Members' retreats
Go deeper with your practice
Lifeflow members-only retreats build on the experience that you gain at our public retreats.
2022 member retreats
Easter long weekend retreat at Kurlana
Non-duality and the Stages of Growth
Graham Williams et al
11am Friday 15 April – Monday 18 April
About this retreat
When you start meditating, for whatever reason, it is a natural, simple, healthy and very pleasant experience to discover that your mind and emotions can rest in a calm, balanced state. This is our natural state – the natural state of our minds and bodies. And the purpose of meditation is to rediscover this while sustaining the skills of thinking that we have developed.
As you develop your practice and discover the wonder of being able to grow personally by getting to know yourself better and be able to access areas of your mind you never thought possible, you also awaken those areas of your mind you have kept hidden. This is what the psychologist, Carl Jung, called the ‘shadow’ – that side of our personality which we are convinced is ‘not us’, and which we want to perfect or get rid of.
On these retreats you’ll have the opportunity to get to know your own shadow, and learn how to accept it as a friend rather than seeing it in all the terrible things that ‘others do’.
As you grow and get to know yourself more and more, perhaps the most challenging part of the path is the stage the Tibetan tradition calls, ‘The Single Taste’. This is where you discover that your inner world and your outer world, your meditation practice and your life, are not two separate things. It’s quite a revelation because people who believe that ‘the world’ is reality and all our inner experience is ‘imagination’ are no different from people who believe that their inner experience is reality and their refuge and try to avoid engaging as much as possible with ‘the world’.
You begin to discover that they are intimately connected and that one cannot exist without the other. We all try to be one-sided and prefer either being busy or being still, but this stage starts to reveal that neither of them is complete on its own.
This is why the tradition speaks of both ultimate truth and relative truth, or wisdom and compassion. They are both dependent on each other. And at this stage you see that the only thing dividing your inner and outer worlds is your own state of mind. The single taste means that you discover not only the side of yourself you have kept hidden, but also that no matter where you are or what you are doing (or not doing), what determines your experience and how you feel is your own state of mind. This is the constant that underpins everything we think, feel and do and is the key to understanding non-duality.
Part 1 of the retreat is over the Easter long weekend, part 2 will be over the October long weekend.
Dates and times
Retreat starts with lunch at 1 pm on Friday 15 April.
Retreat finishes after lunch on Monday 18 April.
You are welcome to arrive any time on the Friday morning. If you have booked the 4 night option (i.e. arriving on the day before the retreat starts), then you may arrive any time from 2 pm on the Thursday.
Bookings for this retreat open Friday 18 February and close 4.30 pm on Wed 13 April.
Retreat Fee
All details about fees for this retreat are included in the members’ email update. Or, please call the Studio on (08) 8379 9001 to find out all of the fee information.
Prerequisites
Any member who wishes to attend this retreat must have attended at least one of our public retreats at Tara Hills and attending or completed our Level 2 course. Please check with Reception before enrolling in a Kurlana retreat for the first time.
Find out more about retreats at Kurlana
You can find out more about retreats at Kurlana, including information about facilities, what to bring and alternative nearby accommodation options on our retreats at Kurlana page. Particularly note that Kurlana lies in the Fruit Fly Exclusion Zone in SA – click here to find out more.
See the PIRSA website for the current Fruit Fly Outbreak Map and also details of restrictions on movement of fruits and vegetables in SA.
October long weekend retreat at Kurlana
Non-duality and the Stages of Growth Part 2
Graham Williams et al
1 pm Saturday 1 October – 2 pm Monday 3 October
About this retreat
When you start meditating, for whatever reason, it is a natural, simple, healthy and very pleasant experience to discover that your mind and emotions can rest in a calm, balanced state. This is our natural state – the natural state of our minds and bodies. And the purpose of meditation is to rediscover this while sustaining the skills of thinking that we have developed.
As you develop your practice and discover the wonder of being able to grow personally by getting to know yourself better and be able to access areas of your mind you never thought possible, you also awaken those areas of your mind you have kept hidden. This is what the psychologist, Carl Jung, called the ‘shadow’ – that side of our personality which we are convinced is ‘not us’, and which we want to perfect or get rid of.
On these retreats you’ll have the opportunity to get to know your own shadow, and learn how to accept it as a friend rather than seeing it in all the terrible things that ‘others do’.
As you grow and get to know yourself more and more, perhaps the most challenging part of the path is the stage the Tibetan tradition calls, ‘The Single Taste’. This is where you discover that your inner world and your outer world, your meditation practice and your life, are not two separate things. It’s quite a revelation because people who believe that ‘the world’ is reality and all our inner experience is ‘imagination’ are no different from people who believe that their inner experience is reality and their refuge and try to avoid engaging as much as possible with ‘the world’.
You begin to discover that they are intimately connected and that one cannot exist without the other. We all try to be one-sided and prefer either being busy or being still, but this stage starts to reveal that neither of them is complete on its own.
This is why the tradition speaks of both ultimate truth and relative truth, or wisdom and compassion. They are both dependent on each other. And at this stage you see that the only thing dividing your inner and outer worlds is your own state of mind. The single taste means that you discover not only the side of yourself you have kept hidden, but also that no matter where you are or what you are doing (or not doing), what determines your experience and how you feel is your own state of mind. This is the constant that underpins everything we think, feel and do and is the key to understanding non-duality.
Part 1 of the retreat was over the Easter long weekend, part 2 will be over this weekend.
Dates and times
Retreat starts with lunch at 1 pm on Saturday 1 October
You are welcome to arrive any time on the Saturday morning. If you have booked the 3 night option (i.e. arriving on the day before the retreat starts), then you may arrive any time from 2 pm on the Friday.
Retreat finishes after lunch on Monday 3 October
Bookings for this retreat close 4.30 pm on Wed 28 Sept
This retreat theme continues from the Easter long weekend.
Retreat Fee
All details about fees for this retreat are included in the members’ email update. Or, please call the Studio on (08) 8379 9001 to find out all of the fee information.
Prerequisites
Any member who wishes to attend this retreat must have attended at least one of our public retreats at Tara Hills and attending or completed our Level 2 course. Please check with Reception before enrolling in a Kurlana retreat for the first time.
Find out more about retreats at Kurlana
You can find out more about retreats at Kurlana, including information about facilities, what to bring and alternative nearby accommodation options on our retreats at Kurlana page. Particularly note that Kurlana lies in the Riverland and there are strict laws now in place to limit the movement of fruit and vegetables into the area.
See the PIRSA website for the current Fruit Fly Outbreak Map and also details of restrictions on bringing fruits and vegetables into the Riverland.
Prerequisuites for members only retreats
Tara Hills retreats
Either
Attending or have completed level 2 AND attended at least two public retreats
Or
If you haven’t attended any of our levels courses but have completed three public retreats then please call up on (08) 8379 9001 to confirm eligibility.
Kurlana retreats
Any member who wishes to attend these retreats must have attended at least one of our public retreats at Tara Hills and attending or completed our Level 2 meditation course. Accommodation at Kurlana is very limited, and most people camp near the house or in the bush reserve. Please check with reception before enrolling in a Kurlana retreat.
See our general info page that has more about members-only retreats at Kurlana.
General
If you have further questions about any members retreat please contact the Centre on (08) 8379 9001 or email.
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Discover more about membership ...
If you are looking to go further with meditation then membership is for you. Enjoy benefits including 10% discount on all courses and retreats, borrowing rights to our library, members only classes, retreats and more.
Member's classes
Members-only classes, seminars and Advanced Meditations give you the opportunity to meet other members and explore topics in meditation that may not normally be covered at our city courses.
Our teachers
We have highly qualified and experienced meditation teachers at all courses and retreats, each with a minimum of ten years training with Lifeflow.