The Garrison Institute

As we look toward a new year filled with hope and possibility, we invite you to help ensure that compassion, courage, and contemplative action continue to flourish. Your year-end tax-deductible donation will help the Garrison Institute nurture a global community dedicated to meaningful social and environmental change. Your support provides refuge, learning, and renewal for frontline workers, community leaders, and seekers at the edges of transformation. It sustains accessible programming, inspires innovative solutions, and keeps empathy and integrity at the heart of our collective progress. Thank you for considering a year-end gift that strengthens this vital work. May your new year be peaceful, resilient, and guided by understanding. https://lnkd.in/e5jUi_pz

”Breaking with the traditional monastic teaching (and even with the explicit instructions in The Cloud of Unknowing), he [Fr. Thomas Keating] increasingly stripped the sacred word of any affective content whatsoever and repositioned it as simply "a placeholder for your intention." He insisted on the prompt letting go of all thoughts, regardless of content, and reminded practitioners that what is at stake in this practice is not the content of the message but the configuration of one's attention. In other words, he steadily fine-tuned the practice in the direction of cultivating objectless awareness, the ability to hold awareness beyond the usual subject-object polarity of the mind.” excerpt from ”Thomas Keating: The Making of a Modern Christian Mystic” by Reverend Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault.     On January 7, join The Garrison Institute online for Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault and Institute Co-founder Jonathan F.P. Rose to delve into "Thomas Keating: The Making of a Modern Christian Mystic". Drawing on her groundbreaking book, Bourgeault will reveal how Keating—a Trappist monk and Centering Prayer pioneer—crossed traditional boundaries and reimagined the contours of Christian contemplation. Come discover how Keating’s evolution highlights the interspiritual links of our time, illuminates new pathways for personal and communal transformation, and invites us to engage with deeper dimensions of faith and practice. Register now https://lnkd.in/eHgDBeTe and immerse yourself in an inspiring conversation. 

What happens when our usual ways of understanding no longer suffice? Join Dr. Bayo Akomolafe and Artist-in-Residence Krista Dragomer for Selah: An Awkward Grace, an online course exploration culminating in an in-person retreat . This isn’t about mastering art or chasing tidy solutions—it’s about venturing into the “scorched ordinary” and discovering new forms of care, creativity, and collective possibility. Designed for those who sense that something more-than-familiar is needed in these unsettled times, Selah invites you to think with your hands, feel with your animal senses, and embrace the unknown. Explore posthuman perspectives, radical hospitality, and subtle gestures that open new pathways of engagement and meaning. Online course dates:  Feb 25, Mar 4, Mar 11, Mar 22 Retreat dates: Mar 29–Apr 1, 2025 No special background required—just curiosity and a willingness to move beyond boundaries. Learn more and register https://lnkd.in/eSqCZuZ6

For the past two decades, The Garrison Institute has stood at the intersection of contemplative practice and engaged action. Guided by traditional wisdom and scientific insights, programs like Contemplative-Based Resilience (CBR) and Pathways to Planetary Health meet the acute need for educators, caregivers, activists, and others to fully understand their ability to find resilience, clarity, and purpose. Over the years, The Institute’s retreats have welcomed luminaries like the Dalai Lama, Father Thomas Keating, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield, whose teaching has supported thousands as they discover their own capacity for insight, courage, and compassionate engagement. The Endless Knot in the Garrison Institute’s logo symbolizes this legacy, where wisdom meets compassion and transformative action takes shape.     Your financial contributions allow us to keep the doors open and welcome these incredible teachers year after year. Visit https://lnkd.in/d2G9766K to learn more about upcoming programs, current initiatives, and how your donation can support a more compassionate, resilient future. 

Protecting open space and developing affordable housing- a key element of #bioregional #resilience. My colleagues Rebecca Gillman Crimmins and Steve Rosenberg brought fourteen Hudson Valley land trusts and affordable housing organizations together to strengthen biodiversity and climate resilience while creating affordable housing. The @Hudson Valley Alliance for Housing and Conservation (https://lnkd.in/es5giA_w) is creating new project models that address both needs in tandem, such as in Red Hook, where RUPCO, Scenic Hudson, Dutchess Land Conservancy and the town collaborated to conserve and ensure the affordability of 97 acres of farmland - which was transferred to organic Hearty Roots Farm - and develop 40 affordable housing units on the remaining 12 acres. Facilitated by the Consensus Building Institute and supported by fiscal sponsor Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, the Alliance also is identifying needed changes in public policy and partnering with regional experts to support communities seeking to achieve their housing and conservation goals in an integrated way.  Stephen Posner The Garrison Institute Jonathan Rose Companies Scenic Hudson, Inc. Open Space Institute

Contemplative practices help reshape the future of social justice and sustainability by bringing fresh insights into some of today’s most complex challenges. On January 28, 2025, join Dr. Angel Acosta for The Garrison Institute Fellowship Forum: The State of the Fellowship, a virtual gathering that will highlight the transformative work of our fellows, the pressing issues they’re tackling, and the evolving role of contemplative wisdom in fostering healing and systemic change. Expect a participatory dialogue on the fellowship’s milestones, the questions guiding its next steps, and the ways in which these efforts contribute to more equitable and sustainable communities. Join us in celebrating the fellowship’s ongoing impact and shared future: Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025 Time: 6:00 pm ET Location: Online (Zoom link provided upon registration) Free and open to all—register here https://lnkd.in/emytnvzP #contemplativepractice #Sustainability #socialjustice

*Registration is now open for the February 7–14 retreat with Judith Lief, Derek Kolleeny and Jane Kolleeny, and Gene Bobker of the Westchester Meditation Center* “Mindfulness practice can also help us cut through the loops of anxious thinking, changing our relationship to the uncertainty that feeds that process. We can see that our thoughts and speculations about what might happen are just that—thoughts. We never know for sure whether the things we are afraid of will happen or not, and our speculation won’t make a bit of difference. In meditation practice, we learn to be with uncertainty rather than cover it up in a panic of anxious thoughts. Simply recognizing what thoughts are up to begins to disempower them. In meditation practice, one technique for doing that is to label whatever arises in the mind as “thinking”—in a very matter-of-fact way, with no judgment—and just return to awareness of the breath.” Wisdom from Judy Lief’s article, “Unraveling Anxiety,” shared on Lion's Roar in January 2022. Join us February 7–14, 2025, at The Garrison Institute for the 12th Annual WMC Retreat: From the Calm Seat to the Hot Seat – Cultivating a Meditation Practice Which Spans Both Worlds. Led by Judy Lief (a senior teacher in the Chögyam Trungpa tradition), alongside Derek and Jane Kolleeny and Gene Bobker of the Westchester Meditation Center, this immersive retreat brings the insights gained on the cushion into the complexities of everyday life. This mostly silent gathering offers sitting and walking meditation, dharma talks, guided practices, yoga, and one-on-one meditation instruction—an opportunity to deepen practice, attend to inner well-being, and integrate mindful resilience into all aspects of life. Learn more and register https://lnkd.in/etuYpPJi #meditationpractice #meditationretreat #silentmeditationretreat #ChögyamTrungpa

How does a traditional religious figure become a global force in #interspirituality? On January 7, 2025, join Jonathan F.P. Rose, Co-founder of The Garrison Institute, and the Reverend Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault on a journey into the heart of radical spiritual realization. Drawing from her groundbreaking book, Thomas Keating: The Making of a Modern Christian Mystic, Bourgeault will offer a rare glimpse into the spiritual evolution of Fr. Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk who transcended boundaries, reimagined the contemplative landscape, and revolutionized modern spirituality. Discover how Keating’s teachings on consciousness, self, and transformation continue to guide seekers toward freedom from limitation. Whether you’re a spiritual practitioner, contemplative explorer, or curious about the mysteries of human potential, this event provides insights that resonate far beyond any one tradition. Tuesday, January 7 | Online 12–1:30 pm ET Learn more and register https://lnkd.in/eHgDBeTe

Still searching for a meaningful holiday gift? Or hoping to gently hint at what you’d love to receive? Consider a Garrison Institute gift certificate—an invitation to experience reflection, renewal, and genuine personal growth. Give someone you care about (or send this post to someone who’s been asking what you’d like!) a gateway to transformative retreats, inspiring workshops, and thought-provoking forums. Valid for both in-person and online events, gift certificates ensure flexibility, choice, and convenience: 🎁 Purchase online and receive a printable or forwardable certificate via email. 🎁 Redeemable for experiences of equal or greater value. For a gift that truly nurtures well-being and connection, explore gift certificates https://lnkd.in/enP9BSEq

How do we carry the steadiness of meditation into the twists and turns of everyday life? Join us February 7–14, 2025, for the 12th Annual WMC Retreat at Garrison Institute: From the Calm Seat to the Hot Seat – Cultivating a Meditation Practice Which Spans Both Worlds. This immersive experience, open to practitioners of all levels, explores integrating the insights and openness we discover on the cushion into every aspect of our lives. Led by Judith Lief (a senior teacher in the Chögyam Trungpa tradition and master editor of his works) and senior teachers of the Westchester Meditation Center Derek Kolleeny and Jane Kolleeny and Gene Bobker, this mostly silent retreat combines sitting and walking meditation, dharma talks, guided practices, yoga, and one-on-one meditation instruction. A separate Vajrayana track will delve into Song of Mahamudra by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, and provide dedicated practice spaces for ngondro and sadhana practitioners.  Garrison Institute’s beautiful retreat sanctuary offers an ideal setting to deepen your practice, restore balance, and prepare to meet the complexities of modern life with greater equanimity and warmth.   Scholarships Available:  We are committed to making our programs accessible to as many as possible, and a range of targeted scholarships are available for this retreat. If cost is a challenge, please submit a scholarship application by December 31. (Link in bio) Embrace this opportunity to strengthen your practice. Learn more and register https://lnkd.in/etuYpPJi