Category Archives: Retreats and Events

A Day of Mindfulness Retreat in Nashville

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A Day of Mindfulness Retreat
Awakening Joy
Sunday, October 21, 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Led by Lisa Ernst

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please join us for a  day of sitting and walking meditation at the 12 South Dharma Center. We will cultivate insight and lovingkindness through awakening our minds and hearts to the present moment.

Led by meditation teacher Lisa Ernst, this silent retreat will focus on mindfulness meditation. We will practice bringing mindfulness to the breath and sensations in the body, cultivating awareness of the pleasant and unpleasant states that arise. Through this practice  we gradually awaken the joy of meeting all that arises with compassion and friendliness.

This retreat is suitable for both beginning and experienced meditators; it will include sitting and walking meditation, practice instructions, and a dharma talk. Please bring a sack lunch. Refreshments will be provided at the end of the retreat.

Cost: $35, plus dana (donation) to the teacher. A deposit of $35 will reserve your space and is due by Monday, October 15. You may bring your deposit to the center during one of our meditation sessions, or mail a check made out to One Dharma Nashville to: 12South Dharma Center c/o One Dharma Nashville, 2301 12th Ave. South, Suite 202, Nashville, TN 37204. Please include your email address. Directions and additional information will be emailed prior to the retreat. Please contact onedharmaretreat@gmail.com with any questions or to reserve your spot.

Save the Date — Late Fall Residential Retreat Led by Lisa Ernst

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We’ll be back at Bethany Hills Retreat Center in Kingston Springs, December 6 – 9 for a residential meditation retreat. This retreat is open to anyone who would like to experience an extended period of deep dharma practice. More details coming soon.

Mindful Meditation and Photography Workshop

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Contemplative Photography and Meditation Workshop

Cultivating Clarity, Receptivity and Joy With a Camera

Saturday, September 22, 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Led by Lisa Ernst

Led by meditation teacher and artist Lisa Ernst, the workshop is suitable to new and experienced meditators. We will awaken contemplative awareness in our photography, supported by periods of meditation and walking practice.  The wooded, private grounds at Mercy Retreat Center, in Northeast Nashville, include open fields, wooded hills and some interesting architectural elements.

Please join us for a day of mindfulness as we combine meditation and the practice of contemplative photography. There’s no need for expensive equipment or technical knowledge, just a willingness to meet the moment in an open and receptive state.  A simple, yet profound joy often arises in this alliance of mind and heart, camera and surroundings.

Led by meditation teacher and artist Lisa Ernst, the workshop is suitable to new and experienced meditators. We will awaken contemplative awareness in our photography, supported by periods of meditation and walking practice.  The wooded, private grounds at Mercy Retreat Center, in Northeast Nashville, include open fields, wooded hills and some interesting architectural elements.

The retreat cost is $75. Two sliding scale slots are available for those who need financial assistance. You have the option of bringing a sack lunch or purchasing an onsite buffet lunch for $8. The buffet is not vegetarian, but there are plenty of options if you prefer a meatless meal.

The workshop deposit without a buffet lunch is $35; with lunch its $43 (advance planning is required for the buffet meal). Deposits are due by Friday, September 14. To pay online through Paypal, go here and scroll to the bottom of the page. If paying by check, please make it out to One Dharma Nashville and send to One Dharma Nashville, c/o 12 South Dharma Center, 2301 12th Avenue South, Suite 202, Nashville, TN 37204. Be sure to include your email address. Additional details and directions will be provided in advance of the retreat. For more information or to reserve your spot, email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com

A Late Summer Day of Mindfulness Retreat

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A Day of Mindfulness Retreat: Awakening to Presence

Sunday, August 26, 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.

12 South Dharma Center, Led by Lisa Ernst

Lotus Pads on Reelfoot Lake

Please join us for a late summer day of sitting and walking meditation at the 12 South Dharma Center. We will cultivate insight and lovingkindness through awakening our hearts to the present moment.

Led by meditation teacher Lisa Ernst, this silent retreat will focus on mindfulness meditation. We will train our minds in present time awareness by bringing attention to the breath and sensations in the body, cultivating awareness of the pleasant and unpleasant states that arise. Through this practice we gradually understand the truth of the constantly changing nature of all things, and we learn to respond with compassion and friendliness to all that arises.

This retreat is suitable for both beginning and experienced meditators; it will include sitting and walking meditation, practice instructions, and a dharma talk. Please bring a sack lunch. Refreshments will be provided at the end of the retreat.

Cost: $35, plus dana (donation) to the teacher. A deposit of $35 will reserve your space and is due by Monday, August 20. You may bring your deposit to the center during one of our meditation sessions, or mail a check made out to One Dharma Nashville to: 12South Dharma Center c/o One Dharma Nashville, 2301 12th Ave. South, Suite 202, Nashville, TN 37204. Please include your email address. Directions and additional information will be emailed prior to the retreat. Please contact onedharmaretreat@gmail.com with any questions.

A Day of Mindfulness Retreat

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Cultivating Insight and Interconnectedness

Saturday, July 14, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Led by Lisa Ernst

Please join us in a beautiful, rural West Nashville setting for a day of sitting and walking meditation. According to the Buddha, the greatest suffering arises from a sense of separation. Through the practice of mindfulness meditation we begin to access insight, which allows us to pierce the illusion of separateness and taste the joy of interconnectedness to all things.

Led by meditation teacher Lisa Ernst, the retreat is suitable for both beginning and experienced meditators; it will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, practice instructions, optional private interview and a dharma talk. Please bring a sack lunch. Tea and coffee will be provided as well as refreshments after the retreat.

Cost: $35, plus dana (donation) to the teacher. A deposit of $35 will reserve your space and is due by Monday, July 9. You may bring your deposit to the dharma center during one of our meditation sessions, or mail a check made out to One Dharma Nashville to: 12South Dharma Center c/o One Dharma Nashville, 2301 12th Ave. South, Suite 202, Nashville, TN 37204. Please include your email address. Directions and additional information will be emailed prior to the retreat. Please contact onedharmaretreat@gmail.com with any questions.

Three Day Meditation Retreat Recap

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“Without spending some time alone with yourself, looking at your own mind, going through the withdrawal process of whatever habits you are most addicted to, and facing some level of pain in that withdrawal process, gaining strength and clarity in the end, there’s no way you can become a fully developed, mature, spiritual person.”
– Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

 

This quote nicely sums up the value of taking time out for meditation retreats. In fact, our three day meditation retreat at Bethany Hills provided an ideal time to slow down, open our hearts and experience what is always with us but frequently overlooked. With our everyday distractions far removed, it was a perfect time to see our minds more clearly and glimpse our true nature. Or even spend significant time fully awake in it.

Nine of the people attending were on their first residential meditation retreat. To most, it required an adjustment initially — many of them discovered that engaging in sitting and walking meditation all day was more challenging than expected. But by Saturday as I scanned the circle, I often  saw a settled and deeply peaceful look on everyone’s faces. By Sunday morning most people reported having an important breakthrough or two into their practice. Sitting for three days with sincerity and commitment almost always yields this fruit.

It’s been two and a half years since I organized and led a weekend residential retreat in the Nashville area. The facilities we used in the past aren’t quite up to what we need now and it took a while to find a suitable location. I was very fortunate to have found Bethany Hills, which is set in a beautiful private area in Kingston Springs. The lodge has a large room perfectly suited to meditation, surrounded by windows and and a big wrap around deck. When the windows were open we were deeply immersed in the natural world, with the birds and frogs providing a beautiful, sometimes comical symphony. (When four or five bullfrogs call out in harmony, their ungainly croaking is simultaneously lovely and amusing.)

Saturday evening I led a contemplation and guided meditation on “emptiness of the breath” which I recorded and plan to post soon. Stay tuned for information about upcoming One Dharma meditation retreats.

Photo of Bethany Hills lake by John Young

Three Day Spring Meditation Retreat

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I’ll be leading a weekend mindfulness meditation retreat in April. This retreat is appropriate for newer and experienced meditators. Here’s the information:

A Weekend of Mindfulness

Spring Renewal Meditation Retreat

Thursday Evening, April 26 through Sunday Noon, April 29

Led by Lisa Ernst

Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,

 A cool breeze in summer, snow in winter.

If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,

This is the best season of your life.

-Wu-men

Please join us at a beautiful retreat site near Kingston Springs Tennessee for a three day silent mindfulness meditation retreat. The practice of mindfulness brings us into a deep awareness that sees and touches life with an open and unbiased heart. In this weekend of sitting and walking meditation, we will have the opportunity to embrace this time of renewal as we enliven and deepen our practice. We will cultivate continuous inspiration for meeting all aspects of life with greater openness, lovingkindness and compassion.

The retreat will be held at Bethany Hills Retreat Center beginning Thursday at 7 p.m. and ending at noon on Sunday.  Retreat cost is $165 if paid in full by March 23; after March 23, the cost is $190. Full participation for all three days is required. The retreat fee includes lodging and meals. There will be an opportunity at the retreat to make a dana offering (donation) to the teacher. Two sliding scale spots are open for those who need financial assistance. Please make your retreat check to One Dharma Nashville and send to: One Dharma Nashville c/o 12 South Dharma Center, 2301 12th Avenue S., Suite 202, Nashville, TN 37204. Include your email address. For questions, email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com

Lisa Ernst is the founder and guiding teacher at One Dharma Nashville. She began meditation practice in the late ’80′s in the Zen tradition, studying closely with two Rinzai Zen  Masters and attending numerous mediation retreats. Lisa has also practiced in the Theravada tradition since the late 90’s. In 2005 Lisa was given teaching authorization by Trudy Goodman, founder and guiding teacher of InsightLA. Lisa received full dharma transmission from Trudy in 2010.

Dana: According to the Buddha, generosity, or sharing what we have, is one of the central pillars of a spiritual life. In the act of giving we develop our ability to let go, cultivate a spirit of caring, and acknowledge the inter-connectedness that we all share. It is the practice of dana that has kept the Buddhist tradition alive for more than 2,500 years.

A Day of Mindfulness Retreat, Saturday March 3

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A Day of Mindfulness Retreat: Opening the Heart of Mindfulness

Led by Lisa Ernst, Saturday, March 3, 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Please join us at the 12 South Dharma Center for a day of sitting and walking meditation. This daylong retreat will focus on mindfulness meditation, which brings us intimately into the present moment. Here we begin to meet our lives and everything around us with an open and grateful heart.

Led by meditation teacher Lisa Ernst, the retreat is suitable for both beginning and experienced meditators; it will include sitting and walking meditation, practice instructions, optional private interview and a dharma talk. Please bring a sack lunch. Tea is available at the center and refreshments will be offered after the retreat. The center has plenty of mediation cushions, but feel free to bring your own if you prefer. Chairs are also available.

Cost: $35, plus dana (donation) to the teacher. Contact onedharmaretreat@gmail.com to reserve your space or for questions. Please mail a deposit of $35, made out to One Dharma Nashville, to: 12South Dharma Center c/o One Dharma Nashville, 2301 12th Ave. South, Suite 202, Nashville, TN 37204. Be sure to include your email address; additional retreat information will be emailed to you prior to the retreat.

A Day of Mindfulness Retreat

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Cultivating Clarity though Living The Questions
Saturday, January 28, 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., sponsored by One Dharma Nashville

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

Please join us for a day of mindfulness retreat at the 12 South Dharma Center. During the winter months it is customary to look inward and clarify our deepest intentions, yet unanswered questions may stand in the way. During this day of mindfulness, we will have the opportunity to practice opening our hearts to our unresolved questions. These questions contain a rich source of insight; learning to live them brings about a radical shift that opens the door to clarity and equanimity.

This retreat is appropriate for newer and more experienced meditators who wish to deepen their practice. Led by meditation teacher Lisa Ernst, the retreat it will include sitting and walking meditation, practice instructions, and a dharma talk. Please bring a sack lunch. Cushions and chairs are available at the center.

Cost: $35, plus dana (donation) to the teacher. Reduced fees are available in the case of financial need. Reservation deadline is Friday, January 20. Please contact onedharmaretreat@gmail.com to reserve your space or for questions. Please mail a deposit of $35, made out to One Dharma Nashville, to: 12South Dharma Center c/o One Dharma Nashville, 2301 12th Ave. South, Suite 202, Nashville, TN 37204. Alternatively, you can bring your deposit to one of Monday sits. Please include your email address with your deposit. Additional information will be emailed prior to the retreat.

Living the Questions

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“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

This poem is striking to me in its simplicity and truth. For many of us, it’s so easy to tangle up our energy in trying to solve questions that need to be lived instead. I had been formulating an idea for a New Year’s (January) retreat when I saw this poem and realized it was a perfect fit for the day’s focus.The retreat will be a silent mindfulness meditation retreat, but there will be instructions on how to work with unresolved questions in the midst of the  practice. The approach can open us up to a much deeper clarity and wisdom than we can achieve trying to resolve our questions by figuring them out.

The retreat is scheduled for Saturday, January 28 at the 12 South Dharma Center. For retreat details, go here.