The soul should always stand ajar,
ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.
—Emily Dickinson
A retreat is a time you devote to exploring a new intensity and quality of being. It is a space where you step out of your normal circumstances and step into a new way and new perspective. At a retreat, you immerse yourself into the new paradigm—with the pointed intention of making the new state your permanent state. Engaging with Teaching through Retreats is the fourth Universal Vortex.
What is the state change we are talking about? Fundamentally, all spiritual practices are tools that provide instrumentation for leaving an ego-bound state in favor of becoming an adult. The ego-bound state, which is natural to childhood, becomes stuck and dysfunctional (i.e., quite unpleasant for you and others) beyond childhood. The adult-level Source-centered living is a free, open, and dynamic state when you let the Source (God) write the book of your life. You can be sure that Infinite Intelligence will do a better job at it than your limited ego. Almost all of the human population on our planet today suffers from the emotional condition of being a child—causing wars, economic crises, and other well-known ills that beset the world today.
It is hard to become an adult while being surrounded by children—but it can be done. A retreat is the best environment where you can see that there are other people who want to be adults. There is a big difference between merely knowing that such people exist and actually meeting and spending quality time with them. Seeing is believing that you are not alone in your quest!
To repeat, the key purpose of retreats is abandoning the stale, old ways in favor of new ways. The longer the duration of a retreat the more potential there is to permanently adopt or move to the new state. Of course, the duration to achieve permanent change depends on the person. Three to six months is typical to bring about a significant transformation – both by mentoring and coaching and through retreats.
Retreats are also a way for people of similar interests and intentions to focus energy. Retreats create an “incubator” effect, which can dramatically accelerate the speed of your practice. The incubator effect generates highly concentrated and well-focused synergy among the participants. Most group meditation periods during Modern Seers Retreats are used to deliberately increase the incubator effect.
Retreats at different Phases, while having much in common (and you are welcome to attend any and all), have different intentions. Retreats at Phase I are about tasting the experience. At Phase I, you should participate in one weekend retreat a year or more. Retreats at Phase II are about achieving understanding from a solid experience, about letting serious experience into your core. At Phase II, you should participate in two weekend retreats and one weeklong retreat per a year or more. Retreats at Phase III are about making a definitive move at staying at the new paradigm. At Phase III, you are expected to participate in four weekend retreats and two weeklong retreats per a year or more.
Short retreats are 2-3 days long, usually starting Thursday or Friday afternoon till Sunday morning (it ends after a brunch). Weeklong retreats last 7 days.
All of our retreats are relaxed. Intense purpose does not need to be tense. This is the reflection of the Key Vortex (Relax, enjoy, and do something useful) that enfolds everything we do at Modern Seers. The retreats revolve around group meditation periods, ample time for connecting with people, and healthy food, which is cooked so that you will never forget the experience. The schedule and topics reflect and are adjusted depending on the needs of the particular audience. Hence, no two retreats are ever the same.
A major part of spiritual endeavor is to conceive of higher living and then go there. A retreat serves both as a demonstration that the new paradigm exists and is reachable, and as an opportunity to become better established in the new world. The retreats are not a shortcut. Rather, the retreats are a concentrated, superfast way to accomplish real transformation.
Action: Attend retreats for the experience and the fastest way into the new paradigm.