In meditation as well as in daily life, “doing” and skillful effort are vital, and it’s important to learn better how to be more skillful in one’s efforts to be aware, wise, and compassionate in both meditation and daily life. On the other hand, it’s also central to learn better how simply to “be,” in meditation and daily life, to be able to let go of doing at times and become more receptive to life and the moment. Our doing, in other words, can sometimes be “overdone” and it can be helpful to inquire into any habitual sense that we have of being a “doer.”
In this non-residential weekend retreat, we will explore these themes in practice and discussion. We will also examine what is taught in many spiritual traditions, including the Buddhist tradition, that a central deeper expression both of meditation and daily life can be understood as a kind of profound “non-doing” that paradoxically can also be a basis for action and doing, a "doing coming out of a deep not-doing"!