This three-day meditation training and retreat will focus on the simple yet elegant meditation techniques for the development of Calm-Abiding (quiescence) and clarity of awareness. Participants will be guided through step-by-step instructions for cultivating:
• Open and wakeful presence
• Resting in silence, stillness and non-conceptual awareness
• Single-focused and stable attention
• Mindfulness
• Equanimity and joyful tranquility
Calm-Abiding is considered foundational for further training in the practice of Insight Meditation. With motivated and consistent practice, Calm-Abiding meditation can contribute to the purification of mental afflictions and imbalances, giving rise to a sense of well-being characterized by open, wakeful presence and the experience of mental and physical pliancy.
Calm and Clear is an introductory retreat suitable for anyone who has had little or no experience with meditation. In addition, Calm and Clear meditation instruction can also be appropriate and helpful to individuals with prior meditation experience but whose progress has plateaued due to inconsistent attentional stability and mindfulness in their practice.
Dr. Arthur Giacalone will lead this retreat that is suitable for both new and experienced practitioners of meditation. Giacalone is a clinical/consulting psychologist in private practice in Walnut Creek, California. The International Thomas Merton Society elected Giacalone a 2004-05 William Shannon Fellow for his research on Thomas Merton and Contemplation.