Retreat Focus: The retreat centers on the practice of Presence, which is viewed as a means to connect with the divine. However, it should also be a way to connect to ourselves, which is what a trauma-informed spiritual practice involves. It means that we are truthful and transparent with ourselves, which leads to authenticity in our pursuit of God's Presence.

Divine Presence: The divine Presence is described as a greater presence than the human Presence, encompassing a broader scope, depth, and complexity. For this reason, our practice of seeking this type of Presence must be grounded in truth and transparency. While the imagination can play a role, that role should be moderated by being truthful and transparent to ourselves, recognizing that this is not the actual Presence but rather the "imagined Presence."

Personal Journey: During the time of creating and facilitating this retreat, I was ensconced in the experience of losing and regaining a sense of God's Presence after confronting childhood abuse. Trauma can be isolating, which is why I want to explore with the kula the notion of sin and forgiveness as an aspect of healing trauma as part of our search for God and as an aspect of wholeness.

21-Day Application: At this point in our journey together, we may not need too many techniques. We already have a number of "techniques" to draw from. What we want to engage are our inner resources and the ingenuity that comes into play when we apply truth and transparency to ourselves. Let's begin with a 21-day process to see what we can discover or rediscover through our application.

The focus of Practice: We focus on a greater presence beyond gender, not limited to specific religious terms like "God" or "Goddess." Although we don't admit it or realize it fully, gender plays a critical role in our relating to the Divine. We aim to explore the concept of "Presence" that transcends gender while also acknowledging the value of gender and its role in uncovering a more profound sense of Presence.

Three-Minute Practice: We will learn a simple technique involving three spaces, three gestures, and shifting attention, which we will practice three times a day. However, leading up to this process, we will apply ourselves with what we know to discover a greater Presence daily. 

Purpose of the Practice: The typical method of meditation is to cultivate a deep relationship with the divine by moving awareness away from thoughts, images, and feelings. We aim to discover a way of prayer and meditation that acknowledges and integrates our thoughts and feelings so we don't repress, suppress, or avoid what spontaneously arises in our consciousness while engaging in our spiritual practice.

Expectations and Faith: Our practice may not yield immediate results, which is why consistency and practicing with faith are encouraged. We've got to learn to "manage our expectations" while "nurturing our intentions." We must learn to motivate ourselves towards the divine, even when we don't feel like engaging in spiritual practice, which is why combining Eastern and Western methods is beneficial.

Practice Duration and Frequency: Practice for three minutes, ideally three times a day, for 21 consecutive days. The simplicity and consistency of this process lead to a deeper awareness. Disciplining ourselves for long periods of prayer and meditation can sometimes be an act of spiritual egotism. Shorter spurts can reveal deeper processes with greater clarity.

Practice Methodology: A three-minute practice that doesn't involve thoughts, feelings, or images to sense God's Presence is easier said than done. Our typical human consciousness is generated through thoughts, feelings, and pictures that spontaneously arise in the mind. The vocabulary of methods we bring to this process is what we develop over a lifetime of practice and in our Yogic Mystery School. 

Learning Resources: Our primary resources as we enter this process are a one-hour presentation on the practice's value and an optional two-hour session for deeper application. However, it is not the "techniques" themselves that reveal the quality of consciousness we seek but the relationship with the object of our practice

The Retreat's Objective: To challenge ourselves to go beyond our current understanding of the divine and deepen our relationship with Presence. We are all susceptible to becoming stuck in our thinking and practice. Breaking out of these molds of conformity can lead to a fresh perspective in our consciousness and spiritual practice.

The Marriage Of East And West: When we bring Eastern modalities to the practice of contemplative prayer, something marvelous is possible. For us, it is the combination of mysticism, Gnosticism, and meditation that offers us a dynamic range in our spiritual practice. Similarly, we now bring the Desert tradition of Christian monasticism and medieval Christian mystics to our awareness so that our Gnosticism is informed by classic love mysticism. Drawing upon the traditions of Tantra, mantra, meditation, and enlightenment can help us achieve a more expansive understanding of the divine. 

Presence, The Starting Point: We want to emphasize the importance of Presence in our practice in a way that involves letting go of preconceived notions and projections about the divine. It is easier to approach a sense of Presence through projections and concepts. There is a way of apophatic mysticism found in both the East and the West, as in the Neti Neti (not this, not this) tradition of Hinduism and the Via Negativa of Christian mysticism that we can draw from to develop the truth and transparency that leads to authenticity in our pursuit of God's Presence.