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Death — Friend or Foe?
meditations on death and impermanence
for both new and experienced practitioners

  • When Oct 8-12, 2008
  • Where Mount Baldy Zen Center, Mount Baldy CA
  • Teachers Ken McLeod and others
  • Number of Places 30
  • Levels All levels
  • Cost $600 ($700 for single, $650 each for double)
  • Contact
  • Application Click here to apply.
  • Payment Click here to pay balance.

What is the one thing we know about life?

That it will end.

What aspect of life do we most ignore?

That it will end.

Ironic, isn't it?

Yet experience shows that the more awareness we have of our mortality, the more we are present in life. We don't waste time and energy on the inconsequential, the trivial, or what has no meaning.

We focus on knowing what is vital and important to us, and direct our time and energy accordingly, so that when we die, as we know we must, we will have no regret.

It's that simple. But it's not that easy.

In this retreat, we will work through a set of five meditations on death and impermanence, five meditations that dismantle attachment to conventional notions of success and failure, freeing us from the restrictions of socially conditioned agendas, freeing us to make of our lives what we wish.

The retreat is intended for all levels of practice. The combination of formal sitting practice, meditation instruction, daily meditation interviews, and application exercises will instill how to live awake and present in the awareness of our mortality.

"Death Comes Looking" courtesy of Marie Taylor, Zen Brush

About the Teacher

Ken McLeod Ken began his studies in 1970 with the Tibetan meditation master, the Ven. Kalu Rinpoche. After receiving training in the Kagyu, Shangpa, and Nyingma traditions of Buddhism in Tibet, he was authorized by Kalu Rinpoche to teach and guide others in their practice. A translator and author, Ken established Unfettered Mind in 1990 and is the executive director of Unfettered Mind. To find out more about Ken, click here.