A Silent 10-day Meditation Retreat in Thailand

This special retreat focuses on the Revelation of the Spiritual Heart, our real and essential nature, the supreme and divine Self, âtman. During this immersion retreat, we will address broad aspects of the Spiritual Heart, from a variety of traditions including Christian esoteric, Sufi, and Kashmir Shaivist traditions. The atmosphere will be one of agape and strong spiritual support.

The program aims to create an experience most resembling a solitary retreat (as in a cave, for example) with the intention to provide attendees with an opportunity to reach deep inner states of consciousness, intense aspiration for the Divine, and highly focused interiorization for the awakening and blossoming of the soul, jîva-âtman. This method is a unique integration of Advaita Vedânta, Sufism, Tantra, and Dzogchen.

This retreat is led by Claudiu Trandafir, whose meditation, for years now, has been dedicated to the Revelation of the Spiritual Heart through Love and the opening of the soul. Claudiu, an electronic engineer by education, was formerly a professor at the University of Parapsychology in Bucharest, Romania. He has been a Yoga teacher for 22 years, specializing in solitary cave retreats, following the example of Ramana Maharshi and other Jnâna Yoga masters. After years of solitary retreats followed by spiritual accomplishment, in 2002 Claudiu began to guide groups of people using this method. He has led this special retreat for more than 1000 participants across Europe over the last six years.

During these years, Claudiu has developed a method that gradually cultivates in participants the following attitudes:
1. An inner awareness of all sensory perceptions and emotions which will gradually become, through sublimation, an awareness of the Spiritual Heart;
2. The calming down of the mind (a state of peace of mind);
3. The polarization between the individual soul and the divine Self, âtman, that is experienced as a state of very strong and profound aspiration and longing for God;
4. The evocation of death of the physical body as a way of transcending desires and egotistical tendencies;
5. The act of powerfully evoking and experiencing the mystery of God’s presence inside our Hearts.

To support the retreat, complete mauna (silence) must be maintained by all attendees. An atmosphere full of love and aspiration will be created in which participants can surrender to their real and essential nature.

This retreat includes advice for guided meditation, lectures, and practical methods such as:
• Ramana Maharshi’s method of introspection (Self-inquiry, âtma vicâra, using the question “Who Am I?”)
• Techniques of stilling the mind using breath control
• Study of the symbolism of the Spiritual Heart
• Methods of Self-centering in everyday life
• Advice for maintaining awareness of the Spiritual Heart, in the tradition of the Fathers of the Desert (from Christianity)
• The Christian method of the Prayer of the Heart
• A proper understanding of Advaita Vedânta’s fundamental principles
• Methods of passing from individual consciousness to Cosmic Consciousness
• The four fundamental stages in the process of the Revelation of the Spiritual Heart
• Daily special meditations on themes connected with Self-Revelation
• Yogic methods that approach the issue of the Spiritual Heart
• Poetry
• Hatha Yoga sessions

An introductory session will take place on the 17th of each month in which this retreat is offered, at 16:00 in Green Hall, Bovy Resort (Koh Phangan), during which we will meditate and explain the rules. Registration will follow immediately afterward (so please come prepared with your payment) and we will resolve all administrative details, so that when the retreat begins on the 18th it may be consecrated exclusively to mauna (silence) and meditation. Hopeful participants must attend this session on the 17th and agree to abide by the retreat guidelines for its duration.

Agama Yoga will hold this retreat each month until July of this year. Special progressive discounting has been introduced for those who will attend the Revelation of the Spiritual Heart Retreat in 2008. The fee to join this retreat is:
- 3000 Baht for first-time participants
- 2500 Baht for those joining a second retreat
- 2000 Baht for those joining a third or any subsequent retreats

The fee for all meals (20) is an additional 1400 Baht; lunch only (10) is 800 Baht. Ohsawa 7 (brown rice) only is 600 for all meals. Please call 089 233 0217 with any questions or contact lori@agamayoga.com for more information or to preview the retreat guidelines if you plan to arrive directly from overseas.

See Calendar for the dates and schedules of all upcoming retreats and pre-sessions for 2008.