CSTS London runs one day retreats
throughout the year and longer retreats twice a year at
Easter and at the end of July.
What is a
retreat?
Find out about upcoming CSTS
retreats here
What is a Retreat?
“You thought you were a part,
small, but in you there is a universe, the
greatest”
Hazreti Ali.
The meaning of the word
‘retreat’ refers to a withdrawal to a
place of seclusion or safety: a place of refuse. It may
refer to the spiritual practice of retreat as seclusion
in a cell or to the general principal of withdrawing or
fleeing to God. Fleeing to God is not a flight away
from one thing towards another, since there is nothing
in existence but God, fleeing to God is merely a way of
expressing the flight from ignorance to
knowledge.
The practice of physical withdrawal from the world
to a cell or some other isolated place is inevitably
associated with asceticism, which refers specifically
to seclusion or solitude, characterised by abstinence,
in particular refraining from speech, refraining from
the company of people and refraining from food and
sleep. Ascetic elements of the retreat are not as
something in which to remain for their own sake,
therefore conditioning what might be given freely, but
as a mean to an end, for they loosen the grip
that the animal nature exercises by curbing
the natural appetites and they help in the cutting of
worldly ties in order to bring the realisation of
one’s dependence on God Alone: that in
silence and solitude conversation may take place with
the Real One (Higher Self).
One of the purposes of retreat, then, is for
witnessing the Beauty of Oneness without as well as
within, so that there is no separation and
differentiation between within and without. Everything
that is without is a reflection of what is within, so
that one is not preferred over the
other but Reality is accepted however it shows
itself.
The main aim of retreat is emptiness and preparation
of the place. By that it means to purify the heart by
emptying it of all the clutter acquired by giving
importance to the many things that seem to have a hold
over our lives. The heart needs to be empty in
order to receive. There in the emptiness of
the heart the Beauty of Oneness may be witnessed. Such
a heart is not bounded or constricted by desires for
anything other than the Essence Itself which is free,
and being large enough for the Real, it is also large
enough for what the Real One has created in Himself.
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Upcoming
Retreats:
One Day Retreats
Every month CSTS runs a one day retreat, offering the
opportunity to learn more about what retreats can offer
you without the commitment or cost of a five day stay.
For more information, click here.
To find out more please call: 020 8578
3331 or E-mail: msharma669@aol.com.
Five/Ten Day
Retreats
Run on a request-led basis these longer retreats offer
participants the experience of healing the
psychological split. You will discover that there is a
place within that has no problem, where duality ends
and peace resides.
Retreat themes are based on ancient wisdom
traditions and offers participants opportunity to
discover an inner vision and wisdom that will move them
to the dimension of spiritual awakening with the
possibility of total change in every day life.
About Meera Sharma: Meera is a UKCP
Registered, transpersonal therapist, supervisor and
trainer, working at a number of academic institutions
and agencies. Her ‘trinity model’ builds
a bridge between eastern and western psychological
approaches, which was presented at the
“World Congress on Psychology &
Spirituality” 2008 in India. Meera is
the founder of the Centre for Spiritual and
Transpersonal Studies (CSTS), London, which offers a
variety of courses and workshops.
To find out more please call: 020 8578 3331 or
E-mail: msharma669@aol.com.
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