Vipassana Retreat with Susan Stone
Pure Awareness and Daily Life—The Great Conundrum
Feb 15-17, 2008
Ecumenical Buddhist Society of Little Rock

Vipassana is a progressive approach to mind development that is based in the world of form, that is, in conventional relative reality. In Zen and other non-dual traditions, however, the primary focus is on pure awareness or absolute reality.  Rooted in emptiness, Zen training points to how form (the relative) and emptiness (absolute) are simultaneously different and not different from each other. This retreat will examine this conundrum from a practice perspective: How does pure awareness express in daily life? The retreat will include Dharma talks, instruction in objectless Zen meditation, group discussion, and individual interviews in order to explore how an understanding and integration of the principles of non-dualism deepen our Vipassana practice while uncovering bodhicitta (the awakened mind-empty heart).

When:
February 15-17, 2008

Where:
Ecumenical Buddhist Society
1015 West Second Street, Suite 108
Little Rock, AR 72201
 
Retreat Schedule:
Feb. 15 – 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Feb. 16 – 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Feb. 17 – 9:00 a.m. - Noon

Costs:
$85.00 (Bring your own lunch)
Scholarship assistance available

Susan Stone, Ph.D., has practiced formal meditation for 25 years in the Zen and Theravada traditions. She has lived in Zen and Theravadan monasteries for 3 years. Ordained as a Zen lay priest, Susan is author of At the Eleventh Hour (Present Perfect Books 2001), about Mindfulness and caregiving. The book was nominated for ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year award for 2001. She is co-author of The American Mosaic (McGraw Hill 1995), about workforce diversity; and is author of articles on Mindfulness.  Susan co-leads the Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville, Virginia (www.imeditation.org ).She also teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction at the University of Virginia, founded a Mindfulness group at a maximum-security men’s prison, and currently co-leads a similar group at a women’s prison in Virginia. She is a hospice volunteer and Reiki master who has worked with AIDS patients. Susan leads meditation retreats and workshops in a multi-state area. Her teaching increasingly is centered in nondualism.
 
Additional Information and Registration Forms

For additional information, registration forms, and scholarship information visit www.ebslr.org or contact Johnye Strickland at 501-834-0339 or jstrickland35@comcast.net.

The cost only includes what is needed to put on the retreat. Susan comes from a 2,500 year old tradition of meditation teachers that do not charge for meditation instruction. The practice of meditation leads to the greatest freedom. Who could put a price on that? At the end of the retreat there will be an opportunity to give a donation (dana) to the teacher.

Scholarship assistance is available for those who are unable to pay for the entire retreat fee. To request scholarship assistance, please contact Johnye Strickland at 501-834-0339 or jstrickland35@comcast.net

HOUSING

There are several hotels reasonably close to the Ecumenical Buddhist Society. These include the LaQuinta, 617 S. Broadway, Little Rock, AR (501) 374-9000 and the Doubletree Hotel, Markham & Broadway, Little Rock, AR (501) 372-4371.

Local sangha members have offered to house a limited number of out of town retreatants free of charge. If you are interested in staying with a local sangha member, please contact Johnye Strickland at 501-834-0339 or jstrickland35@comcast.net.