Background information

From Boundless To Beloved will blend classical Tantric philosophy and practices with New Culture community-building processes.  All are welcome at this retreat – no previous experience with Tantra or New Culture is necessary.

For more information on New Culture, click here.

For more information on the distinction between traditional forms of Tantra and what is more appropriately called western neo-Tantra, click here.

For more information on classical Tantra, visit our resource list here.

From Boundless To Beloved

What if the life you call “yours” is the Infinite delighting in its own becoming? In this retreat, we follow the movement from boundless awareness into embodied form, and explore how even limitation can be a chosen expression of divine play.

These teachings come from the Trika and Krama lineages of Kashmiri Shaiva Tantra.

According to these lineages, in order to know all the infinite possibilities inherent within itself, Divine Awareness contracts itself down to a limited vantage point infinitely many times, to know itself as partial and limited in infinitely many ways. The goal of the retreat is for participants to experience themselves as universal divine awareness, and then to experience and play with the transition from universal awareness to limited embodied consciousness, and finally to have a taste of experiencing their everyday “limited” life as the marvelous play of awareness in form.

We’re going to look at three specific axes of expansion and contraction:

1. Identity
2. Desire
3. Power

In the usual mode, we identify as small limited beings in a vast universe.  We see ourselves as lacking what we need, so desire pulls inward.  And we feel limited in our power to do what we want, bound up by consequences of previous choices.

In the divine mode, we recognize that we are Universal Awareness and so all that we perceive is what we are.  We experience fullness, and desire flows outward as a gift.  And we experience that all events are happening just as they should be – we are able to do whatever needs doing whenever it needs to be done.

From the divine mode, we realize the playful wonder of experiencing each limitation as creating a new flavor of beingness.  We voluntarily take on contracted identity, desire, and power in myriad ways, and return to the felt experience of this particular bodymind because we love and delight in it.

From Boundless to Beloved (and back again, over and over).

We will combine lecture, discussion, guided practices, group explorations, and solo contemplation.

Program Descriptions:

* indicates that the workshop is highly recommended for all and required for new people.

*Welcome Circle: Orientation & Introduction / Touching Essence Nature – Friday 7:30-9:30pm

We’ll meet each other, start building community, and have a taste of the teachings we’ll be exploring during the retreat.  We’ll also learn essential details about our schedule, spaces, and guidelines.

Embodied Practice –  Daily 8:45-10:00am

Come to these sessions for a body-based exploration of the theme of the day, through dance, postures, and spontaneous movement.

*Morning Circle – Daily 10-10:45am

The camp community comes together for appreciations, announcements, and other sharings.  Please attend if you can – new information and conversations about emerging issues happen here!

Teachings and Practices – Sarah – Daily 11am-1pm

In these sessions, Sarah, supported by Harold, will explore the theme of the day with teachings and guided practices.  This is the core of our learning together.  Topics are listed on the schedule but are subject to change depending on the flow of the event.

*ZEGG Forum – Forum Team – Daily 2:30-4pm

The ZEGG Forum process is a transformational container created by free-love radical communitarians and tuned for bringing up what’s under the surface in COMMUNITY. When undertaken with a group of sovereign beings who are dedicated to individual and collective transformation, it provides a cauldron for personal growth and community resilience unlike any other. 

The goal of Forum is to reveal what is alive but not known to all.  The community sits in a circle, forming a stage for one person at a time to stand and show what is true for them.  Facilitators may assist the person (or “presenter”) to reveal themselves more deeply.  Afterward, community members may offer reflections, or “mirrors,” on what they saw.

Especially when interpersonal conflicts and polarizing issues arise, each person shares from the heart and is facilitated to go to the root of their truth, not just their superficial egoic needs. 

When we “get” each other, we go the extra mile to figure things out. Empathy motivates the group to find a collective solution, while understanding gives the raw material needed for the solution. 

*Consent & Boundaries –  Saturday 4:30-6pm

How many of us say “yes” to things we don’t actually want out of guilt or a fear of losing connection?  In many ways, “no” is the most daring and intimate response possible – if I can hear your “no”, I can trust your “yes.”  We’ll practice the skills of self-awareness, transparency, and non-attachment, which help us find the space of mutually desired connection that is available with each person.

Touch Meditation: Introducing Bliss Practice – Saturday 7:30-8:30pm

In this session, we’ll begin to explore practicing with pleasurable states.  There are benefits and pitfalls that will be explained!  The session will include guided touch of self and others.  The touch may be nurturing, playful, exploratory – but not with the intention of raising sexual energy or arousal.  Everyone can participate in a way that works for them.

Conscious Cuddles –  Saturday 8:45-10pm

Join us for a nurturing, non-sexual cuddle gathering focused on connection and consensual, loving touch.  Everyone is at choice about how to participate.  The facilitators will start us off with some simple cuddle-inspiring activities, and then be available for support as needed.

Self-Led Nature Walks – Sunday/Monday/Tuesday 4:30-5:30pm 

Explore the beautiful woods, rocks, and waters of our land, while practicing a meditation based on the theme of the day.  These walks are optional. 

Sunday: “All This is What I Am”

Monday: Following Impulses

Tuesday: Possible & Impossible

*Sensual Temple Orientation – Sunday 7:30-8:30pm 

The Sensual Temple is a warm and inviting space to explore the themes of the day by engaging all of the senses. This Temple is a meditative space where solo and partner practices involving sensual and sexual pleasure are welcome. This short session will introduce the space and its etiquette.  

Bliss Practice: Between Separation and Union – Sunday 9-10pm

Harold and Sarah will lead a meditative self-touch guided practice that explores the sense of separation and union.  There may be an opportunity to practice with a partner afterward.

At the same time, there will be a session on the same themes in the Lodge living room for those who prefer to explore in a nonsexual environment.

Kirtan and Dancing  – Monday 7:30-8:30pm

Let’s join our voices and move our bodies in ecstatic devotion!

Bliss Practice: Between Longing and Fullness – Monday 9-10pm

In the Sensual Temple, Harold and Sarah will lead an exploration of touch while experiencing desire from fullness vs. desire from incompleteness.

At the same time, there will be a session on the same themes in the Lodge living room for those who prefer to explore in a nonsexual environment.

Love Ceremony: From Boundless To Beloved and Back Again – Tuesday 7:30-9:30pm

We will ritually honor ourselves and our community-mates through a series of guided interactions that embody the journey from universal awareness to individuality and back again.  This ceremony will take place in the Lodge living room — any touch is optional and will be nurturing and reverent rather than inviting sexual energy.

Closing Circle – Wednesday 12-1pm

Honoring the experience of the past days, we will connect, reflect, and bid farewell to this incarnation of our community.