‘I Am’ – Online Weekend Retreat at Home, 13–15 December

I am

I have no words to express Myself
but all words express only Me

I have no meaning
but impart meaning to all that is perceived

I am without beginning and end
but all things begin and end in Me

 – from Rupert Spira’s A Meditation on I Am

‘I am’ is the ordinary, familiar, intimate experience that is present for each of us now. It is the profoundest experience one can ever have, and we are actually having it all the time.

And because ‘I am’ is the only experience that does not take place through the limitations of the finite mind, the words ‘I am’ are thus the highest truth.

If awareness were able to formulate its experience of itself, what would it say? It would simply say, ‘I am’. Pure, unqualified ‘I am’.

Join Rupert and friends all around the world for a weekend retreat, 13–15 December, from the comfort of your own home. Together, let’s explore and deepen in our understanding of the highest truth of who we are.

Details
This online weekend Retreat at Home will comprise meditations and dialogues on the essential, non-dual understanding that lies at the heart of all the great religious and spiritual traditions. This simple, contemplative approach, which encourages a clear seeing of one’s experience rather than any kind of effort or discipline, leads us to an experiential understanding of our essential being and the peace and fulfilment that are inherent within it.

The weekend will begin on Friday with a guided meditation. There will be two guided meditations and a Q&A session on Saturday, with breaks in between, and on Sunday there will be two meditations during the day, finishing with a Q&A session. Details of the schedule are below.

Community
The retreat is a wonderful opportunity to connect with like-minded people around the world. There will be a private Facebook group just for event attendees, where you can meet each other and connect before the event. You may also wish to join one of the several Zoom rooms that will be open for a period of time after each session so you can chat, meditate or spend some time together.

Access
All you need to participate is a computer or a mobile device, such as a tablet or smartphone, with a built-in speaker and access to the internet. The platform we use for the sessions is Zoom. Neil will walk you through the sign-in process, which is very simple, and he will email you with the invitation to join ahead of the weekend. All participants also receive audio and video links to stream the recordings of each session, and these will remain active for 30 days. 

To optimise your retreat experience, we recommend a wired connection if possible. If you do use a Wi-Fi connection, close all or most other devices using the signal. For mobile devices, a 3G or higher connection is needed.

To calculate the time difference where you live, use this link: everytimezone.com

Everyone who registers for this event will automatically be added to a Discussion Board, which will put them in direct contact with all other attendees, enabling them to be in touch with one another, individually or as a group, exchange information or simply for social purposes. Please note that the Discussion Board is not to be used for promotional purposes.

The Discussion Board will also be used by the group organiser to contact the whole group in the run up to the event with important information and to share the links to recordings during the retreat. If you have technical issues during the meetings please contact the organiser directly using the chat function on the platform.

The server will only send out emails for the organisers posts. If you would like to stay in touch with the other attendees, you will find the Discussion Board tab is available, once registered for the retreat and is located on the tab next to the Attendees list.

To register for this weekend retreat, please use the ‘Book Ticket’ button at the top of this page and follow instructions to check out.

Tickets are available based on the sliding scale below, with the intention of making the teaching available to more people: 

£45 - Supported: for those who would like to attend but are unable to do so for financial reasons*
£90 - Standard: for those with sufficient financial resources to attend at a fair price
£180 - Sponsor: for those with adequate financial resources and a desire to support attendance for others.

Tickets include access to all of the daily meetings. Links to the streamable recordings will be posted on the discussion board after each meeting and will be available for four weeks. Please select from the options in the 'Book tickets' area, add to basket and checkout as normal. 

PLEASE NOTE THAT REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE THREE HOURS BEFORE THE FIRST MEETING.

90% refund will be given on tickets cancelled before the start of the retreat. No refunds will be given after the retreat has begun. If you have technical problems, please contact the organiser of the retreat for assistance. 

Supported and Free Tickets

If you wish to attend but haven’t got the financial means to do so, please either select the 'Supported' ticket rate and checkout as normal or email the team, support@rupertspira.com, to apply for a free place.

*We have a limited number of free places available. If you are unable to afford the tickets at the supported rate, and we will allocate the free tickets on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please note that the cut-off date for supported ticket applications is Tuesday, 10 December, 8:00 pm GMT.