The ManKind Project USA is proud to announce another year offering the Integral Mondo Zen 3 Day Meditation Retreat at locations across the United States. Six very successful Integral Mondo Zen Retreats were offered in 2014, with participants from across the USA. For some, it was the first time sitting in meditation for a sustained period of time. Integral Mondo Zen offers a very accessible way to experience a deep meditative state and to gain deep personal insight into spiritual, psychological, and emotional patterns. For others, the retreats were part of long-standing meditative practices in a number of different styles and traditions.
Additional Context provided by Doshin Michael Nelson
First Hollow Bones Retreat – September 1999
We can, through our collective and our individual efforts, enter into the absolute purity of our minds and abide there in naked awareness, beyond concept or thought. In order to be truly free, we must experience our own true immortal nature. This part of our nature is pure transpersonal awareness. This is the Satori and Kensho of the Zen tradition. This is the experience of real freedom; this includes a clear realization of our deeper mind, as well as an understanding of the nature of our temporary egocentric consciousness. After this depth of insight, the ego can never again fool itself.
~JunPo Denis Kelly Roshi – Sept. 1999 – First Hollow Bones Retreat
The very name: Hollow Bones was the suggestion of Bill Kauth, one of the founders of the ManKind Project. Integral Zen, Inc. (a branch of Hollow Bones) is continuing the work that JunPo started in 1999. A collaborative effort between Doshin Michael Nelson, Rich Tosi, also a founder of the ManKind Project, and Mike Elser, former Chairman of MKP USA, resulted in a Joint Venture between MKP USA and Integral Zen, Inc.
The goal was to create and deliver a series of Three Day Integral-Mondo Zen™ Retreats. In 2014, this joint venture held six of these retreats.
3 Day Retreat in Rochester, NY Sept. 26th – 28th 2014
Integral Mondo Zen 3 Day Retreats are open to everyone, and provide a wonderful introduction to Zen meditation. We ask everyone to temporarily set aside personal beliefs. Then we carefully build a strong container and set a cognitive context, a view that will not filter out or block deep insights. This simple, integral view makes room for all human experiences, and enables us to make sense out of what we will experience during and after the retreat. Once the container is set and the context is presented and understood, then we use the process of Mondo Zen™ to deconstruct our egos, break open our hearts, and directly experience the deep truth of who we really are – our own “immortal nature”.
Once you have had this experience, you can choose to bring your true self, this absolute clarity and deep, selfless caring into your life where the rubber meets the road. You can learn to use these transformative Emotional Koans to change your self, your relationships (including the most difficult ones) and your life. You can decide to actively transform Angst into Liberation. We all avoid emotional pain and discomfort at a great cost to ourselves and to our loved ones. These negative emotional reactions become the very gateway to great freedom and liberation from suffering. Please consider joining us, and help shine De-light into De-darkness.
To learn more about Integral Mondo Zen Retreats scheduled for 2015, please visit this page.