General Spiritual Director
Fall Festival 2024 ~ Day 8
Nov 2, 2024
Ten weeks of inner development
special retreat at KMC New York comes to a close
"Over the span of 10 weeks, 540 Kadampa from all over the world engaged in KMC New York's first-ever virtual Winter Retreat.
"This was definitely a new chapter in an already tried and tested annual retreat which would normally draw retreaters to the cold climate of the Catskill Mountains year after year. This was a completely unique experience as this time there was just a small group of very fortunate practitioners to come to KMC New York for this retreat.
"The Temple grounds were much quieter than normal. To the residents and managers, it was hard to believe that the biggest retreat of the year was actually happening. It simply felt like one normal day after the next. In reality, hundreds of people each week were directly connected online to each other and the Temple.
"Thousands of hours of meditation were accumulating by the day, and people's lives were changing through the guidance of Gen Samten, whose resilience was proven strong as he guided over 140 sessions with such joy and enthusiasm.
"With the new addition of Kadam Kyle Davis as the Second Resident Teacher, his encouragement and guidance were felt throughout these 10 weeks with multiple online meetings with practitioners to go over their retreat boundaries and experience as well as guiding meditation sessions in the retreat.
"People also had access to the online retreat portal that contained teachings from Gen Samten on how to prepare for their retreat as well as an internet cafe for practitioners to chat with each other.
With all of these new features, KMC New York received a flood of positive feedback and encouragement that the extra effort to make this retreat as comfortable and meaningful as possible was felt. As uncertain as people naturally felt at the start of this retreat, not sure if they could still hold a retreat environment in their home or keep up with all of the sessions, by the end, people not only felt this was doable but rather life-changing and gained a strong confidence to take their practice to another level.
"We know that this was the first online 10 week Winter Retreat and we don't know what the future holds for next year, but the hope is that it only gets better as the years progress.
"Thank you to everyone who was a part of this retreat, whether for a weekend or the entire retreat. We hope to see you soon."
