Dear Common Ground Friends,
Registration is now open for our upcoming In-Person/Zoom February Retreat, from 6:15pm Thursday, February 17th until noon on Monday, February 21st.
There will be both online and in-person participation options for this retreat (with a limited number of in-person spots.) Shelly Graf will be teaching from our retreat center and Mark Nunberg will be teaching from home; both teachers will be broadcast on Zoom. In-person retreatants will sit with Shelly in person and view Mark’s teachings on a TV.
We require in-person participants to be fully vaccinated. Read our most recent statement regarding our pandemic policies here.
Expectations for online retreatants:
Though online retreats may require something unique from us in terms of our engagement with loved ones and daily living responsibilities, online retreats can also be quite powerful opportunities to deepen our practice, and provide a unique opportunity to transform our relationship to our home environment. As expectations and guidelines for retreats vary, we’d like to take a brief moment to provide some clarity about the expectations for this retreat. When registering, the teachers are expecting that participants attend all teacher-led sessions including assigned small group sessions for the duration of the retreat. To the greatest degree possible, retreatants are encouraged to set aside all possible responsibilities and commitments in order to make retreat practice the primary focus. If there are responsibilities that will knowingly pull you away from any of the teacher-led sessions, it is important that you reach out to discuss your situation with the teachers before registering. Here is an outline of the schedule (details to be filled in later):
Thursday Opening Night
6:15-6:45pm Teacher-led session – Orientation
7:30- 9:00pm Teacher-led session – Retreat Opening
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
6:30 – 7:15am Teacher led session
9:00 – 11:30am Teacher led session
2:00 – 3:00pm Teacher led session
4:00 – 5:00pm Teacher led session
7:00 – 8:00pm Teacher led session
8:30 – 9:00pm Teacher led session
Monday– Closing Day
6:30 – 7:15am Teacher led session
9:00 – 10:30am Teacher led session and retreat closing
About the teachers:
Shelly Graf has been practicing at Common Ground since 2003. In May 2021 they graduated from Insight Meditation Society’s four-year teacher training program and in October 2021 they were hired as Common Ground’s Co-Guiding Teacher. Currently they teach a variety of programs at the center including co-leading residential retreats with Mark Nunberg and Wynn Fricke. Shelly’s administrative role involves developing and clarifying the center’s vision, policies, and priorities. In addition, they take the lead role in overseeing what programs are offered at the Minneapolis center. Professionally, Shelly has been a clinician and administrator in the Social Work and mental health fields since 2005. They have a special interest in waking up to whiteness as part of this total path of awakening. Whatever Shelly’s role may be, they will always be a grateful student of Buddhist Practice first.
Mark Nunberg began his practice in 1982 and has been teaching meditation since 1990. He co-founded Common Ground Meditation Center in Minneapolis in 1993 with Wynn Fricke and continues to serve as the center’s Guiding Teacher. Mark has studied with both Asian and Western teachers and finds deep inspiration in the teachings of the Buddha. Mark practiced as a monk for five months in Burma and completed four three-month retreats at Insight Meditation Society Retreat Center, as well as many months of intensive retreat practice at The Forest Refuge. Mark continues to be a grateful student of Buddhist practice.
Registration here.
Additional in-person independent practice period with Mark Nunberg immediately following this retreat:
For in-person participants, there is the option of staying at the retreat center after the retreat ends until Saturday mid-day February 26th, for a practice period led by Mark Nunberg. This is open to in-person retreatants who have done one retreat of 5 days or longer in addition to this retreat. You will have the opportunity in the registration form to indicate if you’re interested in being entered in the lottery for this additional practice period. Practice periods are opportunities for independent retreat practice in a community retreat container. Practice periods are non-teacher led, silent meditation retreats. Please review guidelines for practice periods here.
