FRIDAY, AUGUST 18: PUBLIC TALK at 7:30 PM. Cost: $15
saturday THROUGH SUNDAY, AUGUST 19-20, 9:30 TO 4. cOST: $100 PLUS TEACHER DONATION
“Aging, illness and death are treasures for those who understand them.
They are Noble Truths, Noble Treasures. If they were people,
I’d bow down to their feet every day.”
— Ajahn Lee, Thai Forest Master
This sentiment is not our culture’s usual attitude, so this statement may sound jarring, or even distasteful. But as we ourselves grow old, as the truth of aging takes hold in our very own body, it may begin to make sense. In fact much of the Buddha’s teaching becomes much more relevant as we age. Impermanence, emptiness of self, the suffering of wanting things to be different — all reveal themselves more clearly as we experience these truths directly. And it is not all bad news:
“In the midst of these intimations of our mortality, something else emerges — we may resonate with the words of Martin Luther King: ‘You can’t choose when you will die or how you will die, but you can choose what you give your life to.’”
Dr. King lived this truth. He knew very clearly what his mission was, what mattered to him more than life itself. What do we choose to give our lives to? Paradoxically, we may discover that remembering our mortality is indeed vital to putting us in touch with our best and truest self.
Join a group of your peers who are interested in life after 55 as a new stage of life, one which offers opportunities for loosening our fears and deepening in wisdom and compassion. The retreat will include silent sitting as well as Dharma teachings, interactive exercises, and discussion.
Both public talk and retreat will be held at the Meditation Temple, 29 Quintana Road, 7 miles north of Questa.
RETREATANTS: Please bring a sack lunch both days
**YOU MUST reserve your place for the Retreat with Maria Mikhailas, at maria153@taosnet.com by Wednesday, Aug. 16 with a non-refundable $20 deposit. PayPal accepted or mail a check to hc 81, box 6035, questa nm 87556.