This dharma talk focuses on the aggregate of thought as it applies to perceived limitations we may encounter in our meditation practice. The main focus of the talk is in working with trauma and I tell my own story about my cabin in the woods — the most difficult time of my life.
Saturday, March 26, 9:00 a.m. – Noon
Nashville Friends Meeting
Led by Lisa Ernst
Please join us for a half day of sitting and walking meditation. In this silent retreat we will stabilize attention and deepen concentration through the breath and body, then gradually open our awareness to the boundless space of mind and heart. The morning will include mindfulness, lovingkindness and compassion practices. These practices help us touch moments of freedom from our habitual patterns and find compassion and equanimity in our present moment experience.
Led by meditation teacher Lisa Ernst, this retreat is suitable for newer as well as more experienced meditators. The retreat will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, instructions and dharma talk. Cost is $40. A reduced fee spot is available in the case of financial need. Please inquire for details.
Paypal is available here. If paying by check, instructions are here. Please include your email address. For questions email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com
Stability and Clarity
Thursday Evening, April 21 – Noon, April 24, 2016
Optional extended retreat through noon April 26
Bethany Hills Retreat Center, Kingston Springs, TN
Led by Lisa Ernst
This retreat is full but you are welcome to put your name on the waitlist by emailing onedharmaretreat@gmail.com.
Please join us at a beautiful, wooded retreat site just outside of Nashville for this three or five night retreat. Cultivating clear awareness of our present moment experience reveals insights into the nature of suffering and liberation. We see that everything that arises is not my “self” but a display of impermanent conditions. When the mind sees life through this clarity and is unclouded by confusion, we create the foundation for well-being, joy and equanimity.
Led by meditation teacher Lisa Ernst, this silent retreat is suitable for newer as well as experienced students. It will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, instructions, dharma talks and private meetings with the teacher. Retreat fee includes lodging and all meals.
The 3 night retreat is $220 if paid in full by March 23; after $245. If you wish the stay through the 26th, the retreat fee is $365 if paid by March 23; $395 after. A $75 deposit will reserve your spot. Please indicate if you will be attending the three or five night option. There will be a separate opportunity at the retreat to make a dana (generosity) offering to the teacher. A reduced fee spot is available in the case of financial need. Please inquire for details.
Lisa Ernst is a Buddhist Meditation teacher in the Thai Forest lineage of Ajahn Chah, Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman. She is the founder of One Dharma Nashville. In her teaching, Lisa emphasizes both transformational insight and everyday awakening as an invitation to embrace all of the path’s possibilities. She leads classes, workshops and meditation retreats nationally.
Payments can be made through Paypal here or mailed to One Dharma Nashville, c/o 12 South Dharma Center, 2301 12th Ave. S. Nashville, TN 37204. Be sure to include your email address. For questions, email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com
February 19 – 21, 2016
Hosted by One Dharma Nashville
Public talk by Vincent Horn, February 19, 7 – 8 p.m., First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1808 Woodmont Blvd. Nashville
Mindfulness++
A Practical Method for Reprogramming the Mind
If we look at meditation–and mindfulness as one of its core aspects–as a way of programming the mind it becomes helpful to explore the different ways we can reprogram our reality. In this talk we’ll explore multiple training paradigms that come from both the Buddhist and Mindfulness traditions. We’ll look at how the perspective of each is different and why they’re designed to lead to different results. We’ll explore how our own intentions line up with these different training paradigms and consider ways we can change or enhance how we’re practicing.
Suggested donation: $20
Mindful Awareness Workshop with Emily and Vincent Horn, Saturday, February 20, 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Nashville Friends Meeting
In this workshop we’ll explore both the practice of mindfulness–actively noticing what you notice as you notice it–and awareness–simply being. We’ll use guided and silent practices as well as interactive social meditation. By learning these different techniques we move closer to being able to meld them into an integrated whole. Mindful awareness is the coming together of effortless being and active investigation. It’s being able to differentiate what’s arising in our experiential field while also resting in an undifferentiated awareness of it all. When we can move between mindfulness and awareness, merging and blending the two modes together, we become more responsive to our experience of life.
Workshop cost is $50 – $75 sliding scale plus dana (donation) to the teachers. Registration due by February 15. More info and registration here.
Sunday Meditation with the Buddhist Geeks, Sunday, February 21
9:30 – 11 a.m. Co-hosted with Against the Stream Nashville, 3816 Charlotte Ave.
We would love for you to join us for a morning of practice. There will be a 30 minute guided meditation, a short Dharma Talk, and time to ask questions and chat. Suggested donation: $20
Vincent Horn is part of a new generation of teachers & thinkers translating age-old wisdom into 21st century code. Vincent has been called a “power player of the mindfulness movement” by Wired magazine. He is the co-founder and CEO of @BuddhistGeeks and @MeditateIO.
Emily Horn is a meditation teacher trained by Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman. Her teaching style is influenced by Mindfulness meditation and revolves around the interwoven nature of contemplation, personal unfolding, and daily life. She is the director of operations at Buddhist Geeks.
Please join us for any or all of these events. To pay for multiple events, go here and enter the amount you will pay, then email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com with the events you’ll attend.
For questions, email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com
by Frankie Fachilla
After completing my seventh One Dharma retreat in December, I have reflected quite a lot on the importance of retreats in my life. The retreats have varied in length from three days (4 of them), to five days (two of them), and one seven day. Every retreat is a gift to my own ability to cultivate peace of mind as I navigate the waves of my life. They are a training ground for this delicate and, often, nebulous task of being present with my own heart. Retreats allow me the time, space, and safety to make this journey to the core of things and stay there outside of the usual patterns of avoidance and distraction that sweep me along in my normal life routines. The more retreats I do, the more I think of them as essential for my mental well being and ability to live a fulfilling life.
Still, retreating from life is challenging as I disengage from my family, my work, my email, my phone. The process of letting go of all of this, even for a few days, feels to me like prying a young child’s grasping arms from her parents’ neck as she tearfully screams in protest at being dropped off for the first day of kindergarten. Once she’s in her classroom, though, she quickly begins making friends and learning about the beauties of this other existence… A world away from her usual comforts and routines but safe and secure under the watchful gaze of her teacher, with her basic needs provided for and more. So it is at retreat: I learn to sit and watch the anxiety come and go as I wonder what emails I might be getting that need attention. I watch the loneliness dance with me as I miss hearing my husband’s voice or hugging my cats. Then, I get to see what’s on the other side of those feelings, instead of merely feeling bound by a constant struggle to avoid emotions that are inevitable. Returning to life, I have a new confidence that I can touch what’s underneath the waves of pain and fear and “come home” wherever I am.
I already feel so fortunate to have a trusted dharma teacher live close by and offer retreats at an accessible location, and I feel even more fortunate that these retreats are sometimes offered for an extended amount of time. I find that, after the first day of a retreat, things get very interesting as my patterns take a backseat to noticing what is present within me. The more time I have at a retreat, the more I get to discover. Since the biggest challenge of retreat is always the initial disconnection itself (figuring out who will take my stepson to school, deferring tasks at work until I return, the anxiety of having no contact with my husband, etc), it seems like the opportunity to stay longer at a retreat offers much more gain for very little additional sacrifice. Once we’re there, why not stay for longer to get even more benefit and even more practice doing what is so hard to do in the thick of our lives? Why not give ourselves the gift of an additional day or two to connect more strongly with our heart-center, our core, the true nature of things? It reminds me of the choice to exercise or go to the gym: the hardest part is always getting started, but once those endorphins start flowing, we often don’t want to stop. I hope that others will choose to give themselves this additional practice time at our upcoming Spring retreat!
Frankie Fachilla has been practicing with One Dharma for 10 + years. She is a licensed professional counselor in the mental health field.
Emily and Vincent Horn, The Buddhist Geeks
Saturday February 20, 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Nashville Friends Meeting
Sponsored by One Dharma Nashville
What is the difference between mindfulness & awareness? Both mindfulness and awareness reveal different features of our conscious experience, while remaining inseparable. Depending on which lens you peer through it changes how you see.
In this workshop we’ll explore both the practice of mindfulness–actively noticing what you notice as you notice it–and awareness–simply being. We’ll use guided and silent practices as well as interactive social meditation. By learning these different techniques we move closer to being able to meld them into an integrated whole. Mindful awareness is the coming together of effortless being and active investigation. It’s being able to differentiate what’s arising in our experiential field while also resting in an undifferentiated awareness of it all. When we can move between mindfulness and awareness, merging and blending the two modes together, we become more responsive to our experience of life.
Workshop cost is $50 – $75 sliding scale plus dana (donation) to the teachers. Please pay at the highest level you can afford so that we can also offer reduced fee spots. Please pay at Paypal here and enter the amount you will pay. To pay by check, instructions are here. For questions, email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com.
Emily Horn is a meditation teacher trained by Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman. Her teaching style is influenced by Mindfulness meditation and revolves around the interwoven nature of contemplation, personal unfolding, and daily life. She is the director of operations at Buddhist Geeks.
Vincent Horn is part of a new generation of teachers & thinkers translating age-old wisdom into 21st century code. Vincent has been called a “power player of the mindfulness movement” by Wired magazine. He is the co-founder and CEO of @BuddhistGeeks and @MeditateIO.
Saturday, January 30, 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Nashville Friends House
Led by Lisa Ernst and Paloma Cain
Morning Beams
Retreats are an invitation to nurture a continuity of mindfulness. This Retreat for New Retreatants is an opportunity for those who have little or no retreat experience to practice for a full day of mindfulness in the company of others who are new to retreats. The schedule will include meditation instructions, how to be on retreat, as well as shorter sitting and walking meditation sessions. This day will be mainly in silence. There will be adequate time for discussion including how to sustain practice in daily life.
Cost is $50 plus dana (donation) to the teachers. A reduced fee spot is available in the case of financial need. For information email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com. To register through paypal, go here. If paying by check, follow the instructions at this link. Be sure to include your email address.
Lisa Ernst has been meditating for over 25 years in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. She received teaching authorization in the Thai Forest lineage of Ajahn Chah, Jack Kornfiled and Trudy Goodman. Lisa teaches classes and workshops in a wide variety of settings and leads retreats nationally.
Paloma Cain, MA, has been studying and practicing meditation since 1997. Her work is informed by her studies in Insight Meditation, Tibetan Buddhism, clinical and depth psychology, religious studies and the visual arts. She leads classes, retreats and professional trainings in Mindfulness Meditation.
The Power of Intention: Clarifying Your Path for the New Year
Friday, January 1, 9 a.m. – Noon
12 South Dharma Center
Led by Lisa Ernst
“One of the Buddha’s most penetrating discoveries is that our intentions are the main factors shaping our lives and that they can be mastered as a skill.” – Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Join us for a half day intention setting retreat at the 12 South Dharma Center. At the beginning of a New Year, it is customary to take stock of our lives, to review the previous year and set our intentions for the upcoming twelve months and beyond. Bringing this evaluation onto the cushion, to look with fresh eyes and an open heart, can help us refine and clarify our direction and to live from the truest part of ourselves.
Led by meditation teacher Lisa Ernst, the retreat will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, dharma talk and discussion. Cost is $40.You can pay through Paypal here. Instructions for paying by check are at this link. Be sure and include your email address. For questions, email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com.
Saturday, November 14, 2015, 9:00 a.m. – Noon
Nashville Friends House
During the busyness and outward focus that often the lead into the holidays, this daylong retreat will offer a quiet time to slow down, connect with our bodies and extend kindness and compassion to ourselves and others. Slowly, in the simplicity and silence of the morning, we will learn to let go of distractions and touch our experience with a kind and open heart.
Led by meditation teacher Lisa Ernst, this retreat is suitable for newer and more experienced meditators. It will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, practice instructions and dharma talk.
Retreat fee is $40. A reduced fee spot is available in the case of financial need, please inquire to the email below. Paypal is here. Instructions for paying by check are at this link. Please include your email address. For questions, email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com.
Nashville Friends House
Saturday, October 17, 9 a.m. Noon
Led by Lisa Ernst
Dependent origination, also known as Buddhist psychology, stands as the Buddha’s deepest insight into the nature of suffering and liberation.
Buddhist Psychology provides us with a map of the inner terrain of mind and heart. Not simply a concept, but a way of living life, a path to liberation that we can experience and wake up to right now. In this class we will explore the links of dependent origination, emptiness, and the path to transformational insight. You will gain a deeper
understanding of how all things arise in dependence on multiple causes and conditions and how your practice can help you break the cycle of suffering.
The class will include instruction, experiential practice and discussion. Cost is $40 and can be paid by Paypal here. Instructions for paying by check are at this link. Be sure to include your email address with your check. A reduced feet spot is available in the case of financial need. For questions, email onedharmaretreat@gmail.com.
The Lotus Blooms in The Mud 