About the Event

During this New Years’ Insight meditation retreat we will cultivate a deeper understanding of ourselves through gentle and sustained awareness of our body, breath, heart, and mind. Each day will include periods of silent sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks and group meetings with the teacher. New Year’s Eve will be held with a special intention-setting ceremony. Together, we’ll develop a greater sense of care for ourselves and for our world through the revolutionary practices of the Dharma.

 

The practice instructions will be based on the four foundations of mindfulness in combination with exercises in kindness and compassion. This silent retreat will explore the many ways that true spiritual practice is an engagement with life that runs contrary to the confusion in this world. This ancient path of awakening our own deepest wisdom is accessible to all who choose it. The retreat is suitable for both beginning and more experienced practitioners. We hope you can join us for a meaningful and beautiful beginning to the New Year!

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Teacher Bio

For nearly 30 years, Dave Smith has held a practice rooted in the Insight Meditation (Vipassana) tradition. He was empowered to teach through the Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society, is a certified teacher for Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) which is combines contemporary emotion based scientific research with contemplative practices and psychology drawn from Buddhism and has studied Buddhist psychology at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (BCBS).

 

Dave teaches residential meditation retreats, weekly live dharma classes, online courses, and workshops. He has developed educational tools and resources, including mindfulness and emotional skills trainings, in both secular and Buddhist contexts. Dave also works with students 1:1 through his dharma mentoring program.

 

In 2016 he founded the Secular Dharma Foundation to foster the advancement of emotional and psychological well-being through the education and integration of mindfulness, psychology, and various therapeutic modalities. Dave has brought dharma and meditative interventions into a variety of settings including jails, prisons, youth detention centers and addiction treatment facilities. Dave lives in rural Colorado with his wife and two sons.  

Explore more about Dave Smith here.

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Residential Retreat

WJ Kelley Retreat Center 

510 N 2nd St, Bay St Louis, MS 39520

 

Bay St. Louis is 1 hour away from the New Orleans, Louisiana airport.

We are a small sangha with welcoming members. If you need help getting to the retreat from New Orleans. We can get you a ride!

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Retreat Begins: Monday December 30, 2024

Arrive: 3:30-5:30 pm (check in window)

Concludes: Thursday January 2, 2025

Depart: 11:30 am

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Retreat Pricing & Expected Support for Teacher

TEACHER DANA:
As part of the Buddhist tradition, the teachers of this retreat do not receive any of the retreat fees, apart from travel reimbursement. Their time and teachings are freely offered to the community of practitioners. As a practice of generosity from the heart, participants are invited to offer “dana” (donations-generosity) to the teachers at the end of the retreat.

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Dana is a Pali word that is generally translated as “generosity.” We are taught to practice dana, or generosity, by making monetary offerings for the teachings. Dana is not payment for services rendered – it is given from the heart. Dana is the first theme in the Buddha’s system of gradual training and the first of the three grounds for meritorious action.

 

Our teacher relies solely on the generosity of the students for their livelihood. Teachers receive no compensation for teaching at Flowering Lotus Meditation. Please plan to give generously to our teacher at the end of the retreat.

These registration costs pay for your room and meals and some of the costs it takes Flowering Lotus Meditation to continue to host phenomenal meditation Buddhist teachers in the south. Some of the costs include, but are not limited to, teacher travel. insurance, web and marketing, staff and retreat center costs, deposits and rental fees, accounting, event management software, payment processing, etc.

By selecting the highest amount you can reasonably afford, you support our ability to meet the large number of requests we receive for financial aid.

 

Private Room 3 nights accommodation single occupancy + 8 meals $670

Shared Room 3 nights accommodation double occupancy + 8 meals $540

Scholarship Rate 3 nights accommodation double occupancy + 8 meals $450
Commuter staying off site attending all sessions and 8 meals + 8 meals $335

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We offer payment plans, pay a $125 deposit when you register, then 2 monthly payments of the remaining balance.

 

REGISTRATION CLOSES FOR THIS RETREAT DECEMBER 16, 2024

 

More Information

If you have questions or need additional information about this retreat or other Flowering Lotus program offerings, please contact:

 

Beth Herzig

Executive Director

floweringlotusms@gmail.com

601-918-8510

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