Saturday and Sunday Retreat
December 7th-8th 9:00 AM-4:30 PM PT
Friday Evening Talk
December 6th 7:00-9:00 PM PT
Description
Join us for a weekend with Guest Teacher Phillip Moffitt. (Online only.) There will be a Friday evening program and a weekend retreat. No registration is required for the Friday evening program. Registration is required for the weekend retreat. See registration details below.
Naturally Arising Clarity: A Path of Practice
The Natural Arising method of practice starts meditation practice in a different manner. It begins with a preliminary, preparatory practice in which all the attention is systematically and repeatedly oriented inwardly. During this online weekend retreat, Phillip will teach two practices that create the conditions for what he terms an “inward staying mind” to naturally arise.
The first of these practices is “The Three Renunciations” which establishes a discerning mind that is free of reactivity and self-judgment. The second practice, the Arriving Sequence, establishes a mind state that is available for practice and aligned with the dhamma. When combined, the fruition of these practices is a naturally arising responsive mind. In this way, we become free of the efforting that so often plagues our practice.
From there, we turn toward the four foundations of mindfulness and we explore the five capacities of consciousness that enhance insight. Throughout the meditation practice periods, there is continual emphasis on directly knowing experience through the felt sense. The result of this practice method is a mind that has great clarity and is available to the natural emergence of wisdom and compassion.
About Phillip
Phillip Moffitt is a Buddhist meditation teacher and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has taught Theravada Buddhism for over 25 years and served as co-guiding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center from 2010 to 2018. Phillip is an honorary co-founder and the creator of the practice method that is the focus of the nonprofit organization Dharma Ground, which offers online retreats and classes integrating the Nine Bodies map of consciousness and the Theravada Insight Meditation tradition.
Phillip is also the founder and president of Life Balance Institute, a nonprofit organization devoted to supporting individuals in developing the skills to live a values-based life with an emphasis on how to skillfully make major life transitions.
He is the author of three books: Awakening through the Nine Bodies, Emotional Chaos to Clarity, and Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering. He has written numerous articles about practicing the dharma in daily life for both Buddhist and yoga magazines. Many of these articles, as well as recordings of Phillip’s dharma talks, can be found on his website Dharma Wisdom.
Registration & Donation
Registration for this retreat is required. The suggested event donations are listed below, plus teacher dana. Teachers do not receive any of the event fees but do accept student donations or dana for their livelihood. (Dana is a term for generosity, or freely offered giving.) Please use your best efforts to pay the suggested donation or another heartfelt amount. All are welcome regardless of ability to pay. (Select the “donate at the event” option to choose a different donation amount or to donate by check rather than credit card – please see the SIMS website donation link for details.)
People may offer teacher dana online via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/LifeBalanceInstitute.
Or, they may send a check payable to Life Balance Institute to:
Life Balance Institute
P.O. Box 725
Tiburon, CA 94920
Information about joining this event will be sent prior to the event.
For questions about the retreat, please contact registrar@seattleinsight.org.