Fellowship of the Dice

Hello all. From Wednesday, June 2 through Tuesday, June 8 I will be visiting my mother for the first time since everything hit the fan. From Wednesday, June 9 through Sunday, June 13, I will be at home, but participating in an on-line meditation retreat. (I've done one before and it works better than you might think.) I expect to continue posting, but at a slower rate than normal.

No worries. Take all the time you need!

Which monastery is offering the online meditation retreat?

I went to a business conference in San Fran a couple years ago and the host invited the Plum Village monks to offer 2-3 courses per day (4 day conf) with mindfulness courses, lunch time meditations, videos and talks, etc. I skipped all of the technical demos, courses, etc. and spent about 10+ hours with them. It was pretty awesome to hear and watch some stories about Thich Nhat Hanh, who I've read about quite a bit when I was younger.

I have Blue Cliff Monastery retreat on my bucket list (the Plum Village monastery in upstate NY) that I'd like to get to, if I can find myself to leave my pets at the kennel.

Small world. The monastery hosting the retreat is Blue Cliff, where I've been on retreat in person many times. It's definitely worth visiting if you have the opportunity. The atmosphere is so peaceful even the deer and chipmunks aren't particularly afraid of people. I've been surprising close to them on a couple of occasions.

Actually, let me correct myself. I'm going on another on-line meditation retreat at Blue Cliff later in the summer.

This one is being hosted by the Mariposa Institute, a lay residential dharma center in Oregon, also in the Plum Village tradition.

I think Blue Cliff is having an on-line "family retreat" (which is open to everyone, with or without families) later this summer, though they haven't officially posted in on their website yet. (The one I'm going to is for members of the Order of Interbeing, the lay religious order affiliated with the Plum Village tradition.)

Glad to hear she's alright. Enjoy the vacation!

My mother? She's as healthy as a horse. She actively exercises and eats well, probably more so than me. And she's been very cautious during the pandemic.