SACRED COMMUNITY RETREATS
Awakening the Heart Through the Path of Grace
More than a retreat, this is an exercise in Sacred Community.
An interspiritual gathering rooted in the lineage of Ram Dass and Neem Karoli Baba and centering the teachings of Bhakti Yoga and Buddhism.
Anchored with mantra, meditation, and ritual, the core practice of this retreat is Sacred Community. We practice seeing the Divine everywhere—in nature, in each other, and in ourselves—and we act in reverence to this Truth. In this way, we help each other awaken from separation and into the Heart of Love.
PRACTICE
Who we are is deeper than our thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, or social roles. These are like clouds happening within the sky of our Awareness. As we awaken to this, we learn that this Awareness is not isolated to our own mind. It is the fabric of Reality and the Relational Web that connects us. Ram Dass called this Loving-Awareness. As Pavan Das says, “Just as sunlight is warm, our Awareness is naturally loving.”
By gathering in Satsang (spiritual community) and engaging in sadhana (practice), we gain Darshan (vision) and behold this Love everywhere.
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Meditation
Each morning starts with guided meditation. We practice letting go of clinging in the mind, so we can return to Loving-Awareness.
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Kirtan
Each night ends with kirtan from experienced chant leaders. Kirtan is the practice of chanting the Holy Names— ancient Sanskrit mantras that reveal Loving-Awareness.
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Ritual
Puja is woven throughout each day, and it is a prayer made with the entire body, mind, and senses. It is an honoring of the Love within, and it awakens Bhav (the devotional mood) and connects us to community.
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Teachings
Our teacher, Ram Dass, honored all paths and had a special affinity for both Bhakti (devotional yoga) and Buddhism. Authentic teachings will be offered as a way to ground our experience in something deep, meaningful, and rooted in lineage.
In line with SCP values, these are sliding-scale retreats, and scholarship and work-trade options are available for those in need. The base price is the minimum amount needed for the retreat to run at cost, and it includes food and lodging. By contributing more, you enable SCP to offer scholarships and continue growing our service programs.
All teachers, presenters, and staff are offering their services on a Dana (donation) basis. There will be an opportunity at the end of the retreat to make a financial offering.
In this way, this is more than a retreat; it is an exercise in Sacred Community.
“We have come together to invoke the Sacred through our shared humanity.”
“We do this as an act of devotion, knowing that God is manifest in all four.”
“We agree to attend to five things: ourselves, each other, the collective, the world, and the unifying shared Presence.”
“We ask the Universal Guru to guide us as we enter into this Sacred Space together.”
EXPLORE
2023 RETREAT CONTENT
MEDITATION
KIRTAN
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