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Mindfulness of Death: An Online Weekend Retreat via Zoom with Shaila Catherine
October 7, 2022 - October 9, 2022
Shaila Catherine
“Mindfulness of death, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and benefit, culminating in the deathless, having the deathless as its consummation.”
– Anguttara Nikaya 8.7
Western societies are adept at hiding death. It occurs behind closed doors or in “sanitized” locations like hospitals and nursing homes. Most people rarely see corpses up close or witness the process of dying. It may seem that we have lost access to the spiritual insights that a closer connection with death could bring
Developing mindfulness of our own death can protect the mind from complacency and inspire us to practice dharma with greater energy and sincerity. Formal death contemplation can prepare us for the inevitable event of dying, help us to let go of latent fears, stimulate profound insights into impermanence, clarify priorities, and abandon sensory attachments.
Many forms of maranasati (mindfulness of death) are taught in Buddhist traditions. This online weekend at-home retreat will introduce Buddhist approaches to the contemplation of death and dying through guided meditations on contemplating impermanence and visualizing a decomposing corpse. Most simply, we will practice remaining aware and balanced as we reflect on the fact that we will surely die. These contemplations can remove fear of death and produce a sense of being at ease with the nature of things.
This will be a program of live video conferences with Shaila Catherine. The online meetings will include guided meditations, Dharma talks, question and answer sessions, and peer led discussions.
RETREAT SCHEDULE
Times are given in Pacific Time (PDT)
Friday October 7
5:30 – 7:00pm Opening Session, Mindfulness of Death
Saturday October 8
7:00 – 7:30am Qi Gong with Deborah
7:30 – 8:15 Morning Meditation with Kathy
8:45 – 9:30am Morning Guided Meditation with Shaila
10:00– 12:00 Morning Teaching with Shaila
1:30 – 3:30pm Afternoon Teaching with Shaila
4:15 – 5:30pm Reflection and Discussion Group with Kathy and Karen
Sunday October 9
7:00 – 7:30am Qi Gong with Deborah
7:30 – 8:15 Morning Meditation with Kathy
8:45 – 9:30am Morning Guided Meditation with Shaila
10:00– 12:00 Morning Teaching with Shaila
1:30 – 3:30pm Afternoon Teaching with Shaila
4:15 – 5:30pm Reflection and Discussion Group with Kathy and Karen
To register please contact: Karen Kvasnicka: karen@dharmazephyr.org
Zoom links will be emailed to registrants a few days prior to the retreat.
There is no registration fee for this retreat. The retreat is being offered on a dana or generosity basis.
You may offer dana to our teacher Shaila at: https://shailacatherine.com/donate/
Dharma Zephyr Insight Meditation Community at: https://dharmazephyr.org/contact-us/
Shaila Catherine shailacatherine.com is the founder of Bodhi Courses www.bodhicourses.org an online Dhamma classroom, and Insight Meditation South Bay www.imsb.org, a Buddhist meditation center in Silicon Valley. She began practicing meditation in 1980, studied with masters in India, Thailand, and Nepal, spent more than nine years in silent retreat, taught meditation internationally since 1996, and authored three books on mindfulness, concentration, and insight. Her first book, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity, introduces the deep concentration practices of jhāna. Her second book, Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhāna and Vipassanā, makes the systematic practices taught by Pa-Auk Sayadaw accessible to western practitioners. Her third book, Beyond Distraction: Five Practical Ways to Focus the Mind, teaches skills to overcome restless thinking, rumination, and obstructive habitual patterns. Shaila’s teachings emphasize deep samadhi, jhāna, and the path of liberating insight.
Find out more about Shaila and her teachings at: