2009 Workshops
Here is my 2009 schedule of workshops and retreats. Click on a workshop date and title below to view the description and registration information or scroll down the page. Click here for a printable download of my: 2009 Workshop Schedule
April 12-17, 2009 - Big Sur Wilderness Experience at Esalen
May 2, 2009 - Art of Pilgrimage at Green Gulch Zen Center
May 7-10, 2009 - Wild Mind, Zen Mind at Tassajara
May 24-29, 2009 - Walk on the Wild Side at Esalen
June 19-21, 2009 - Fathers & Sons: Celebrating Father’s Day
June 21-26, 2009 - Mountains and Waves at Esalen
July 5-10, 2009 - Nature & Contemplation at Esalen
August 7-9, 2009 - Sitting with Fire at Tassajara
August 16-21, 2009 - Big Sur Wilderness Experience at Esalen
September 2-6, 2009 - Art of Pilgrimage at Hollyhock
Sept. 19, 2009 - Art of Pilgrimage at Green Gulch Zen Center
October 4-9, 2009 - Belonging to Earth at Esalen
October 23-25, 2009 - The Way of Nature at Esalen
2009 Workshop Descriptions
April 12-17, 2009
Big Sur Wilderness Experience: Springtime
Esalen Institute
with Steven Harper and Michael Newman
Esalen is the trailhead to one of the most spectacular mountainous coastlines in the world. With the Big Sur wilderness as the primary teacher, participants will explore the beauty of this alive and wild coast, from ancient redwood-forested canyons to dramatic coastal beaches, from rugged rocky mountains to the soft grassy slopes of the Big Sur hills. Drawing from nature and various experiential awareness practices, individuals will be encouraged to open both to the natural world and to the landscapes of their inner world. It is said that Big Sur is not just a place but a state of mind. This wilderness experience seeks to merge mind and place, then to embody what is learned.
Participants in this weeklong workshop will venture out into the emerging springtime magnificence of Big Sur on five day-hikes, 4-10 miles in length. The leaders will draw from a wide range of contemporary and age-old wisdom traditions, borrowing from psychology, meditation, aikido, and the natural sciences to weave together a holistic experience of self and the natural world. Each hike begins after breakfast and concludes in time to enjoy the hot springs and dinner at Esalen. Evening sessions include informal sharing, basic awareness practices, and useful outdoor skills, with attention given to incorporating what is learned into our daily lives. All levels of experience are welcome. Be prepared for the invigorating challenge of physical activity and the opportunity to simply sit still in quiet reflection. More information will be sent upon registration.
($20 park-entrance fees paid directly to the leader.
Booked Full with Wait List: See August 16-21 Workshop
May 2, 2009:
9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
The Art of Pilgrimage: Walking the Wild Path
Green Gulch Zen Center
with Steven Harper and Meg Levie
Most of the world's spiritual traditions include some form of pilgrimage. Although not often taught in the West, Buddhism also includes such a practice. This retreat will be a contemporary pilgrimage, exploring the ancient art of walking. While pilgrimage is often from one place to another, we will end at the very place we begin, celebrating the sacred aspect of the journey itself. We will begin at Green Gulch with an introduction to the basic principles of sitting meditation (zazen) and walking practice (kinhin). Much of the day will be spent mindfully hiking trails in the wilds of Marin (3-6 miles in length), moving between silence, instruction, and informal discussion. This is a contemplative journey where each step is the goal. Please bring a bag lunch. Further information will be sent upon registration.
See September 19th 2009: Green Gulch office at 415.383.3134
May 7-10, 2009
Zen Mind, Wild Mind
Tassajara Mountain Zen Center
with Steven Harper and Leslie James or
Kokyo Henkel
This retreat simply offers the finest of Tassajara – Buddhist practice, wilderness walks, wonderful meals, hot springs, silence, and the awe inspiring wildness of nature. This last year Tassajara experienced wildfires and floods. This spring will bring surprises of renewal, emergent green, and wildflowers through nature’s abundant resilience. We will explore Zen practice and the natural wild beauty of Tassajara (in all its diverse forms) through daily meditation, group discussions, and day hikes on wilderness trails.
See August 7- 9 retreat at Tassajara
May 24-29, 2009
Walk on the Wild Side: Hiking the Big Sur Country
Esalen Institute
with Steven Harper and Michael Newman
"What's the quickest way out of the city?" John Muir is reported to have asked a stranger on the street of the metropolis in which Muir had just arrived. "Where do you want to go?" the man asked. "Anywhere that is wild," Muir replied.
This week is straightforward. You day-hike the mountainous paths into the wilds of Big Sur, breathe in the fresh mountain air, and soak in Esalen's natural hot springs overlooking the waves of the Pacific—in short, you let yourself touch and be touched by Nature.
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul," said Muir. Drawing from various wisdom traditions, the group will be introduced to practices that encourage openness to self and nature. As Muir discovered, "I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in."
Hikes (3-10 miles in length) begin after breakfast and finish in time to enjoy the hot springs and wholesome food of Esalen. Participants should be prepared for the challenge of invigorating physical activity as well as the opportunity to simply sit still in quiet contemplation. More information will be sent upon registration.
Muir wrote, "The mountains are calling me and I must go."
($20 park-entrance fees paid directly to the leader)
Full: Wait List Open
June
19-21, 2009
Fathers and Sons: Celebrating Father’s Day in the Tradition of the Old Ways
Esalen Institute
with Steven Harper, Kenneth Harper, Kai Harper, and Kes Harper
It is a wise child that knows his own father.
-Homer
It is a wise father that knows his own child.
-William Shakespeare
Over the ages, fathers and sons have journeyed together into the wilds of nature, traveling light, living simply, and stepping together on the path of what is known and what is unknown as students and teachers for one another. This weekend is a time for fathers and sons to come together as individuals, family, and community to explore the natural wild areas of Big Sur and the relationship of father and son in a community of men.
“Our time together is simple,” says Steven. “Participants will be introduced to basic contemplative and awareness practices from various wisdom traditions. Our time outdoors during the week will be spent on day hikes (two to six miles in length) into the rugged beauty of Big Sur. Much of our time will be in silence, quiet dialog, and reflective exercises that invite participants to pay attention to that which has heart and meaning. During indoor sessions we will share experience, stories of the path, and poems of inspiration…with a touch of creative humor to add balance.”
Longtime Esalen leader, Steven, his father Kenneth, and two sons, Kai and Kes, will lead the weekend. This multi-generational father and son team along with the group will weave together an eclectic mix that draws from collective life experience and training.
All levels of experience are welcome, however the group is limited to fourteen years and older. More information will be sent upon registration.
($10 park-entrance fees paid directly to the leader)
Booked Full with Waitlist
June 21-26, 2009
Mountains and Waves: Wilderness and Continuum
Esalen Institute
with Steven Harper and Susan Harper
Wilderness is a primary teacher of movement, creativity, and awareness whose richness and beauty awakens our senses to the world around us. Continuum is a unique movement practice, an inquiry into our capacity to innovate and participate with the essential movement processes of life. Continuum takes us inward in a dynamic inquiry, rotating between inner investigation and the flow of unfolding creative expression. Integrating day-hiking in the magnificent Big Sur backcountry with the subtle internal explorations of Continuum movement, this workshop combines and weaves together these two practices.
The hikes will introduce participants to increasingly refined awareness practices to enhance sensitivity to all that wilderness can offer, to reawaken those elements of wilderness within. During the indoor Continuum sessions, participants will explore movements that express and embody what they have taken in during the hikes, enlivening their ability to feel what they experience in nature as well as in their own inner nature. In this sensual environment, the group will play with movement, breath, sound, dreams, and ritual. This will be a time for contact with nature and wilderness, inside and out. Participants need not have previous experience in hiking or movement practices.
Co-leaders Steven and Susan are a brother-and-sister team who have taught this ever-evolving program annually for over 20 years.
($20 park-entrance fees paid directly to the leader)
Booked Full with Waitlist
July 5-10, 2009
Nature and Contemplation
Esalen Institute
Steven Harper and Brother David Steindl-Rast
Contemplation can be a simple joy, an experience that brings warmth and light into daily life. From time immemorial, nature has inspired human hearts to contemplation. Can we make this experience our own today? This retreat is designed to help participants experience directly both nature and contemplation.
Experience and reflection are the key words for this weeklong workshop. Earth under our feet on gentle hikes; water of the pacific pounding against the shore; air of Big Sur's refreshing breezes; fire that heats Esalen's hot springs; all the elements combine to touch our bodies and to raise our minds and spirits.
"Nature is never spent: there lives the dearest freshness deep down things," writes the mystic poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. To drink from that freshness, from that fountain of youth, is the intent of this workshop.
The group will share contemplative practices that encourage the relationship to self and Nature. The week will include sessions at Esalen and some ventures into the wilds of Big Sur on hikes 2- 4 miles in length balancing the day between walking and sitting, inspirational readings and quiet contemplation, active awareness exercises and simply being. All levels of experience are welcome. Further information will be sent upon registration.
($20 park-entrance fees paid directly to the leader)
Register Now
August 7-9
Sitting with Fire: Walking with Change
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
with Steven Harper and Myogen Steve Stücky
The wildfire of last summer and the great effort to save Tassajara was an extraordinary event that made national news. This retreat is an open inquiry into how we might choose to “sit with fire”— both literally and metaphorically, both personally and collectively. We will draw from Buddhist teachings, ecology, natural history, and experience to better understand how we might “show up” and meet the fires, both inner and outer, that sometimes challenge our lives. With great destruction and change comes the fertile ground of possibilities… creative renewal, emergent growth, and the raw experience of the unknown.
We will have walks on the trails of Tassajara, periods of meditation, and an opportunity to hear stories from those that chose to stay and “practice” at Tassajara with the fires of 2008. One year later, this is also a time of witnessing and celebrating elemental change that awakens gratitude for the resilience of nature.
Register Now
August 16-21, 2009
Big Sur Wilderness Experience
Esalen Institute
with Steven Harper and Michael Newman
Esalen is the trailhead to one of the most spectacular mountainous coastlines in the world. With the Big Sur wilderness as the primary teacher, participants will explore the beauty of this alive and wild coast, from ancient redwood-forested canyons to dramatic coastal beaches, from rugged rocky mountains to the soft grassy slopes of the Big Sur hills. Drawing from nature and various experiential awareness practices, individuals will be encouraged to open both to the natural world and to the landscapes of their inner world. It is said that Big Sur is not just a place but a state of mind. This wilderness experience seeks to merge mind and place, then to embody what is learned.
Participants in this weeklong workshop will venture out on five day-hikes, 4-10 miles in length. The leaders will draw from a wide range of contemporary and age-old wisdom traditions, borrowing from psychology, meditation, aikido, and the natural sciences to weave together a holistic experience of self and the natural world. Each hike begins after breakfast and concludes in time to enjoy the hot springs and dinner at Esalen. Evening sessions include informal sharing, basic awareness practices, and useful outdoor skills, with attention given to incorporating what is learned into daily life. All levels of experience are welcome. Be prepared for the invigorating challenge of physical activity and the opportunity to simply sit still in quiet reflection. More information will be sent upon registration.
($20 park-entrance fees paid directly to the leader)
Register Now
September 2-6, 2009
Art of Pilgrimage
Hollyhock at Cortes Island, British Columbia, Canada
with Steven Harper
How can a simple stroll become an art? Learn to transform the ancient act of walking and experiencing nature into a contemporary pilgrimage. Most of the world’s wisdom traditions have some active form of pilgrimage as spiritual practice, while contemporary western culture has few sacred forms of pilgrimage as part of contemplative life. An inquiry into inner and outer nature, this retreat celebrates the sacred aspect of the journey itself, where meaning lies in each new moment of simply being.
Our time together will begin with an overview of the cross-cultural elements of pilgrimage from around the globe. Explore the basic principles of contemplative practices from many traditions, including forms of meditation, walking and movement awareness. As we journey forth on a mindful day walks we will use these ancient practices to explore the wild beauty of Cortes Island and the wild nature of the internal landscape.
Part of each day will be spent on the paths around Hollyhock, moving between silence, instruction, and informal discussions. This is a contemplative journey where each step is the goal as well as an exploration of the gifts we bring back to our greater community. Be prepared for invigorating embodied activity and the opportunity to simply sit still in quiet reflection.
Register Now
September 19, 2009: 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
The Art of Pilgrimage: Walking the Wild Path
Green Gulch Zen Center
with Steven Harper and Meg Levie
Most of the world's spiritual traditions include some form of pilgrimage. Although not often taught in the West, Buddhism also includes such a practice. This retreat will be a contemporary pilgrimage, exploring the ancient art of walking. While pilgrimage is often from one place to another, we will end at the very place we begin, celebrating the sacred aspect of the journey itself. We will begin at Green Gulch with an introduction to the basic principles of sitting meditation (zazen) and walking practice (kinhin). Much of the day will be spent mindfully hiking trails in the wilds of Marin (3-6 miles in length), moving between silence, instruction, and informal discussion. This is a contemplative journey where each step is the goal. Please bring a bag lunch. Further information will be sent upon registration.
To Register call the Green Gulch office at 415.383.3134
October 4-9, 2009
Belonging to Earth
Esalen Institute
with Steven Harper and Michael Newman
In every moment of our lives we are supported by natural systems both seen and unseen. Yet, in our culture, many of us are cut off from the natural world. We have little contact with wild nature, little idea of where we live, and little notion of what directly sustains our daily life. Esalen, surrounded and sustained by wild natural systems, is an ideal place to learn more about our sense of place, of nature, and of belonging to this earth.
This program will explore our relationship to the earth through increasing our knowledge of the basic life and earth sciences, and increasing awareness of self and nature. Participants will be introduced to an overview of the natural sciences and then to the geology, weather, ecology, native peoples, flora, and fauna that make up the incredible landscape we call Big Sur.
This workshop will include evening introductory lectures, dialogue, and day-hikes that venture into Big Sur’s backcountry for field sessions that expand our practical knowledge of nature and, more specifically, of Big Sur. Attention will be paid to how we take our newfound ecoliteracy and integrate it with how we sense our belonging so that we may more fully inhabit this extraordinary third planet from the sun.
This program is open to all levels of experience in hiking and the natural sciences. Participants should be prepared to hike in varied terrain (4-6 miles), enjoy periods of silence, and have a curiosity about nature and our place in the world.
($20 park-entrance fees paid directly to the leader)
Register Now
October 23-25, 2009
The Way of Nature
Esalen Institute
with Steven Harper
You didn’t come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here. — Alan Watts
Ever since the supposed “primordial soup,” nature has been our teacher. We were born of this earth and throughout recorded time people have turned to wilderness to awaken, become whole, and know their belonging to this world. With wild nature as primary teacher, participants will explore the way of nature, discovering as “civilized” 20th-century humans what it means to walk this ancient pathless path.
Hiking the wilderness trails of Big Sur, the group will balance the days between walking and sitting, inspirational readings and quiet contemplation, active awareness exercises and simply being.
The workshop includes two day-hikes (3-6 miles) into the Big Sur backcountry. Previous wilderness experience is not necessary, although participants should be prepared for some vigorous physical activity. Further information will be sent upon registration.
($10 park-entrance fees paid directly to the leader)