Buddhas at Work Retreat

Why “Service?”

Calling our actions “service” instills the notion that we do it with and for others. Services helps both ourselves and others gain greater clarity and contentment throughout our daily activities. By putting others first, we give the ego a chance to relax. The result is increased success, effectiveness, and fulfillment in our work.

This approach is highly relevant to the Western lifestyle of the 21st century. This course offers you the opportunity to learn from our experience and take it back home and to work with you.

In this course, we’ll draw on traditional meditation and yogic practices and philosophy. We’ll also utilize exercises drawn from Namgyal Rinpoche’s Holistic Clearing practice, Theory U, Fifth Discipline, Five Dysfunctions of a Team and original exercises we’ve created expressly for Karma Yoga and Dharma Training development.

What’s Expected from Me if I Come to This Retreat?

An open mind and heart, and a spirit of adventure are excellent things to bring!
It’s human to have some apprehensions about doing something new, meeting new people, or going to a new place. Particularly when all three happen together. We try to make this as supportive as possible. And changes – including positive ones – require movement, and movement requires engaged energy.

We ask you to engage with us around the teachings and activities that will support your learning and unfoldment around Awakening in Action.

When exploring our growth edges, it’s natural to feel uncertain and awkward. And it’s very fruitful to transform that tension into creative energy by drawing on your own inner resources – such as inquiry, going with the flow, and self-reflection, just a few of the many kinds of constructive engagement.

To maximize your learning, we ask that you refrain from reading, using the internet or listening to music during the course. We make an exception for journaling, course assignments and dancing during exercises or group celebration – all great resources for integration and growth.

Lastly, Doug & Catherine's teaching and Clear Sky operate based on the ancient tradition of dāna or generosity. Please learn more about this profound practice before you register.

What is Karma Yoga?

Karma Yoga is the path of applied awareness engaged in activity. When performed mindfully, Karma Yoga liberates our sense of isolation and separateness, while enriching our individuality and creativity.

Karma Yoga is typically performed in-person and online, on teams, individually, or in combination. Through mentorship by trained professionals, we learn how to be more effective as an individual and in teams.

Through Karma Yoga we learn how to:

increase clarity around our own personal vision, and develop the ability to fulfill it;
embrace vulnerability as a positive;
engage in constructive conflict between individuals and build trust in relationships, teams and communities;
build clarity by creating and honoring realistic commitments;
raise our aspirations, develop skills and capabilities;
pay attention to results and not let our egoism and a “get by” status quo attitude feign as “success;”
become more accountable, building confidence;
transform emotional tension into creative tension.

A core benefit of Karma Yoga is that it benefits everyone, including the planet and the environment. We learn to transcend the need for recognition, while appreciating the satisfaction of a job well done.

Why Would I Want to be a Karma Yogi?

A Karma Yogi is a person dedicated to spiritually supporting oneself and other people. S/he trains and practices to purify emotional conflicts and self-limiting views, yielding greater freedom, clarity, joy and peace in our own and others’ lives. In other words, we become more loving and more compassionate.

A Karma Yogi is like a superhero. The superhero helps others with superhuman powers. But unlike the superhero, whose powers result from external forces, the Karma Yogi builds them through consciously training. The superhero is fiction, whereas Karma Yogis are real, with skillsets and special abilities that any of us can learn. Karma Yogis make the world a beautiful place to be.

“I have been terrified my whole life to grow and to show up and to be seen. I understand now that through my participation in karma yoga, there has been enough wearing away of the rock by drops of water, drop by drop by drop. I am at a point now where I am saying, “OK, lets do this!” And I don’t think there is any faster process. The karma yoga practice is changing our very chemical make up so that we really are letting ourselves be recreated. I’ve achieved two Bachelor and one Masters degrees and none of my higher education comes close to the profound learning and core depth changes that I have experienced through doing karma yoga at Clear Sky. Its definitely the PhD of life.”

Maureen Smith (MBSR Teacher & Counsellor)

What does a Typical Day look like?

Our daily schedule includes:

  • Three meals a day, which are conducted in silence, with awareness directed towards the nature of “nourishment” and the act of serving oneself and others.
  • The proverbial – and actual – chop wood, carry water, cleaning dishes will be an active, enlivening experience. You’ve never had this experience cleaning dishes!
  • Daily group meditations allow us to gather and reflect as a group in silence, on a theme related to the other activities of the day. We will also use the meditation to raise inquiries for ourselves, and to yield insights about what we’re learning. Some meditations will include time for Q & A and discussion.
  • Talks on Karma Yoga will address principles, theory, and various exercises to practice, or Karma Yoga activities* to follow. We will also have sessions for facilitated discussion and time for Q & A. We’ll also take advantage of group review, such as regarding lessons learned, challenges that may arise, how to adapt what we learn to use at home, etc.
  • Applications: Practice makes perfect, so we’ll build on each day’s new discoveries to apply what we’re learning, using more engaged exercises* or a Karma Yoga activity. This helps ensure you’ll be able to replicate what you’ve learned in your life back home.
    Integration time: We respect the importance of this modality! You may use it to take walks around the exquisite Clear Sky property, engage in your own movement practices, rest, reflect, journal, etc.

Based on the emerging group dynamic the schedule may change from day to day, excepting the group meditations and meal times, which anchor our practice.

As mentioned above, the first week will introduce basic principles, theory and practice and overview. The second week will allow us to work more specifically on patterns we’ve identified we’d like to shift, with deeper exploration and practice. As part of this, the second week will include the option of private interviews with Doug and/or Catherine, so that participants can make more specific inquiries pertaining to their particular situation.