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Matthew Daniell

How are we to live? Join Matthew Daniell to explore this question
Three Steps to Awakening 
What happens to the quality of our lives when daily life and formal meditation practice are lived with open awareness in the here and now? This retreat will use the methods suggested in  Larry Rosenberg's book Three Steps to Awakening: A Practice of Bringing Mindfulness to Life to develop a flexible and responsive approach to meditative living that leads toward wholeness and well-being

The three-phase method is deceptively simple and can be worked with for a lifetime:
    Whole-body breath awareness;
    Breath as a support to explore a wider range of life; and
    Choiceless awareness, simply being with things as they are.

THE PRACTICE OF MINDFULNESS, simple yet powerful, is the heart of meditation and the supreme antidote to distraction. Being mindful allows us to be more alert, calm and spacious. It truly is the gateway to liberation because we experience our bodies, emotions and thoughts with greater clarity and balance.
The core of insight meditation is the practice of mindfulness, that quality of awareness that sees without judgment. Silent sitting and walking meditation, the first steps in formal practice, become the foundation and continuous inspiration for meeting all aspects of life with a greater openness and willingness to learn.

Matthew Daniell has been practicing Buddhist meditation for over 30 years. He studied Zen in Japan,
Tibetan  Buddhism in India, and Insight Meditation in India, Burma, Thailand, and the United States. His teachers include Munindra, Dipa Ma, Larry Rosenberg, Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, and Jack Kornfield. Matthew is a founder of IMCN, as well as its primary and guiding teacher. He also teaches at various  retreat centers including the Omega Institute, Kripalu, and CIMC. He is a member of the Religious
Services Department at Phillips Exeter Academy where he leads meditation groups for students and
faculty, and teaches online through eMindful.org. 

     The retreat will be offered on a dana basis. The word dana comes from the ancient Pali language and means "generosity of heart." It is said that when the Buddha met someone who had never been exposed to his teachings, he began by teaching the blessings of generosity. The Buddha said, " If you knew what I know about the blessings of generosity, you would never sit down to a meal without sharing it with another."
    Generosity is the natural expression of an open heart, a heart that is free from the need to protect. The highest form of generosity is the act of giving that is free of obligation and expectation. It is a spontaneous impulse of the heart, motivated by a wise understanding of where freedom lies.
    In traditional Buddhist countries, monks and nuns have all of their needs met by the generosity of lay people. Monastics go on alms round daily to collect their food. Along with the feeding of the monastic community, another purpose of alms round is to give lay people an opportunity to practice generosity. Even in the poorest villages the people joyfully share what little they have because they so value the presence of the monks and understand the blessings of dana practice. In this country, we have tens of thousands of churches, synagogues, mosques and temples. All of them are built and maintained with donated money, the same dana principle. When the first group of westerners who had studied and practiced in the east returned to the west (some three decades ago), they chose to preserve the teaching of dana as a practice. Matthew, and the  Philadelphia Meditation Center follow this tradition. The teachers and the founders of PMC have faith that their needs will be met by the generosity of grateful students and retreatants who come to the center.
     The $275 registration fee that you paid for this retreat covers the cost of putting on the retreat which includes teacher transportation, room and board, and advertising. No portion of this goes to the teacher.
Participants will have the opportunity to give a donation to Matthew at the end of the retreat .Your donations  are an essential part of what allows the teachers to continue to teach, retreat centers such as PMC to operate, and the dharma to flourish. We invite you to consider the importance of these teachings in your life and to make the support of our teachers and retreat centers a priority in your yearly tithing allotment. Thank you for your generosity and may your life be filled with many blessings

Train: Penn Center Station: Take Paoli local to Bryn Mawr Station. 5 minutes by taxi

From Philadelphia:: City Line Ave. (South). Turn right on Haverford Rd.. Go about 3 miles to College Ave. Turn left onto College Ave. Turn right on Coopertown Road. The entrance to St. Raphaela Center is on the left.

In Delaware County: Darby Rd. (heading West) to Coopertown Rd. (one block after Ardmore Ave.)  to dead end. Turn right on College Ave. You will pass our EXIT  sign. Continue to next street (Coopertown Rd. again), Turn left and then left to entrance on left.

From I-95 (North or South) to I-476 North to exit 13: St. Davids-Villanova. Follow signs for Villanova. Follow Lancaster Ave. (Route 30 East). You will pass Villanova University on the left. Turn right at County Line Rd. (McDonalds on left). Pass the Bryn Mawr Hospital. One light after Bryn Mawr Ave., turn right on Landover Rd. which eventually becomes Coopertown Rd. Pass Coopertown School on right and look for St. Rafaela entrance sign on right.

From PA Turnpike: (Going West) Get off at exit 25A (476 South). Follow 476 South t0 Exit 13: St Davids-Villanova. Follow directions above from Villanova exit. (Going East) Get off at Valley Forge. Follow 76 East to 476 South. See directions above for 476 South.

RETREAT REGISTRATION, Complete this form and send it with your deposit to:
The Philadelphia Meditation Center, 8 East Eagle Rd., Havertown, PA 19083
Name _________________________________________ Phone__________________

Address ___________________________City_____________________ State______

Zip______________________

E-mail ________________________________                                    Male / Female (circle one)


  Residential ($285)             Single Room  ($335)        Commuter ($250)       Supporter (-$35)      (Circle one)
                                 (
Enclosed is my deposit $ ________ (Minimum $50, fully refundable until 11/15/2024)
Do you smoke? yes/no (circle one)       Do you snore? yes/ no (circle one)

Special needs ____________________________________________________