This is a guided retreat — two days of direct investigation, where we'll be exploring something very close to all of us:
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The ordinary experience of living our lives.
Most of us go through life with the unquestioned assumption that there's someone here, a separate individual making decisions, managing relationships, dealing with difficulties and trying to make life work.
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But what if that very assumption is worth investigating?
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What happens to our understanding of relationships, love, fear, conflict and responsibility when we begin to see through the illusion of a separate self?
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Over these two days, we'll explore these questions together through four sessions of direct inquiry and open conversation.
THE ONE LIVING THIS LIFE
Who is actually living this life?
We'll investigate the familiar sense of being someone with a personal history, expectations, responsibilities and a future to manage.
Is there really an individual at the centre of it all?
RELATIONSHIPS WITHOUT SEPARATION
Why do relationships so often bring out the strongest sense of 'me' and 'other'?
We'll explore love, conflict, attachment, expectations and the stories we hold about ourselves and those around us.
WHEN LIFE DOESN'T GO MY WAY
What happens when life doesn't unfold as we'd hoped?
We'll look directly at fear, frustration, sadness, resistance.
And the apparent individual who believes things should be different.
LIVING WITHOUT A CENTRE
If there is no separate individual directing life, what does that mean for everyday living?
Decisions still happen, relationships continue, responsibilities remain, and life goes on.
But is there actually someone standing apart from it all, trying to control it?
Throughout the retreat, there will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions, share your own experiences and investigate together.
This isn't about learning another philosophy, adopting a new belief or becoming a better version of yourself.
