Christ & Buddha: Awakening to our True Nature

Description:  Jesus Christ and the historical Buddha inspired religious traditions that opened the door for people to awaken to their true nature.  In the Christian context, which of course is grounded in the Jewish tradition of Jesus, we speak of union with God as the primary goal of the tradition.  As we come to experience that union more and more fully and consciously, we begin to live into that saying that Paul offers us in Galatians 2:20, "yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me."  As Christians we are called to live out of that deep center, that intimacy with God, which Thomas Merton and Thomas Keating call the True Self which is most clearly seen by how we love.

Given the similar journeys that both Buddha and Christ model for us, this retreat will be grounded in silence and meditation and from this silent ground, we will explore the core teachings of the Buddhist and Christian traditions through a few of the great spiritual teachers of these traditions, including Thich Nhat Hanh, Father Thomas Keating, Adyashanti, Pema Chodron, Thomas Merton, and Bernadette Roberts.  This retreat will be held in silence with specific

Director's Bio:

William Haardt, MA,  is the  author of The Soul’s Journey: Finding Our Way Home, which highlights the 6 major stages of the spiritual journey as seen through the lens of Christian and Buddhist mystics such as Thomas Merton and Adyashanti.  Mr. Haardt hosts his own website on the theme of contemplative spirituality at www.contemplatives.org and has taught in Quaker and Catholic high schools for the past 23 years.  He also leads adult formation through the Jesuit Schools Network in Ignatian Spirituality and is a recent  graduate of Richard Rohr's The Living School. The aim of Mr. Haardt's work is to aid in the continuing discovery of the Divine Source at the center of all reality so that we may create a world that truly models the Heaven on Earth we are called as humans to embody.

Date & time: Friday, July 5, 2019 4pm to Sunday, July 7, 9am.

Location: St. Columba's Inverness, 12835 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Inverness, CA

Cost:  $300 Commuter, see link for Retreat House stay inclusive rates  

Your contact information for any questions:  Anna Haight,  annahaight@stcolumbasinverness.org , 415.690.6287