Maraṇasati: Mindful of Death, Awakening to Life

Maraṇasati: Mindful of Death, Awakening to Life is a five-night silent meditation retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. It is built around maraṇasati, the Buddha's teaching on mindfulness of death, offered as preparation for our own dying and as a doorway to awakening. It suits practitioners with some retreat experience who want to meet impermanence directly and live with more appreciation and less clinging. The teachers are Eugene Cash, Victoria Cary and Bob Stahl, with movement teacher Hakim Tafari.

What to Expect

The Buddha encouraged this practice as a way to cultivate qualities that support an awakened life: appreciation of the preciousness of human life, insight into impermanence and change, freedom from rigidity and clinging, and equanimity with the difficulty of human existence. The retreat is grounded in traditional practices of mindful awareness and compassion, with instruction woven together with a recognition of the change that unfolds in every moment.

Days are given to sitting meditation, using awareness and investigation, along with some guided visualization. Each day also includes a period of contemplative, interactive inquiry. Movement teaching with Hakim Tafari is part of the team's offering.

Silence is held throughout, except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups and other practice meetings. Check-in is on the opening afternoon, between 2:30 and 4:30 PM, followed by an opening orientation and the first practice. The following days are retreat days, and the retreat closes on the final morning with practice and departure at 11:00 AM.

About the Teachers

Eugene Cash is the founding teacher of San Francisco Insight and a senior teacher on the Spirit Rock teacher council. His teaching draws on Theravada, Zen and Tibetan practice, and he is also a Diamond Approach teacher. He is passionate about practicing around the clock and supporting awareness, investigation and realization in daily life.

Victoria Cary loves the Dhamma and is drawn to helping people integrate it into everyday life. Her teaching investigates the complexity of human experience while holding plenty of space for kindness.

Bob Stahl, PhD teaches Insight Mindfulness Meditation retreats worldwide. He has founded eight Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs in medical centers in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the guiding teacher at Insight Santa Cruz and a visiting teacher at Spirit Rock and Insight Meditation Society.

Hakim Tafari is the movement teacher. Originally from the U.K. and now living in Los Angeles, he is a runner, meditator and student of the martial arts. He is known for his passion for Tai Chi Quan, which he has studied and taught for over 20 years.

The Setting

The retreat takes place at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, in Marin County, and practice happens in the consecrated Upper Meditation Hall. The center has 80 rooms, most of them single occupancy and 16 of them doubles. Single rooms are limited and are first prioritized for people with serious medical needs, with guaranteed single rooms available at the higher sliding-scale rates. Three meals a day are provided. Group size is up to 80.

Before You Go

Prior meditation experience is recommended. Spirit Rock suggests two to three daylong programs before a five-night retreat. Those attending as commuters, staying off site but joining the full retreat including meals, must have completed at least one weeklong silent residential Insight retreat beforehand; online retreats do not count.

The retreat is taught in English, in the Theravada, Insight (Vipassana) tradition. Five nights of accommodation, all meals, instruction, guided visualization, daily inquiry groups and Q&A are included. Travel is not, and neither is teacher dana, a voluntary offering invited at the end of the retreat for the teachers and Spirit Rock.

Fees run on a sliding scale, and need-based scholarships are available, with about 20 percent of participants receiving one. Payment plans are offered, and Spirit Rock asks anyone who is sick to stay home.