RETREAT
LOCATION
The retreat center is located in Tepoztlán, Morelos, an hour and a half from Mexico City .
Known as Villa MarÃa, it is a place for contemplation at the foot of the magical Tepozt eco, it offers a unique experience that combines the ancient traditions of the place and ancestral wisdom during the retreat.
It has a magnificent climate, large gardens, beautiful sunsets and an atmosphere of serene tranquility with perfect air quality.
THE EXPERIENCE
The habits we have.
There are some constructive positive habits that we bring from childhood and habits we created that are not so helpful, even sometimes harmful to oneself, the ones around us and the environment. Habits are what we repeat everyday. The more we do something the easier it is to repeat it.
The neural pathways have been reinforced and the brain wants to keep following the well known path.
Why traveling is important.
When we travel we have no home but ourselves. This is essential in understanding that many of our habits come from the locations, people tendencies hardships we have surrounded us with. When the body is on the move; it's just us and our body. In this process we begin to pick up new habits and change or even abandon old habits.
The opportunity of the group.
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Spending time with a group of people helps a lot to metaphorically learn and evolve together in the process of the retreat. Everyone is participating together in different activities so this boosts up our desire to share, grow and improve. We have been living in tribes for thousands of years, it is normal we are attracted to being accepted into the group. This process is called the group therapy process or HAC (Habit Alignment Concept).
Ten steps to finding our inner daemon.
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There are ten different emotions and non emotions that we have to attend to in our everyday life actions, thoughts and speech.
1) Apologizing and forgiving.
2) Letting go of our attachments.
3) Understanding the reality of non separation.
4) Creating an emotion of empathy and desire to help.
5) Gratitude towards everything that helps us exist.
6) Cultivation of training mind & spirit.
7) Using the body to activate the brain.
8) Perception and attitude.
9) Effort of constancy.
10) Creating your own reality and transforming the emotions.
Food for thought and body.
We are what we eat, so therefore a key factor to see the change in our perception and attitude is to consider the nutrition that our body absorbs. Learning to feed ourselves what our body truly needs and is grateful for.
Body activation.
Dancing is the motion of our body united with the mind. We let go of -what we may think- that -others may think- and feel free through the expression of our inner beauty, balance, health, joy, and connection with the animals within us.
Sustainable consumerism.
Cheaper, better, healthier, less impact on environment.
We must educate ourselves on how to improve our day to day basis. We consume and we create rubbish that may or may not disintegrate well into nature's womb. Nature gives us everything, we learn how to return the good graces, ensuring our children will thrive.
Applying Habit Alignment to our daily routine.
Once back in our well known area of being, we commence jumping back into our old habits. After training our mind we may be able to condition ourselves slowly, step by step moving into a more reasonable dynamic towards a happier and healthier life.
Ösel, 39, is a radical freethinker, humanitarian, documentary director, musician, father, friend, lifelong student and former 21st century Buddhist monk.
When he was just 14 months old, Ösel was formally recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of Lama Thubten Yeshe , the revered Tibetan yogi, scholar and teacher.
Today, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) , which Lama and his chief disciple Lama Zopa Rinpoche founded in the early 1970s, comprises an international family of thousands of students and a network of more than 160 centers, projects and services, now under the spiritual direction of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
“I am very happy and full of admiration for the entire FPMT family,” says Ösel. “FPMT is doing great work and Lama Zopa is an immensely special person, very inspiring and a great yogi.”
Ösel served on the FPMT board of directors from 2008 to 2013. He supports the organization by sharing love, experience and knowledge with the FPMT family around the world.
“There is no separation between the FPMT and me,” says Ösel. “We are all working together in many aspects and fields. “Humanity is our office.”
Ösel was enthroned as the reincarnation of Lama Yeshe in March 1987. In 1991, when he was six years old, he entered the Sera Je Monastic University in southern India, where he lived and studied until he was 18. Ösel then made the decision to abandon monastic life to explore modern ways of life and thought.
Ösel continued his education, graduating from high school at St. Michaels University School, a private boarding school in British Columbia, Canada. From Canada, Ösel attended university in Switzerland to study Western philosophy, human rights, French language, and art.
Ösel expanded his interest in cinema by moving to Madrid and studying to obtain the title of Film Director, Director of Photography and Master in Documentary Filmmaking at the International School of Audiovisual Media. Ösel has also taken communication courses at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, California.
From California, Ösel went to the University of Hawaii, where he studied organizational and financial behavior. Several times Ösel returned to continue his Buddhist philosophical studies at Sera Je Monastery with his beloved teacher Geshe Gendun Choephel, who passed away suddenly in 2016.
Ösel places emphasis on also seeking non-traditional learning and creative experiences.
“We are all a family and we are sisters and brothers,” says Ösel. "Never forget this. Starting with yourself. You are your best friend. You have to live with yourself your whole life, so make the most of it. Don't be hard on yourself. Just relax. Love yourself. Take care of yourself. Enjoy your own company without depending on external agents such as intangible concepts, surreal and intoxicating idealizations which is simply putting more samsara on the samsara we already have. Be present and do not be dissatisfied, because the root cause of dissatisfaction means that you are not living in the moment. In other words, live in the moment. This moment. It's always the same moment. OK?"
