Compassion One Day Online Retreat
- Date: Saturday 30th January 2021
- Cost: Sliding scale
- Instructor: Cedric Reeves
This one-day retreat we will focus on Tong Len, a Tibetan compassion practice. Tong Len is said to include the four sublime emotions: Loving Kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity. It also is a training in the practice of generosity, ethics, tolerance, effort, concentration and wisdom, all at once.
Format
- One-day Online Retreat: Lecture, Q&A, Guided Yoga, and 5-6 hours of meditation. Ten and a half hours total.
- Live online sessions: The live sessions will be hosted on Zoom. An email with the zoom links will be sent to you after you have registered.
- Q&A: There will be opportunity to ask questions during the Q&A section.
Convenience
- View at your own pace: The event will be recorded and sent out to registered participants for viewing on their own schedule.
- Partial attendance is fine - However you get best results if you attend all sessions.
- Late Starts: You can join even after it has started. We will send you the recordings and you will be able to catch up and watch on your own schedule.
Retreat Overview
Guided meditation will be the main focus of the program. There will be ample opportunity to ask questions and share whatever you feel comfortable with. There will be no pressure to do so; passive participation is perfectly fine.
Practice Technique – Covered in the Morning Lecture
Compassion is a universal human virtue. However, the training that I’ve done in compassion has been in a Buddhist context. As a result I teach compassion and compassion meditation using Buddhist concepts and terms. You do not have to be a Buddhist in order to take this course.
The suggested practice is Tong Len. Tong Len is a Tibetan compassion practice.
Tong Len is said to include four sublime emotions: Loving Kindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity. It also is a training in the practice of generosity, ethics, tolerance, effort, concentration and wisdom, all at once.
Practice instructions will be given in the lecture in the first hour. Loving-kindness meditation (Metta) is a good alternative as compassion practice can be very intense, at times.
We’ll do a guided forgiveness meditation at the beginning of the retreat to soften the mind.
Second Lecture and Guided Meditation
A second lecture will another opportunity for questions and answer. Additionally we’ll discuss the desire to awaken for the benefit of others. Moreover, we will discuss how and why compassion is a natural and necessary outcome of deep and proper spiritual practice.
Walking Meditation
Brief walking meditation instruction will be offered. Most hours will consist of a 20 minute walking meditation session and a 40 minute seated meditation session.
Yoga (optional)
I’ll guide an hour long Yoga session. The Yoga routine will be made up of two sequences. The first is based on the “how to grow a lotus” sequence which is specifically designed to help with long meditation sitting. The second sequence is Tibetan Sun Moon Yoga which supports deep meditative experience. So bring a Yoga mat.
The retreat is suitable for beginners
Tong Len is a safe practice for beginners. But, it can be kinda weird if you aren’t used to it. Metta (loving-kindness) or breath/concentration practice should be used if Tong Len starts to get more difficult.
Misc.
The schedule is similar to a Zen retreat schedule. We’ll chant the Metta Sutta.
Some of the benefits of Compassion and its practice:
- An understanding and appreciation of the importance of compassion.
- An understanding of how to use Tong Len/Compassion meditation “micro-hits” during your day in order to stay emotionally regulated when confronted with your suffering and especially the suffering of others.
- Greater understanding and compassion for psychological problems and vulnerabilities that affect you and others.
- Less blame of self or others.
- A sense of camaraderie as a result of seeing how our psychological difficulties are rooted in common experiences that affect us all.
- Less identification with your psychological maladies and quirks (ego-distonia with your maladaptive schemas).
- A better ability to observe your mind with meta-cognitive awareness.
Event Time
- In the US:
- 9am to 7:30pm EST
- 8am to 7:30pm CST
- 7am to 5:30pm MST
- 6am to 4:30pm PST
| USA Monday Morning & Europe Monday Evening Class |
|---|
|
|
Schedule Common to each 90 minute Retreat
| Time | Event | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern | Time (New York)Event | Duration |
| 9:00 AM | Opening notes & Chanting* | 20 mins |
| 9:20 AM | Instructions on Tong-len with Q&A | 1 hour |
| 10:20 AM | Guided Tong-len Meditation | 40 mins |
| 11:00 AM | Gentle Guided Yoga* | 1 hour |
| 12:00 PM | Seated Meditation | 40 mins |
| 12:40 AM | Brief instruction on Walking Meditation | 20 mins |
| 1:00 PM | Lecture on Emptiness & Practice Q&A | 40 mins |
| 1:40 PM | Walking Meditation | 20 mins |
| 2:00 PM | Lunch Break | 60 mins |
| 3:00 PM | Walking Meditation | 20 mins |
| 3:20 PM | Seated Meditation | 40 mins |
| 4:00 PM | Walking Meditation | 20 mins |
| 4:20 PM | Seated Meditation | 40 mins |
| 5:00 PM | Walking Meditation | 20 mins |
| 5:20 PM | Seated Meditation | 40 mins |
| 6:00 PM | Walking Meditation or Break for a light dinner | 30 mins |
| 6:30 PM | Seated Meditation | 30 mins |
| 7:00 PM | Chanting & friendly discussion about practice | 30 mins |
| 7:30 PM | Finish | – |
Date
Time
