The ancient teachings of the Buddha make it clear that acting on greed, hatred and delusion are the causes of suffering. Many of us may not be able to identify or admit that hatred is a cause of our personal suffering because we have been taught that good, kind people don’t hate. Once we started meditating, we discovered that hatred and resentment were a real cause of suffering in our minds and hearts. We found through honest mindfulness that hatred can show up in many forms. From the mild to the extreme.
In November of 2019 we invited everyone in the meditation society to join us in a forgiveness practice that would last thirty days. We challenged everyone to come along with us. To bring their hate, their resentments, their disappointment, doubts, and fears; to bring their hopelessness, their broken hearts, their regrets and their guilt; to bring all of it. We had to find out if our forgiveness practice could handle anything—even some of the most painful injustices life has to offer—and we needed help to do it. We put the word out, and the Rebel Saints showed up. What we found out by challenging ourselves and each other to not act on hatred and to commit to forgiveness, no matter how severe the offense, surprised us, and maybe it will surprise you.
Our first book, The End of Hate: Rebel Saints Meditation Society Forgiveness Challenge teaches the methods created in our first twenty years of practice and in our experience challenging our meditation society to respond to hatred with the wisdom and compassion of forgiveness.
Starting at this February 14th retreat, Rebel Saints will be offering our hard won forgiveness practice, learned rebuilding our lives and the lives of our students, and taken to a new level in the trenches of the 2018-2024 social media wars. We will be leading a series of silent meditation retreats around the US, focused on this practice, for anyone who is tired of conflict, division and resentment. We can learn how to not fall into hate in the first place, what to do with anger and how to escape if we are stuck in resentment.
We invite you to attend if you are ready to find relief from the unnecessary suffering of any level of hatred or resentment. Attend this retreat to start or to renew your Rebel Saints forgiveness practice. If you are ready to begin, we know that you can find the freedom and liberation we have found. It starts with a commitment to try our methods in the laboratory of silent retreat. You deserve to stop suffering. Novice or pro meditator, it’s time to get free…
We guarantee that you will leave retreat feeling more capable of withstanding and healing from pain. We know that your relationship with yourself, with the people close to you and to your society at large will be easier. The buddha taught that having a new relationship with our conditions is the way to happiness. That practicing mindfulness, compassion and forgiveness will end suffering. We invite you to come sit with us, to try our practice, and to see what happens.
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Welcome (or Welcome Back) to Silent Meditation Retreat practice…
Be in the first group that we take through the practice set out in our upcoming (March 2025) book, The End of Hate: Rebel Saints Meditation Society Forgiveness Challenge. Deepen your practice on this three day winter silent retreat in the beautiful PNW. This retreat will be led by teacher Rachael Savage. Rachael Savage will be teaching the practices of forgiveness for ourselves and others.
Extended silent meditation retreat conditions allow us to gain a deeper experience of mindfulness and the heart practices expanding our potential for personal liberation. Our retreat schedule will include meditation instruction, sitting and walking meditations, dharma talks and opportunities to meet with the teacher.
The retreat center is located in Eatonville, WA near Mount Rainier National Park in a 3,000 acre Douglas Fir forest. 90 minutes from downtown Seattle and one hour from the Seattle-Tacoma airport. With trails throughout the old-growth forest and into a deep gorge with a series of waterfalls, there are many opportunities for mindful walking and contemplation.
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RETREAT ACCOMMODATIONS
Restored vintage cabins and dorms will be our accommodations. Cost for this retreat ranges from $500 for dorm lodging to $600 for limited private lodging. Pricing includes lodging, meals, taxes and all facilities costs. A deposit of 250$ will secure any lodging option. Balances will be due by February 10th, 2025.
Lodging options:
Dorm with shared bath: $500.00. Share a Dorm room with 1.
Shared House with shared bath: $545.00 -Share a house with 4.
Private Apartment with private bath: $600 -Very limited, 4 total.
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GENERAL REBEL SAINTS RETREAT INFORMATION
DATE & TIME DETAILS: Registration Check-in is from 3:00-5:00pm on the first day of the retreat. The retreat will close on or before noon on the last day of the retreat. This is a residential retreat. All retreat participants will be living on the retreat grounds for the length of the retreat. We ask that all participants arrive on time and expect to stay the length of the retreat.
NOBLE SILENCE: This meditation retreat will be held in Noble Silence. Your teachers will discuss the practice of Noble Silence. To support the development of a collected and settled mind, most retreats and meals are held without ordinary social conversation. While in Noble Silence, teachers will offer instruction and teachings as well as practice discussions or group dialogue.
LODGING: The Retreat Manager will assign lodging according to your category of reservation. For shared facilities this will be on a first come first served basis.
FOOD: Meals are included in the registration pricing and will be healthy vegetarian fare with a vegan option. Please inform the retreat managers if you have food allergies. We will arrange to have all meals and ingredients labeled to accommodate allergies.
DANA: The price of your retreat includes all meals, all sales and lodging taxes, as well as costs for organization and promotion. There will be an opportunity to offer Dana to the teacher and the retreat manager.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE: Full payment for this retreat is due February 10th, 2025. You may register for this retreat up to the day of the retreat.
OTHER CANCELLATIONS AND REFUNDS: Late cancellations are costly and mean others cannot attend the retreat. Please let us know immediately if you decide you no longer wish to attend.
Please review our cancellation and refund schedule:
Cancellation up to 31 days before the retreat: 100% Refund minus $100.00 cancellation fee.
Cancellation 30 days prior to retreat: No refunds will be issued. Your nonrefundable deposit or balance may be donated to this retreats scholarship fund or transferred to someone not yet registered for this retreat. Thank you for your understanding.
WAITING LIST: If this retreat is full, we highly encourage you to sign up for the wait list as more often than not we end up offering a spot due to cancellations. No deposit is required to be placed on a waiting list. If an opening occurs, you will be notified with specific parameters on how and when to confirm your attendance. Your reservation is not guaranteed until the registration form is completed and deposit paid.
TECHNOLOGY: Participants are asked to unplug while on silent retreat.
CONTACT INFORMATION: Please give this contact information to your friends and family.
Email: rebelsaintsms@gmail.com Phone: 206.913.9625