Sunday, September 22, 2024 (11:00 -18:30)
September 21-22, 2024
11:00 am - 6:30 pm EST
The Great Eastern Sun is not something outside of you but a journey unfolding within.
—Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
About the Training
Great Eastern Sun builds on the teachings of basic goodness, “cocoon”, fearlessness, inquisitiveness, and openness in the Heart of Warriorship series (Shambhala Training Levels I-V) and introduces how to see the primordial energy and brilliance that is always radiating and available to us — the Great Eastern Sun.
During a series of visionary experiences that took place between 1976 and 1980, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche wrote down what became known as the “Shambhala root texts”. These Shambhala teachings present a societal vision and aspiration to help the world manifest a good human society in difficult times.
Great Eastern Sun is the first in a series of weekend retreats called “The Sacred Path” during which these teachings are explored and experienced. The Sacred Path also introduces further warriorship practices that complement our meditation practice and further cultivate our inherent brilliance, confidence, and dignity.
The vision of the Great Eastern Sun and the Great Eastern Sun teachings are the entrance into “sacred world” and continues the warrior’s journey of helping to create an uplifted, kind, and caring society and world.
Included in the Retreat
- Guided meditation instruction
- Sitting and walking meditation
- Talks by an experienced teacher
- Silent periods
- Question & answer periods
- Group discussions
- Individual meetings with a trained Meditation Instructor
- Connecting with people interested in meditation and discovering the brilliance of the world around them!
Prerequisites
Shambhala Training Level V.
About Alex
Alexander deVaron began teaching in Shambhala in 1986. From 1991-1996 he lived at Karmê Chöling retreat center, working in the practice and study department. In 2010, he was appointed a Shastri (senior teacher) in Shambhala. As a householder, and full-time music teacher, he’s especially keen on how to bring the teachings into every moment of our lives. He teaches Buddhism, Shambhala Training, Shambhala Art, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and the interplay of Buddhism and Western psychology. He has also developed courses on singing, chanting, and vocal exploration as contemplative practice. He brings a light touch to his classes, encouraging curiosity and dialogue. His classes have an atmosphere of goodness, spaciousness and appreciation within which honest and fearless inquiry can take place. Alexander’s primary teachers have been Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. He’s also grateful for the abundance of profound teachings he’s received from the many western students in these traditions. You can reach him at [email protected].
About Shambhala Training
Shambhala Training is designed to help us develop fearlessness, confidence, openness and gentleness towards ourselves and our world. These qualities arise out of meditation practice and the study of Shambhala warriorship principles.
Developed by Chögyam Trungpa in 1976, Shambhala Training offers teachings based on the vision that every human being has a natural source of innate wakefulness that we can discover, cultivate and express in our life.
This path is open to anyone seeking to develop gentleness and strength through meditation. Shambhala Training is a series of contemplative workshops suited for both beginning and experienced meditators. The simple and profound technique of mindfulness-awareness meditation can benefit people of any spiritual tradition and way of life.
Meditation practice helps us to examine our states of mind without trying to change them. This practice encourages openness to oneself and what’s around us, and transforms the way we habitually see our life and our world. Our old habits and patterns become more transparent, leaving room for a more direct appreciation of situations.
The “Heart of Warriorship” curriculum consists of five weekend retreats that include meditation training and practice, talks by senior teachers, personal interviews, and group discussions. These retreats provide a strong foundation in mindfulness-awareness meditation practice, emphasizing the development of genuineness, confidence, humor, and dignity within the complexity of daily life.
About the Sacred Path
The Sacred Path is a series of teachings for those who have completed Shambhala Training Levels I-V. It introduces further practices to develop warriorship and extend the student’s training in meditation. These practices are based on a societal vision and aspiration to help the world. This training cultivates one’s dignity and natural gifts in order to widen one’s sphere of compassion.
During a series of visionary experiences that took place between 1976 and 1980, Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche wrote down what became known as the Shambhala terma, a series of texts. The Sacred Path series of retreats is based on these texts and on the extensive commentaries Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche gave on these teachings and on how to practice them in modern times.