Retreat ideas

[RikudouSennin]

was wondering how to hold a self retreat? Focusing on Tara for a week and maybe longer.
have the time to dedicate and a few spots at local parks etc.
anyway any ideas

[Andrew108]

Local parks?

[RikudouSennin]

outdoors

it has to be indoors??

[Andrew108]

Usually yes.

[RikudouSennin]

i see
any ideas?

[Andrew108]

What's the motivation? A good retreat starts with a good motivation.

[RikudouSennin]

healing, getting over habits, being more compassionate to people I come across, growth heal.

[lisehull]

Each month I do a day long solo retreat. I stay at home, practice a series of different meditations, interspersed with reading something on Buddhism and doing some creative activity. About midway I be sure to take a break and eat something. This gives me a sense of being immersed in my practice and I find it rewarding.

Lise

[viniketa]

healing, getting over habits, being more compassionate to people I come across, growth heal.

RikudouSennin - A suggestion. It is not Tibetan, Dzogchen, or anything exotic. It is Vipassana (insight) meditation. You would have to halt your other practices for 10 days. But it is 100% free, no-cost way to start the above things:

http://courses.dhamma.org/en-US/schedules/schpatapa

Once you've done a 10 day meditation, you can also do "service" days (sometimes a day at a time, sometimes for 10, 20, 30 day retreats). So, consult your teacher (ChNN?), and if it is OK, go for it.

Just offering a possibility.



*Chg location

[CrawfordHollow]

For a retreat to be succesful you need as little distraction as possible. You have your practice and you divide your day up into a set schedule, usually doing four sessions a day. When your not doing your practice you do whatever; you cook, eat, or whatever but you keep it really simple. Some people have it set up where other people cook their meals for them but that isn't necessary. Its best not to have contact with other people and keeping silent is good (besides maybe mantras and prayers). So I don't think doing a retreat like this would be possible in a park or public area. Theres no point if you just end up talking to random people or have to move around to avoid being seen or anything like that. You want to be prepared. It won't be effective if you end up going to McDonalds for lunch in the middle of it- not saying you would do that but you know what I mean.

You should also be familiar with your practice. Have you been doing the Green Tara practice a la Dzogchen Community? Its simple enough but you need to make sure you have the correct pronunciation and melody. Do you have the booklet for the practice? I am not saying that you shouldn't do the retreat, but if you want it to be effective you should be prepared and make sure that the conditions are right. It sounds like you've got some time on your hands so thats good. How's your practice and studying going?

Troy

[Terma]

Each month I do a day long solo retreat. I stay at home, practice a series of different meditations, interspersed with reading something on Buddhism and doing some creative activity. About midway I be sure to take a break and eat something. This gives me a sense of being immersed in my practice and I find it rewarding.

Lise

I do the same thing from time to time, and it is quite helpful.

As someone had said, a good place to start is by setting your motivation. This part should be easy, because with a good motivation it will be a success. I would also suggest having a rough outline or idea of how you wish to divide up the time, but it is good to be a little spontaneous too.

I think home (if possible) is the best place to do something like this. I think one aspect of retreat is to try to create a boundary in which to practice. On a few levels actually; a physical boundary so that we may practice undisturbed in a more concentrated manner, and also the aspect of taking retreat from our normal mundane living and habits (if that makes sense)...

Here are a few ideas for your own personalized one day retreat if you decide to go this route:

Don't turn on the television or computer, let others know ahead of time you will be "busy" that day so you may not be interrupted. Try to go the whole day with no phone, no music, and so-forth. Focus on whichever practices you are doing, and break the day up according to your practice. Not sure what kinds of practices or meditation you do, but you could spend time on different aspects of practice so that you do not fizzle out from constant focus on meditation (eg. prostrations, confession, prayers, etc.). You could also take some time in between formal practice to read dharma texts (I had recited the bodhicaryavatara for example), take time to eat wholesome food, maybe even a short break to have a walk, etc. Point is, make this day about being aware no matter what it is you are doing at the time.

I think these kinds of one day retreats are a great practice. It helps us to be a little disciplined when we devote our whole day to dharma practice, and it is a helpful way to re-energize our practice too.

Just a few suggestions for a single day solo retreat at home. I think you will see the benefits of doing this from time to time whenever possible!

Hope this gives you a few ideas.

Terma

[JinpaRangdrol]

If you know other practices like Chöd, Sang, Protectors/Serkyem, then you can also include them in your four sessions. Generally you would do your first session before breakfast with Sang if possible (or at least do this at the start of your retreat), eat breakfast, set up offering bowls and do a session, eat lunch, do a session with protectors/serkyem, eat dinner, do a session with Chöd, take down offering bowls, sleep (and do dream yoga if you know it).

[heart]

was wondering how to hold a self retreat? Focusing on Tara for a week and maybe longer.
have the time to dedicate and a few spots at local parks etc.
anyway any ideas

If you have no possibility to stay in a protected space where you want get disturbed I think you shouldn't try to do a retreat. However, you could go to the park early or late, whenever it is safe, and practice for several hours and then maybe contemplate and study the rest of the day. If you keep that up for a while it can be very powerful. Also, to do a proper retreat you need to be able to do session that last 2-3 hours, so it is a reasonable way to start anyway.

/magnus

[RikudouSennin]

i have the Tun book now, so i will focus on that.

thanks for the replies

[lobster]

was wondering how to hold a self retreat? Focusing on Tara for a week and maybe longer.
have the time to dedicate and a few spots at local parks etc.
anyway any ideas

if doing an outer Tara practice . . .
have a picnic with her . . .
It should look like a conventional picnic appropriate to your local.
You will have to read from appropriate text silently and recite internally.
you could bring a laptop or go for a tara walk . . . mp3 player + tara
http://youtu.be/lqcWl6VAB_M

Are you intending to do her mantra and visualization?

I used to set up a shrine everyday and practice with Tara.
Here is the sort of thing . . .
requires more privacy . . .
http://www.ewamchoden.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Tara_Green.pdf

good luck

[RikudouSennin]

was wondering how to hold a self retreat? Focusing on Tara for a week and maybe longer.
have the time to dedicate and a few spots at local parks etc.
anyway any ideas

if doing an outer Tara practice . . .
have a picnic with her . . .
It should look like a conventional picnic appropriate to your local.
You will have to read from appropriate text silently and recite internally.
you could bring a laptop or go for a tara walk . . . mp3 player + tara
http://youtu.be/lqcWl6VAB_M

Are you intending to do her mantra and visualization?

I used to set up a shrine everyday and practice with Tara.
Here is the sort of thing . . .
requires more privacy . . .
http://www.ewamchoden.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Tara_Green.pdf

good luck

i like the way you post