Online Pentecost Retreat
Awakening & Non-duality
Retreat with Swami Atmananda
26 – 29 May 2023
Live Online Broadcast
In-presence at L’Arche de Saint-Antoine (France)
Dates
Introduction on Friday 26 May at 8:30 p.m. (CET – Paris, Madrid, Rome)
Check the time of the event in your time zone here.
Retreat from Saturday 27 May at 7:30 a.m. to Monday 29 May at 5 p.m. (CET – Paris, Madrid, Rome)
Check the time of the event in your time zone here.
In-presence and online event (on Zoom), given in :
French
With simultaneous translation into :
English
Presentation
Our Pentecost Retreat at l’Arche de Saint-Antoine (France) will be held simultaneously in-presence and online. It is organized and coordinated by the association Les Amis d’Ajatananda Ashram. About 120 participants are expected on site and, as last year, many participants will join virtually.
Swami Atmananda proposes to deepen some of the major themes of the Advaita Vedānta tradition from the teachings of Sri Shankara and to approach the nature of Spiritual Awakening.
This Retreat, held during the Pentecost weekend, offers a powerful moment of integration between teachings and practice. It will take place largely in silence and contemplation.
In addition to the satsangs, the Retreat will include two 45-min meditations each day introduced by Swami Atmananda, as well as a mindful walk (not broadcast on Zoom) and a mindfulness yoga session (optional). See programme details below.
Swami Atmananda Udasin is the Āchārya (Spiritual Head) of the Ajatananda Ashram, an interreligious ashram located on the banks of the Ganges in the foothills of the Himalayas in Rishikesh, North India. After studying comparative religions and a long spiritual search, he met his master Sri Chandra Swami Udasin in India in 1990. He was then called to a hermit’s life for about 10 years. Since 1997, he has lived in India where he has been teaching since 2012 the Direct Path of Non-duality in the tradition of Advaita Vedānta and offers satsangs and retreats in India and the West.
Swami Atmananda invites you to experience this online Retreat fully as if you were there together with the other participants. It is important to set up the necessary time and space in your home to encourage recollection and the observation of Noble Silence which is an essential dimension of it.
It is possible that you will not be able to attend a session of the proposed programme, notably because of a time difference. Nevertheless, it is important that you are determined to follow this retreat in its entirety as if you were there, in order to benefit from the Energy and Grace that naturally emanate from such a gathering.
During the satsangs, Swami Atmananda will comment on the teachings of the Vedantic tradition, followed by a question and answer session. Due to the large number of people in the room, priority will be given to questions from the audience. However, one out of four questions will be taken from the online participants. For that you will be able to write it in the Zoom chat box. If selected, you will be able to ask your question orally directly to Swamiji.
Practical Information and Online Etiquette
The day before the Retreat, you will receive an email with additional information including a link to join the online sessions (Zoom platform) and the teaching of Sri Shankara which will be commented on during the satsangs with Swami Atmananda. You can view the text on another device during the sessions or print it.
Finally, we remind you of the online etiquette guidelines recommended by Swamiji. These are a condition of participation in the online Retreat in order to avoid anonymity, as it is indeed a personal meeting among participants: please keep your camera activated and display your first and last name as a username during each meeting, as a sign of full participation. Indeed, a visible and personal participation in a spiritual retreat contributes to create an atmosphere of fraternal communion, favourable to feel the link that inhabits and connects us all.
In order to be in the authentic Indian tradition of Satsang and to be in the synergy of the Retreat, it is therefore important to really engage in transparent participation, whether physical or virtual, unlike other more impersonal types of online meetings such as technical training seminars, etc.
Detailed Programme
(NB: Activities broadcast online are indicated by the word online)
Friday 26 May
| 8:30 p.m. | Introductory Talk online |
Please connect at 8:10 p.m. Special announcements will be given before the room announcements.
Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 May
| 6:15 a.m. | Conscious walk (45 min., in silence) |
| 7:30 a.m. | Meditation (30 min.) online |
| 8:15 a.m. | Breakfast (in silence) |
| 9:30 a.m. | Kirtan online |
| 10:00 a.m. | Talk online |
| 11:00 a.m. | Silent Break (teas, drinks) |
| 11:30 a.m. | Questions & Answers online |
| 12:25 p.m. | Lunch (in silence) |
| 3:00 p.m. | Mindfulness Yoga (optional) online |
| 3:45 p.m. | Kirtan online |
| 4:15 p.m. | Talk – Questions & Answers online |
| 5:45 p.m. | Silent Break (teas, drinks) |
| 6:00 p.m. | Meditation (30 min.) online |
| 7:00 p.m. | Evening meal (in silence) |
Monday 29 May
| 6:15 a.m. | Mindfulness walk (45 min., in silence) |
| 7:30 a.m. | Meditation (30 min.) online |
| 8:15 a.m. | Breakfast (in silence) |
| 9:30 a.m. | Kirtan online |
| 10:00 a.m. | Talk online |
| 11:00 a.m. | Silent Break (teas, drinks) |
| 11:30 a.m. | Questions & Answers online |
| 12:25 a.m. | Lunch (in silence) |
| 3:00 p.m. | Kirtan online |
| 3:15 p.m. | Talk – Questions & Answers online |
| 5:00 p.m. | End of the Retreat |
Voluntary Contribution
A minimum contribution of €10 (for the whole Retreat) is requested to help us meet the running costs and expenses related to this organization. However, we do not want anyone to feel excluded for financial reasons. Please feel free to contact us by email regarding this.
To support the teaching of Swamiji and the Ajatananda Ashram in Rishikesh, we will keep the principle of conscious donation. If you wish, you may donate at the time of registration or after the Retreat. An email reminder will be sent with details on how to do so.