Silent Vipassana retreat
4 Days in Naot Smadar 2024
A retreat is an opportunity to return to ourselves, fully engage in our lives and develop clarity of mind and qualities of the heart. We will spend the days remembering our deep nature with soft presence and gentleness, we will explore our basic freedom.
We will deepen the possibility in practice to move from guilt, shame, anger and fear. Softness, trust, closeness and stability. We will meet the totality of experiences with clarity and trust out of tenderness and compassion. The retreat will give place to the two wings of the Buddhist practice – wisdom and compassion.
About the Workshop
The retreat will give place to the two wings of Buddhist practice – wisdom and compassion, the retreat offers a quiet and safe space that allows you to use the tools of Buddhist wisdom (ancient and modern) to deal with and strengthen yourself during this time. The workshop is designed for up to 38 participants. The meeting will take place in a charming and intimate, air-conditioned hall made of earthen bricks.
Silence offers a meditative space of practice and introspection, to develop the possibility of strengthening inner resilience and connection to ourselves. The desert offers us silence, beauty, a starry sky, inner and outer silence in a space of zero alerts. Participating in a Vipassana retreat is a rare opportunity to disconnect from the complex everyday life during this time, by temporarily moving away from the noise and stress of war, we create an ideal environment for inner work. The silence helps quiet the mind and allows us to observe thoughts and feelings without the surrounding stress. In the retreat we will deepen the possibility in practice to move from guilt, shame, anger and fear. We will the totality of experiences with clarity and trust out of tenderness and compassion.
The retreat also provides a supportive community and guidance from seasoned teachers with decades of practice experience. It is a transformative experience that promotes awareness, self-discovery and inner peace. The retreat will take place in silence, and will include study and practice of meditation while sitting, standing and with meditative walks in the desert silence, lectures on Buddhist spiritual theory, meetings with the teachers in small groups. Phones are deposited at the retreat and the production backs up the retreat with an emergency phone that will be given to everyone for messages from home when necessary and will assist each participant with a request or help to get to the retreat to relax and practice.
Neot Smadar
The workshop will be held at the Naut Smadar Hospitality Center, which offers the tranquility of the magical beauty of the desert in beautiful and pampering ecological rooms, with lovingly maintained green garden corners and a connection to the powerful nature that surrounds the place. The quiet space of the desert together with the beauty of the hospitality center greatly supports our ability to put aside the stresses of everyday life and give us time to heal.
Kibbutz Naut Smadar – Located in the southern Negev above the Arava, the kibbutz was established in 1989, with the intention of creating a learning community where questions about the state of man in the world will be examined in practice through relationships, action and observation that is tested every day in the common life and joint action of members who live permanently and volunteers engaged in organic agriculture. The trip from Tel Aviv is about three hours without stopping. There will be a list of rides to the workshop to share the ride together.
The retreat teachers
The teachers
Dr. Steven Polder is one of the leaders of Buddhist practice in Israel, the founder and senior teacher of “Amomat Tovna”. His involvement in mindfulness meditation and Vipassana meditation began in 1975, since then he spent many years in India and received the guidance of various teachers from Burma, India and the West. Steven has been teaching for about 30 years years, and was also engaged in teacher training in Israel. Steven advocates the use of dharma to promote peace in society. Steven has published fourteen academic and popular books on the subject of internal and external healing. Two recent books include the best-selling book: “Awakening in Everyday Life”. Lives in Kell with his family, A Galilean ecological village in the establishment of which he took part.
Practicing, teaching and learning dharma and meditation since 1989. Of that, four and a half years as a nun in Buddhist monasteries (Tharveda) in Thailand.
Simi leads Vipassana workshops and in doing it sees the importance of bringing attention to everyday life. Pioneers of the field of mindfulness and its suitability for children. Develops the “Language of Attention” program to cultivate mindfulness skills in children and in the education system. Lives with her family in Maagan Michael.
TO TEACHER’S SITE
TEACHERS’ “DANA” – the Buddhist heart economy. According to Buddhist traditions, teachers do not receive a salary or a fixed income, but allow each student to pay their tuition at the end of the retreat in a way that takes into consideration customary prices for such workshops in western society, as well as your financial abilities and generosity. ‘Dana’ is a term originating in the East, meaning ‘giving’. Giving is an integral part of spiritual practices: when we give ‘dana’, we practice charity and generosity in our lives, articulating the deep bond and solidarity among all living things. From the times of the Buddha and until today, teachers have been offering their teachings to us unconditionally, regardless of gender, class or the financial state of the student. Supporting our teachers expresses the solidarity and nourishing bond between giving and receiving, between teacher and pupil.
‘Neot Smadar’ room selection
All room prices include a 3-night stay, meals & production.
Twin/Double Room:
The room is made of the local bricks and includes air conditioning, private bathroom facilities and twin beds.
PRICE PER PERSON: 2550 NIS
Private Room:
The room is made of the local bricks and includes air conditioning, private bathroom facilities and a double bed
PRICE: 3,180 NIS
4 person in a pagoda house:
The spacious, 50 square meter tent includes curtain separators, air conditioning, private bathroom facilities and four single beds.
PRICE PER PERSON: 2,250 NIS
Register for the workshop at the bottom of the page
Payment and registration terms
Please attach any further inquiries to the bottom of the registration forms and we’ll get back to you by email.
Upon registering, your reservation will be saved for 4 business days. A link to a payment page will be sent to you by mail.
Payment can be made in up to 3 installments without interest.Early registers of over 4 months prior to start date may pay in up to 5 equal installments starting with a 500 NIS advancement, while the rest of the installments will be deducted starting 3 months prior to the workshop.
Cancelation policy
During this complex period, in the event of cancellation of the retreat by the production, the payment will be returned to the participant immediately, less registration and cancellation fees of 100 NIS per participant or the possibility of participation on a new date in case of postponement.
In light of the period, we have made the cancellation policy more flexible: cancellation of participation up to two weeks before the retreat at a cost of 200 NIS.
two weeks to a week before the retreat 900 NIS,
Cancellation of participation between a week and two days before the retreat half of the amount. Two days before and until the start of the retreat the full amount.
In case of a personal or family emergency until the start of the retreat, a full refund less the registration fee of NIS 200,
The possibility of finding a participant in your place at any time.
Retreat registration Form
Silent Vipassana retreat “Naot Smadar”
May 8-11th 2024
Please fill out the forms and an email with a link to a payment page will be sent to you shortly (according to your room selection). Please note that this form does not guarantee your reservation. Reservations will be finalized upon completion of the payment. Thank you.