Spring Retreat
Hanuman’s Heart:
The Essence of Bhakti and Service
June 7 - 9, 2024
Hanuman’s Heart: The Essence of Bhakti and Service
The Neem Karoli Baba Ashram is excited to announce that we are hosting a retreat at the ashram in collaboration with the Ram Dass Love Serve Remember Foundation. This will be a three - day retreat featuring the notable bhakta and kirtan singer Jai Uttal; RamDev Borglum, the founder and director of The Living/Dying Project, author, teacher, lecturer and meditation guide; and Nubia Teixeira, yogini, teacher trainer, Odissi dancer, and founder of Bhakti Nova School of Yoga.
The retreat will begin on Friday afternoon with registration and culminate on Sunday night with kirtan by Jai.
The focus of the retreat will be on service and devotion and their interconnectedness. Neem Karoli Baba said, “Love everyone, serve everyone and remember God.” The teachers will talk about and explore ways in which selfless service is ‘devotion in action’ and how serving others deepens our love for God and one another. There will be opportunities during the retreat to do seva (service). One of the main focuses of the ashram is to feed people and the seva will revolve around serving in the kitchen and in the garden where the ashram grows the vegetables for the prasad (blessed food) it serves to all who come.
The retreat will be on the ashram grounds and and will be limited to 100 participants. All retreat activities will take place at the ashram. Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided. There will be up to 40 campsites available for those who would like to spend the whole time at the ashram. Campers must provide their own camping gear (i.e., tent, towel and bedding). Showers and bathroom facilities are provided. Those who do not camp at the ashram will have to provide their own offsite housing. A list of recommended hotels and B&Bs will be provided upon request. Offsite participants will have to provide their own transportation to and from the ashram. Parking will be provided.
Cancellation Policy
Thursday, February 1, 2024 - Saturday, April 7, 2024 - Full Refund by Method of Payment
Friday, April 6 - Tuesday, May 7, 2024 - Partial Payment Refund - Less $200, Cancellation Donation to Neem Karoli Baba Ashram. A donation Acknowledgement Letter will be provided for tax purposes.
Wednesday, May 8 - Sunday, June 9, 2024, No Refund of Retreat Registration or Deposits will be made. Donation acknowledgment of the full amount paid will be provided for tax purposes.
For question regarding the retreat please email devihale@nkbashram.org
Please see the full schedule for the retreat below.
Spring Retreat Schedule
Friday, June 7 - Registration 2 to 5:00 p.m.
Dinner 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.
Aarti - Darshan Hall 6:45 p.m.
Aarti - Mandir 7:00 p.m.
RamDev, Jai, Hanuman das - Welcome and
Introductory Talk Tent 8:00 p.m. & Kirtan Saturday, June 8 - Aarti Darshan Hall 6:45 a.m.
Aarti Mandir 7 a.m.
RamDev Meditation 7 to 8:00 a.m.
Breakfast 8 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Nubia Embodying devotion yoga 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Seva Opportunities 11:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Lunch 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.
Jai Bhakti Circle tent 2 to 3:30 p.m.
RamDev Dharma circle Tent 4:00 to 5:30
Seva Opportunities 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Dinner 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.
Aarti Darshan Hall 6:45 p.m.
Aarti Mandir 7 p.m.
Jai Kirtan Mandir 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 9 - Aarti Darshan Hall 6:45 a.m.
Aarti Mandir 7 a.m.
RamDev - Meditation 7 to 8:00 a.m.
Breakfast 8 to 9:30 a.m.
Nubia - Embodying Devotion Yoga 10 to 11:30
Seva Opportunities 11:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Lunch 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.
Jai - Bhakti Circle Tent 2 to 3:30 p.m.
RamDev - Dharma Circle Tent 4 to 5:30 p.m.
Seva Opportunities 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Dinner 5:30 - 6:45 p.m.
Aarti - Darshan Hall 6:45 p.m.
Aarti - Mandir 7:00 p.m.
Jai - Kirtan Mandir 8:00 p.m.
Monday June 10- Aarti Darshan Hall 6:45 a.m.
Aarti Mandir 7:00 a.m
Breakfast 8:00 a.m.
Retreat Teachers
Jai Uttal
Jai Uttal is a Grammy nominee, kirtan artist, multi-instrumentalist, and ecstatic vocalist. He is considered a pioneer in World Music and Bhakti communities, and has been leading, teaching, and performing around the world for 50 years.
Jai has been a leading influence in the Bhakti tradition for the past 50 years. Jai considers devotion to be the core of his musical and spiritual life, and he whole-heartedly shares his passionate heart through his voice and songs.
Jai creates a safe environment for people to open their hearts and voices.
No previous experience is needed. This is an exploration and expression of the heart and the spirit.
Links:
Bhakti Circle with Jai Uttal
Jai Uttal invites you to sit together, sing together and explore together the world of Bhakti Yoga, the Yoga of Love, through Chanting, Talking, Story Telling, Japa and Lullaby.
In this intimate and spacious gathering, we will connect to our devotional hearts, and reflect on how this connection ripples outward to all of our relationships and the flow of life.
Chanting with Jai Uttal
Embark on a vocal journey through the sacred sounds of ancient India. With call-and-response group chanting and storytelling, Jai Uttal creates a space of invocation, prayer, and heartfelt expression. This meditative practice of calling to the divine creates a bridge between the individual and the eternal, opening the heart and welcoming the spirit. By singing these prayers and expressing a full range of emotions through our voices we join a stream of consciousness and devotion that has been flowing for centuries.
No previous experience is needed. This is an exploration of the heart, independent of vocal or musical technique.
Dale Borglum - RamDev
After returning from India with Maharaj-ji, RamDev Dale Borglum helped found the conscious dying movement in the West while working with Ram Dass and Stephen Levine. He has been the Executive Director of the Living/Dying Project in Santa Fe and since 1986 in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the co-author with Ram Dass, Daniel Goleman and Dwarka Bonner of Journey of Awakening: A Meditator’s Guidebook, Bantam Books and has taught meditation since 1974. RamDev lectures and gives workshops on the topics of meditation, healing, spiritual support for those with life-threatening illness, and on caregiving as spiritual practice. He has taught with Ram Dass, Stephen Levine, Joan Halifax, Robert Thurman, Joanna Macy, Jack Kornfield, Annie Lamott, Jai Uttal, Nikki Walton, Duncan Trussell and many others. He has a doctorate degree from Stanford University.
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Dharma Circle with RamDev
RamDev will talk about and lead a conversation about compassion as the foundation of service as spiritual practice and deepening our devotion. Compassion is not an emotion but the open heart meeting suffering, our own suffering and that of others. Compassion is the center point of the path where we begin to live and to practice from an attitude of richness and fullness rather than poverty and inadequacy. We are on longer afraid to become intimate and merciful with suffering. This allows our devotion to deepen, from yearning for love to being in love with the Guru or with life itself, to becoming Love. As Maharaj-ji said, " The only thing that is important is how much you love God." Selfless service arises naturally. So both deepening this love and having compassion for what blocks our realization of our true nature as Love brings us to the realization that the Beloved can only be everything.
Nubia Teixeira
Author, yogini, teacher trainer, Odissi dancer, and founder of Bhakti Nova School of Yoga, Nubia Teixeira has devoted herself to teaching different aspects of yoga for the past 33 years. Perceiving yoga as a healing art, Nubia's refinement and unique style overflows with sacred meaning and heartfelt inspiration. Nubia leads workshops, teacher trainings and retreats locally and around the world.
Nubia, a Brazilian-born yogini, has devoted herself to teaching many different aspects of yoga and dance for the past 33 years. Her refinement and devotion to this ancient practice is reflected in her unique teaching, centered around heartfelt compassion and inspiration. Drawing from the universe of symbols, myths, deities, mudras, and sacred geometry she teaches embodied Bhakti (devotional yoga).
Known for her fierce heart, uplifting humor, and keen intuition, her classes are rooted in her extensive knowledge, gained from years of devotional study and practice in yoga and dance. She helps students connect with their deeper selves, fully inhabit their bodies, and live with deep awareness.
Nubia is also a Reiki instructor and practitioner.
Embodying Devotion with Nubia Teixeira
Nubia shines a new light on the ancient traditions of Hatha and Bhakti Yoga, offering a unique approach to yoga asanas that are expressive and conducive of the qualities and of the benevolence of the deities. Her unique and universal perspective on yoga, combined with her extensive training in the tradition of the classical dance of Odissi, culminates in a fusion of authentic teachings, creative movement, embodied wisdom and devotional experience (with a Brazilian twist).
“Within the world of symbols, myths and mystery, we can find the gateways that connect us to these sacred wells of inspiration, within and without.” - Nubia
