RETREATS

Bookings are now being accepted for non-duality retreats. Register below and then floyd will contact you to schedule the dates that will work for you.

AN ADVAITA RETREAT WITH FLOYD

OVERVIEW

All non-duality satsang and Yoga retreats are conducted in floyd's home on Lake Conroe in South Texas, located north of Houston along the I-45 corridor, easily accessed by Houston Texas Advaita seekers, by Dallas Texas Advaita seekers, by Austin Texas Advaita seekers. Since an intercontinental airport is available, seekers from across the United States as well as international Advaita seekers can fly into the nearby international airport. The location and the format allow participants to focus solely on the Advaita Vedanta Teachings or to combine an Advaita retreat and a vacation into one on Lake Conroe:

Participants will be treated to a meal at a local restaurant on the first night together and breakfast each morning as well as two-three Advaita Vedanta sessions per day (some one-hour each, some 90-minute sessions). Between sessions, participants will use various locations or their hotel rooms to contemplate the teachings in a solitary mode and to eat their meals before the next session.

Hundreds of restaurants are available within short drives, many located on the lake itself. Also, the Commodore Room at the Walden Yacht Club is only a three-minute drive away.

Multiplex stadium seating movie theaters are nearby, as are shopping malls. As another option, you can also schedule massages, facials, aromatherapy treatments, reflexology sessions or other services at one of several local spas.

As weather permits, time is scheduled for outdoor quiet-time contemplation of the content of the sessions as well as swimming in the community's lakeside pool, fishing, bicycling, sunning, reading, sitting on a secluded bench by the lake, and strolling along walking trails. Jet skis and boats are also available for rent.

Computer and internet access is available and golf as well. Optional dinner and dancing cruises are available many evenings that will allow you to enjoy a nighttime cruise on the lake aboard the Victorian-style Southern Empress steamboat:
http://www.southernempress.com/

Areas are also available for sitting or for strolling along the shore of the lake or for lakeside picnics if preferred. Wildlife is plentiful and places for solitude in natural settings can always be found. Lakeside sunsets can be enjoyed by strolling or walking along the jetty around the harbor (pictured below) providing a sense of solitude, weather permitting. Sitting areas along the way also provide locations for meditation and contemplation.

 

Moderately-priced hotels are nearby. 

 

For those preferring to combine the retreat with a vacation at the nearby local resort and spa, arrangements can be made with

Margaritaville Lake Resort (shown below, a three-minute drive away).

 

RETREAT CONTENT
These retreats are referred to as " Advaita Vedanta retreat sessions," but they could as easily be labeled as retreats or satsang or satsanga sessions which offer the teachings of non-duality, nondualism, nonduality, advaita, the natural yoga, or nisarga yoga. The nisarga approach that is employed most resembles the approach that was used, not by "the early Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj" or by "the middle years Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj," but by the totally unblocked consciousness that spoke as "the later Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj" during the final years of the manifestation.

Some would call these spiritual retreats as well, though participants usually discover something even beyond that which is offered at advaita retreats that take an all-spiritual approach.

In these sessions, all seven steps of the “journey” from the “I” to the Absolute will be covered, in order. Those seekers in attendance will be moved along a “path” that guides them beyond identification with body and mind and personalities to a persona-free state. The Child Ignorance stage will be presented and then the first of two witnessing states shall be transcended and the ways of abiding as the True Self shall be revealed. Then, the shift to abiding as the Absolute shall be explained, as well as the beingness, the non-beingness, and the nothingness.

Sorry, no individual taping allowed since much of the content includes copyrighted materials. Occasionally, a session will be taped and made available to any who are interested in purchasing the sessions on DVD.

Thus, for those who want a label for the approach employed, the nonduality method used to unblock the pure consciousness is closest to Nisarga Yoga, but the ultimate goal is to reach the Full Understanding via the nonduality "path" to Full Realization that results in spontaneous, natural, AS IF living for the remainder of the manifestation. To facilitate that movement to completion of the "journey," seven, clear-cut steps will be offered.

NOTES TO INTERNATIONAL SEEKERS: (1) All non-duality retreat sessions are conducted in the English language. (2) You might consider purchasing a product that can assist in overcoming the effects of jet lag, such as the product available at www.nojetlag.com . (3) You might also consider purchase of an adrenal supplement to enhance energy levels during the day as well (4) a product such as "Herbal Sleep" that is available through Nature's Sunshine that can help induce sleep in the evenings: http://www.naturessunshine.com/products/catalog/products.asp?StockNun=940 . Such preparation can enhance the experience of the retreat by counter-acting the effects of a flight that crosses international timelines. (5) Among those who could afford it, some in the past flew in several days early, passed the days by exploring the local area, and allowed time to adapt to the time zone before beginning the sessions.

ITINERARY

(Note: Packages can be arranged during the week or over a weekend)
Day One: Arrive Houston in the afternoon, rent car if flying in, drive to location
Dinner w/ floyd for initial interview

Day Two: 9 AM: Breakfast with floyd
Non-Duality Session One
Move to private location for Meditation and Consideration
Lunch (Hundreds of nearby options to choose from)
Non-Duality Session Two (extended time)
Move to private location for Meditation and Consideration
Dinner
Silence
Sleep

Day Three: 9AM: Breakfast with floyd
Non-Duality Session Three (extended session)
Move to private location for Meditation and Consideration
Lunch (Hundreds of nearby options to choose from)
Non-Duality Session Four (extended session)
Dinner
Silence
Sleep

Day Four: Check out of hotel, then breakfast with floyd at 9 AM
Last Non-Duality Session (extended session)
Depart (Session will end by noon, so if flying home, book a flight after 2 PM)

PREPARATION

It is suggested that, prior to arrival, you begin a journal in which you record specific portions of the Teachings that need more explication for you. You should visit www.advaitaquotes.blogspot.com and note any pointers in the quotes that are not clear. You may also visit www.advaitavedantameditations.blogspot.com and also make notes regarding any pointers that are not clear. Also, you might find it helpful to order your own copy of The Advanced Seekers' Series (Volume One) at http://floydhenderson.com/order.htm if you have not yet done so and mark any passages that need clarification. Bring pens or pencils and a notebook to the sessions as well.

CHARGES

Charges are assessed for these sessions to replace income that would otherwise be earned during the days when work is set aside in order to meet with those seeking the Advaita understanding.

COSTS
$550.00 per person
The cost pays for the Advaita sessions, one evening meal, and three breakfasts.

REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT

You may click the button below to pay for the retreat. Afterwards, Floyd will contact you to arrange dates and details.

NEARBY MOTELS

Best Western Lake Conroe Inn: 936.588.3030
 (15 minutes away)

Super 8 Motel: 936.588.2886
(15 minutes away)

 

Margaritaville Lake Resort +1 877-286-9590
(3 minutes away)

FOR THOSE WHO PREFER OTHER OPTIONS:

RETREAT/SATSANG BY TELEPHONE:

At the request of some seekers, another option is a “Retreat by Telephone”: for those living inside the continental U.S., the retreat package will be offered by telephone and the price of the nine long-distance calls will be included in the package cost. (For those outside the continental U.S., you would make the calls or you could use one of the other options to save on expenses.) Nine one-hour sessions will be conducted by phone. Via each one-hour telephone session, you will be led through all of the steps from identification with the body to abidance as the Absolute. Using this approach, you would receive direct communication one-on-one but would save the price of driving and/or airfare and the cost of lunches and dinners. The price remains the same as for any one-on-one retreat. In some cases, 90-minute sessions might be more appropriate, but the full nine hours total would still be provided.

SKYPE SESSIONS

For those living outside the continental U.S. who do not want to pay for the international calls (as well as for anyone else that is interested) the sessions can be completed on Skype

THE ADVAITA COURSE BY INTERNET (see link to right)

For those options, full payment must be received in advance.

For those seeking the full explanation of the non-duality teachings offered by floyd Henderson, there are non-duality books offered below as well as retreats and Skype or telephone sessions available at http://www.floydhenderson.com/ .

Questions? Email: nonduality2@gmail.com