Availability from September through December 2019
(Registration closes on August 26th at 7:00pm)
In the Florida Community of Mindfulness, solitary retreat practice is an invaluable opportunity for each of us to spend some time away from our regular schedules and responsibilities in order to focus single-mindedly on an aspect of our practice. Empty Cloud Cottage, located in Tampa, FL near our Practice Center, is a place where members of the Florida Community of Mindfulness can have solitary retreats from 3-5 nights while receiving the guidance of our teacher, Fred Eppsteiner. Many in our community have found that practicing at Empty Cloud Cottage, with Fred's guidance, helps immensely in deepening one's practice of Dharma and one's connection with the teacher.
The schedule for solitary retreats at Empty Cloud Cottage for September through December has now been posted. Registration will remain open until Monday, August 26th at 7:00pm. Please read the registration instructions below carefully before registering. For those who have not done a solitary retreat before, please also see Fred's write up on this practice opportunity below.
Registration Instructions:
All Empty Cloud retreats start in the afternoon of your first day, with departure the morning after your last night. A three-night retreat is the minimum, while the maximum is five. This means when you sign-up, it should be for a minimum of 4 slots or a maximum of 6 slots. The daily cost is $35 (payable directly to Fred), which covers the cost of lodging. As has been the tradition since the time of the Buddha, priceless Dharma teachings are given freely. Any dana you may wish to offer for the teachings may be given at the conclusion of your retreat.
If you are interested in staying at Empty Cloud, please click this link to go to our Solitary Retreat page and click on "Schedule a Retreat" - you'll need to be logged in so that the website knows you are a member and thus permits access to the schedule. Once on the schedule page, you will see the schedule but will NOT be able to fill in your name.
Please identify your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd preferences for dates for your stay and then come back to this page to register and indicate your preferences. If your request does not fill up the entire time period offered, please do your best to not choose dates in the middle of the period so that we can maximize the number of retreatants in a given time slot.
Once receiving all the requests, they will be sorted through in an attempt to help more people have access to this practice opportunity. Once decisions are made, you will be notified as to which of the dates will work for your stay. Please understand that, as the interest in solitary retreats among our members has grown and spaces are limited, it may not be possible to accommodate everyone.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Bryan at bbhindert@gmail.com.
Letter From Fred:
In response to newer members' questions about the practice of solitary retreat at Empty Cloud Cottage, let me share a paragraph from an email sent to members when it was first opened several years ago.
While the Zen and Vipassana meditative traditions, as practiced in the States, regularly practice in a group setting and have group retreats, practitioners in both these traditions have also engaged in solo practice. On the other hand, the Tibetan meditative tradition has always emphasized solitary retreats for those who seek deeper levels of understanding and awareness. Having practiced in both group and solitary meditative settings, I have had the opportunity to experience both the positives, as well as the differences, of these two methods. As most of you have been involved in our group meditations and retreats, you know the power of group sitting. The constant support of fellow meditators, encouragement from the teacher, and the structure of a mandatory daily schedule, certainly creates an environment conducive to a deepening of practice. As well, it allows for “economy of scale”, i.e. many persons can access the retreat environment, receive teachings and instructions at the same time.
A private personal retreat is somewhat different. Here, we set our own meditation schedule and choose the focus or subject matter of our meditative practice. Since we have to rely more on our own inspiration and self-discipline to support ourselves in our practice, there is opportunity for touching deeper reservoirs within ourselves, strengths and abilities we might have doubted lay within us. Also in solitary retreat we are alone, so we have a unique experience in modern America...an opportunity to spend time away from the myriad distractions of daily life that we conspire with to keep from looking deeply within. In solitary retreat, we can learn how to dwell alone in happiness and well-being. There is also the opportunity to meet daily with the teacher, receive personal guidance and support, choose meditation practices tailored to your personal experience, and receive the relentless energy of the teacher to prod you out of the familiar and comfortable, to help you wake up.
In the Dharma,
Fred
