Archive: Past retreats at SASP
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Saturday,
December 16st
The
Sunlit Path - continued
This month was a continuation of our theme from October. We had some group discussions about our retreats and each group volunteered to present a specific monthly retreat on a certain theme to be presented in February, March, April, and May.
Saturday, November
18th
Integral
Education
For this retreat we invited two guest presenters: Prapanna Smith, Founder of the center for Integral Education in San Diego, and Lakshman Sehgal, one of the early students in the Sri Aurobindo Center of Education in Pondicherry. We learned about the progress in the field of Integral Education here in the U.S. and listened to reminiscences of the Mother's approach and importance she gave to education of the whole being, including the role of physical education in the transformation of the body. There was also the regular activities of karma yoga, collective concentration, potluck meals, etc.
Saturday, October
21st
The
Sunlit Path
This month our topic was the "Sunlit Path" and we also tried to take some time for reflecting on the general purpose and direction of our future retreats. We had a lot of discussion and feedback about our monthly gatherings. We decided to leave the subject open and hope to get a chance to continue our discussions in the next months.
Saturday-Monday,
September 1st-3rd
Labor
Day Weekend - Karma Yoga
We were delighted this month to have with us Narad Eggenberger. We had three days of work projects which many participated in including, waterproofing our new basement, working on the Sri Aurobindo Symbol Garden, and preparing the meals for us all. Narad also gave a few presentations on flowers and their spiritual significances, progress of the Matrimandir, and poetry and Sadhana. Thanks to all who were able to join us and offer their work in helping to maintain our center and in helping it grow.
Saturday, August
19th
Silent
Teamwork
Our retreat this month was on silent teamwork. We had a few activities during the day on the subject. We also had our general retreat meeting, and the regular activities such as collective concentration, volleyball, potluck meals, etc.
Saturday, July
15th
Guest
Speaker: Aster Patel
We were very honored to have Aster Patel with us for this retreat gathering.. Aster-di is a long time resident of Auroville and very active on its governing board. She also had the rare privelege of being involved in the Ashram school at a time when the Mother was very closely engaged with the children's education. We had two sessions of talks/discussion with Aster--one in the morning and another in the early evening. We also had some time for working on the new addition.
Saturday, June 17th
Physical
Education / Developing the Body's Consciousness
This month we focused on the body and explored different aspects of developing the physical consciousness and mastery. We had a morning session of tai chi and yoga, a session of human pyramid building, and an afternoon session of movements with music. We had an evening study group on the topic and read from the words of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
Saturday, May 20th
A Soul's Journey
This
month Ron Jorgensen came from the Lotus Center in Washington to
share a story with us. He read from a book by Paul Gallico and
there was some discussion and reflection in the evening about
the book and how it relates to our sadhana. We
also had our regular retreat activities such as karma yoga, volleyball,
pot-luck meal, etc.
Sunday-Monday, April
23rd-24th
Groundbreaking & Darshan
On Sunday,
we dug some of the topsoil away from the ground where our new
addition is to be built and we had a special ceremony for the
laying of the first foundation stone. We had a collective meditation
and we installed many sacred items, which included samadhi sand,
blessing packets, flower petals from the Mother's room, and also
soil from many Sri Aurobindo centers from the USA as well as from
Canada, Pondicherry, and Auroville, into a special urn which was
placed into the concrete footing. On Monday, we sealed the footing.
Many thanks to all who came.
Saturday, March
18th
Equality
This
month we explored the yogic attitude of Equality or Equanimity.
Besides our regular study of Mother and Sri Aurobindo's teachings
on the subject, there was an experiential aspect to the days activities.
We also had
our regular retreat activities such as karma yoga, volleyball,
pot-luck meal, etc.
Saturday, February
18th
Remembering the Mother -- and Her Children
This
month, so close to Mother's birthday on the 21st, we were very
glad to welcome Anie Nunnaly, long associated with the Sri Aurobindo
Center of Los Angeles, Matagiri, and the Foundation for World
Education. She is also the author of The Golden Path, a
collection of reminiscences from many of the elder sadhaks and
Aurovillians who had special contact with Mother and Sri Aurobindo.
Anie gave us a talk about her own and others' remembrances of
the Mother, based in part from the information in her book, and
there was a book signing. We also had our regular retreat activities
such as collective chanting, karma yoga, volleyball, pot-luck
meals, etc.
The theme of this month's retreat was Power and Powers in the Yoga. We had a few exercises that helped us to explore our attitudes about power, control, and surrender and our habitual responses/modes of being in relation to power. We also had an opportunity to practice karma yoga at the warehouse, where we had a lot of work with some new shipments which had just come in. We also played a volleyball game in the afternoon.
