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2021 Year-End Appeal
Thanks to unprecedented support throughout the pandemic, Springwater Center reopened for in-person retreats and guest stays in June, while continuing to offer online access to timed sittings, dialogues and retreats. It is heartwarming to see the life-enriching work of meditative inquiry more accessible than ever before.
However, social-distancing precautions have reduced the Center’s in-person retreat capacity by more than half. This important consideration—giving everyone more space—has substantially reduced in-person retreat income. Donations from members and friends are greatly appreciated at this time to help cover this financial shortfall.
Funds are also needed to offset the purchase and maintenance costs for the new hybrid vehiccle that has replaced the Center’s 10-year-old gas-powered SUV. Completion of the current phase of the equipment barn and workshop is also near—please consider a donation to support this place of shelter for Center equipment and the staff and volunteers who work with it.
Using the “Donate” button below leads to the website “Give” page with more information about areas that need support and many ways that friends can help. This page also provides information about how Above-the-Line Charitable Tax Deductions allowed in 2021 may benefit donors while also supporting the Center.
Thank you to everyone for continuing to sustain Springwater Center as a cherished and well-cared-for space of meditative inquiry and silent retreat. Your consideration of a financial contribution to this place of quiet listening is deeply appreciated.
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Thanksgiving at
Springwater Center
November 25 is a staff day off at the Center. Some staff will be away visiting family and friends while remaining staff and Center guests will gather together for a meal of thanks.
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All Day Sitting
w/ Talk by Wayne Coger
Saturday, December 4
Visit for a day, a weekend or attend online . . .
Explore simple listening for one day—in-person or online—or come as a guest for a longer stay that includes the All Day Sitting event. The day’s schedule is optional and includes timed sittings, a late morning talk and an afternoon group dialogue.
The talk for this December All Day Sitting will be given by Wayne Coger. Wayne worked closely with Toni Packer, Springwater Center’s founder, for over 30 years and he continues to share enthusiastically in the work of this moment with everyone who is interested.
In an article titled Transition, Wayne writes, It may be enticing on some level to imagine problems and then to search for possible solutions. There may even be some pleasure in imagining difficult circumstances—and in seeing oneself as the victim of these circumstances. The sense of oneself as the victim, as one who deserves pity, can be pleasurable—in a very superficial and ultimately painful way. But isn’t it immensely more satisfying—and energizing—to be with things as they present themselves? In this meeting there is no need to become the sufferer or play the victim.
Read the full article here.
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Center Closed (Staff Break)
Saturday, December 18 – Monday, December 27
The Center will close at the end of the day on Friday, December 17, and will reopen Tuesday, December 28 for guests. After an eventful year of reopening, staff will take a much-deserved break during this holiday period. Online offerings will not be available during the break but will resume on Tuesday, December 28.
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New Year’s Retreat with Wayne Coger
Friday, December 31 – Tuesday, January 4
OPEN for in-person participation. Register here.
OPEN for online participation.
Register here.
As 2021 ends and 2022 begins, we invite everyone to join together— in-person and online—to listen simply and inquire meditatively, as friends.
Two in-person spaces remain for this popular winter retreat. Wayne Coger will facilitate from Springwater Center, giving a daily talk, attending the afternoon group dialogues and offering times to meet privately with participants.
Avid swimmer and cyclist, Wayne has been on staff at the Center since 1983 and has led retreats since 2001.
Wayne asks: How do we begin to go into this matter more deeply, to understand this whole movement of me and me-thinking?
And answers: This sort of inquiry requires incredible patience—it is not a looking that glosses over or brushes aside anything. Asking what is the pain in the legs, the boredom, the dissatisfaction—and not trying to formulate an answer. There is energy in this kind of looking and questioning. If we are wholly involved, wholly with the attention, then meaning does not have to be searched for—it manifests itself in this wholeness of being-with.
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3-Day Retreat with
Susan Schepp
Friday, January 14 – Monday, January 17
OPEN for in-person participation.
Register here.
OPEN for online participation.
Register here.
Rest and explore a few days of quiet listening and stillness . . .
Conveniently scheduled to include Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Susan Schepp will lead this retreat in-person from Springwater Center. Susan has been involved with the Center since its inception and she remains deeply committed to the work of meditative inquiry. During this three-day retreat, Susan will give a daily talk, attend the afternoon dialogues and offer private meeting times, daily.
In her own words, Susan wonders: Is it possible to just be here and be nothing special at all? With no need to be special, no need to stand apart, to just be comfortable with how one is? What a peaceful world it would be if people could just feel comfortable being nothing at all. To be no one special, with no need to outmaneuver, to strategize, to protect or defend, to resist, which all comes out of upholding some image of being something . . .
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Online Timed Sittings, Talks and Dialogues
When the Center is not in retreat or offering an All Day Sitting, we gather online to sit, listen and dialogue together. The online offerings are open to all, with donations greatly appreciated.
The schedule is as follows:
(Times are Eastern Time Zone)
Sundays
No Sittings
Mondays
7:30 & 8:00 PM (sittings)
Tuesdays-Fridays
7:30, 8:00 & 8:30 AM (sittings)
7:30, 8:00 & 8:30 PM (sittings)
Tuesdays
2:00 PM (sitting)
Thursdays
9:00 AM (social time)
Saturdays
7:30, 8:00 & 8:30 AM (sittings)
1:30-4:30 PM (sitting, recorded talk by Toni Packer, group dialogue)
Join from Zoom.us:
Meeting ID: 289 037 6188
Passcode: 7179
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Staff Cabin 2 Temporarily Available
December 1 – March 31
A seasonal staff member will be away this winter, making this popular accomodation available to guests and retreat participants. Rest comfortably and take in the views from this one-bedroom cabin that offers privacy and quiet. Amenities include wifi, a queen-sized bed, full bath with stand-up shower, small kitchen with oven, stove, mini-fridge and microwave and a full futon for additional sleeping space.
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