Meditation Workshops and Retreats with Doug Kraft

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In his day-long meditation workshops and retreats, Doug Kraft guides participants how to cultivate wise-attention and kindness as a direct path to wisdom and liberation. This approach to meditation is the application of mindful ease and relaxation as a means to experience rapid progress in the stages of meditation. 

The aganda includes specific instructions for practicing kindness and wisdom meditation based on the earliest discourses of the Buddha. Doug will describe and instruct a method of practice that has become known as the 6R's. This a mindfulness meditation method recently rediscovered and practiced by monks and lay people world wide. The sessions blend precise instructions with periods of silent meditation. Doug encourages questions and offers valuable perspectives to establishing a rich and rewarding personal daily practice.


Retreats are ideal for beginners or advanced meditators who wish to deepen their practice. They are especially helpful for people who have practiced Vipassana, Zen, Raja Yoga, and similar wisdom traditions. Doug will talk about the development of jhanas or sublime state of awakening in meditation along with the contemplation of loving-kindess to access the Brahamaviharas as a path of insight. 

About Doug Kraft

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Doug Kraft began meditation training in 1975 and is just as  enthuisitic about meditating today as he was then. He is a senior student of Bhante Vimalaramsi. He has also studied with other Theravada teachers including John Travis, Ajahn Tong, Larry Rosenberg, Corrado Pensa, Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Christopher Titum, Joanna Macy, and Andy Olendski to name a few. Doug has also trained with Korean Zen Master, Sahn Seung, Tibetan Mingur Rinpoche, and Siddha Yoga guru Muktananda, and (back in the day) Ram Dass, Pir Vilat Khan, Salvador Rouchet, Emmanuel, and Jean Houston.

But behind it all, Doug loves delving into human nature and teaching meditation. He conducts meditation classes and daylong retreats in the greater Sacramento area. Doug is also a counselor, therapist, and retired Unitarian Universalist Minister who lives with his wife, son, and two cats. 

Learn more about and the practices he teaches at www.DougKraft.com

California & Hawaii Retreats

Kindness and Wisdom Retreat with Doug Kraft, November 28 - December 7, 2015 at the Mercy Center, Auburn California.  
Tranquil Insight Wisdom Meditation with Bhante Vimalaramsi, 
February 12-21, 2016  at the Kirpal Meditation and Ecological Center, Pahoa, on the Big Island of Hawaii. 
March 23- April 1, 2016 at the St. Francis Retreat Center, San Juan Bautista, California. 
Bhante Vimalaramsi is a distinguished American Buddhist monk with nearly forty years of meditation practice. He is regarded as a master meditation teacher and leads retreats in Europe, Asia, and North America.


Recommended

Bhante Dr. M. Punnaji, teacher, author, and founder of Proto Buddhism, offers compelling talks on Youtube
A few topics include:
  1. A compelling interpretation of Paticca Samuppada that explains the arising of dukkha at every moment as opposed to the traditional explanation which spans three lives.
  2. The path to Nibbana, through the gradual evolution of the Noble Eightfold Path, for which he uses the term the Supernormal Eightfold Way.
  3. The mental, physical, and physiological changes one experiences in the gradual deepening of tranquility in meditation and the states of jhana and insight.
  4. The difference between “existence” and “experience,” as expounded by the Buddha.
These and many other inspiring topics offer new perspectives on core Buddhist teachings. 

"Win the highest point in human evolution by mastering the  authentic meditation skills of the Buddha. Gain perfection in physical and mental health and happiness. Make a paradigm shift from existence to experience, which will awaken you from the dream of existence and set you free from every suffering including death itself..."
                            – Bhante Punnaj