Waking Up in Free-Fall: Meeting Fear with Love During Challenging Times
September 27–29, 2024
Experiential Retreats, On Land Retreats, Personal Transformation
In this weekend retreat, we will explore how the power of an awakened heart can transform the crises in our lives into a path of warriorship. It is based on Susan’s book, Which Way Is Up? (to be published in June, 2024), which uses the journey through cancer treatment as an example of navigating a bardo, or gap, in everyday life.
Whether we have ever faced a cancer diagnosis and treatment or not, we have all faced periods of disorientation from “normal” life so severe we were unable to discern which way was up. In this retreat, through the power of the three jewels: the Buddha; the dharma; and the sangha, we will learn and practice how to disarm fear and re-ground in the cradle of kindness that is a hallmark of our true nature.
Retreat Faculty
Susan Chapman
Susan Chapman has been on the Buddhist path since 1974, when she began studying with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. She has a BA in Philosophy and Literature from University of British Columbia and an MA in Buddhist and Western Psychology from Naropa University. She is a retired family therapist. Susan also spent nine years practicing and […]
Elesa Commerse
Elesa Commerse is the Co-Director of Touching Earth Mindfulness Learning Center, in Chicago. Her root teachers include her beloved mother, Evelyn Winslow, Pema Chodron and the Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, with whom she studied for over thirty years. She created, “Finding Your Way,” the DVD/CD tool kit to help those newly diagnosed with breast cancer. […]