Brewing Translucence: The Alchemy of Concentration, Insight, and Unbounded Awareness

A 7-Day Silent Meditation Retreat

Led by Jogen Salzberg

at Lifebridge Sanctuary, nestled in the Catskill Mountains

333 Mountain Rd, Rosendale, NY, 12472

August 25th - August 31st, 2024

Offered by dana (donation-based)

Within an intensive vessel of scheduled sitting meditation, communal movement experiments, dharma talks and face to face exchange and dialogue with the teacher, we will embody the timeless ingredients of awakening: single pointed focus, wholehearted release, devotion, playfulness, love, curiosity, and the examining of our ingrained beliefs, particularly around who and what we think we are. 

You can hear Jogen’s teachings here

Retreat Daily Schedule

5:00 am: Wake Up Bell

5:30 am - 8:00 am: Sitting Meditation, Chanting, Interview

8:00 am - 8:45 am: Breakfast

10:00 am - 12:30 am: Sitting Meditation, Movement Practices, Chanting, Group or Private Interviews

12:30 am - 1:15 pm: Lunch

3:00 pm - 5:30 pm Sitting Meditation, Movement Practices, Chanting, Group or Private Interviews

5:30 pm -6:15 pm Dinner

7:00 pm - 9:30 pm Sitting Meditation, Chanting, Interview

9:30pm pm Lights Out

Meet the Teacher

My roots are nearly 3 decades of Zen Buddhist practice alongside strong influence and practice in Tantric / Vajrayana Buddhism with various teachers.  I have also engaged devoted study of the Pali suttas, Mahayana philosophy, Dogen’s awakening poetics and consumed tons of mystical literature for the love of it.

I consider myself ultimately non-sectarian feeling that the vast Dharma is finally not encapsulatable or exhaustively contained by any teaching, description, system, cultural expression or lineage.

Among the influences on my teaching and practice are Carl Jung and James Hillman’s understanding of Psyche and the polycentric self, Rumi’s odes to the enworlded Divine, Paratheatre embodied archetypal ritual, great Yogi Longchenpa’s Dzogchen love songs to the inexpressible, Coltrane and Sun Ra’s cosmic sensibilities, improvised music in general and my own trap-kit studies.

I believe that peace and freedom are not necessarily the same thing and that we should find out which one we really want.

solisluna.org

Jogen Salzberg

Noble Silence

During this retreat we will be practicing in Noble Silence. When the whole group enters into Noble Silence we offer each other and ourselves the gift of being with our experience as it is. This practice supports the mind settling. Noble Silence includes no unnecessary talking, including social courtesies like saying “good morning” or “excuse me”, no reading or writing unless the teacher specifically encourages you to do so, and no tech use. You will be invited to give your phone to a retreat manager at the beginning of the week so they can keep it in a safe place for you. You can also keep it in your room turned off. Upon being accepted to this retreat, you will receive emergency phone numbers that we ask you to share with your loved ones so that you will not need to be monitoring your own messages. Retreat managers will be present throughout the entirety of the retreat to support the group. If at any point during the retreat you are feeling ill, are injured, or are in distress please speak with one of the retreat managers.

FAQs

Lifebridge Sanctuary

  • Yes, minimum of 1 weekend or silent retreat

  • Nope. You do not have to be Buddhist to participate in this retreat. Jogen’s teachings are rooted in the Buddhist tradition and include beliefs that may be new or foreign for some. The invitation is to encounter the teachings, to commit to fully trying them on and confirming (or disconfirming) them with your own experience, and to maintain a healthy, open, discerning, and inquisitive mind.

  • The 5 precepts are training guidelines as the foundation of sīla (ethics). Throughout this retreat we will all be maintaining the 5 precepts so that we can we can practice in harmony.

    1. I will not engage in physical violence or intentionally cause bodily harm to myself or others

    2. I will not steal or damage other people’s property.

    3. I will refrain from forced, coercive, or non-consensual sexual contact or any other form of sexual harassment against others. For this retreat we will be practicing celibacy.

    4. I will not intentionally insult or verbally abuse others.

    5. I will not consume intoxicating substances including, but not limited to, alcohol, marijuana or any other illegal substances.

  • The retreat is run on a donation basis in the spirit of dana. There is no required attendance fee. We ask that participants give a deposit of $100 in order to claim your place at the retreat. This deposit is returned back to you at the end of the retreat unless you choose to donate it. We keep your deposit in the case that you don’t show up, or you cancel within 3-weeks of the start of the retreat. For this retreat, that’s August 4th, 2024.

    We ask you to donate the amount that feels appropriate and generous for you, given your situation and desire for Dharma Gates to continue to exist in the future.

  • The food served at the retreat will be vegan. If you have specific allergies or requests, please let us know. We are able to accommodate all dietary requests.

  • There are 16 indoor beds available and large availability for camping in tents and/or sleeping completely outside with no tent, weather permitting. If you would like to camp and/or have a tent (or two!) you would be willing to bring to the retreat, please indicate that in your registration form. If you have other gear such as additional sleeping pads and bags that would also be helpful.

  • Dharma Gates wholeheartedly welcomes people of all cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities. There will be gender neutral bathrooms available and we may be able to provide single rooms if that would make you more comfortable. Our aim is to make retreat practice accessible to all young people—if there’s something we can to do help you feel comfortable to attending, please do not hesitate to reach out to us (team@dharma-gates.org.)

  • This retreat will be at the Lifebridge Sanctuary. The address is 333 Mountain Rd, Rosendale, NY 12472. It is a 2 hour drive from New York City. Dharma Gates will provide a spreadsheet for participants to self-organize ride shares.

  • Arrival: Please arrive between 2:00pm - 5:00pm on Sunday, August 25th. It is important you arrive during this window so you can go through the check-in process before the evening activities begin.

    Departure: The retreat will end at 1:00pm on Saturday, August 31st.

  • We ask that everyone who attends wears modest loose clothing, with subdued colors, prints, and minimal/no words for the duration of the retreat.

  • We are no longer require testing for Covid-19. We are still committed to the safety and health of the retreat container. The intention is to move towards a culture of taking care of ourselves and others by self-monitoring symptoms, and reducing transmission of any possible sickness.