We at One Earth Sangha are honored that the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies has asked us to lead a retreat for Dharma practitioners. We are writing to you to invite you to be part of this powerful in-person retreat and to ask you to share this invitation with like minded fellow Dharma practitioners.
Our world is undergoing dramatic changes, ecologically and socially. The next decades will radically challenge every aspect of our society, and EcoDharma—that is, Dharma wisdom and practices that explore with subtlety, grit, and depth both roots and remedies to socio-ecological crises—is sorely needed today.
We believe an ecologically informed Dharma has the potential to support individuals and communities, and we aspire to support Dharma leaders and experienced practitioners in discovering and developing an EcoDharma that is uniquely and powerfully attuned to these changes in ways that liberate the heart and guide wholesome responses.
This 5-day residential retreat facilitated by Kristin Barker and Adam Lobel will be a deepened, and broadened*, in-person version of our successful online training.
Who is this for?
- Anyone who cares deeply about ecological issues and regularly practices meditation, mindfulness, or contemplative therapy
- Those who sense the potential for their Dharma practice to address complex social and ecological challenges
- Practitioners who seek to practice and shape the Dharma to meet the challenges and opportunities of this moment.
If you or someone you know fits any of these categories, we welcome you to join us!
Together, we will explore teachings, resources, and practices in response to four guiding investigations:
- How are you personally relating to the ongoing violence towards the more-than-human world?
- What are some best practices to face eco-anxiety, climate trauma, and environmental distress within yourself and others to whom you respond? In particular, how do we inspire and engage our communities without spreading more guilt, dread, blame, and fear? And how do we wisely work with apocalyptic predictions for collapse and extinction?
- What role can Dharma play in addressing socio-economic and racial injustices embedded in ecological violence?
- What is the EcoDharma we can cultivate together for the coming decades of fires, floods, climate refugees, and possible social collapse? How do we listen for and give voice to a powerful expression of an Earth–based dharma from within our diverse Buddhist lineages?
If you sense the potential for your practice and/or leadership to engage complex climate/ecological challenges, this program is for you. We welcome you to join us as part of a growing network of inspired and informed EcoDharma practitioners.
Supported by one another and the land, we will reflect on our personal questions, fears, and longings. Our program will provide inspiration and guidance on integrating our socio-ecological realities into the way we practice and serve as Dharma practitioners. We hope it will also be a deep contemplative experience and an opportunity for building mutually supportive spiritual friends.
