“Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.”
– Zen proverb
As busy Westerners, many of us are used to “doing” and simply doing nothing can be challenging.
Karma Yoga is the practice of bridging mindful awareness with your actions.
It is central to our practice at Clear Sky because we believe that bringing mindful awareness into our activities makes us more more clear, compassionate and effective at work, at home and in our relationships. And from there we can change the world!
During your retreat, you will be given simple tasks. Your practice is to bring awareness to the feelings, sensations and thoughts that arise while doing the task. This will help you apply mindful awareness in your daily life after the retreat.
Your mindful Karma Yoga may include
General maintenance on the property (for example, chopping firewood or shoveling snow in the fall and winter)
Gardening, weeding, and harvesting in our garden or food forest (spring & summer)
Cleaning of cabins and common areas
Administrative tasks (for example, filing, or laminating documents)
Note: Schedule is approximate and may change