Dawn Crawford

Date. 6-2002

Linda Cary

Date. 7-2002

Steve Mutch

Date. 7-2002

Sue Page

Date. 9-2002

Seeing Without Knowing

Meditation Retreats on Monhegan Island

Mike Stiler, Facilitator

These one-day silent retreats offer an opportunity to quiet down, observe, wonder and perhaps discover what we really are beyond the incessant chatter of the mind. There will be meditation instruction, sitting meditation, as well as group dialogue and a talk by Mike Stiler.  

 

DATES: May 8 & 9, June 8 & 9, June 22 & 23,
July 10 & 11, Sept 14 & 15,Sept  28 & 29, Oct 5 & 6

TIMES: 9am to 4pm

PLACE: Mike Stiler residence on Monhegan Island

FEE: $75 per person

CALL: 207-763-4882 or 207-594-0613

EMAIL: mstiler@prexar.com

One -Day Retreat Schedule

9am to 11:00am- Introductory talk, sitting meditation.
11:00 to 11:30 Talk by Mike
11:30 to 12:00 Sitting meditation

12:00 to 1:00 Lunch Break- (people who bring bag
lunch are welcome to stay & eat in silence).

1:00 to 3:00 Sitting meditation
3:00 to 4:00 Dialogue/ open question period
4:00pm End of retreat

The sitting rounds are 25 minutes each.

There is a 7 minute walking/stretching time in between each sitting.

 

The Soap Opera

"Have you ever noticed that there is a voice in your head, a little ‘you’ that never stops commenting on what the big ‘you’ is doing? Have you noticed that it comprises the background of your conscious life, like a TV left on in the living room? A closer look may reveal that the TV show is all about yourself, your expectations your regrets, your appearance in the eyes of others. You are the main character in a soap opera. The only catch is, we mistake the image for the real thing. This is a universal assumption that causes no end of mischief in human affairs. We are quite willing to go to great lengths to defend this image and we spend enormous amounts of energy in its enhancement. It is a precarious way to live.

 

Meditation is taking the opportunity to quiet down and to wonder about who we really are without a constantly running story about who we are. For instance, who is really reading this right now? Is it the constantly changing story of you, or is it something else, something that doesn’t change? Is it humanly possible to simply Be  without expectation, without knowing who or what this ‘you’ is? The willingness to be unconditionally present, to completely surrender to what is, moment to moment, is called ‘Seeing Without Knowing’. In this simple awareness, we may find that the soap opera can give way to something without a beginning or an end, something untouched by thought and image.This presence is the very foundation of love."

Mike Stiler has worked for over 20 years with Toni Packer at the Springwater Center for Meditative inquiry, where he came to self-realization. He also trained for 6 years at the Rochester Zen Center in Rochester, NY with Roshi Philip Kapleau.