“Meditation is an invitation to wonder and curiosity. An invitation to soften around our ideas of what life is or should be, and to enter into the fullness of our moment to moment experience. To be here with the same spirit of wonder and curiosity we had as children – allowing everything to be fresh and unknown. Its an invitation to discover for ourselves the miracle of awareness.” — Richard Witteman
July 1 – 8, 2017 – Retreat in Springwater with Richard Witteman – This retreat takes place over the 4th of July holiday and was very popular in 2016. There is space in the retreat for full and part-time attendees. Richard will give talks and be available for group and private meetings.
Register for Retreat with Richard Witteman
Time and Space for Solitude
Retreats with Richard include timed and open sitting periods, morning talks, afternoon group dialogue, and private meetings. These are offered as resources, not as requirements – you are free to discover your own natural ways of being in silence.
There is time and space for solitude, to sit together and alone, to walk the miles of trails… to be silent within the rhythms of everyday life, to be here with feeling and sensation, the movement of our bodies, the activity of thought and imagination, the spaciousness of awareness.
An Invitation for Community and Dialogue
Within the silence of retreat, there is also the invitation for community – for meeting and inquiring together into our everyday experience, for asking questions of one another, for bringing awareness to the social aspect of our lives – as we share the spirit of inquiry and the wonder of presence.
Background
Richard began meditation in 1971, working with Roshi Philip Kapleau at the Rochester Zen Center from 1971 through 1981. In 1982 he began working with Toni Packer, and has been part of Springwater Center since its inception. He has been leading retreats at Springwater since 2003.
Richard lives part of the year at Springwater Center, and part of the year in Gualala, CA. He can be contacted via email at info@springwatercenter.org (please write “To Richard” in the subject line).