Mindfulness of the Body, Impermanence, and Death: 10-night Retreat in Michigan

“Mindfulness of death, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and benefit, culminating in the deathless, having the deathless as its consummation.”
– Anguttara Nikaya 8.7

This retreat is designed to enhance your spiritual insights through a closer examination of the changing conditions of the body and meditative contemplations of death.

Developing mindfulness of our own death can protect the mind from complacency, and inspire us to practice dharma with greater energy and sincerity. Formal death contemplation can prepare us for the inevitable event of dying, help us to let go of latent fears, stimulate profound insights into impermanence, clarify priorities, and abandon sensory attachments.

Many forms of mindfulness of death practices (maranasati) are taught in Buddhist traditions. This retreat will begin with mindfulness of the body practices, and then introduce specific Buddhist approaches to the contemplation of death through guided meditations that encourage the perception of impermanence, develop ease with letting go, and use visualizations of skeletons and decomposing corpses as a powerful means for exploring impermanence and nonattachment. Most simply, we will practice remaining aware and balanced as we reflect on the fact that we will surely die. These contemplations can remove fear of death, produce a sense of being at ease with the nature of things, and support the development of mindfulness, concentration, and insight.

This silent retreat is structured with alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation, dhamma teachings, small group discussions, and teacher consultations. It is intended for meditators who are already familiar with mindfulness based practice, and have previously attended at least one multi-day silent residential retreat.