We require a $750 deposit, which is returned after 3 months. This $750 covers accommodation, meals and training for the first month of your stay. (Some participants have used this credit to attend a personal retreat in the middle or at the end of their stay, to deepen their integration of their three month immersion experience).
Budget $75-100 week. Expenses during your stay will include offering dana for guidance interviews and courses with the founding teachers, going off site, eating out, and exploring the beauty of the surrounding area. It is a 40-60 minute drive to Cranbrook, Fernie or Kimberley.
Have minimum savings of $CAD 2,000 for when you leave. It is important not to have financial concerns weighing you down during your stay. If your next step is not clear, and you need to find a home, job, and cover living costs in the meantime, we need to know that your stay at Clear Sky will not get you into financial hardship.
As a general pattern, we have experienced that spiritual types can lack attention to some practical financial details. For this reason, we consider it compassionate to have these requirements in place, to set you up for success before, during and after your stay.
Cancellations
Regarding your deposit, we will apply the following cancellation policy to the Karma Yoga Service Stay Program:
If you cancel with 90 days or more notice, we will keep a processing fee of 15%. If you cancel with 60 days to 89 days notice we will keep a cancellation fee of 50%. The remainder of your deposit fees can be refunded, or kept as a credit on your account for up to one year from the cancellation date. After one year, any unused or unclaimed fees will be forfeited.
No credits or refunds:
If you cancel with 30 days notice or less, there will be no credit or refund of any fees paid. If you have to cancel because of extenuating circumstances beyond your control, than Clear Sky will refund 50% of the payment. It is recommended that travel insurance is taken out as a precautionary measure in the case of such an event. If there is mutual agreement that we will continue as planned for the next 2 months, this $750 will be reimbursed to you in full, at the end of three months.
In the following list are examples of the activities you would be engaged in at Clear Sky, depending on your abilities and skills. We do not assign tasks by preference. Though there may be tasks you are more suited to, part of the learning is to engage in whatever comes your way.
- Dusting and vacuuming the meditation and shrine room
- Picking berries in the food forest
- Helping with kitchen inventory
- Creating a spreadsheet or document
- Preparing a room for a new retreatant
- Serving a silent retreatant's meal
- Doing laundry
- Preparing a meal
- Assisting with programs and events
- Weed whacking
- Cleaning the main house
- Cutting grass with the tractor
- Washing a vehicle
- Painting
- Updating food forest whiteboards
- Weeding
Technical/ skilled labor based on abilities such as:
- chainsawing
- building, etc
If you're not familiar with dāna, you may have come across related approaches such as “pay-from-the-heart.” Dāna is a Sanskrit term that is translated as "generosity" in English. It’s radically different from the transactional way we normally interact in the world – where we give in order to get something back, either a service or thing. Instead, with dāna, we give as a mutual exchange of generosity.
The practice of generosity is central to spiritual unfoldment, whatever path you follow. In our own Buddhist lineage, teachings have always been taught on the basis of dāna, and we are committed to this practice and its development in the West. Dāna is also a radical and – we believe – viable economic alternative to capitalism, which our planet would really benefit from. We all know there must be something better than capitalism or its hungry cousin, consumerism. We maintain that, together, we can offer a financial model that is based in life-affirming mutual support. Please join us in co-creating this promising economic alternative.
You will see other people on site doing service for the founding teachers. We do this because the teachers represent the principle of the awakened mind, and we want to train ourselves to put this principle first, in all we do. Examples would be plating a meal for the teachers and placing it on the dining table, moving their plates away once they've eaten, or making them a cup of tea. All of this would be done mindfully, with care and attention to detail.
By putting the teachers first, we are also practicing putting aside our habits and preferences for the sake of our growth and unfolding. God (or enlightenment) is in the details , so we are also "upping our game" in terms of mindfulness and attention when serving the teachers.
Lastly, we are generating merit in this lifetime by serving the principle of awakening.
How much free time will I have to connect with family, friends and/or continue some personal work or studies?
Very little and this is intentional. Our program has been consciously crafted as an immersion experience so that you can dive deep and reap the benefits of a retreat. Like when you go on retreat, you are encouraged to take space from your regular activities, relationships, and habits (not that there is anything wrong with them, necessarily). This space gives you the opportunity to become more conscious about yourself and how you spend your time. You will have some evenings, after 8:30 pm and your integration day (one day a week), to attend to your personal growth and needs. This is a great example of less is more, or put another way, quality time over quantity time. As a result of our program, we find that participants learn to fast track their spiritual growth, engage in their lives more fully, and prioritize their personal time more wisely.
How can I prepare before coming?
Reading the Clear Sky and Planet Dharma websites, blogs, vlogs and watching the Youtube channel is highly recommended. You can purchase a copy of Dharma If You Dare by Doug Duncan Sensei here. After your application has been approved and you have made a deposit, you will be sent more details on your stay including a reading list.
How can I get to Clear Sky from the airport?
You can request an airport pick up from the program manager. We ask that you request this as soon as you know so that we can plan in advance for someone to welcome and collect you.
I do not have a car, how can I get around?
Often there are people on site with vehicles that you can ride-share with and offer money for gas. You will need to communicate and plan in advance in order to make this a workable option for all involved.
Accommodation:
Where will I stay?
Over three month periods, a number of retreats and events can take place at Clear Sky. For this reason, you can expect to change rooms more than once. There may be small windows where you have your own room. At other times you can expect to share with at least one other and up to three others. During the summer months you are welcome to tent if you enjoy sleeping outdoors and watching the starry skies.
What kind of meals will you serve me?
Many folks are surprised that we serve meat every second day and that they will likely be asked to prepare and serve meat dishes during their stay. For this reason, we ask all participants to come with a mind of curiosity and non-clinging to preferences. For vegetarians and vegans, you can expect to be well fed, however there will be less options as we do cater mostly to omnivores. We are all encouraged to use our relationships with food for meditation and exploration. We source our food from our gardens, food forest, local suppliers, and eat organic as much as possible. Most people who visit rave about how nourishing the food is.
Can I have a friend or family come and stay?
We welcome guests who are genuinely interested in what we do. Since we are running a working monastery with a particular purpose and focus, we ask that you get approval from the on-site management team before inviting family and friends to visit you.
We have set aside the following dates for the arrival and orientation of karma yogis in 2018:
February 16
March 9
April 13
May 25
June 15
July 6
August 17
September 14
October 12
November 16