Well Being Retreat Center - Event
Treat yourself to a three-night silent retreat at Well Being Retreat Center with Alaya Dickinson and Don Oakley where you will be well cared for, well fed, and have the opportunity to experience profound inner and outer silence.
Following a spontaneous awakening twenty years ago, Alaya has deepened her understanding by immersing herself in the teachings of Neelam (in the lineage of Ramana Maharshi) and with personal counseling with Adyashanti.
Don is the Founding Director of Well Being Retreat Center, author of "It's Time to Wake Up Now: The Top Ten Myths that Can Hijack Spiritual Awakening," and a long-time student of Adyashanti.
Three-Night Retreat with Alaya & Don
May 12 - 15, 2022
The retreat will begin with supper on Thursday May 12th and will end after lunch on Sunday May 15th.
NOTE: Due to the probable continuance of Covid Restrictions, all sessions will be held and all meals will be served at the 1,800 square foot open-air Powell River Pavilion. All rooms will be single occupancy unless you have a friend or a partner that you choose to share a cabin with.
About the Retreat
The retreat will be held largely in silence except for Q&A. Alaya and Don will each lead sessions individually and will lead daily Q&A jointly. There will be a number of silent sittings to enhance the inner inquiry and silence. Also, both Alaya and Don will be available for a limited number of private sessions Friday and Saturday afternoon.
The retreat will begin with check-in after 4 pm on Thursday September 8th and end after lunch around 2 pm on Sunday September 11th, 2022.
Cabins at Well Being Retreat Center are comfortable. If Well Being's Covid restrictions are still in place for this event, cabins will be limited to one person per cabin except for couples. Consenting cabin mates can share a two bedroom cabin. The open-air Powell River Pavilion is where all of the meals and scheduled events will be held. The Conference Building may not be available for this retreat.
Meals will be non-vegetarian with a vegetarian option at each meal, The meals will be almost entirely gluten-free with lots of freshly prepared ingredients. The Cabins (but not the Cabinettes) have kitchenettes if you have special food needs to allow you to prepare your own supplementary food.
About Alaya Dickinson
Alaya first experienced brief glimpses leading to a spontaneous awakening in 1997. This left her with a burning fire for truth and a determination to find a release from her suffering. She was drawn Satsang and to the feet of her beloved Neelam: a teacher of the Ramana Maharshi lineage. From that very first meeting there arose a profound recognition of unconditional love but also a strong sense of separation and resistance. However, Alaya instinctively knew that penetrating the resistance was exactly what was needed to penetrate the suffering. With Neelam’s unconditional love this separation fell away shortly after the birth of Alaya’s first child in 2001.
With a new husband and baby, Alaya moved to Asheville. She found in her daily experience of being a householder and working mother, that there was much abiding awareness/living in present Reality. But the non-abiding dream state kept arising which created an even deeper desire to investigate what was still appearing as separation. She realized that what was needed was already in the life she was leading and that every moment was a gift and opportunity to return to the natural awakened Self. “My husband, my children, my job, everything is my teacher, and true love is laying down whatever pulls on you, turning back to this life with an open heart and open palms”. With the realization that ordinary everyday life was sacred and that each moment was the Beloved pointing us home, she continued to question and inquire into her ideas, perspectives, and feelings until the veil of separation finally fell away. “With tenderness and openness, conditioning can unmanifest -leaving what naturally remains, as stillness, presence and love”. As people began to ask her to teach, Grace appeared as the non-dual teacher Adyashanti and with his support and friendship she began to give Satsang in 2011. “Grace is like gravity, it will continue to pull you within for the truth of who you are isn’t found in doing. It is found in the silence – in stillness.”
About Don Oakley
Don is the Founding Director and President of Well Being Retreat Center where he offers monthly in-person retreats and weekly Zoom discourses. Don studied intensively with Eckhart Tolle and then Adyashanti. An abiding shift occurred in 2004 followed by a series of deepenings. Don is currently nearing completion of his second book, "Empty Wisdom: The Subtle Art of Becoming What You Already Are." Samples of Don's teachings can be found on his YouTube Channel and on most Podcast platforms as "Well Being with Don Oakley."
Registration
Register directly with Well Being Retreat Center for Tuition and Accommodations (meals & lodging) at the rates: shown below. Detailed Well Being Retreat Center policies are here for COVID-19 and for Accommodations.
Contact Patty@WellBeingCC.org or at 423-626-9000 if you have questions about facilities or accommodations. Or contact Diana Flynn at flynndk@hotmail.com or 828-553-6761 if you have any questions about the program.
To register for this retreat (both Tuition & Accommodations) please use the form below.
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