How do we live in this world while remaining deeply grounded in our buddha-nature?
In this compassion retreat, we will explore what it means to awaken to our buddha-nature as inseparable from the realization of “other power” compassion. In the Shin Buddhist tradition, “other power” refers to a cosmic and liberating compassion that is “other than ego,” not created or controlled by the ego, yet more intimate to us than anything else.
How can this realization help us meet the suffering of this life? How does it deepen our understanding of the First Noble Truth: that suffering is inseparable from existence in this world? And what might it reveal about the meaning of Buddhist liberation?
This retreat offers a rare opportunity to learn with three senior teachers from diverse strands of Buddhism: Zen teacher Ruben Habito of Maria Kannon Zen Center and Southern Methodist University; Judith Simmer-Brown of Shambhala International and Naropa University; and Mark Unno, a 14th-generation Shin Buddhist priest and professor at the University of Oregon.
Together, Ruben, Judith, and Mark bring deep knowledge of Pure Land compassion practices and other compassion-centered lineages, along with a longstanding history of collaboration and mutual learning across Buddhist traditions.
Program Format: This retreat will include silent and guided seated and walking meditation, chanting, dharma talks, some lecture/presentation, and small group/relational work.