Buddhist group in the past. First time retreatants are encouraged to attend one of FCM ’s weekend retreats, such as the upcoming Miracle of Mindfulness weekend retreat in May. 

Please note that registration does NOT guarantee acceptance into the retreat. Participants will be notified of acceptance by March 22.

Description

This three-day retreat explores several key transformative teachings of The Seven Points of Mind Training, a classic Buddhist text offering practical guidance for awakening in everyday life. These concise slogans show us how—even amid uncertainty and difficulty—we can retrain the mind to cultivate loving-kindness, compassion, and wisdom in all circumstances.

Together, we will practice deeply with verses such as “Drive all blame into one,” “Be grateful to everyone,” “Always maintain a joyful mind,” and “Work with the strongest emotions first.” Special emphasis will be placed on transforming adversity into the path of awakening. Through meditation, reflection, and noble silence, this retreat invites us to embody an enlightened attitude in the midst of daily life.

As usual, this will be a silent retreat. Fred will be presenting these teachings and practices with clarity and concreteness so that they can easily become a daily practice for all participants to embrace. The silence of retreat affords us the opportunity to deepen our meditative experience while absorbing the experiential meaning of the teachings and practices being presented.

Retreat Leader

Fred Eppsteiner has been a student of the psychology of Buddhist meditation for over 50 years and was a psychotherapist for more than 30 years. He has trained extensively in the Buddhist meditative traditions the U.S. and Asia. He received permission to teach from Thich Nhat Hanh in 1994 and is the editor of two books: The Path of Compassion and Interbeing. He is the founding teacher of the Florida Community of Mindfulness.

Fees

The fees are $270 for overnighters, $210 for commuters, and $105 for online participation. The registration fee will be fully refunded to those not admitted to the retreat.

FCM aspires to support the retreat experience for all who are on this path, and thus retreat scholarships are available and encouraged if it would support your participation. Please click here to see FCM ’s Retreat Scholarship Policy and for an application, which needs to be submitted prior to the registration deadline for this retreat. 

The Retreat Coordinator will be sending additional information to registrants closer to the retreat start date, including at-home practice guidelines and Zoom information.

Retreat Logistics

For in-person participants (including both overnighters and commuters), the retreat will begin with orientation and dinner at 5:00 pm on Thursday, April 16 and end after lunch on Sunday, April 19. Online participants will join the retreat at 7:00 pm on April 16 and end at noon on April 19.

Please note: 

• The deadline for registration for this retreat is March 19. 
• We will send a retreat acceptance letter by March 22 with additional information to help you prepare for retreat.
• The full fee will then be due by March 29, otherwise the spot will be given to another applicant.
• Please click here to read FCM's Retreat Cancellation Policy.
• If you are not familiar with our campus, you may enjoy this short video tour.
  
• New to retreating with FCM? Please visit our FAQs page.

The teachings are offered in the Buddhist tradition of Dana, wherein the teachers freely give of themselves to the students out of gratitude for what they ’ve 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.

Questions?
Please contact Rita at ritaanna727@gmail.com for any logistical questions.

With Bill MacMillen

Dates: May 15 - 17
Registration Deadline: April 17

Suitability

This retreat will be beneficial for both newcomers to meditation and more experienced mindfulness practitioners with an interest in living with more ease in the present moment. 

Description

In our modern world, we have countless ways to stay busy, informed, entertained, and otherwise distracted from the moment we wake up until we go to bed at night. We can easily spend our entire day completely disconnected from our actual experience and unaware of what thoughts and mind-states we are cultivating throughout our busy days. If we do have a moment to stop, we may find that we feel uneasy, agitated, bored, anxious, stressed, in despair, or otherwise uncomfortable in our bodies and our minds. 

Fortunately, as so many people throughout the world are discovering, there is another way. Through what the beloved Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh called, “The Miracle of Mindfulness,” we can learn how to be at ease in the present moment. We can learn to use our minds in a way that nourishes our well-being and helps us to feel whole again. Through cultivating mindfulness of the body, breath, and mind, we can learn to develop peace within ourselves and to enjoy the simple experience of being alive.  

In this two-day Introductory Retreat, participants will learn mindfulness and meditation practices that calm and nourish the body and mind. There will be both formal instruction as well as “off-the-cushion” practice in areas such as walking, eating, mindful movements and work meditation. There will be periods of Q&A and deep sharing within a setting that is mostly silent, offering participants the opportunity to retreat from digital devices and other distractions that so often clutter our minds and cover the natural spaciousness that lies beneath the “noise.”

This will be a silent retreat. The silence affords us the opportunity to deepen our meditative experience while absorbing the experiential meaning of the teachings and practices presented.

Retreat Leaders

Bill Mac Millen has been a Dharma practitioner with the Florida Community of Mindfulness and a student of FCM's teacher Fred Eppsteiner since 2013; in 2018 he completed the three year Dharma Transmission training taught by Fred. Bill was ordained as a member of the Order of Interbeing at Thich Nhat Hahn’s Magnolia Grove monastery in 2019. Aspiring to be of service to the community, he is on the Leadership Council overseeing the area of Center Care and also teaches and facilitates various classes and Intensive study programs offered by FCM.

Fees

The fee for in-person participation is $180 for overnighters and $140 for commuters. 

Retreat Scholarships are available; please click to see FCM’s Retreat Scholarship Policy and for an Application, which needs to be submitted prior to the registration deadline for this retreat.

Retreat Logistics

This retreat is in-person only (either staying overnight or as a commuter) participation at FCM’s Tampa Center. The retreat will begin with orientation at 5:00 pm on Friday, May 15 and ends after lunch on Sunday at 4:00 pm, May 17. Participation is open to both FCM members and non-members.

Please note: 

• The deadline for registration for this retreat is April 17. 
• We will send a retreat acceptance letter by April 20 with additional information to help you prepare for retreat.
• The full fee will then be due by April 27, otherwise the spot will be given to another applicant.
• Please click here to read FCM's Retreat Cancellation Policy.
• If you are not familiar with our campus, you may enjoy this short video tour.
  
• New to retreating with FCM? Please visit our FAQs page.

The teachings are offered in the Buddhist tradition of Dana, wherein the teachers freely give of themselves to the students out of gratitude for what they’ve 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. All retreat dana for this retreat will go towards supporting future programs at the FCM center. 

Questions?
For more information, please contact Bill at bmacm21@gmail.com. Please contact Rita at ritaanna727@gmail.com for any logistical questions.