Mahamudra or "Great Seal" is the cornerstone practice of the Kagyu 
lineage. This practice has been handed down for hundreds of years from 
teacher to student in this setting. Sign up for the ultimate jump start on 
your practice! 

The Mahamudra practice requires proper preliminaries to allow for the best 
possible conditions under which to practice this life-changing meditation 
technique. The 30-Day retreat is one of the best places with ideal 
conditions to receive and practice these instructions. 

This particular 30-Day retreat will be the first held in Phuket, Thailand--a 
Buddhist country with Western services. The setting makes this one of the 
most special and auspicious of 30-Day retreats that have been held by 
Summit Dharma Center ever! Find a way to take the time out in your life to 
get away for this important retreat. You won't regret it! 

We are also honored to announce that the retreatants will be joined by 
the Three Year retreatants already in Thailand! 

Cost is expected to be approximately $1600 for airfare/travel, $800 for 
retreat room and board, plus a small donation to Gen-la (but only if your 
financial situation allows for it!). For more information about travel or 
logistics, please contact retreats@summitdharmacenter.org. 

Please sign up if you have any interest in participating, even if you're not 
100% certain you can do it. 

The only prerequisite to this retreat is that practitioners should be able to 
sit for at least an hour at a time...either in a chair or on a cushion. Each 
attendee should be prepared to remain silent for the month except for QandA 
or functionality with the staff. Vegetarian meals will be served twice per 
day with a snack in the evening. Retreatants should be prepared to bring 
or purchase any additional food requirements. Time for sight-seeing should 
be done before or after the retreat. There will be no time for this during 
the retreat. 

Families are welcome--we can provide housing for families and day care 
with advance notice. If you are interested, please ask us about these 
options as soon as you can! 

For more information, please visit:
http://summitdharmacenter.org/retreats/05012008.html

Live links:

Mindfulness of Breathing or Anapanasati was the Buddha's primary method 
of meditation instruction given throughout his 45 year teaching span. The 
Buddha utilized Mindfulness of Breathing as his primary medium to explore 
the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, as well as the Seven Factors of 
Awakening, and the Four Noble Truths. Collectively these were known as 
the Direct Path to Realization. 
 
We will be following directly in the Buddha's footsteps as we slowly, and 
methodically begin to practice each of the prescribed steps toward 
realization. In addition, we will have 4 weekend retreats that will match 
and mirror our meditation coursework precisely - one retreat for each of 
the 4 Foundations of Mindfulness: Mindfulness of Body, Mindfulness of 
Feeling, Mindfulness of Mind, and Mindfulness of Object of Mind for those 
who wish to go even more deeply into this most essential practice. 
Compassion toward oneself and others will be emphasized throughout this 
series. 
 
The practices we will be doing are quite simple to perform, accessible to 
anyone and everyone, no prior background in meditation is necessary. 
Step-by-step methodical instruction will be given each week and any 
questions you have may be addressed live in each of the classes or 
through email.   
 
We look forward to seeing you and coming together again in these most 
accessible classes and teachings!

We will learn through these teachings and instructions to start with 
mindfulness practice using the medium of our breathÂ…and when we learn 
to do the mindfulness practice diligently and well, then as it matures, and 
especially if you can learn do it on retreat, then you can use it fully 
throughout your day. Through this process we will deeply bring intention 
and energy to our livesÂ…this engagement of energy then will then bring 
joy, and rapt attention. With joy as part of the system, a gentle tranquility 
will emerge. These natural qualities and conditions of the mind are what 
leads to concentrated absorptionÂ…which is the resting platform for 
unwavering equanimity, and allow us to live our lives in an abiding sense 
of peace. 

This retreat is focused toward the beginning to intermediate practitioner. 
The weekend will move through a series of gentle guided meditations with 
the aim of teaching and sharing with each practitioner how to bring 
focused joy into their lives through the simple act of paying attention to 
the breath.

For more information, please visit:
http://summitdharmacenter.org/retreats/06272008.html

Live links:

****
Attendance for Part 1 of this series is a prerequisite to attend this retreat
****

This second retreat in this series of mindfulness of breathing is geared 
toward the advanced practitioner.

The second part of the retreat – advanced Anapanasati or mindfulness of 
breathing – will focus on bringing deep states of joy and bliss to our 
practice – as a means to accomplish full states of absorption and 
penetrative insight known as mahamudra. These deep states of joy and 
bliss will be brought about through specific and controlled breathing 
techniques known as pranayama. We look forward to your attendance in 
the retreat and practicing together in mindfulness presence.

For more information, please visit:
http://summitdharmacenter.org/retreats/07182008.html

Live links: