Before Clear Sky
Many of Clear Sky’s founding members were expats, living in Japan, who came together to eagerly listen to the teachings by Achariya Doug Duncan.
Over ten years, our growing group held two or three retreats a year. For each retreat we had to search for a venue; and though we always found somewhere, this searching began to wear on us. While each venue we found had its merits, we continued to look for the right space, one with conditions truly conducive to awakening.
It became clear that to find the right container for this precious work we needed to create it for ourselves. In 2003, after viewing more than 30 properties across North America, we bought the land that became Clear Sky.
Creating a container for spiritual growth
Since 2005, Clear Sky has been growing and offering retreats and training for people with a heart for spiritual exploration who want to awaken more quickly and fully.
The name Clear Sky represents the mind of blissful, non-clinging awareness - the still, clear mind always present behind the ever-shifting clouds of everyday thoughts and emotions. This is the mind that pays attention to the right details and is alert, awake, conscious, and kind.
After all, isn’t this our birthright, what we all want?
Why Clear Sky works - the five principles of a spiritual container
We heard again and again that people would have amazing, transformative experiences at Clear Sky, and then inevitably struggle to recreate this strong container for themselves in their daily lives.
It’s understandable. After all, we can only spend so much time in retreat; most of our time is spent in everyday activities, with the inevitable busyness and distractions. And this is where our energy leaks and where, despite best intentions, we lose focus on our spiritual aspirations.
Yet, we know it doesn’t have to be that way.
In 2015, we started what became an 18-month project to answer a question; How do we help people keep their spiritual lives ignited, without quitting everything and going to live in the mountains?
Through this project, we came up with five principles to help people feel support like that of a retreat centre, a concept we call a “spiritual container.” What we share here, we’ve taken from what works at Clear Sky, and in our lives away from Clear Sky, to contain the magical exploration we call our spiritual life:
- Honor your space
- Structure and routine are your friends
- It’s easier with others
- Cleaning up big areas of your life frees up energy
- Conversations shape the space where we meet
Click here to read more about the Five Principles of a spiritual container on our How it Works page
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