Dathün is a one-month group meditation retreat. Participants are introduced to and guided in mindfulness-awareness meditation. This programme is suitable for relative newcomers as well as experienced students who wish to engage in a period of intensive practice, away from the distractions and business of their everyday lives. Such intensive meditation deepens our understanding of our own mind and can be profoundly life-changing. Each day consists of nine to ten hours of sitting and walking meditation, shamatha yoga sessions, and a short work period. To support the participants' experience, talks on various aspects of meditation practice are offered, and individual meditation instruction is provided every few days. Periods of group silence are observed. Meals are served oryoki-style, a form of meditation adapted from the Zen tradition.

Guidelines for the summer Dathun "Bamboo Moon"

The summer dathun will incorporate some teachings on Meditation in Action. In 2010, these teachings will be Kado. For the benefit of the all Dathun Mandala, we have to define some guidelines for participants. This dathun is a regular 4 weeks dathun i.e. if a participant wants to sit for 2 or 4 weeks this is completely fine. For these people entry dates are : Saturday June 19 and Saturday July 3. For first timers it is required to join for the first two in order to participate in week 3, or week 3 and 4 .

The breakdown of the dathun will be as such:

Week 1: sitting;

Week 2: sitting;

Week 3: Kado practice including morning and evening sitting;

Week 4: sitting.

For persons who have sat a dathun before, it will be possible to join at the beginning of week 2 on the day of Saturday June 26.

If there are persons who have special entry time requests, please let these requests be known to DCL programs office via email no later then 1 month before the Dathun begins. In their request they should state their history of sitting practice and which Shambhala Center they are affiliated with if any, and why they cannot enter at the beginning of the Dathun, or the 2nd week if they have completed a Dathun before.

programmes@dechencholing.org

When participants will register they must let it be known if they wish or do not wish to participate in the Kado practice.

The dathün is a foundation of the Shambhala Buddhist path and is required for more advanced study and practice intensives such as Sutrayana Seminary.

Participants may attend a minimum of 2 weeks of the dathün . Those who have not previously attended a dathün should plan to come at the beginning . We recommend that you plan to attend the entire month.

"Dathün is a pivotal point in one's life, where the profundity of the teachings soak into our core. It is the time and opportunity for us to change, develop and mature.

– Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Please have your MI submit a recommendation for you, by e-mail to our front office at dcloffice@dechencholing.org