There is still space to attend the June retreat with Stephan. Please contact the receptionist at info@springwatercenter.org if you would like more information.
This will be a hybrid retreat, open to both in-person and online attendance. If you have only a few days free, part-time attendees are most welcome, again, either in person or online. Stephan will give a daily talk and offer in-person and online private meetings. As well, he will attend the hybrid in-person/online afternoon group dialogues.
Stephan visits Springwater just once each year to hold retreat. In 2024, he published a book, "Seven Days in Silence: How to find oneself in quiet meditation," translated from the German by Robert Watson, which is an excellent introduction to meditation and the retreat experience.
In the book, Stephan goes into a fundamental question:
And we still don't have an answer to our question: is there something that is truly holy, our true home? Is there really and truly a sacred place or way of being, within which we are indeed holy and complete; and there is nothing lacking?
. . .
If we truly want to find out, we must be still and listen to the confusion within. This is what we are doing here in retreat: listening, becoming aware. Is it possible not to hold onto whatever manifests; but just look and see what comes up, from one moment to the next? Can we just see if we can quiet down and become still? Can this inner world of mental noise, of thought and images, always front and center, always obscuring the awareness of this moment—can we somehow change course and veer away from it, so that we find ourselves grounded in silence and stillness? A state of stillness in which thoughts appear and disappear, like ripples on the surface of a pool, in which images and feelings are like cat's paws on the water. Impulses do not become actions; rather they are seen and then dissipate: we remain quiet and still and there is simply awareness, no need for an identity. We behold what is, from one moment to the next.
June is a special time at the Center. Birdsong and all nature bursts around us, as the sun soars towards its zenith. At night, fireflies begin their dance of illumination above fields where daisies and wild roses bloom. We love to share these wonders and hope to see you.
Members of Springwater Center, please note that because this is a hybrid retreat, you will not be able to access the daily talk online, but you certainly may register to attend it online either full or part-time.
Please use the button below to register for the retreat, in person or online.
