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Willow is a new Canadian branch of the Monastic Academy for the Preservation of Life on Earth, a modern monastic institution dedicated to training wise, powerful, and loving leaders who are an unstoppable force for social and environmental peace on Earth.

This August, Willow Monastic Academy is hosting a three month experiment in neo-monastic system design.

The experiment is seeking five individuals who can commit to three months of full-time, residential participation with the possibility of signing on for an additional year or more.

The program will contain a mixture of practices designed to transform all aspects of your life. In particular the curriculum will feature training in meditation, relational practice, emotional healing, sense-making, and ethics. Throughout the three months, participants will take part in daily practice as well as deep-dive retreats where we will intensely study and practice with one or more of these modalities.

This is a full-time on-site program that will demand your total dedication and presence.

<aside> ๐Ÿ—“๏ธ Program dates are from August 11th 2021 to November 11th 2021

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The Training

The training at Willow has roots in traditional Buddhist monasticism and integrates what the Monastic Academy has learned over the last nine years of developing a wisdom education appropriate for the modern world. Our structure is rigorous and at times intense - we model ourselves after traditional Buddhist monasteries and take great care to embody Buddhist teachings in the things we do.

Participants will live, work, play, and practice together with a shared commitment to becoming trustworthy leaders for the benefit of life on earth.

In particular we are looking for individuals who, if it is a mutual fit, are inspired to help build Willow Monastic Academy into a 21st century Wisdom Institution that can serve the planet in important and lasting ways.

Curriculum

๐Ÿง˜โ€โ™€๏ธ Meditation

Concentration, Insight, Cultivation

We use meditation to come into harmony with our bodies and with the nature of perception. The meditation pedagogy will primarily mix together the teachings of Soryu Forall, Rob Burbea, and Shinzen Young. Whatever your background in meditation you will deepen to new levels of experience and understanding. Meditation is the keystone enabling practice for all the other technologies we will explore together. We will spend at least two hours every day in seated silent practice.

๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘งโ€๐Ÿ‘ฆ Emotional Healing

Internal Family Systems, Gendlin Focusing, Bio-Emotive Framework

By coming into compassionate relationship with all the parts of our psyche we bring harmony to our feeling life and release stuck emotional energy. This brings more vitality to our service and expands the scope of our freedom. We will learn to use these emotional healing techniques on ourselves and in collective processing.

๐Ÿ’ž Relational Practice

Circling, Surrendered Leadership, Collective Sense-making

The training will involve exploring a variety of group practices that can heal, deepen, and enhance our relationships with ourselves, each other, and the world. As individuals, these practices help clarify the benefit of our training and shine a spotlight on our blindspots and growth opportunities. As a group, these practices enable the emergence of trusting and harmonious community. Training in relationship is an integral part of the MAPLE curriculum and we will spend considerable time exploring this territory together.

๐Ÿคน Ethics

Ethics is fundamental to the Monastic Academy training. In this program we will explore values and how they impact our experience. We will consider the ethical significance of emotions like shame, remorse, anger, and desperation. Ultimately we will seek to heal our relationship with our own integrity and find a deep and unshakeable commitment to living in aligned service to life on earth.

๐Ÿฅ Chanting

Chanting is the most common practice of all spiritual traditions. At Willow we begin and end each day with the practice of chanting. In the morning we chant to remind ourselves of the value of the work we do together and our commitment to ethics, and to cultivate energy for the day ahead. In the evening we chant to connect with boundless compassion for all living beings. Chanting is an opportunity to let it all go and align together in energy, sound, and intention.