Summer is well underway here at the Center. In the photo above, retreat facilitator Sandra Gonzalez and staff member Debbie Lewis are happily preparing to feed guests and staff.

Silent retreats are at the heart of the Center’s meditative work. Information about two summer retreats is shown below as well as an All-Day Sitting. Upcoming this Saturday is an Open Meditative Dialogue with a guest speaker. 

The remainder of the summer features many events; see the Calendar for details. Also, the Online offerings calendar lists regular morning and evening sittings.

This retreat is open to in-person and online attendees, full or part-time. There is still space to attend in person. Online attendance is unlimited but we encourage you to register early which helps staff to process applications in time. 

Wayne has been involved with the Center since its inception and for many years worked closely with Toni Packer, the Center’s founding teacher. Toni entrusted him with continuing the Center’s meditative work. In addition to holding retreats, Wayne takes part in the Center’s daily life, doing administrative and hands-on work, and meeting with staff and guests, In this July retreat, Wayne will give talks, be available for private meetings, and take part in both the in-person and online dialogue groups. 

More information about Wayne may be found on his website page, including talks and articles.  

Writing recently, Wayne spoke about one of the many thunderstorms we have experienced this summer:

Last night a sudden storm arose. Looking out one of our windows, Susan and I noticed trees bending over almost to the ground and rain battering the leaves and grasses that surround our house. We had planned to go out that evening, so we waited a bit for the storm to subside. 

Eventually we were ready to brave the elements and opened the door to our small entry porch. On the porch, his silvery-gray fur soaked with rain, was our adopted cat, Cory. At first he looked ready to retreat, to come back inside, but instead he elected to stay out, to brave whatever may come—perhaps finding it better, than being in the relatively safe, but boring indoors.

What came to mind here is that in meditative work, there is a call to step away from the safe and secure to one knows not what. Questioning, quieting may be risky! We risk losing the supposed security of our beliefs and prejudices. Are we willing to take a risk, to try something new? And is there really anything to be afraid of? 

A somewhat wild cat prefers the uncertainty of freedom, of new discovery. Are we somewhat wild, open to what may come? Seeing freshly, one beholds a landscape washed with rain, trees and leaves glistening with raindrops. In this person’s experience, sitting and being in retreat, thoughts quiet themselves and, wonder of wonders, the world freshens itself.

Use the button below to register for this retreat. 

We would like to inform newcomers and remind those who have been here before of Springwater Center’s Retreat Assistance Fund. This fund was established to create opportunity for anyone to attend silent retreat. We have had generous donors who are joyous in giving the gift of retreat to others.

To apply, fill in the Retreat Registration form and in the payment section, choose the “I will apply for retreat assistance” option. The Retreat Assistance Application will then appear and can be filled in. 

The Open meditative dialogues recently have been a popular offering. Please join us Online to hear this month’s guest speaker Evelyn Figueroa. Evelyn lives in France and started coming to Springwater in 2011 with yearly visits since. She shares, “At Springwater I discovered how different sitting can be when one is able to simply be what is in the moment. This changed everything.”

The schedule for this Saturday’s online OMD is as follows (in EDT):

1:30 – 2:00 pm – 25 minute timed sitting followed by short break
2:00 – 2:20 pm – Guest Speaker
2:30 – 3:45 pm – Open Meditative Dialogue

Speaking and dialoguing is different from a lecture or a discussion group where we share what we already know. The spirit of Meditative Inquiry infuses Talks and Group Dialogue at Springwater Center with a sense of exploration and discovery, of being open to the freshness of not knowing. Join the program online this coming Saturday, July 20 and experience this for yourself!

All 2024 Open Meditative Dialogues are freely offered, though donations in appreciation are always gratefully received. Please use the button below to donate and choose the “Online Sittings/Programs” option.

Join this Zoom Meeting using 
DIRECT LINK
 or
Zoom.us Meeting ID: 289 037 6188, Passcode: 7179

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdsftvqRwr

Both the All Day Sitting and the Seven day Retreat will be in person and online. To register click the buttons below.

Bob Dattola has been involved with Springwater Center since its inception and in addition to leading retreats, he has been serving as a trustee for many years

At an All Day Sitting, Bob spoke of “Being here in this quiet presence: sounds in the background, sunlight filtering in through the windows.” and he asked “What’s so special about this? . . . Sounds, sights, other senses—smell—unfiltered. Not engaging the intellect.”

Bob went on to say “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with intellectual thinking, analytical thinking. I’ve spent most of my life doing that. But then taking time to come to an All Day Sitting or several days in a retreat where it’s not necessary to use our minds that way. Just being with what is, which sounds so simple. But how often during our lives, especially outside of the meditation hall, are we really here, seeing what’s here?”

Click here to listen to the whole talk.