Sacred Space To Awaken Together:
An Insight Dialogue Retreat
Phyllis Hicks & Bart van Melik
Feel invited!
June 27 – July 1 in Venwoude, Lage Vuursche, Netherlands
Introduction and theme of the retreat
We are in the midst of intense times. Our hearts tremble with the war in Ukraine and other parts of the world as we continue to face the challenges of Covid, climate change and systemic injustice. And then there’s everyday life with family responsibilities, doing groceries and the folding of the laundry.
A retreat is a benevolent rest. A sacred pause for space and reflection on what really matters, on our choices and actions, and how we can hold this human suffering with true love. We’ll explore Buddhist teachings and practices inviting this unconditional love that can meet goodness, pain and happiness.
Insight Dialogue is a fully engaged relational meditation practice. Insight Dialogue brings together meditative awareness, the wisdom teachings of the Buddha, and the power of relationship to support insight into the nature, source, and release of human suffering.
The retreat will be held in Social Silence as we explore the power of listening and speaking out of silence. There will be times of silent sitting, mindful movement, and dialogue in groups of 2 or more, with a precise direction of contemplation. Teachings will be offered in English.
This retreat is offered in the Buddhist tradition of dana and generosity. The teachers receive no payment. The registration fee covers the costs of putting on the retreat. Financial support offered by the students at the end of the retreat support the teachers continuing to work throughout the world.
The retreat is appropriate for those new and experienced with Insight Dialogue.
PROGRAM
The retreat starts Monday morning, June 27, at 10h30.
The retreat ends on Friday afternoon, July 1, at 16h00.
There will be times of silent sitting, mindful movement, and dialogue in groups of 2 or more, with a precise direction of contemplation. Teachings will be offered in English.
VENUE – ACCOMODATION – Venwoude
The retreat will take place at “Venwoude” a beautiful retreat center situated on an estate of 40 acres of woodland. Venwoude is centrally located in the Netherlands and easily accessible by car, air or public transportation. See: https://www.venwoude.nl/contact/
At Venwoude we will mainly make use of the Larix building. There are single and double rooms, equipped with a washbasin. Shared bathrooms and showers are located in the halls. Camping is possible: Venwoude allows for a tent, camper or caravan (electricity provided for camper or caravan).
COST OF THE RETREAT
The registration fee pp for the 5 day (4 nights) retreat is
EUR 630 for a single room and
EUR 587,50 for a double occupancy room.
EUR 540 for camping (tent, camper or caravan).
This fee includes all meals, accommodation and use of the beautiful new meditation hall.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
In case you register and need to cancel for personal reasons or other conditions before May 31, the cancellation fee is 30% of the total registration amount. In case of cancellation after June 1 50% of the total registration amount will be retained. However, when there are more than 25 participants and we can give your place to someone else, we will try to provide a full refund. Our ability to do so depends on the number of remaining participants. The possibility of giving a (full or partial) refund can only be determined after the start of the retreat, when the definitive number of participants is clear. On May 5th, there were 20 registrants. To avoid most risks due to unforeseen circumstances, you can take out travel insurance with cancellation option of course.
HOW TO REGISTER and PAY
To make this retreat possible in the most cost-effective way, Amsterdam Inzichtmeditatie offered to be accountholder for this retreat. Advantage is that you can pay via different methods:
1) iDEAL (Dutch participants)
2) SEPA bank transfer (for participants from European countries and, also, worldwide through Wise or similar services)
For participants from other countries, there is a separate option to pay by credit card. Please note that payment by credit card regrettably incurs an extra fee of 2,8% from our payment provider. As the retreat price is strictly cost-based, we have no choice but to charge this additional fee to participants who pay by credit card. Please send an email to the organizer via dutch.idretreat@gmail.com to indicate that you wish to pay by credit card. You will receive a link to a dedicated checkout page.
If these payment methods do not work for you, an alternative method is a manual bank transfer or Wise transfer. Please use the IBAN of Amsterdam Inzichtmeditatie, which is NL35TRIO0788795163. From abroad: Swift/BIC is TRIONL2U. Please state ‘June 2022 ID retreat’. Send an email to dutch.idretreat@gmail.com to inform us of your manual transfer.
Please find the registration form BELOW.
Please complete the form and choose your way of payment and the amount.
Your registration is confirmed upon payment of the registration fee or retreat fee.
Places will be alloted in the order of payments received.
If you have trouble registering with the link please contact us via email: dutch.idretreat@gmail.com (Sjoerd van der Linden and Riët Aarsse).
PAYMENT AFTER PREREGISTRATION
The preregistration period ended on May 5. In case you paid the EUR 50 registration fee, you can now pay the remaining fee through this page. Please do so as soon as possible, but ultimately May 25. An email with these instructions was sent on May 6 to the email account you used for (pre)registration.
ADDITIONAL NIGHT (PRE- AND/OR POSTRETREAT), TRAVEL OPTIONS AND SHARED RIDES
Arriving on the evening of June 26 or staying an extra night is possible. These additional nights are booked and paid directly to Venwoude, using the following web page: https://www.venwoude.nl/en/bookings/.
Detailed travel directions from Schiphol airport and traveling by train to the venue will be sent a week before the retreat. We will also send a link to set up communication if you want to share the ride, by car, bus or taxi.
REGISTRATION
Registration form – please complete this form. Thank you!
ABOUT THE TEACHERS
Phyllis Hicks teaches Insight Dialogue retreats internationally and chairs the Insight Dialogue Community Teachers’ Council. Phyllis has trained and taught with Gregory Kramer since 2004. She has worked as a psychotherapist for over 30 years, bringing together Eastern and Western understandings of psychology and contemplative practice in a clinical setting. She is a co-developer of the Interpersonal Mindfulness Program, teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction at Duke Integrative Medicine and is a guiding teacher for Triangle Insight. Phyllis lives in Chapel Hill, NC..
Bart van Melik has been teaching Insight Dialogue and individual silent meditation since 2009, with a specific focus on working with diverse populations. He has studied with Gregory Kramer and the Insight Dialogue Teaching Community since 2007 and is a graduate of the Spirit Rock/Insight Meditation Society’s Teacher Training Program. Passionate about supporting people finding new ways to relate to stressful life circumstances, Bart brings meditation practice to juvenile detention centers, homeless shelters, and NYC public schools. Bart lives in New York City where he regularly offers Insight Dialogue at New York Insight and where he is guiding teacher for Community Meditation Center.
CONTACT DETAILS In May you will receive a letter with detailed information. In case you have any questions about registration or the retreat you can send an email to dutch.idretreat@gmail.com.
