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Awakening To What Is
Winter Meditation Retreat: December 20 – 27, 2009
Isabella Freedman
116 Johnson Road, Falls Village, CT 06031
http://isabellafreedman.org/
http://isabellafreedman.org/cooper
About this retreat
Whether you are a beginning or advanced student of meditation, deepen your moment-to-moment awareness in the “friendly” silence at this longtime popular retreat. Enjoy peace of mind and awaken to the boundless nature of “being present” through silent sitting, chanting, walking meditations, insight dialogue and inquiry, and wisdom teachings from Zoharic, Hasidic, Zen and Dzogchen sources.
Teachers
Rabbi David Cooper is the author of many books, including The Handbook of Jewish Meditation Practices, God is a Verb and Ecstatic Kabbalah. He has also published a number of audio-sets, including Songs of Prayer and Silence, which he co-produced with his wife, Shoshana Cooper. Rabbi Cooper has led workshops and retreats in the US, Israel, Holland, Poland, New Zealand and Australia. His teachings offer a Jewish perspective that is complemented by the wisdom of other schools including Sufism, Zen and Tibetan Buddhism.
Shoshana Cooper is an artist, Tea Ceremony teacher, meditation instructor, composer and former nursing instructor. Shoshana has become a leader in the growing popularity of Jewish Meditation. She and her husband David taught at the Jewish Renewal Kallah for twelve years and they lived in the Old City of Jerusalem for the previous eight years. Together they produced the CD Songs of Prayer and Silence.
Eliezer Sobel is a certified teacher of the 5 Rhythms™, which he offers as part of the biannual meditation retreats with David and Shoshana Cooper. He is a musician and the author of Wild Heart Dancing, The 99th Monkey and Minyan: Ten Jewish Men in a World that is Heartbroken, winner of the Peter Taylor Prize for the Novel.
Program Fee: By Donation
Register now! Contact Isabella Freedman
registrar@isabellafreedman.org
or call (800) 398-2630 x4
Information About Weeklong Silent Retreats
A weeklong silent retreat is one of the essential and most important practices for any spiritual aspirant. Each spiritual discipline and many teachers have unique practices, schedules, relationships between the teachers and students along with other nuances of the training. The retreats offered by the Coopers have their own flavor.
On our retreats, the silence we emphasize has two important qualities: 1) it is "friendly," that is to say we do not have to cut ourselves off from other retreatants—a smile or small gesture may be used as long as there is no demand for reciprocation, and 2) the focus of our silence is on "inner" rather than outer plane.
So in our “silence,” we actually chant and sing together every morning. In some instruction periods, questions or comments are invited from the audience. Retreatants have opportunities to engage teachers, either one-on-one or in small groups. All this is considered part of the silence of social conversation.
Therefore, in our silence we are committed not engage one another on a social level. We do not have mundane conversations. We do not greet one another verbally. Why is this so important? The answer is that something happens deep within each of us when we maintain an outer silence as described. An inner silence for practitioners on our retreats arises after a few days. It is a spaciousness that makes itself known on a very deep level. We experience an ease that is uniquely satisfying and deeply content on some kind of soul level that is inexplicable. We begin to feel profoundly connected with others around us, even though we are not speaking. And we begin to experience a fascinating integration with our surroundings, nature, life.
It is true that initially, for the first few days, the experience may feel a bit strange. We are social beings. But we are also very adaptable and soon we begin to realize the extraordinary wonder of the possibility of a moment-to-moment connection with what is happening right now--the magic and mystery of the unfolding NOW. When this happens, the silence becomes a precious gift. Indeed, on our retreats, after the third or fourth day, retreatants love the silence so much they want it to last as long as possible.
Cooper retreats are usually offered during June and December each year.
