Boston Old Path Sangha invites you to participate in a 4-day retreat:

What is the place of sexuality in lay spiritual practice?

Buddhism embraces a diverse group of traditions and practices that include many different approaches to sexuality. The Boston Old Path Sangha invites all students of Thich Nhat Hanh to a retreat reflecting on the role of sexuality in the context of our spiritual life and mindfulness practice.

• When: Thursday evening, May 31 – Sunday afternoon, June 3
• Where: Walker Center, 144 Hancock Street, Auburndale, MA 02466

Our intention is to create a container for a conversation on a topic in which none of us is an "expert," but in which we all have valuable life experience to share. We would like to invite participants to embark upon a period of study and reflection.

We picture the retreat structured along familiar practice lines, but with no one person, or sangha, teaching. We acknowledge that we have no particular expertise in this area and that this is a fertile field in which to continue to cultivate our knowledge and practice. Therefore we are hoping that people will study and reflect on their experience and step forward to share their knowledge of specific teachings at the retreat. We are also collecting references, images, and other materials to compile into a resource packet to distribute. If you would like to present or if you have materials to share, please contact us by April 30th.

We hope this retreat will create a space in which to heal any woundedness around sexuality, and to better understand sensory awareness as a dharma door. While the West has gone way too far in exploiting and commodifying sexuality, western culture has also raised our collective consciousness about sexuality and honoring ourselves as sexual beings. Buddhism has a long-standing tradition of adaptation to the culture of the new country to which it has been brought. Thich Nhat Hanh has expressed his gratitude to the West for contributing our insights about the equal value of women, the value of democratic decision-making, the inclusion of lay participation in sangha life, and the value of openly sharing personal experience, among other benefits. In the spirit of this Buddhist tradition of successful mutual influencing, we are offering this retreat to help move our community towards creating greater clarity and happiness regarding the roles that sexuality can play in a deeply lived spiritual life.

We encourage people to attend the entire retreat if possible. Please plan to arrive for dinner at 6 pm on Thursday evening, and no later than 9:30 pm.

Costs:

$190: room and board (Thursday dinner – Sunday lunch)
$ 90: meals only

Please note: The prices above include only the cost of your room and board. Dana may be offered at the retreat to help defray other costs.

To register please send the completed registration form, with a $50 deposit to: Boston Old Path Sangha, PO Box 351, Roslindale, MA 02131-0003

If you would like to attend and are unable to attend the entire retreat or if you would like to stay with a Boston Old Path Sangha member, please contact us. (Laura Derr, derr-dot-laura-at-gmail-dot-com or Joan Schwartz, joan-at-bpfboston-dot-org) For directions click here, or call (617) 969-3919. We look forward to seeing you.