ONLINE Retreat: The Nine Bodies of Consciousness: A Practical Map for Insight Practitioners

As a support for Insight meditation, the Nine Bodies teachings and meditations presented on this retreat offer you a new means for tracking and classifying meditative experiences which can help you stay present with whatever arises. These explorations may also increase the clarity and specificity of your mindfulness and enable the arising of insight. In this time of great uncertainty, strengthening our practice in these ways allows us to deal skillfully with the challenges related to the current health crisis.

The Nine Bodies online retreat starts by focusing on the consciousness that arises in the physical body and then presents a series of meditations for exploring ever more subtle levels of consciousness. These teachings and meditations are intended to help you be more empowered in your Insight meditation practice.

The Nine Bodies retreat systematically explores a set of teachings about the nature of consciousness that were first transmitted to Phillip Moffitt by the Himalayan yoga master Sri Swami Premvarni Balyogi twenty years ago. They are the basis for Phillip’s book: Awakening through the Nine Bodies.

This retreat is specifically designed as an online offering. It combines the dedicated practice time of a residential retreat while supporting yogis with family members and/or other responsibilities. The format is configured to maximize its effectiveness as a virtual retreat during this extraordinary time of shelter-in-place. It provides each of us the opportunity to integrate formal meditation and daily life practice. Each day there will be two guided meditations, a small group practice meeting, time for independent sitting in the communal virtual hall, and a dharma talk with Q & A.

Please note that each teaching session and guided meditation of the retreat is a building block for the next teaching session and guided meditation. Due to this progressive building process, please plan on attending all teaching sessions. We understand that due to the home retreat aspect of this offering, you may need to skip a walking meditation or other non-essential part of the retreat. In reviewing the retreat schedule below, we ask that you consider carefully whether you can commit to attending all of the active teaching sessions and one small group practice meeting each day of the retreat.

This retreat is for yogis that have a committed practice and the ability to sit multiple times a day over a seven-day period. As a prerequisite, we ask that you have attended a minimum of two 6-night retreats (or longer). This retreat is not recommended for students who are experiencing acute depression or grief or other strong mental challenges.

In order to allow for daily small group practice meetings for every yogi, registration for this retreat is limited to 72 people.

Schedule (all times Pacific Time)

Retreat Dates:

Thursday, May 28, 5:00 pm – Thursday, June 4, 11:00 am

Opening Day Schedule, Thursday, May 28 – To Be Announced

Tentatively 3:00 – 6:30 pm

• Technology Testing, Retreat Logistics, Formal Retreat Opening

Daily Schedule (Friday, May 29 – Wednesday, June 3)

8:00 – 9:00 am First Guided Meditation Period

9:00 – 11:00 am Individual Sitting and Walking Practice

11:00 am – 12:00 pm Second Guided Meditation Period

12:00 – 1:30 pm Lunch

1:30 – 2:30 pm Groups A1, A2, A3 Practice Meetings

3:00 – 4:00pm Groups B1, B2, B3 Practice Meetings

1:30 – 5:00 pm Individual Sitting and Walking Practice (when not attending your Group Practice Meeting)

5:00 – 6:30 pm Talk/Q & A

Closing Day Schedule, Thursday, June 4 – To Be Announced

Tentatively 8:00 – 11:30 am