7 days retreat with Lakha Lama in Italy
8 Verses of  Mind Training

Time: 7-13th of July 2012
Price: 4200 DKK = 5260 SEK = 560 Euro incl. teachings and full accommodation
Place: Casa Garuda, Val del Sasso 12, Villastrada – PG, Italy
Language: The text and teaching will be in English.

 

Casa Garuda is located in the heart of Italy, right on the Umbria/Tuscany border. It is part of the 600 hectare estate, the Tenuta Le Coste nature reserve.

The panorama afforded by its hilltop location reveals the ancient Etruscan village of Chiusi, the famous hotsprings village of Chianciano terme, Montepulciano surrounded by its vineyards, Cortona far to the north, and then in Umbria, the lake-side village of Castiglione del Lago, and Città della Pieve, a vibrant walled city and home to Perugino, teacher of Rafael. The estate itself consists of rolling fields of grain or sunflowers, forests and innumerable olive groves.

Our host Brian Hilliard is a buddhist practisioner and teacher himself, and they are used to hosting buddhist retreats at Casa Garuda.

Accommodation: We will be staying in 2 beded rooms complete with bathrooms at Casa Garuda and the neighbour guest house 500 meters away. There are 3 swimming pools in the area.

 

 

Travel: The journey to Casa Garuda is at the participants own choice and expense. You can fly to Rome, and there is a non-stop train from the Rome Fiumcino airport to Roma Termini (the main train station). From there you can take a train 1:52 hours to Chiusi. From the Chiusi station there is a 15 minutes drive by taxi to Casa Garuda. You may wish to continue your hollyday in Italy to the beach or to the rich cultural and historical sites in the country.

For more information see: http://www.casagaruda.org/

The subject:

8 Verses of  Mind Training
The first seven verses of the Eight Verses for Training the Mind deal with the practices associated with cultivating the method aspect of the path such as compassion, altruism, aspiration to attain buddhahood, and so on. The eighth verse deals with the practices that are directed toward cultivating the wisdom aspect of the path.

Mind Training is a practice in the Buddhist tradition based on a set of maxims formulated by the Tibetan philosopher by Langri Thangpa (1054-1123). Through this practice we connect to the outside world in an unconditionally positive manner and take full responsibility for our own experience of the outside world.

This practice does not require that we adhere to a particular faith, and it is
not something that can only be practiced while sitting in a meditation position. In fact it is best practiced in real life, with exactly the people and situations that irritate and challenge us most.

The two main bases for this practice are Ultimate Bodhicitta, and Relative Bodhicitta, which can be translated as compassion. The 8 verses used in this practice provides a useful set of antidotes against negative mental habits, paranoia and entrenched ideas which cause so much suffering.