INTENSIVE AWAKENING RETREAT IN INDIA
Join Bill Free of Pure Presence Productions and Venkatesh N. Deshpande (Desh) of the Ramana Maharishi Center for Learning, Bangalore for a spiritual intensive in South India to deepen abidance in Awareness by the sacred hill of Arunachala and Ramana Maharishi’s ashram. The retreat begins with a 4 week online immersion filled with gatherings, discussions on sacred teachings on non-duality and guided meditations. After the online program, we travel to India on a small group retreat where mornings begin with yoga, meditations and daily satsangs with Bill Free and Venkatesh Deshpande. This intensive is an invitation to go deeply within while soaking in the devotional energy of this sacred land. Join a group of like-minded beings as we retreat into India on a beautiful farm filled with nourishing food, butterflies, Ayurvedic massage treatments and a peaceful meditation dome. We will also be spending time in the meditation caves of Ramana Maharishi. Spots are limited due to space constraints and programming.
Dates: February 1st-10th 2024
Location: South India (Bangalore + Tiruvannamalai)
Group Size: 10-12 people
Price (airfare not included): $4,695 shared room / $5,295 single room
For more information, email: prachi@fairkonnect.com
What's on the Itinerary?
PRE-RETREAT ONLINE PROGRAM
This is a 10-day tour with a 7-day Intensive in Tiruvannamalai India.
Your retreat begins four weeks before you leave home.
Four weeks prep includes:
Introductory interview 1:1. We will make sure this retreat is a good fit for you by sharing more details about the India and awakening experience on-site.
Pre-retreat four-week gatherings include:
Four 90-minute Zoom calls with your host and teacher Bill Free.
Two Ramana Maharshi documentary reviews and discussions to be watched from home in the prep period.
Handouts and map about Tiruvannamalai and Arunachala.
Weekly talk and discussions from The Garland of Guru’s Sayings.
Meditation Practice
“There is in fact nothing but the Self. The world is only a projection of the mind. The Mind originates from the Self. So, Self alone is the one being. All Paths are in the Self.”
DAY 1 | ARRIVAL INTO SOUTH INDIA
Our team will pick you up at Bangalore International Airport (BLR). After some rest and relaxation, we will feast on a welcome dinner, and get to know the amazing people that will be on this journey with you.
Meals Included: Dinner
DAY 2 | ORIENTATION + WORKSHOPS + BANANA LEAF DINNER
After a morning orientation and grounding meditation, we will participate in a workshop at Ramana’s Center for Learning in Bangalore, which combines the wisdom of the ancient scriptures of non-duality. Dinner will be at one of the city’s historic heritage restaurants where food is served on a banana leaf.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 3-9 | RETREAT INTO NATURE + OURSELVES
Today we head to the Indian countryside, where we will spend the retreat immersed in nature on a living farm, at the base of Arunachala Hill and a few minutes from Ramana Maharashi’s ashram. Our daily retreat schedule consists of:
Programming: After morning breakfast, each day will include a variety of meditation, village walk, yoga, ayurvedic massage, Q & A sessions, dyad self-inquiry and Satsang.
Content: Our focus of the content will come from: Nondual teaching from the Bhagavad Gita, The Seven Steps to Awakening, Rupert Spira, A Course in Miracles, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Krishnamurti and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj .
Day Trips: On different days, we take the group to Ramana Maharishi’s ashram, a 14 KM sacred walk around Arunachala and a village tour.
Meditation Caves: We will be exploring and spending time in the Virupaksha caves, where Ramana Maharishi spent 17 years in silent meditation. The caves are an invitation for each of us to connect to the higher energies of the hill and inside us.
Evenings will include: Satsangs or gathering of truth, classes, quiet meditation, digestive meditation, and chanting.
Meals are farm to table with rice, spices, vegetables and fruits grown directly on the farm and cooked with Sattvic spiritual principles. The farm is a beautiful place to immerse yourself in nature with butterflies and birds flying around you. The meditation space is held in a golden dome with 7 staircases symbolizing the chakras of life.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Experiences from our last Retreat
GROUP OUTINGS
Throughout the retreat experience, we will have several group outings into the center of Thiruvannamalai to visit Ramana Maharishi’s ashram, and attend evening chanting, meditation and discourse, visit Ramana’s caves where he meditated, and participate in the holy 14 kilometer walk around the hill with hundreds of temples and ashrams dotting the path. There are beautiful cafes where we will nourish ourselves with delicious food in between our exploration of the ashram and the devotional energy of this town.
DAY 10 | GOODBYE DINNER & AIRPORT DROP OFFS
Our last meal together will be full of laughs, stories, and plans to meet again around the world. After dinner, we will begin airport drop offs starting at midnight and onwards. For those with late night flights, you have the option of doing ayurvedic massages, last minute shopping, or settling into a cafe. We can also arrange a visit to the Ramana Center in Bangalore for those wanting to pay a visit. Today we leave for the airport with new memories and new friends.
Meals included: Breakfast
“What is obvious, self-evident and most immediate to us, the Self, we say we are not able to see. On the other hand, we say that what we see with these eyes alone is direct perception. There must first be the seer before anything could be seen. You are yourself the eye that sees. Yet, you say you don’t know the eye that sees, but know only the things seen.”
Trip Cost
$4,695 USD for shared room/$5,295 USD for private room
What's Included
4 Week online course with bill free
Pre-Departure Support (health, safety and cultural guide) & assistance with Visa Application
Airport transferS in india
Accommodation in india
MEALS AS INDICATED ABOVE
Local transporTation
YOGA CLASSES, GUIDED MEDITATION AND AYURVEDA SESSIONS
Local Team available 24/7