A Meditation Retreat led by Flint Sparks, PhD with Entrusted Teacher Suzanne Kilkus and Head Students Don Coleman and Bonnie Schmidt
Thursday October 27, 7p to Sunday October 30, 12p
Like us, Siddhartha Gautama sought to understand the nature of human suffering and its release. He was committed to investigating the basic human predicament characterized by the bondage of suffering. He intuited that liberation was possible and sought to unfold this potential. His realization, while straightforward, was startling and unnerving.
He discovered that everything depends on everything else for its very existence and that everything is in constant change. Further, there is nothing but flux and flow, a contingent universe with no fixed beginning or end. Dependent co-arising (paticca samuppada) was the conceptual descriptor given to this truth to which he awoke. It is the way Buddhist thought has encoded his radically transforming, embodied realization over the centuries. Everything else in Buddhist practice comes from and depends on this key insight. Buddha’s insight can be challenging to understand. Zen practice invites us to embody it through form and expression; asking us to not simply understand intellectually, but to intimately embody this life altering perspective. The results from this kind of practice reorients our conventional view of reality and grounds us in our True Nature.
This retreat will be a new form of hybrid for Open Door. Flint will offer his teachings on dependent co-arising through the wonders of virtual technology. Suzanne Kilkus, our entrusted teacher, and Head Students, Bonnie Schmidt and Don Coleman will lead zazen practices and embodied dharma activities. We look forward to meeting in person or virtually.
Flint is a Zen teacher and former psychologist, dedicated to assisting people in the unending path of growing up and waking up. An experienced therapist and a master teacher, Flint's teachings bridge the fields of traditional Buddhist practice and the psychology of awakening. Most recently he has extended his work into the contemplative arts, especially photography. In whatever capacity, his vow is to help soften barriers to love. In addition to serving as the Guiding Teacher for Open Door Zen Community in Madison, Wisconsin, Flint remains a senior teacher at Appamada in Austin, Texas, and is also a guiding teacher to the Just This consortium of sanghas across the UK. For more information, visit flintsparks.org
Join us in person - as a resident or commuter - at Holy Wisdom Monastery, 4200 County Highway M, Middleton, WI 53562.
Residential space is limited to 21 people and is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
If being in-person is not an option, please join us virtually.
Please carefully review the covid policy for in person participation.
Registration is open and refunds less a $25 fee are available through Tuesday, October 11, 2022.
Please refer to the covid policy for illness-related cancellations.
Please note that the retreat dharma talks will be recorded.
This retreat is not a place to receive psychological or psychiatric care. If you are under the care of a therapist,
psychologist or psychiatrist, please check with them about the appropriateness of attending.
To register for this hybrid retreat please follow this link: ODZC Fall 2022 Retreat Registration
For more information about Open Door Zen Community, visit opendoorzencommunity.org
For questions email opendoorzencommunity@gmail.com
ODZC Fall Retreat 2022 Being and Becoming: The Buddha’s Most Important Core Teaching