Clear Sky Meditation Centre

Karma Yoga Program - November 2018 Intake Day
2018-11-16 | BC
Mindfulness and beyond: a three-month internship, learning and serving in a conscious community
One of Clear Sky’s primary purposes is to be a container for the discipline of Karma Yoga.
This ancient practice offers great opportunities for insights and new levels of personal freedom.

What is Karma Yoga?
Essentially, we define Karma Yoga as training in mindfulness through action. Clear Sky is a modern-day working monastery, and if you spend time here, you will be training in Karma Yoga through all the activities it takes to run the center.
If you are accepted into the program, you will participate in the general running of the center’s activities and programs. Depending on your experience or interests, you may also be assigned to a specific department or project.
For more information and to ask for an application form, visit the Karma Yoga Service Stay Program page.

Six Yogas of Naropa - Dream Yoga & Light Yoga
2018-12-07 15:00 - 2018-12-22 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Clear Sky Meditation Center, 3567 Cockell Road, PO BOX 19, Fort Steele, British Columbia, V0B 1NO, Canada
The Six Yogas of Naropa are one of the central practices of the Tibetan Kagyu lineage, to which Clear Sky belongs.
During these two weeks, we will be focusing on the third and fourth Yogas of Naropa: Dream Yoga and Light Yoga.
These practices form a path to freedom through the development of deep understanding into the way things and formations arise and pass away.
Meanwhile, the teachings are grounded in the deep understanding of the fundamental principles and practices of Tantra.
To do this work, each of us must leave behind all partial views and develop a complete “viewing.”
By studying the energy channels of the body, the bindhus (hormones), and the overall functioning of the energy systems, the Diamond Body emerges. A radiant energy body, the Diamond Body is no longer subject to the blocks and malformations that are the natural result of conditioned patterns.
We enJOY–and share with all beings–the radiant and blissful result: kundalini energy. This burns up the amassed undergrowth of our unwholesome patterns, resulting in the natural liberation of energy, loving kindness and compassion.
Dumo Heat Yoga and Illusory-Body Yoga were taught and practiced in 2017. Bardo Yoga and Transformation Yoga be the focus of retreat at the end of 2019.
Dāna (Generosity Based Teaching)
Doug & Catherine are teaching this meditation retreat via the ancient tradition of Dāna (generosity), an offering from them to the attendees. It is considered of supreme value to your life and thus “beyond price” so it is expected that the student will be equally generous and support the teaching and the teachers by making an offering.
While no offering is too small, also no offering is too great. The giver benefits by offering as much as they can, given the individual’s circumstances. Along with compassion, generosity is considered the root of spiritual progress and, according to the ancients, therefore the root of our success in daily life as well.
Find out more about how you can practice Dāna. We invite you to offer Dāna when you register and via the Dāna bowl available at Clear Sky.

Book Now

Karma Yoga Program - February 2019 Intake Day
2019-02-22 | BC

Insight Meditation Retreat
2019-03-15 15:00 - 2019-03-24 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Clear Sky Meditation Center, 3567 Cockell Road, PO BOX 19, Fort Steele, British Columbia, V0B 1NO, Canada
A Ten-Day Meditation Retreat | March 15-24, 2019
Why do we lose bliss? How do we regain it?
By popular demand, our founding teachers are offering this ten-day insight meditation retreat.
Most think of meditation as a sense of calm and concentration that leads to bliss. Yet, bliss is impermanent and subject to loss.
Through training the mind to simply observe what is happening in the moment, we realize that the self is that which searches for bliss, and that this search is itself the root, source, and continuance of the struggle.
The path of insight leads us to the realization that there’s no inherent, independent, self identity to be found. This is called liberation, awakening, freedom. And it’s just a good idea.
Read more on the Planet Dharma website now or click the button below to register now.

See Early Bird Rates

The teachers offer this retreat by the ancient principle of dana, or generosity. Dana is paid separately to the registration fees, which Clear Sky charges to cover your food and accommodation.

Karma Yoga Program - March 2019 Intake Day
2019-03-29 | BC

Ignite Your Spiritual Life - Spring 2019
2019-04-06 - 2019-05-18 | BC
The critical lost art of the spiritual container and how it can re-ignite your spiritual life
A six-week online course running from April 6th to May 18th, 2019 (no class at Easter, April 20th)
Saturdays 10am-11:30am Mountain Time (Click here to see your timezone)
We can easily feel overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Especially in these turbulent times, when it seems nobody is immune from growing levels of fear, depression, and anxiety.
If you’re like many people, you may know what will help keep you calm and centered – like a regular meditation practice. Yet, you have a hard time carrying this calm into your daily life.
Even with a regular meditation time, then, you may still feel pulled off-center through the day. This is because your energy gets drained away. It’s like you’re trying to cross a desert, and you’re holding your precious water in a leaky cup with no lid.
It doesn’t have to be this hard
Yet, it’s possible even on the busiest days to stay centered, alive, and engaged. You can learn to set up your life to support and protect your precious energy.

How can you do this? By making your life into a cup that better holds your precious energy.
This course will teach you about the art of the spiritual container. By repairing the holes in your metaphorical leaky cup, you can redesign your everyday life to be more like you’re in the protective space of retreat.
Sound impractical?
Well, don’t worry. Like you, we’re not monks or nuns – not in this lifetime, at least.
This is a practical course.
It looks at how we can thrive and grow in a busy world – it’s not about learning how to withdraw, or fit in hours of formal meditation.
The magic of a retreat – a well-designed cup
So what are we talking about when we mention the supportive container of a retreat? If you haven’t been in retreat before, take a moment and open your heart to the beauty of the experience.

Imagine moving in a space where you’re calm and clear enough to see the simple beauty of life around you. A space where, whatever happens, you have energy and a sense of equanimity to hold things lightly.
Simple chores feel joyful and alive, instead of heavy or mundane. You glide from task to task with ease, seeing things just as they are and responding to what’s needed in the moment.
Picture yourself being more compassionate, friendly, and open to others. You have the space to see when confusion or negative thoughts creep in, for yourself or others, and let them pass by without giving them energy to grow.

Do you recognize anything there? We’ve all had those moments when the ego seems to quieten and all is right with the world. We can contact this on a morning walk in nature with a beloved pet, a stroll on the beach, or a slow Sunday at home.
These moments don’t have to be fleeting. Many moments in your daily life can be closer to this than you think – whether you’re at work, at home, at school, or commuting, there are things you can do to bring the beauty of retreat into your day.
You won’t be able to do that, however, unless you acknowledge what’s been missing.
What’s missing? Attention to the outer supports you need for a strong container
So, what isn’t working in our daily lives? Why do people, who are trying their best to find calm, presence, and joy, still sometimes feel disheartened, stuck, or lost?
Well, in fact it’s not surprising.
Especially in difficult times, our daily demands will stay very much in charge – unless we change our lives to better support us. Unless we learn to carry our cup carefully, and take care of it, our precious water will keep spilling out or get polluted by what’s around us.
This is especially true if you’re one of those people who tends to take care of others, more than you take care of yourself.
Yet, once you set up better outer supports, your life will become a container for generating and sustaining a sense of calm, focus, and joy.
Outer support: The Five Principles of a good spiritual container
This course is for you, then, if you recognize that you’re leaking energy, and want to do something about it.
We’ve studied this through years of running a retreat centre and applying what we learned to our own lives. From this, we’ve rediscovered five ancient principles that help create the right outer conditions we’re talking about:

1. Honor your space
2. Structure and routine are your friends
3. It’s easier with others
4. Cleaning up big areas of your life frees up energy
5. Conversations shape the space where we meet

These are the factors that have made Clear Sky work. They have made it into a place that wakes people up and supports their practice. We’ve learned that these same principles can transform and support our daily lives, too.
That’s why we created this course. We’ll share with you the insights and learning we’ve had from creating Clear Sky – a physical and virtual centre for awakening. We’ll lead you through using the practical framework of these five simple yet empowering principles, that have actually been time-tested over centuries.

As well as the core content on each of the principles, each webinar will include meditations and exercises to try in your daily life, and an interactive room where you’ll get a chance to meet other participants.
Register Now

Are you carrying a leaky cup? Try the quiz!
See how you’re doing in terms of the Five Principles, and get simple tips for using them to free up energy. Click the image to open up a new page and take the quiz.

Why take the course? Ignite Your Spiritual Life will help you:
** get relief from being reactive and stressed by daily events
** move through blocks and old patterns that seemed like they’d never shift
** establish a more consistent meditation practice
** redesign your life to be more in line with your spiritual aspirations
** connect with your heart and other people at a deeper level
** make bigger a difference in the world from a more grounded and confident place
** clarify where you want to direct your energy
Though not required, we highly recommend participants do a weekend retreat during or after the course to bring what they are learning deeper into consciousness, especially if they have not experienced a retreat before.
Learn more about the five principles in this 40-minute, edited recording from a live webinar, on March 29, 2017:

◊◊◊
Testimonials

My environment has changed, the way I organize my activities, my communication and trust in others ... Applying those principles can hold love and clarity for even big groups, creating a genuine awakening field."
Emmanuel Ponte - Five Principles Course, Brazil 2017

Karen's guided meditations were lovely; they provided new ways to meditate and increase space-awareness- on the relevant issues. I'd like to go back and review them all so I can do them again. In fact, I'd be happy to review the whole course week by week, just from the recordings.
Course Participant, Spring 2017

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Participant, Spring 2018

When I was making my list of aspirations and plans for 2017, I realized that I was structuring it from the five principles learned in the course “Outer Clarity.” The learnings served as a good medicine for doubts about how to lead transformations I want in my life.
All the principles have reinforced for me that it is necessary to water the outside garden very carefully, with attention and presence, so that the flowers of compassion and love can flourish inside and in my relations. Thank you, dear Karen, Duncan, and Sangha.
Luana Messena, 5 Principles Course, Brazil 2017

To have a weekly course like that it created space for me to reflect in a different way and to pause in a different way to focus on some of these questions.
And [the principles] are so basic, they're so important and that's why they're profound..[your course gave me] a feeling of more alignment with my path.
Meg O Leary, Spring 2018

I highly recommend the Ignite Your Spiritual Life online course. It is a great introduction for people exploring the Dharma path, but it's valuable in daily life too! The course is also a great refresher for experienced practitioners, which helps strengthens your spiritual practice and allows you to connect with the community.
Jenai Lieu, Program Coordinator, Spring 2018

It's really, really brought me back home to myself... I found myself in the past very scattered and would put off all the important things, the spiritual aspects of life, the mindfulness and so on, just to blast through my day and get things done, but now I am really taking pause. I still don't get everything done, but I don't get everything done in a much more calm way, haha, in a much more soulful way... So for me that was probably the most important takeaway from the six week program is just you can't let those things slide no matter what because when you do, you're giving up little bits of your soul and then you've really lost. ..That for me was wonderful to come back to.
Morgana from Victoria, Spring 2018

Thank you! I really felt both Karen and Duncan were so caring and sincere.
Participant, Spring 2018

I think this course is a beautiful, utterly grounded and relevant way of making the spiritual life very real and integrated with how we are living every day of our lives. I also think that this course lays an important foundation for a meditation practice that can actually go somewhere as well as allowing a practice that may already be strong to better feed the other parts of our lives for a really well-rounded and truly fulfilling life.
Ruth Levin - Movement Educator & Solopreneur - Spring 2018

I found the course filled with a lot of practical information. I would recommend it to anybody interested in improving their spiritual practice. Thanks Karen and Duncan!
Course Participant, Spring 2018

I am so impressed and happy with Karen and Duncan. You have done a fabulous job with this course, and have provided a role model example of working together. I loved hearing your real life stories, things that you have struggled with in life- this added another level of reality to it that was applicable to my reality too.
Course Participant, Spring 2017

Toward the end, I realized that the principles give you a format to bring Dharma into - which reassures you that they are deeper than just the surface.
Gretta, Mental Health Therapist, Spring 2018

With this course we learned how to strengthen our practice taking care of our meditation space, creating wholesome habits, exchanging and strengthening the practice with the support of the Sangha and so on. The outside is not separated from the inside. That is why taking care of the outside with attention, generosity and joy, we meet the clarity within us.
Rita Chirata, 5 Principles Course, Brazil 2017

The presenters were very good ... I think these principles are relevant not just for a spiritual practice but life as a whole.
Course Participant, Spring 2017

The course had a big impact on me. It not only helped me to organize my life in different aspects, like the respect towards my personal living spaces or the way I relate to others and with time, I also understood the power meditation can have in my life and how it can contribute to making more assertive choices.
I had a very strong empowering sensation of conscience expansion and learned how to better deal with my emotions, specially my anxiety, throughout the meditation on spaciousness. Now, I understand I am a better person and for that I’m very grateful.
Lemuel Simis, 5 Principles Course, Brazil 2017

◊◊◊

Further Information – Click to read more

Details of what we'll be teaching you.

Since this course is about establishing a consistent meditation practice (the inner) and getting your life (the outer) more in line with your spiritual aspirations, we’ve made each session a balance of this inner and outer work.
We start with a guided meditation or mindfulness practice to support a deepening daily reflective practice, and then give fresh practical tips for integrating it into your daily life.
Turning to the outer, each session then focuses on one key principle for creating what we call a “spiritual container.” The container is the outer supportive conditions you can set up in your life to support your inner practice, reconnect with your heart, and help you break through old patterns that are holding you back. (See our How it Works page for more information on the 5 key principles of a spiritual container)
Each session is lively and interactive, including breakout sessions for discussion in groups, sharing via the chat function, and time for Q&A. We offer home “play” exercises (we prefer this to home “work” as the exercises are designed to be exploratory and fun!) for trying outside of the weekly sessions to explore and integrate the topics.
Week 1: Creating a supportive space for your growth

Three supports for being more mindful and present in daily life.
The missing element. Understand what a spiritual container is, why it’s often forgotten, and why it’s so important to achieving your goals.
Contacting that “aaahh” feeling that a well-created space can instantly create
Six key aspects for creating a space to support your growth.

Week 2 : Transforming habit and making friends with structure

Fresh awareness - tools for getting out of auto-pilot mode.
Loosening and transforming unhelpful habits.
Consciously choosing structures and routines so that you’re free to explore.
Harnessing the power of ritual.

Week 3: Quieting the monkey mind

Calming internal dialog and chatter.
Cleaning up draining conversations and speech patterns.
The power of forgiveness.
Establishing healthy and generative communication

Week 4: Part 1: Cleaning up big areas of your life frees up energy

Identifying big areas in your life that drain your energy.
Beginning to ease the common drain and tension around money.
Exploring your vision and purpose.

Week 5: Part 2: Cleaning up big areas of your life frees up energy

Working with distractions and overload.
Getting off the “hamster wheel”.
Developing a healthy relationship with time.
Learning to “do nothing” - the importance of making space to play.

Week 6: The power of community

Meditations to strengthen kindness and compassion.
Embracing healthy relationships.
The power of community to support your growth.
Bringing it all together - how a strong spiritual container is a launchpad for your growth.

The people who'll be teaching you

Your hosts for this course have all experienced life-changing growth and unfoldment through their involvement with Clear Sky and its founding teachers. Between us, we bring years of studying and practicing in the lineage, of teaching and meditating around the world, and of governance and management of Clear Sky Centre.
Here, we’ve brought together the fruits of all our learning into the five principles, offered here for the first time publicly as an online course.
Main Hosts:

Karen McAllister
After meeting our founding teachers in Japan, I managed the meditation centre there for many years while serving simultaneously as part of the Clear Sky Board. In 2003, I helped search for a site for Clear Sky, looking at around 30 properties until we found our current location in the magical Kootenays.
I'm now Chair of the Board and Director of Business Development. I'm passionate to be teaching the much-ignored principles of nurturing the factors - like honor your space, structure, and communication - that create the conditions we need to wake up more in daily life. I see how I learned and embodied these principles in my different roles at Clear Sky, as the centre went from self-starter to second-stage growth. This is what I call “the hands-on way of doing an MBA with a spiritual bottom line!”
In my free time, I love travelling, speaking Portuguese and reading history, architecture, and art books.
Duncan Cryle
I'm the former Clear Sky Chair, a certified Mindfulness teacher, Dharma teacher, and an IBM Executive in Toronto.
Through 15 years of teaching meditation and mindfulness, alongside an active career working all over the world, I’ve learnt a lot about an integrated spiritual path. With a Ph.D. in philosophy in my pocket, I was gung ho to join a monastery until I met my root teachers Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat in Japan in 2001, who turned my views upside down and encouraged me to grow and contribute at the busy end of life!
A founding member of Clear Sky in 2004, I’m amazed at the power that working together in compassionate service has for enriching and widening spiritual growth. Combined with a dynamic relationship and a challenging career, I have fun with a wide-ranging and holistic approach to spiritual growth. The spiritual container is a key aspect to this and I’m delighted to teach and share this course.

All of that made me more energetic, active and with the will of exploring this big world. Not only that, but gave me the strength to transform my daily practice making it more consistent. The changes and insights keep coming up and the Sangha has a giant role in maintaining my spiritual growth.
I deeply thank the teachers Karen and Duncan for not giving up on guiding us through this wonderful path.
Tamires Low
The course has introduced complementary concepts that supported me on constructing a more consistent and deep practice, which has contributed significantly for me to see the values that are really important to me, and also gave me strength to keep them and go ahead, no matter what the external circumstances may be.
I can only give thanks for having the opportunity of being part of this group. Deep gratitude for the teachers that offered the course, to the team that created it and to the Sangha that participated on the first group, for allowing ourselves to be together on this learning.
Ana Paula Ueti
Your Other Hosts:
Michelle Heinz
I began studying with the founding teachers and community of Clear Sky in 2003. With them I re-ignited that spark for life I'd been desperately missing and seeking.
I love plunging into things and that’s exactly what I did with Clear Sky. Visiting Clear Sky every summer, I started by developing the farm and land, and then joined the Board of Directors. I then moved from Japan to live at and run the centre for 8 years. I still thrive on connecting with and bringing all kinds of people and events to Clear Sky.
Now based in Nelson B.C., I'm part of a wakeful and innovative team. I help run a co-working space where I'm delighted to say that meditation, mindful collaboration and teamwork are an integral part of my work day.
Fun for me includes punning with friends, finding new ways to eat sea buckthorn berries and getting outside whenever I can.

Andy Rogers
I first got interested in meditation through a school friend of mine who went on to become a monk in Thailand. I left the UK 20 years ago, ending up in Japan for several years where I met Clear Sky's founding teachers through one of their students - and a founding member of Clear Sky - John Munroe.
I've lived at Clear Sky for long periods since 2009 and also served as Treasurer and Board Member for five years. I now offer a weekly meditation and dharma class in nearby Kimberley.
Living or spending time at Clear Sky puts you in all kinds of roles. I've cooked for 30 people, presented at AGMs, written blogs and created budgets, pulled weeds and repaired fences. And I can now see clearly that where I thrived and where I've struggled can be directly related to each of our new principles in some way. Can't wait to share them with you!
I'm now Clear Sky's head copywriter and an active member of the Business Development team - the creators of this course! I love playing golf here in the picturesque Rockies, though the golf season is painfully short! When I'm not pounding the magnetic dartboard in the Clear Sky office, I also earn a living as a copywriter.

Maryline Fortier
I was introduced to Clear Sky through joining the Karma Yoga program (a 3-month service stay). I was instantly seduced by a new way of life - a way that my depth was seeking. I found a place, a community where people work together and accompany yogis like me in the awakening process.
There, I discovered what I'm passionate about: diving deeper inside, understanding what it is to be a wholesome, spiritual being - a being that is participating in the creation of an abundant life and that believes in the powerful ideal of service for the benefit of all. What an incredible journey!
Originally trained as a social work educator, my eight years of work with youth in schools have convinced me to find a better, deeper way to teach life skills to our next generation. I am now in a 3-year university course and I intend to start my own business in the fields of life skills and second-language teaching
Now, I am on the Clear Sky Sales and Business Development teams - and soon joining our Board of Directors - and my love for our offerings to the world is constantly increasing. I see how what we can provide to people is peaceful and loving states of mind. Working to support that? That's really a life worth living!

What's included

What's Included
By joining this course, you’ll get:
Six, 90-minute interactive live webinars covering the five principles, PLUS view access to recordings.
Exercises to give you an understanding of the principles of a spiritual container and how they affect your energy.
Reflections and meditations to help you stay grounded, calm, and centred.
The following tools and support:
Weekly meditations:
Guided meditations uploaded once a week during the course. This 15-minute offering is designed to help you quickly re-focus on the week’s principle between webinars, helping you apply it directly in your day and providing some welcome supportive structure.
Facebook Group
Join us and fellow participants in a private Facebook group focused on the principles. Providing you with an online community to support you between webinars was high on our list. Share about your insights, explorations, and discoveries and enjoy mutual support plus extra feedback from course teachers. We’ll also have fun practising and modeling for each other the 5th principle: discover how clear conscious communication creates a space for us to meet and share ideas.

Some Frequently Asked Questions

Some Frequently Asked Questions

Am I a good match for this course?
Are you open to growth and an honest look at your patterns with a heart for changing what isn’t working for you any more? This course could be for you. You should also know that we’re more casual than formal, more direct than politically correct or touchy feely. We hope that you’ll ask questions and engage with the material to get the most you can from the course.
Will you try to convert me to Buddhism?
Nope. These principles support your growth, whichever tradition or system you’re working with. And at the same time, we’d like you to know that we’ll be referencing or using wisdom from various sources, and will offer guided meditations and reflections as we go. We encourage you to explore anything you hear with an open heart and discerning mind, and take the opportunities to ask questions.
Do I need to have or start a meditation practice to do your course?
It helps if you have done some meditation. But don’t worry if you’ve never meditated, had difficulty establishing a consistent practice, or even if you feel you’re a “bad” meditator. This course is very much about giving you the support and understanding for an alive and regular meditative practice.
How practical is this course?
We’ll be looking at the practical, everyday areas of our lives that – when in better alignment with our inner aspirations – can support our path. So we’ll be inviting and helping you to take ongoing, practical action in your day-to-day life, including things like your work, family, and relationships with other people.
What interaction will I have with the instructors and other participants?
To enrich your learning, we encourage participants to engage and share with each other in the private Facebook group. Clear Sky’s 3rd principle is about finding and engaging with others on the path, and this course is one place to truly connect with others. We’ll also open space during the live sessions for questions and answers, and we welcome your engagement and questions.
Do you offer any more advanced level courses on this material?
This material is incredibly rich. We are developing deeper dives into each principle as well as material on applying the five principles at work, at home, and even at an organizational level for heart-centred groups and social enterprises. Look for future announcements via our emails and blogs.
What is the cancellation policy?
We’d love to offer refunds, yet because this series of webinars and the bonus offerings represent hours of dedicated work and we are offering it for a very low minimum offering, there is a zero-refund policy on this course. We encourage you to register with a clear mind and heart, and in a spirit of generosity.

What it costs
We offer this course on the basis of dāna. If you’re not familiar with dāna, you may have come across related approaches such as “pay from the heart.” Dāna is a Sanskrit term that translates as generosity in English. It’s radically different from the transactional way we normally interact in the world – where we give to get something back, either a service or thing. Instead, with dāna, we give as a mutual exchange of generosity. It’s our joy to offer this course, and we trust you’ll match our time, energy, and passion by giving an amount of money that feels good and healthy to both you and us.
As for our part in this pay from the heart model: since we have expenses hosting the classes and we are investing significant amounts of volunteer (service) time and our combined experience in creating, teaching, and administrating the course, we are setting the minimum amount at $120 CAD. All proceeds will go to Clear Sky center.

We highly recommend taking time to check in with your heart on an amount that feels good. Find the amount you feel balances and honors your aspiration for this course, the energy we are giving to deliver the course, and what is sustainable for you.
In this pay from the heart exercise, you might also consider what you pay for different things as a matter of course: a night out with friends, a session with a chiropractor or acupuncturist, or an hour with a life coach, for example.
You’ll see equivalent live courses offered for between $120 and $360 CAD. Over six, 90-minute classes, this represents an average of $20-$60 per class.
Why do you use a dāna-based model?

The practice of generosity is central to spiritual unfoldment, whatever path you follow. In our own Buddhist lineage, teachings have always been given on the basis of dāna, and we are committed to this practice and its development in the West. Dāna is also a radical and – we believe – viable economic alternative to capitalism, which our planet would really benefit from. We all know there must be something better than capitalism or its hungry cousin, consumerism. We maintain that, together, we can offer a financial model that is based in life-affirming mutual support. Please join us in co-creating this promising economic alternative.

Register Now

Click here to go back up the page and see Further Information about the course

Still not sure? Fill out this online form and we’ll get back to you. We can even schedule a call if you’d like to speak to someone about the course.

Karma Yoga Program - April 2019 Intake Day
2019-04-19 | BC

Karma Yoga Program - May 2019 Intake Day
2019-05-17 | BC

Karma Yoga Program - July 2019 Intake Day
2019-07-12 | BC

Buddhas in Action: Awakening in Daily Life
2019-08-09 - 2019-08-24 | Clear Sky Meditation Center, 3567 Cockell Road, PO BOX 19, Fort Steele, British Columbia, V0B 1NO, Canada
A Karma Yoga Retreat | August 9-24, 2019
Create an unshakeable spiritual practice in our busy modern world.
We all need to earn a living and deal with day-to-day pressures. We want to relate meaningfully with those around us, but we often feel unfulfilled. Work just leaves us feeling worn out and slightly empty. And sometimes the space between self and other feels like a tremendous gap.
When we’re in the middle of modern samsaric busy-ness, the spiritual life can feel out of reach. The wonderful news is that we can use contemporary spiritual practices at work and in relationship to feel fulfilled while doing so. These different parts of our life can support one another in beautiful ways, leading to great feelings of meaningfulness, balance, and connection.
This retreat gives you the building blocks to apply awareness, compassion, wisdom, and strength to each moment. The result is greater fulfillment amid daily life and meaningful connection with others and the world around you.

SEE EARLY BIRD RATES

Why Practice Karma Yoga?
We’ve spent the last 14 years adapting this tradition of awakening through action to our modern lives, at home, in offices, in conversations, at our desks, in meetings, in bed and in the field. This profoundly practical application can help you find greater joy, fulfillment, and calm amidst your busy daily life.
By learning the principles of karma yoga (awakening through action), you can apply awareness and wisdom to everything you do. Cultivating this practice allows you to transform your work, home and city life into a connective field of monastic or yogic practice. Your home becomes your monastery, while your co-workers become your fellow yogis and yoginis.
Our experience shows that blending study, meditation, and what we call “awakening through action”, profoundly integrates spiritual practice with day-to-day demands.
“Karma yoga has made me aware of how to streamline my energy to a sustainable, smooth level of work. It has given me invaluable practice on focusing my attention on the task at hand.” – Lisa Feder
Please note that this retreat and Clear Sky welcome people of all religious backgrounds and beliefs. This retreat is also open to all experience levels.
SEE EARLY BIRD RATES

Meet the Teachers of this profound retreat
Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Center.
Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state.
Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.

What is Karma Yoga?
We’ve received some questions about the practice of awakening through action or Karma Yoga. Here is a short video which dives deeper into what you can expect on this retreat.

Who are we?
To help you get acquainted with us, some community members made this short video during our 2017 Buddhas in Action retreat. To learn more about us and our incredible community, click here!

Daily Schedule
This is an active meditation retreat. There will be a combination of silent meditation and active exercises to help integrate your meditation into daily life. The exercises focus on body, speech (communication & feelings) and mind (your heart) and will be practiced in pairs and in groups. There will be a daily morning classes and evening meditation with Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat.
In order to focus on your meditative work, we ask that participants put away your cellphone, books and digital technologies for the duration of the retreat. That said, some speech exercises may invite you to use your cellphone or laptop as a way of practicing a wholesome relationship with technology.
Creating a strong discipline for your practice will make the retreat highly immersive, focused and profound.

Dāna
This course is offered by Doug & Catherine Sensei based on the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. You may have come across this is the form of “pay from the heart”. Dāna is a Sanskrit term meaning “generosity”. With dāna, we give as a mutual exchange of generosity. It’s their joy to offer this course, and we trust you’ll match their time, energy, and passion by giving an amount of money that feels good and healthy.
Location
Clear Sky is a 300-acre meditation cushion nestled in the Canadian Rocky mountains. We are 30 minutes from Cranbrook International airport in Cranbrook, B.C.
Fees
As a charitable organization, we strive to provide locally sourced organic meals and comfortable accommodations at an affordable price. Fees vary depending on your accommodation choice and early bird pricing. You can find more information on the course registration page.
Register Now

Karma Yoga Program - September 2019 Intake Day
2019-09-06 | BC

Becoming a Work of Art: Dharma Foundations Retreat
2019-10-11 - 2019-10-13 | BC
A Dharma Foundations Retreat | October 11-13, 2019
It is “better to be a work of art than make a work of art.” -Namgyal Rinpoche
How can we feel more grounded and positive in our being?
In these busy, information-heavy times, this retreat is an opportunity to connect with yourself in a simple, beautiful, and powerful way.
Join this retreat and discover 2000-year-old Buddhist principles, the paramis. This practice helps meditators develop a solid foundation in their being so they can feel more love, fulfillment and joy in all areas of life.
Let your inner work of art flourish.
See Early Bird Rates
What are the Paramis?
Parami is a Sanskrit word for perfection. The paramis form the foundation for a meditation practice that is strong, fulfilling and profound.
Meet the Teachers of this retreat
Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Center.
Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state.
Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.

What’s Expected of Me if I Come to This Retreat?

An open mind and heart, and a spirit of adventure are excellent things to bring!
It’s human to have some apprehensions about doing something new, meeting new people, or going to a new place. Particularly when all three happen together. We try to make this as supportive as possible.
When exploring our growth edges, it’s natural to feel uncertain and awkward. And it’s very fruitful to transform that emotional tension into creative energy by drawing on your own inner resources – such as inquiry, going with the flow, and self-reflection, just a few of the many kinds of constructive engagement.
To maximize your learning, we ask that you refrain from reading, using the internet or listening to music during the course. We make an exception for journaling, course assignments and group celebration.
Lastly, our teaching and Clear Sky operate based on the ancient tradition of dāna or generosity. Please learn more about this profound practice before you register.

Register Now
Who are we?
To help you get acquainted with us, some community members made this short video during our 2017 Buddhas in Action retreat. To learn more about us and our incredible community, click here!

Daily Schedule
This is a meditation focused retreat. Your practice will be in silence with a focus on a combination of walking, sitting and standing meditation throughout the day. There will be a daily morning classes and evening meditation with Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat, as well as group meditation and personal meditation time.
In order to focus on your meditative work, we ask that participants put away your cellphone, books and digital technologies for the duration of the retreat.
Creating a strong discipline for your practice will make the retreat highly immersive, focused and profound.

Dāna
This course is offered by Doug & Catherine Sensei based on the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. You may have come across this is the form of “pay from the heart”. Dāna is a Sanskrit term meaning “generosity”. With dāna, we give as a mutual exchange of generosity. It’s their joy to offer this course, and we trust you’ll match their time, energy, and passion by giving an amount of money that feels good and healthy.
Location
Clear Sky is a 300-acre meditation cushion nestled in the Canadian Rocky mountains. We are 30 minutes from Cranbrook International airport in Cranbrook, B.C.
Fees
As a charitable organization, we strive to provide locally sourced organic meals and comfortable accommodations at an affordable price. Fees vary depending on your accommodation choice and early bird pricing. You can find more information on the course registration page.
Register Now

Karma Yoga Program - October 2019 Intake Day
2019-10-19 | BC

Six Yogas of Naropa
2019-12-06 - 2019-12-22 | BC
An Advanced Meditation Retreat | December 6-22, 2019
Join us for the final portion of our three-part series on The Six Yogas of Naropa. The final summation of this profound body of work, we will explore Bardo Yoga and Transference of Consciousness Yoga.
Bardo Yoga
There are six bardos, yet you only encounter four during your lifetime. Bardo Yoga is the yoga of the intermediate or liminal state. As it includes aspects of illusory body yoga and dream yoga, it’s recommended that participants have done both of those practices.
Transference of Consciousness Yoga
Transference of Consciousness Yoga practice helps us prepare for when consciousness leaves this organism at the time of death. Practices include dissolving the sufferings of the six realms into a bindu which travels upwards in the central channel.
Also called the yoga of changing places, this yoga speaks to other worlds and maintaining the light of sleep (as in lucid dreaming) or the light after death. As in other yogas, its successful practice relies on practicing the Paramis.
See Early Bird Rates

Grounded in fundamental principles of Tantra, the Six Yogas of Naropa are one of the central practices of the Tibetan Kagyu lineage. These practices form a path to freedom through the development of deep understanding into the way things and formations arise and pass away.
Prerequisites
This retreat requires the following three pre-requisites:

1 million Chenrezig mantras completed.
100,000 long Vajrasattva mantras completed
100,000 prostrations completed.
Or special permission from the teachers (contact them at your earliest convenience as another practice is likely to be substituted/required instead).

Dana
Our teaching and Clear Sky operate based on the ancient tradition of dāna or generosity. Please learn more about this profound practice before you register.
Meet the Teachers of this transformative retreat
Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Center.
Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state.
Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.

Daily Schedule
This is a meditation focused retreat. Your practice will be in silence with a focus on a combination of walking, sitting and standing meditation throughout the day. There will be a daily morning classes and evening meditation with Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat, as well as group meditation and personal meditation time.
In order to focus on your meditative work, we ask that participants put away your cellphone, books and digital technologies for the duration of the retreat.
Creating a strong discipline for your practice will make the retreat highly immersive, focused and profound.

Dāna
This course is offered by Doug & Catherine Sensei based on the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. You may have come across this is the form of “pay from the heart”. Dāna is a Sanskrit term meaning “generosity”. With dāna, we give as a mutual exchange of generosity. It’s their joy to offer this course, and we trust you’ll match their time, energy, and passion by giving an amount of money that feels good and healthy.
Location
Clear Sky is a 300-acre meditation cushion nestled in the Canadian Rocky mountains. We are 30 minutes from Cranbrook International airport in Cranbrook, B.C.
Important
You are invited to spend extra time at Clear Sky after the retreat, especially with it being the holiday season. It is important to note that due to their Christmas offering: airport drop-offs are not available December 23-25th. Departures during this time will require your own transportation.
Fees
As a charitable organization, we strive to provide locally sourced organic meals and comfortable accommodations at an affordable price. Fees vary depending on your accommodation choice and early bird pricing. You can find more information on the course registration page.

Register Here

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness: The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Online)
2020-04-06 19:30 - 2020-05-03 21:00 (America/Chicago) | BC
Four Foundations of Mindfulness: The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta
A Four Week Online Course | Starts April 6, 2020

What are the four foundations of mindfulness that provide a platform for insight, and ‘clear seeing’? Discover indispensable tools for crafting a powerful meditation practice.
Register Now

While we believe any undertaking can be a vehicle for awakening, there’s no substitute for the power of one’s own profound experience of truth, gained through meditation. This is why meditation is one of the four foundational practices of our teaching.
In this four-week online course, we take a deep dive to explore the Theravadin tradition of vipassana or insight meditation. We’ll focus on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, or discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, which has been described as the most profound discourse the Buddha ever gave on mental development.
This simple yet powerful framework will help you extend your meditation experience to everything from subatomic particles to the vastness of space, and all that’s between.

Recommended Reading
To prepare, please read Namgyal Rinpoche’s short and pithy Breath of Awakening, a commentary on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta or Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
The book is available at the Clear Sky Center shop, or through our friends at Bodhi Publishing (recommend ordering well in advance, as delivery times vary). Order Online

Course Schedule
Starts April 6, 2020
PLEASE NOTE to deepen and integrate your experience, we are offering three optional weekly Master Classes during the course and an at-home Flash Retreat at the end. See below for more details.

Class 1 – Monday, April 6

Mindfulness of Kaya. Explore awareness of the body, form, and the transitions between physical sensations.
As with all forms, the body comes into being, remains present for a time, and then passes away. With this practice we can directly experience that the body (and everything else) is impermanent.
What happens when one acknowledges this impermance? Join us and find out.

Class 2 – Monday, April 13

Mindfulness of Vedana. The second foundation of mindfulness includes cultivating awareness of feelings or evaluations, and the transitions between them.
In this tradition, there are only three feelings: pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. No story!
What does this dramatic simplification do to our interaction with feelings? As we note a feeling arising, being present, and passing away, how then do we relate to our feelings?

Class 3 – Monday, April 20

Mindfulness of Citta. As we cultivate awareness of mind or states of consciousness, we learn to watch as they arise and pass away.
What then, is mind? Does it make sense for us to link our wellbeing to our fluctuating states of mind? What choices do we have? We learn the answers through mindfulness of mind.

Class 4 – Monday April 27

Mindfulness of Dhammas. As we cultivate ever-greater awareness of phenomena, we develop awareness of the nature of consciousness (dhammas).
Are we conscious? How can we become more conscious? Is the universe conscious? How does the consciousness “I” experience relate to greater consciousness?
In this online class we explore the contemplation of dhamma for these keys to spiritual awakening.

Master Classes

Three Sundays

There are weekly Master Classes (akin to online Q&A Office Hours) during this online course to support your deepening learning and practice, on the following dates at 3pm MST:

Sun. April 12
Sun. April 19
Sun. April 26

You can elect to attend all three or individual dates.

Registration & Dana links for Master Classes will be accessible to you when you register for the course.

Flash Retreat

May 1-3, 2020

Elect to deepen your practice via a Flash Retreat during the last weekend of this course. The retreat provides practitioners a valuable opportunity to integrate and seal the learnings from the online course, in a format well suited for our contemporary lives.
The retreat will include instructions, online check ins, and a Master Class on Sunday, May. 3 at 3pm MST.
We encourage you to attend this weekend retreat at Clear Sky Centre, or together with your local sangha, or if those not available to you, in your home.

Registration and Dana links for the Flash Retreat will be accessible to you when you register for the course.
Sangha power – consider organizing or joining regional in-person or online sangha groups to support one another during the online courses and Flash Retreats.

Register Now

Tuesdays with McAllister
2020-04-28 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Edmonton) | BC
Class Schedule
March 24 – The first webinar will focus on how to handle this sudden shift in your structure and routine.
March 31 – Reframing your self-isolation into a retreat
April 7 – Keeping connection with others despite social distancing
April 14 – Understanding and reframing your money stresses
April 21 – Using COVID-19 to clean up big areas in your life
April 28 – Questions and Answers about our Upcoming Course, Ignite Your Spiritual Life

Register Now

Even without the backdrop of a global pandemic, it’s an uneasy feeling to suddenly have our daily structure pulled from under us.
Clear Sky was founded with the intent of being a refuge for you to connect with nature, yourself and your meditation practice.
Although we cannot be a physical refuge for you right now, we are shifting our content and courses to continue providing you with connection and support during this time.
Join us Tuesdays at 9am MDT, where we are offering weekly online meditation and support classes aimed at addressing the issues and concerns that many of us are dealing with now.
Theses classes will focus on how to handle this sudden shift in your structure, routine & income. Led by Ignite Your Spiritual Life teacher, Karen McAllister, these sessions are a chance to connect with community, share your experience or seek support.
Register Now

About the Teacher

Karen is a Certified Money & Business Archetype coach, a Time To Think Facilitator, a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, non-profit leader, and spiritual-seeker. Her passion is helping individuals, families, couples, social entrepreneurs, and mission-based organisations wake up to their value and talents, so that they can contribute their very best to the world.
She helps people and heart-centered organizations achieve their goals by releasing the suffering and tension around their relationship with money. With over ten years’ experience in nonprofit leadership & fund development – combined with her own path around money – make her intimately familiar with the struggles that people and organisations face.

Register Now

Ignite Your Spiritual Life (Online)
2020-05-02 10:00 - 2020-06-06 11:30 (America/Chicago) | BC
An Online CourseMay 9th – June 13th, 2020Saturdays: 10:00-11:30am MDT *Click here to see your timezone Recordings available for those who cannot attend liveIncludes a half-day at home retreat on June 6th
The Biggest Certainty…
Is that the future is uncertain.
Right now, you may be grieving the loss of a way of life, or, perhaps you’ve tasted a new way of doing things and don’t want to return to the ‘status quo’.
Whether it’s concerns about money or sharing a small space with others, COVID-19 has forced all of us to step out of our comfort zones and onto shaky ground.
How do we adjust to this new normal?

Register Here

A beautiful aspect of being human is the way that we support, create and collaborate with each other. In short, we are social beings.
Social distancing is essential for flattening the curve. And yet, in doing so, something is lost. A part of our humanness is lost.
In a way being in isolation is like being placed in a meditation retreat you didn’t choose. Being alone is difficult. Especially when the mind is also weighed down by financial, health or relationship concerns.
Reframing isolation into opportunity

Ignite Your Spiritual Life is designed to help you turn your home and daily life into a supportive structure.
During our fifteen years of leading meditation retreats, we have studied the art of creating spaces that are supportive when you’re alone and when you are sharing space with others.
This course will guide you in principles that help you have a consistent meditation practice, reframe negative thoughts and habits and re-connect with what’s most important to you.

If you can’t be in a space you love..
Love the space you’re in.
It is likely that you are missing a particular space right now. Perhaps it’s your favourite cafe, workspace or yoga studio. This course will help you adapt to your current situation and turn any environment into a space that supports your needs.
This course is about establishing a consistent meditation practice (the inner) and getting your life (the outer) more in line with your spiritual aspirations, we’ve made each session a balance of this inner and outer work.
We start with a guided meditation or mindfulness practice to support a deepening daily reflective practice, and then give fresh practical tips for integrating it into your daily life.
Each session is lively and interactive, including breakout sessions for discussion in groups, sharing via the chat function, and time for Q&A. We offer home “play” exercises (we prefer this to home “work” as the exercises are designed to be exploratory and fun!) for trying outside of the weekly sessions to explore and integrate the topics.

Register Here

Course Structure

Week 1: Creating a supportive space for your growth

Three supports for being more mindful and present in daily life.
The missing element. Understand what a spiritual container is, why it’s often forgotten, and why it’s so important to achieving your goals.
Contacting that “aaahh” feeling that a well-created space can instantly create

Week 2 : Transforming habit and making friends with structure

Fresh awareness – tools for getting out of auto-pilot mode.
Loosening and transforming unhelpful habits.
Harnessing the power of ritual.

Week 3: Quieting the monkey mind

Calming internal dialog and chatter.
Cleaning up draining conversations and speech patterns.
The power of forgiveness.

Week 4: Part 1: Cleaning up big areas of your life frees up energy

Identifying big areas in your life that drain your energy.
Beginning to ease the common drain and tension around money.
Exploring your vision and purpose.

Week 5: Part 2: Cleaning up big areas of your life frees up energy

Working with distractions and overload.
Developing a healthy relationship with time.
Learning to “do nothing” – the importance of making space to play.

Week 6: The power of community

Meditations to strengthen kindness and compassion.
Embracing healthy relationships.
Bringing it all together – how a strong community and spiritual container is a launchpad for your growth.

Our Five Principles
These are the principles that have made Clear Sky into a place that wakes people up and supports their practice. We’ll lead you through these five simple yet empowering principles that have been time-tested over centuries.
As well as the core content on each of the principles, each webinar will include meditations and exercises to try in your daily life.

Meet Your Course Teachers

Karen McAllister
As Clear Sky’s Chair of the Board and Director of Business Development, I’m passionate about teaching the much-ignored principles of nurturing the factors – like honor your space, structure, and communication – that create the conditions we need to wake up more in daily life. I see how I learned and embodied these principles in my different roles at Clear Sky, as the centre went from self-starter to second-stage growth. This is what I call “the hands-on way of doing an MBA with a spiritual bottom line!”
In my free time, I love travelling, speaking Portuguese and reading history, architecture, and art books.
Duncan Cryle
Through 15 years of teaching meditation and mindfulness, alongside an active career working all over the world, I’ve learnt a lot about an integrated spiritual path.
As a founding member of Clear Sky in 2004, I’m amazed at the power that working together in compassionate service has for enriching and widening spiritual growth. Combined with a dynamic relationship and a challenging career, I have fun with a wide-ranging and holistic approach to spiritual growth. The spiritual container is a key aspect to this and I’m delighted to teach and share this course.

Meet Your Course Hosts
I love plunging into things and that’s exactly what I did with Clear Sky.
Now based in Nelson B.C., I’m part of a wakeful and innovative team where I’m delighted to say that meditation, mindful collaboration and teamwork are an integral part of my work day.

Michelle
I’m passionate about diving deeper inside, understanding what it is to be a wholesome, spiritual being – a being that is participating in the creation of an abundant life and that believes in the powerful ideal of service for the benefit of all. What an incredible journey!

Maryline
Living and spending time at Clear Sky has put me in all kinds of roles. Through the teachings and community, I can see clearly that where I thrived and where I’ve struggled can be directly related to each of our new principles in some way. Can’t wait to share them with you!

Andy
My life transformed upon meeting Clear Sky’s founding Teachers, Doug and Catherine Sensei.
Their profound teachings inspire me to better myself and our centre so that we may be a beacon of compassion, community and equanimity in our rapidly changing world.

Ava

Register Now

Quiz: What area of your life is holding you back?

See how you’re doing in terms of the Five Principles, and get simple tips for using them to free up energy. Take the quiz now.

The course had a big impact on me. It helped me organize my life, the way I relate to others and contributed to making more assertive choices.
I learned how to better deal with my emotions, specially my anxiety. Now, I understand I am a better person and for that I’m very grateful.

Lemuel S.
I think this course is a beautiful, utterly grounded and relevant way of making the spiritual life very real and integrated with how we are living every day of our lives. It lays an important foundation for a meditation practice that can actually go somewhere and lead to a well-rounded and truly fulfilling life.

Ruth L.
It’s really, really brought me back home to myself. I found myself in the past very scattered and would put off all the important things, the spiritual aspects of life, the mindfulness and so on, just to blast through my day and get things done, but now I am really taking pause. I still don’t get everything done, but I don’t get everything done in a much more calm and soulful way.

Emmanuel P.
Course Cost

We offer this course on the basis of dāna. If you’re not familiar with dāna, you may have come across related approaches such as “pay from the heart.” Dāna is a Sanskrit term that translates as generosity in English. It’s radically different from the transactional way we normally interact in the world – where we give to get something back, either a service or thing. Instead, with dāna, we give as a mutual exchange of generosity. It’s our joy to offer this course, and we trust you’ll match our time, energy, and passion by giving an amount of money that feels good and healthy to both you and us.
As for our part in this pay from the heart model: since we have expenses hosting the classes and we are investing significant amounts of volunteer (service) time and our combined experience in creating, teaching, and administrating the course, we are setting the minimum amount at $120 CAD. All proceeds will go to Clear Sky center.

We highly recommend taking time to check in with your heart on an amount that feels good. Find the amount you feel balances and honors your aspiration for this course, the energy we are giving to deliver the course, and what is sustainable for you.
In this pay from the heart exercise, you might also consider what you pay for different things as a matter of course: a night out with friends, a session with a chiropractor or acupuncturist, or an hour with a life coach, for example.
You’ll see equivalent live courses offered for between $120 and $360 CAD. Over six, 90-minute classes, this represents an average of $20-$60 per class.
Why do you use a dāna-based model?

The practice of generosity is central to spiritual unfoldment, whatever path you follow. In our own Buddhist lineage, teachings have always been given on the basis of dāna, and we are committed to this practice and its development in the West. Dāna is also a radical and – we believe – viable economic alternative to capitalism, which our planet would really benefit from. We all know there must be something better than capitalism or its hungry cousin, consumerism. We maintain that, together, we can offer a financial model that is based in life-affirming mutual support. Please join us in co-creating this promising economic alternative.

Register Here

Still not sure? Fill out this online form and we’ll get back to you.

Blog

Beyond the Cushion: Awakening our Highest Potential (Online)
2020-06-15 19:30 - 2020-07-12 16:00 (America/Chicago) | BC
Beyond the Cushion
If you’re like most people who care about the planet and growing your self-awareness, you may have tried many practices – yoga, counselling, books, courses, meditation. If, after all these sincere efforts, your daily life still isn’t working as well as you’d like, there are reasons for this.
In this online course, we focus on various teaching and training methods that support you to make changes in outdated views, limiting habits and conflicted emotions. We emphasize practice both as individuals and in community. Changing all this takes courage and work and revolutionizes your personal status quo.
The results? More joy, more creativity, more compassion, more freedom, and a greater sense of true wealth.

Course Schedule
Starts June 15, 2020
PLEASE NOTE to deepen and integrate your experience, we are offering three optional weekly Master Classes during the course and an at-home Flash Retreat at the end. See below for more details.

Class One – Monday, June 15

We start our journey exploring both the yogic and monastic paths to awakening – and how these are evolving to what we call the “planetary vehicle”. We need authentic and practical ways of doing the spiritual work in our daily life – at home, at work, and in our relationships. We get into most of our struggles interacting with others – so we begin by exploring communication that is clear and honest, loving and compassionate.

Class Two – Monday, June 22

For much of our days we don’t have the luxury to be sitting in meditation. Incorporating active practice into the rest of our day is as important as a daily sitting meditation. Active spiritual practice helps interrupt the painful patterns in your life and infuse yourself with peace and freedom without having to throw away all of your activities.
This week we’ll also explore the importance of training with experienced guides. Regular and consistent interaction with experienced practitioners fosters greater mindfulness in your engagement with both day-to-day activities and community building. This is called “dharma training,” or “the tuning fork principle:” increasing your awareness and effectiveness through mentorship.

Class Three – Monday, June 29

Challenge yourself to breakthrough! Undertaking regular and doable challenges in mindful ways opens your heart and mind to a greater sense of success. So many of our habits keep us in the same loops. The challenges rewire your brain and loosens many of your less helpful habits. Freedom is the result.

Class Four – Monday, July 6

Community is fundamental to growth. Unfolding into freedom, peace and love is not a solo event. We all need each other! Generative and sustainable community engagement is an essential element to a healthy and integrated spiritual path. When you support other practitioners, you feel a wonderful sense of being able to contribute, and gain insights into yourself that you couldn’t see alone.

Master Classes – Every Sunday

There are weekly Master Classes during this online course to support your deepening learning and practice, on the following dates at 3pm MST:

Sun. June 21
Sun. June 28
Sun. July 5
Sun. July 12

We encourage you to register and offer dana separately and uniquely for each of these Office Hours. You will receive details for how to attend each Master Class once you have registered for the Course

Flash Retreat – July 10-12

This Flash Retreat provides practitioners with a valuable opportunity to integrate and seal the learnings from the online course, in a format well suited for our contemporary lives.
We encourage you to attend this weekend retreat at Clear Sky Centre, or together with your local sangha, or if those not available to you, in your home.
Many students organize regional online sangha groups to support one another during the online courses and Flash Retreats. Also, check your inbox for support sessions organized by the Planet Dharma team.
Planet Dharma provides themes, meditations and guidelines to support Flash Retreat participants. You may also support your own unfoldment by attending the Master Class on Sunday, June 28.

Registration and Dana links for the Flash Retreat will be accessible to you when you register for the course.
Sangha power – consider organizing or joining regional in-person or online sangha groups to support one another during the online courses and Flash Retreats.

REGISTER NOW

Tantric Deep Dive: A Week of Empowerments
2020-06-26 16:00 - 2020-07-03 11:00 (America/Chicago) | Clear Sky Meditation Center, 3567 Cockell Road, PO BOX 19, Fort Steele, British Columbia, V0B 1NO, Canada
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Mar 24, 2020.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, initiations, empowerments or wongkur (Tib. དབང་, wang) are considered the spring from which all blessings flow. Join us for a week of twelve initiations, followed by a weekend of joy to celebrate our 15th anniversary.

A week of Vajrayana Initiations and Clear Sky’s 15th Anniversary
Not only is 2020 Doug Duncan Sensei’s 70th year, it is also our 15th anniversary! To celebrate, we invite you to join us for a week of rarely given vajrayana initiations / empowerments, followed by a weekend of sangha celebrations.

Register for Tantric Deep Dive

Register for Tantric Deep Dive + 15th Anniversary Celebration

What are Vajrayana Empowerments, Initiations and Wongkur?

Namgyal Rinpoche, our lineage root guru, put it best:
In the depth of the psyche lie all possibilities in a state of unrealized potential. In every being there exists the possibility of experiencing transcendental consciousness, which when the student is ready, the Teacher(s) can make accessible to him or her via empowerment, initiation, or wongkur.
One should regard Wongkur as an event in which the Lama sows the seed of transcendental consciousness in the depth of the student. The seed will lie in the unconscious until the student brings it to realization in the practice of meditation.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You may request to sponsor a Wong during this retreat. To request and sponsor, register for the retreat and email Doug and Catherine Sensei with your request by February 1st, 2020.
Why a Week of Empowerments?

Doug and Catherine Sensei will be offering a total of twelve empowerments during this celebration week. They have chosen to do so, to honour lineage, and to sow the seeds for future realization. Many of the initiations given will be rare empowerments that they have not given recently.
There will be two empowerments a day, with practice time in between. It will be a busy, bustling, engaging, immersive and quite frankly incredible week.

Meet the Teachers

Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Centre, BC, Canada. Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state. Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.

Course Details
Fees and Dāna
Dana: This course is offered by Doug and Catherine Sensei through the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. The retreat fee covers the cost of food and accommodation, whereas the Teachings are offered by generosity. Learn more about Dāna here.
Cost: As a charitable organization, we strive to provide locally sourced organic meals and comfortable accommodations at an affordable price. Fees vary depending on your accommodation choice and early bird pricing. More information about cost is coming soon.
Daily Schedule
This special retreat includes two Wongkurs a day over six days. More specific details about the schedule are coming soon.
Arrival/Departure: Arrival is Friday June 26, by 4pm. How to get here.
Booking a flight? Airport pickups can be booked when you register for the retreat. On the rare chance that this retreat is cancelled, we highly recommend purchasing travel insurance.
In order to give enough time to rest from travel before the retreat starts, we recommend that domestic travellers arrive one day early, and long distance international travellers arrive two days early.
After the retreat we also suggest staying for at least another day for integration.

About Clear Sky
Located in the BC rocky mountains, we offer over 300-acres to deepen your practice and reconnect with nature. Founded by Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat, we are home to students from around the globe who are dedicated to co-creating a supportive and innovative space for awakening in our modern world.

Here are some FAQs on how to get here, what to bring and what to expect.

To help you get acquainted with us, some community members made this short video during our 2019 Buddhas in Action retreat. To learn more about us and our incredible community, click here!

Register for Tantric Deep Dive

Register for Tantric Deep Dive + 15th Anniversary Celebration

15th Anniversary Weekend Celebration
2020-07-03 00:00 - 2020-07-05 23:59 (America/Chicago) | Clear Sky Meditation Center, 3567 Cockell Road, PO BOX 19, Fort Steele, British Columbia, V0B 1NO, Canada
Book now and get 10% off listed prices. Offer valid until Mar 31, 2020.
2020 beckons us to look both forward and backwards as we honour Doug Sensei’s 70th year and Clear Sky’s 15th Anniversary. Join us in celebrating incredible Teachers, Teachings and community – and – in turning our eyes to our next 500 years.

Register for the Weekend Celebration
Register for Weekend Celebration + Tantric Deep Dive Retreat

Countless hands have contributed to building this incredible center. It is with deep gratitude that excitedly share this opportunity to join in celebration, connection and growth.
Weekend festivities include:

Blessing our future temple site
A worldwide meditation
Creative expression opportunities in dance, voice, improv and art
Dinner and dance under the stars in the Food Forest
And best of all, time with our incredible Teachers

The celebration features two components: the Tantric Deep Dive retreat (featuring 12 Empowerments over 6 days), followed by the weekend celebration. Participants may register for just the Deep Dive or just the Weekend Celebration – but we recommend diving in head first and joining in both festivities!

Our Teachers

Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Centre, BC, Canada. Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state. Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.

Course Details
Fees and Dāna
Dana: This course is offered by Doug and Catherine Sensei through the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. The retreat fee covers the cost of food and accommodation, whereas the Teachings are offered by generosity. Learn more about Dāna here.
Cost: As a charitable organization, we strive to provide locally sourced organic meals and comfortable accommodations at an affordable price. Fees vary depending on your accommodation choice and early bird pricing. More information about cost is coming soon.
Daily Schedule
You may anticipate time to honour our Teachers, dance in the food forest and connect with community. More specific details about the schedule are coming soon.
Arrival/Departure: Arrival is Friday July 3rd, by 4pm. Departure is Sunday, July 5th at 4pm. How to get here.
Booking a flight? Airport pickups can be booked when you register for the retreat. On the rare chance that this retreat is cancelled, we highly recommend purchasing travel insurance.
In order to give enough time to rest from travel before the retreat starts, we recommend that domestic travellers arrive one day early, and long distance international travellers arrive two days early.
After the retreat we also suggest staying for at least another day for integration.

About Us

Located in the BC rocky mountains, we offer over 300-acres to deepen your practice and reconnect with nature. Founded by Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat, we are home to students from around the globe who are dedicated to co-creating a supportive and innovative space for awakening in our modern world.

Here are some FAQs on how to get here, what to bring and what to expect.

To help you get acquainted with us, some community members made this short video during our 2019 Buddhas in Action retreat. To learn more about us and our incredible community, click here!

Register for the Weekend Celebration
Register for Weekend Celebration + Tantric Deep Dive Retreat

Mastering the Sixteen Stages of Insight (Online & In-person Retreat)
2020-08-07 16:00 - 2020-08-21 14:00 (America/Chicago) | BC
Mastering the 16 Stages of Insight
Find out for yourself why meditation is one of the four foundational practices of our teaching. Take advantage of Acariya Doug Duncan Sensei’s mastery of insight in this powerful and rare two-week insight meditation retreat. Your experience of your mind will never be the same. Held at our home retreat centre, the model of innovative awakening in the 2000s, Clear Sky, in the Rocky Mountains of BC.

Retreat at Clear Sky

Retreat at Home (Online)

COVID-19 RESPONSE
Our main priority is to offer a retreat that is accessible and supports your health and safety. In response to COVID-19, we are offering two options for attending this retreat.
Online Retreat from Home
It might not be possible to get to Clear Sky, we invite you to join us from wherever you are in the world instead.
Basic requirements to do the retreat online:

Block out the two weeks and be focused on the retreat for this entire period, using this time and participating in the retreat as if you were at Clear Sky in person.
Participate in the daily classes and group practices.
Set up a quiet space or location where you can focus on the Meditation Retreat
If there are enough people in the same time zone as you, you could also make a cohort to meet to do a group practice throughout the retreat.
Note: full details/ requirements will be sent to you after registering

Daily Retreat Schedule
(Time Zone: MST, subject to change)

9am – 10am: Class with Teachers
10:30am – 11:30am: Group Practice lead by Sangha
3pm – 4 pm: Group Practice lead by Sangha
7:30pm – 8:30pm: Group Practice and Q & A with Teachers

Retreat at Clear Sky
In order to attend this retreat in person, we require that you are able to meet our COVID-19 pre-screening requirements. We also have through health and safety requirements that must be upheld for the duration of your retreat. More details about these requirements will be provided here soon.
Why Practice the Sixteen Stages of Insight?
In life there is repetition – we do many things over and over again, but we tend to do them the same habitual way because we stop paying attention after the first few times. The path of insight is about looking again and again, and this is the literal meaning of the word ‘vipassana‘.
Scientists look again and again to analyse the data of an external experiment to see the principles at work in that situation. In insight meditation, we look again and again at the arisings within the mind in order to uncover the patterns within.
These patterns are called karma. By liberating the unconscious nature of the patterns, we liberate karma from neurotic habitual repetition. We make way for Buddha karma – becoming a manifestation of compassion, loving kindness, empathetic joy, and equanimity in the world.

What can I Expect?
In this retreat, we are mastering the sixteen stages of insight through the practice of the foundations of mindfulness (satipatthana sutta). This is a fundamental text in Buddhism that establishes the strong foundation of mindfulness upon which the stages of insight can rest.
Daily Schedule: Here is a sample schedule of what you can expect at this retreat.
What’s Expected of Me?

This will be an intensive meditation retreat, with many hours of practice per day. Therefore some experience, especially with insight meditation, is recommended but not mandatory.
An open mind and heart, and a spirit of adventure are excellent things to bring!
It’s human to have some apprehensions about doing something new, meeting new people, or going to a new place. Particularly when all three happen together. We try to make this as supportive as possible.
This is a silent retreat. To deepen your meditation, we ask that participants refrain from reading, using the internet or phone, or listening to music during the course.
Lastly, our teaching and Clear Sky operate based on the ancient tradition of dāna or generosity. Please learn more about this profound practice before you register.

Meet the Teachers

Doug Duncan & Catherine Pawasarat Sensei
Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Centre, BC, Canada. Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state. Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.

Retreat at Clear Sky

Retreat at Home (Online)

Dāna, Fees and Travel
Dana and In-Person Retreat Pricing
Dana: This course is offered by Doug and Catherine Sensei through the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. The retreat fee covers the cost of food and accommodation, whereas the Teachings are offered by generosity. Learn more about Dāna here.
Pricing: As a charitable organization, we strive to provide locally sourced organic meals and comfortable accommodations at an affordable price. Fees vary depending on your accommodation choice and early bird pricing.
Dana and Online Retreat Pricing
Dana: This course is offered by Doug and Catherine Sensei through the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. Learn more about Dāna here.
Pricing: In order to bring you this retreat at home, there is an additional pay by the heart, sliding scale admin fee* of $200-$700. The admin fee is to cover the costs of running these online courses – for equipment and software to provide you the teachings online.
How Much to Give? A short exercise:

Take a few quiet breaths and center yourself.
Spend another few moments contacting as best you can a sense of health, strength and abundance (noticing without judgement if this is hard to contact)
Offer an aspiration (using the below, or your own words).
May this practice of dāna open up a space inside me to learn and receive.May this gift support the teachers and teachings for the benefit of many other people.May this gift directly support my own awakening through a strong dāna practice.This gift, myself the giver, and the teachers are all impermanent – with this in mind I give lightly and generously, for the benefit of all beings!

Now check with your heart and mind what amount feels both consistent with your situation, and expressive of your aspiration. Remember, you are free to offer whatever amount of dāna feels good for you right now.
Now simply, with a joyful abundant heart aspiring for awakening, and awareness of the preciousness and impermanence of life, enter the amount you choose to offer.

About the administrative fee
In a traditional model of in-person teachings, a retreat center or urban meditation center invites teachers to visit. In these cases the centers have infrastructure and organization costs to cover, which might be covered by an admin fee. For the teaching itself, dāna to the teachers is offered in a bowl. This honors both the sustainability of the teachers, and of the supporting center.
We’ve tried to recreate this approach online.The teachers’ time and the teaching themselves are offered on the basis of dāna, separate to the admin fee. With our dāna offering we are making a direct gift of generosity to the teachers to support their teachings and livelihood. Learn more about the practice of dāna here.
The admin fee goes to support the infrastructure and organization necessary to support them to teach. As anyone with an online business will know, it can be surprising the costs of setting up a good infrastructure to support effective teaching and connection online.
Below are a few of the work and benefits that your admin fee payment is supporting:

high speed internet (to allow interviews and classes on-line)
online class systems (Zoom)
registration / admin systems (Eventbrite, Basecamp)
communication systems to keep everyone informed, share connection details, teachings and other resources (Mailchimp)
online storage (for example, Dropbox, to allow us to let students watch recordings, and to store and share selected teachings in other forms such as podcasts and video later, and Amazon cloud)
quality sound, video and editing equipment (both for live teachings and to provide good enough quality for later sharing as podcasts and video). We are regularly updating our equipment to improve your user experience.
online calendar booking system to allow students to book interviews
website hosting and maintenance for sharing upcoming courses, teachings, blogs and other resources.

May all our efforts be sustainable, abundant and for the benefit of all beings!
We welcome any questions. Please feel free to contact michelle@clearskycenter.org
Online Retreat Requirements
If you are taking this retreat online, we require that you devote your full attention to the retreat for the entire two weeks.
Online Retreat Requirements:

Block out the two weeks and be focused on the retreat for this entire period, using this time and participating in the retreat as if you were at Clear Sky in person. This includes a rigorous, full, daily meditation schedule.
Participate in all of the daily classes and group practices via online streaming.
Set up a quiet space or location where you can focus on the Meditation Retreat, and not need to engage in conversation or work with others.
Put away your phone, digital devices and other distractions.
If there are enough people in the same time zone as you, you could also make a cohort to meet to do a group practice throughout the retreat.

COVID-19 Policy
Please note, we are taking measures to keep us all healthy during this retreat, including:

You must have experienced no symptoms associated with COVID-19 in the past 14 days and will be required to take an online assessment prior to your stay.
You have not travelled outside of Canada in the past 14 days.
Physical distancing (2m) amongst all visiting retreatants will be observed during this retreat.
Please bring your own face mask(s) that you will feel comfortable wearing. When physical distancing is not possible during this retreat, you will be asked to wear a mask.
Sanitation and hand washing procedures will be explained when you come and must be followed.

Learn more about our COVID-19 Policy here.
Arrival & Departure
Arrival is Friday, August 7 at 4pm.
Departure is Friday, August 21st at 12:00pm.
Booking a Flight?
Airport pickups can be booked when you register for the retreat. On the rare chance that this retreat is cancelled, we highly recommend purchasing travel insurance.
In order to give enough time to rest from travel before the retreat starts, we recommend that domestic travellers arrive one day early, and long distance international travellers arrive two days early.
After the retreat we also suggest staying for at least another day for integration.
Travel Restrictions, COVID-19 Policy: Please contact us – Email michelle@clearskycenter.org or (250) 429-3929 for details/options for local participation.
About Clear Sky
Located in the BC rocky mountains, we offer over 300-acres to deepen your practice and reconnect with nature. Founded by Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat, we are home to students from around the globe who are dedicated to co-creating a supportive and innovative space for awakening in our modern world.
Here are some FAQs on how to get here, what to bring and what to expect.
To help you get acquainted with us, some community members made this short video during our 2019 Buddhas in Action retreat. To learn more about us and our incredible community, click here!

Retreat at Clear Sky

Retreat at Home (Online)

Event Template
2020-08-07 16:00 - 2020-08-21 14:00 (America/Chicago) | BC
Mastering the 16 Stages of Insight
Find out for yourself why meditation is one of the four foundational practices of our teaching. Take advantage of Acariya Doug Duncan Sensei’s mastery of insight in this powerful and rare two-week insight meditation retreat. Your experience of your mind will never be the same. Held at our home retreat centre, the model of innovative awakening in the 2000s, Clear Sky, in the Rocky Mountains of BC.

Retreat at Clear Sky

Retreat at Home (Online)

COVID-19 RESPONSE
Our main priority is to offer a retreat that is accessible and supports your health and safety. In response to COVID-19, we are offering two options for attending this retreat.
Online Retreat from Home
It might not be possible to get to Clear Sky, we invite you to join us from wherever you are in the world instead.
Basic requirements to do the retreat online:

Block out the two weeks and be focused on the retreat for this entire period, using this time and participating in the retreat as if you were at Clear Sky in person.
Participate in the daily classes and group practices.
Set up a quiet space or location where you can focus on the Meditation Retreat
If there are enough people in the same time zone as you, you could also make a cohort to meet to do a group practice throughout the retreat.

Note: full details/ requirements will be sent to you after registering
Daily Retreat Schedule
(Time Zone: MST, subject to change)

9am – 10am: Class with Teachers
10:30am – 11:30am: Group Practice lead by Sangha
3pm – 4 pm: Group Practice lead by Sangha
7:30pm – 8:30pm: Group Practice and Q & A with Teachers

Retreat at Clear Sky
In order to attend this retreat in person, we require that you are able to meet our COVID-19 pre-screening requirements. We also have through health and safety requirements that must be upheld for the duration of your retreat. More details about these requirements will be provided here soon.
Why Practice the Sixteen Stages of Insight?
In life there is repetition – we do many things over and over again, but we tend to do them the same habitual way because we stop paying attention after the first few times. The path of insight is about looking again and again, and this is the literal meaning of the word ‘vipassana‘.
Scientists look again and again to analyse the data of an external experiment to see the principles at work in that situation. In insight meditation, we look again and again at the arisings within the mind in order to uncover the patterns within.
These patterns are called karma. By liberating the unconscious nature of the patterns, we liberate karma from neurotic habitual repetition. We make way for Buddha karma – becoming a manifestation of compassion, loving kindness, empathetic joy, and equanimity in the world.

What can I expect?
In this retreat, we are mastering the sixteen stages of insight through the practice of the foundations of mindfulness (satipatthana sutta). This is a fundamental text in Buddhism that establishes the strong foundation of mindfulness upon which the stages of insight can rest.
Daily Schedule: Here is a sample schedule of what you can expect at this retreat.
What’s Expected of Me?

This will be an intensive meditation retreat, with many hours of practice per day. Therefore some experience, especially with insight meditation, is recommended but not mandatory.
An open mind and heart, and a spirit of adventure are excellent things to bring!
It’s human to have some apprehensions about doing something new, meeting new people, or going to a new place. Particularly when all three happen together. We try to make this as supportive as possible.
This is a silent retreat. To deepen your meditation, we ask that participants refrain from reading, using the internet or phone, or listening to music during the course.
Lastly, our teaching and Clear Sky operate based on the ancient tradition of dāna or generosity. Please learn more about this profound practice before you register.

Meet the Teachers

Doug Duncan &
Catherine Pawasarat Sensei
Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Centre, BC, Canada. Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state. Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.

Retreat at Clear Sky

Retreat at Home (Online)

Dāna, Fees and Travel
Dana and In-Person Retreat Pricing
Dana: This course is offered by Doug and Catherine Sensei through the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. The retreat fee covers the cost of food and accommodation, whereas the Teachings are offered by generosity. Learn more about Dāna here.
Pricing: As a charitable organization, we strive to provide locally sourced organic meals and comfortable accommodations at an affordable price. Fees vary depending on your accommodation choice and early bird pricing.
Dana and Online Retreat Pricing
Dana: This course is offered by Doug and Catherine Sensei through the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. Learn more about Dāna here.
Pricing: In order to bring you this retreat at home, there is an additional pay by the heart, sliding scale admin fee* of $200-$700. The admin fee is to cover the costs of running these online courses – for equipment and software to provide you the teachings online.
How Much to Give? A short exercise:

Take a few quiet breaths and center yourself.
Spend another few moments contacting as best you can a sense of health, strength and abundance (noticing without judgement if this is hard to contact)
Offer an aspiration (using the below, or your own words).May this practice of dāna open up a space inside me to learn and receive.
May this gift support the teachers and teachings for the benefit of many other people.
May this gift directly support my own awakening through a strong dāna practice.
This gift, myself the giver, and the teachers are all impermanent – with this in mind I give lightly and generously, for the benefit of all beings!
Now check with your heart and mind what amount feels both consistent with your situation, and expressive of your aspiration. Remember, you are free to offer whatever amount of dāna feels good for you right now.
Now simply, with a joyful abundant heart aspiring for awakening, and awareness of the preciousness and impermanence of life, enter the amount you choose to offer.

About the administrative fee
In a traditional model of in-person teachings, a retreat center or urban meditation center invites teachers to visit. In these cases the centers have infrastructure and organization costs to cover, which might be covered by an admin fee. For the teaching itself, dāna to the teachers is offered in a bowl. This honors both the sustainability of the teachers, and of the supporting center.
We’ve tried to recreate this approach online.
The teachers’ time and the teaching themselves are offered on the basis of dāna, separate to the admin fee. With our dāna offering we are making a direct gift of generosity to the teachers to support their teachings and livelihood. Learn more about the practice of dāna here.
The admin fee goes to support the infrastructure and organization necessary to support them to teach. As anyone with an online business will know, it can be surprising the costs of setting up a good infrastructure to support effective teaching and connection online.
Below are a few of the work and benefits that your admin fee payment is supporting:

high speed internet (to allow interviews and classes on-line)
online class systems (Zoom)
registration / admin systems (Eventbrite, Basecamp)
communication systems to keep everyone informed, share connection details, teachings and other resources (Mailchimp)
online storage (for example, Dropbox, to allow us to let students watch recordings, and to store and share selected teachings in other forms such as podcasts and video later, and Amazon cloud)
quality sound, video and editing equipment (both for live teachings and to provide good enough quality for later sharing as podcasts and video). We are regularly updating our equipment to improve your user experience.
online calendar booking system to allow students to book interviews
website hosting and maintenance for sharing upcoming courses, teachings, blogs and other resources.

May all our efforts be sustainable, abundant and for the benefit of all beings!
We welcome any questions. Please feel free to contact michelle@clearskycenter.org
Online Retreat Requirements
If you are taking this retreat online, we require that you devote your full attention to the retreat for the entire two weeks.
Online Retreat Requirements:

Block out the two weeks and be focused on the retreat for this entire period, using this time and participating in the retreat as if you were at Clear Sky in person. This includes a rigorous, full, daily meditation schedule.
Participate in all of the daily classes and group practices via online streaming.
Set up a quiet space or location where you can focus on the Meditation Retreat, and not need to engage in conversation or work with others.
Put away your phone, digital devices and other distractions.
If there are enough people in the same time zone as you, you could also make a cohort to meet to do a group practice throughout the retreat.

COVID-19 Policy
Please note, we are taking measures to keep us all healthy during this retreat, including:

You must have experienced no symptoms associated with COVID-19 in the past 14 days and will be required to take an online assessment prior to your stay.
You have not travelled outside of Canada in the past 14 days.
Physical distancing (2m) amongst all visiting retreatants will be observed during this retreat.
Please bring your own face mask(s) that you will feel comfortable wearing. When physical distancing is not possible during this retreat, you will be asked to wear a mask.
Sanitation and hand washing procedures will be explained when you come and must be followed.

Learn more about our COVID-19 Policy here.
Arrival & Departure
Arrival is Friday, August 7 at 4pm.
Departure is Friday, August 21st at 12:00pm.
Booking a Flight?
Airport pickups can be booked when you register for the retreat. On the rare chance that this retreat is cancelled, we highly recommend purchasing travel insurance.
In order to give enough time to rest from travel before the retreat starts, we recommend that domestic travellers arrive one day early, and long distance international travellers arrive two days early.
After the retreat we also suggest staying for at least another day for integration.
Travel Restrictions, COVID-19 Policy: Please contact us – Email michelle@clearskycenter.org or (250) 429-3929 for details/options for local participation.
About Clear Sky
Located in the BC rocky mountains, we offer over 300-acres to deepen your practice and reconnect with nature. Founded by Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat, we are home to students from around the globe who are dedicated to co-creating a supportive and innovative space for awakening in our modern world.
Here are some FAQs on how to get here, what to bring and what to expect.
To help you get acquainted with us, some community members made this short video during our 2019 Buddhas in Action retreat. To learn more about us and our incredible community, click here!

Retreat at Clear Sky

Retreat at Home (Online)

Contemplating 400 Years of Inequality (Online)
2020-09-27 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | BC
An Interactive Seminar with Catherine Pawasarat Sensei
September 27, 2020
3:00-5:00pm MDT
Click here to see your timezone
Catherine Pawasarat Sensei is hosting a conversation that focuses on the past 400 years of American structural inequality towards Blacks, Indigenous, women and other minority groups. This seminar invites us to see our own implicit biases and cultivate new ways of being more compassionate and loving beings through the scope of Dharma, race and liberation.

Register Now

There has been unprecedented acceleration of change since the Industrial revolution. Along with it, we see a greater number of fracturing in people’s psyches and a greater number of inequality in wealth distribution. According to a study from Harvard university, most of the wealth in the US is in the top 20% of the population. This unequal distribution of wealth particularly affects black, indigenous, and people of colour.
Our international sangha is about growing people to be compassionate and loving beings and welcoming all beings to the banquet as guests. As we teach compassionate communication, it is important we do our own work around Social Justice as awakening beings. Particularly if we are coming from a position of privilege.
The teachers have taught about the importance of the quadruple bottom line (spiritual, social, environmental and financial) at Clear Sky, in our urban sanghas and in ourselves.
So, how are we as an International spiritual community responding with compassion to the rapid social, financial and environmental changes happening on a global stage?

Course Details
Doug and Cata Sensei began teaching the Fifth Discipline in 2013, which focused on managing and leading change, building adaptive organizations that can cope with an increasingly connected and volatile world. Little did we know that they were preparing us for the world we live in today, whether we are in Canada, Japan or Germany.
To help you respond to these times, Catherine Sensei is offering a contemplative session cultivating presence and supporting the global sangha with understanding structural inequality through a mindfulness-based and contemplative approach. To better be of service to more people, it also gives us an opportunity to study our implicit bias in a system that favours a certain group or groups over others.

Meet your Teacher

Catherine Pawasarat is a Dharma and meditation teacher who founded Clear Sky Meditation Centre, with her partner, Achariya Doug Duncan. Catherine Sensei has trained daily with Doug Sensei since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts.
Catherine Sensei met Dr. Angel Acosta last year at a conference called Timeless Wisdom, Timely Action. Dr. Acosta works to bridge the fields of leadership, social justice & mindfulness. Catherine really enjoyed the person he is and his work, and studied with him on how to use the 400 timeline of Inequality effectively. Catherine has lived and worked as a journalist internationally for over 25 years, which gives her a unique and global perspective on social justice.
Fees and Dana
This course is offered based on the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna.

Location: Online (Zoom)
Dates: Sunday, September 27, 2020
Time: 3-5:00pm MDT

Register Now

Crouching Ego, Hidden Buddhas (Online)
2020-10-03 09:30 - 2020-10-04 16:30 (America/Chicago) | BC
An Online Course
October 3-4, 2020
Classes at 9:00-10:30am and 3:00-4:30pm MDT on both days
Click here to see your timezone
You may have tried applying mindfulness and meditation techniques in the past, and find them helpful for ordinary problems, but not tough enough for the big problems, like climate change, inequality and all the change that comes with this global pandemic. Although humans are remarkably adaptable, this pandemic has brought greater isolation, deeper financial woes (for many), and a challenge to our core values.
At the same time, when our state is off, it’s no fun for anyone. The thing is, we don’t have to be part of an emotional plague, we can learn to cultivate wholesome emotional states that feel good. We can turn uncomfortable emotions around and tap into boundless love, compassion, joy and equanimity.

Register Now

What You’ll Learn
Through four live streamed talks and meditations, Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei will share four sustainable, positive states, and how to spend more time in them going forward. These four states are called the Brahma Viharas in Buddhism.
The Brahma Viharas are sometimes known in Buddhism as the four sublime abidings or the four immeasurables. We’ll learn how to: transform anger into loving kindness for self and other, – channel our energy to act and speak our truth for the benefit of self and others, – experience empathetic joy for others, – and be unmoved in the face of ongoing and sometimes extreme change. We can leverage these four tools in everyday life, ultimately training ourselves and others how to be in a state of grace 24/7.
Over this weekend we’ll learn more about these four sustainable, positive states, and how to spend more time in them going forward. We also expect to explore Mudita more deeply, (one of the lesser known Brahma Viharas) and how we can further develop this emotional state through our connections with community/ Sangha.

Meet the Teachers

Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Centre, BC, Canada. Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state. Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.
Course Details
Fees and Dana
This course is offered by the Teachers based on the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. If you would like to learn more about this profound ancient practice, click here.

Location: Online (Zoom)
Dates: Saturday October 3rd & Sunday October 4th 2020
Time: 9-10:30am and 3-4:30pm MDT both days

Note: Video recordings will be available to those who are unable to make the live teachings starting on Monday, October 5th in the morning. They will be accessible until end of the day Friday October 6th. You must register before the event in order to access these recordings.

Register Now

Eye of the Storm: Navigating the Modern World (Online)
2020-10-12 19:30 - 2020-11-02 21:00 (America/Chicago) | BC
Eye of the Storm: Online Course for Spiritual Growth & Awareness
An Online CourseOctober 12 – November 8, 2020Mondays: 7:30pm-9:00pm MDT *Click here to see your timezone Recordings available for those who cannot attend liveIncludes 3 Master Classes on Sundays and a Flash Retreat November 6-8
For all meditators and spiritual practitioners, this course explores how we can more fully support the mind of awakening to manifest in our lives – for our own benefit, and for positive transformation in the world. Learn how to create space and strength to navigate the storms of the modern world.

Register Now

Eye of the Storm
Do you struggle to keep momentum with your spiritual practice? It is easy to feel one’s energy get drained away and get lost in the struggles and distractions around us. More than ever we need a strong supportive environment to help us navigate the storms of the modern world, and to shine forth with clarity and compassionate minds to help the planet.
As human beings, our consciousness is built to awaken. Our awakening is supported by the universe – we just need to learn to recognize and tap into this deep support structure.
Based on 15 years of hosting deep retreat work, our home meditation center Clear Sky uses five tried and tested principles of creating a supportive container. These principles nurture and uncover this universal support for awakening. The same principles can be used throughout our lives – at home, at work, and on the road – to create space for our awakening to flourish.
For all meditators and spiritual practitioners, this course gives fundamental and creative ways to more fully support the mind of awakening to manifest in our lives – for our own benefit, and for positive transformation in the world.
Note: for past participants of Clear Sky’s Ignite Your Spiritual Life, this course will be a whole new approach to Clear Sky’s 5 principles, uncovering the depth philosophy and Dharma behind the principles.
Class 1 – Monday, October 12, 2020
In this class we introduce the idea of a “spiritual container” and how the universe supports the mind of awakening. Starting with the principle “honor your space” we explore the nature of space and spaciousness, and how this provides a ground for the awakened consciousness.

Class 2 – Monday, October 19, 2020
In this class we explore two principles: how consciously chosen structures and routines can support us, and the importance of communication. The universe is highly ordered – from atoms to chemistry to stars. Likewise our brains and our consciousness are highly ordered. There is a natural order to unfolding and awakening built into us. Similarly, everyone and everything in the universe is related and interpenetrating – in constant communication. If we can learn to be silent, to deeply listen, and to get out of the way, we can let this natural order carry us to “God”.

Class 3 – Monday, October 26, 2020
The fourth principle is that cleaning up and liberating big areas of our lives frees up energy. Energy is never lost and just changes form – but it can get stuck. Unconscious habits and shadow elements can weigh us down. Liberating these frees up enormous energy we can channel into our spiritual growth and compassionate service to the world. Learning to simplify and focus how we spend our precious energy keeps our minds spacious and not worn out from overload.
Class 4 – Monday, November 2, 2020
Class 4 explores the fifth principle “It’s easier with others”. Our culture often celebrates the great individual, but in reality almost everything is done in collaboration with others. Healthy and conscious community is becoming a lost art that we need to rediscover. Group guru – teams of awakened beings working together as a community to teach and train – will be the platform for future teachings of awakening.

Study and Meditation Electives
Master Classes – Three Sundays
There are weekly Master Classes (akin to online Q&A Office Hours) during this online course to support your deepening learning and practice, on the following dates at 3pm MST:

Sun. Oct 18
Sun. Oct 25
Sun. Nov 1

You can elect to attend all three or individual dates.
Registration & Dana links for Master Classes will be accessible to you when you register for the course.

Flash Retreat
November 6 – November 8, 2020
Elect to deepen your practice via a Flash Retreat during the last weekend of this course. The retreat provides practitioners a valuable opportunity to integrate and seal the learnings from the online course, in a format well suited for our contemporary lives.
The retreat will include instructions, online check ins, and a Master Class on Sunday, August 30.
We encourage you to attend this weekend retreat at Clear Sky Centre, or together with your local sangha, or if those not available to you, in your home.
Registration and Dana links for the Flash Retreat will be accessible to you when you register for the course.

Register Now

Sangha power – consider organizing or joining regional in-person or online sangha groups to support one another during the online courses and Flash Retreats.
Meet Your Teachers
Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Centre, BC, Canada.
Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state.
Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.

Catherine Pawasarat Sensei

Doug Duncan Sensei
Course Details
Time and Location
Each of the four weekly classes in this online course will be video streamed live at 7:30pm MST. The recording will be available for one week after each class.
Study and Meditation Opportunities in addition to the classes include Master Classes on three Sundays at 3pm MST, and a Flash Retreat on November 6-8, 2020.
What Does the Course Cost?
We offer this course on the basis of dāna, as well as an admin fee of $100 (USD). The admin is to cover the costs of running these online courses – for equipment and software to provide you the teachings online.
For our teachings itself – You may have come across this is the form of “pay from the heart”. Dāna is a Sanskrit term meaning “generosity”. With dāna, we give as a mutual exchange of generosity. It’s our joy to offer this course, and we trust you’ll match our time, energy, and passion by giving an amount of money that feels good and healthy to both you and us. We suggest a range between $120 and $500 for this four week course.

Rediscovering the Joys of Your Work (Online)
2020-10-27 19:00 - 2020-11-17 20:30 (America/Chicago) | BC
An Online Course with Maureen Smith & Dean Nicholson
October 27 – November 17, 2020
Tuesdays at 7:00-8:30pm MDT
Click here to see your timezone
More than ever, working in the healthcare field means heavy work loads, cumbersome bureaucratic systems, and increasingly complex clients. In order to meet these new challenges, you are looking for ways to feel grounded and nourished so that you connect to the passion you have for the work.

Register Now

This course gives you the opportunity to connect with others who understand the trauma and stress of the work you do. Grasp this opportunity to remember, rekindle and strengthen the fire you have for your work. Even when your work feels like you’re just putting out fires we will help you make lasting positive shifts. Working with people demands our best creativity and flexibility. We will help you be proactive rather than reactive by building on your natural capabilities and developing new areas for growth. We will demonstrate and practice how to realign with the why that brought you to the work you do. Discover how to ensure your work continues feeding you in healthy and positive ways.

Course Details
Who This Course is For:
Health care professionals who are feeling frustrated and challenged. They would like to connect with others in the field. They would like to learn skills to build on the passion and belief they have for your work.
What Can I Expect?

The support of like minded colleagues struggling with similar concerns who aren’t willing to give up on their dream of enjoying work.
To clearly acknowledge the suffering in ourselves and the world while not being subsumed by it.
To become more aware of our inner views and habits that we keep in place even as we say we want to change and grow.
To decrease our unconscious reactions which drive our thinking and behaviour.

Meet your Teachers

Maureen Smith
A Registered Clinical Social Worker, Maureen has been a Mental Health and Substance Use Counsellor for over 9 years and previously worked in Hospice and Palliative Care. She is a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) facilitator and meditation teacher.
Since 2005, Maureen has been a resident and co-manager of the Clear Sky Retreat Center. For over 20 years Maureen has been studying meditation and mindfulness with awakening masters Doug Duncan Sensei and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei. Maureen gets excited finding ways to blend her spiritual and professional work life in a delicately woven tapestry. Her life’s purpose is exploring consciousness and gaining wisdom into human nature in order to support people to grow into fully developed human beings.
During her time-out relaxation moments, Maureen enjoys gazing at the sky through leaves on tree branches, hiking, creating art and reading.
Dean Nicholson
Dean has a Masters in Counselling Psychology. He is the Executive Director of East Kootenay Addiction Services Society with over 30 years clinical counselling experience in health care. Dean has facilitated hundreds of therapy groups, is an educator and popular speaker. He has also conducted cutting edge research on substance use and trauma, and has presented at national and international conferences.
A meditation practitioner and resident at the Clear Sky Meditation Center, Dean is a student of Doug Duncan Sensei and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei. Dean actively lives the healing practices he teaches his clients.
For fun Dean enjoys music, film and literature, and exploring the natural history of the East Kootenay area.

Course Details

Location: Online (Zoom)
Dates: October 27 – November 17, 2020
Time: Tuesdays from 7-8:30pm MDT
Cost: $350 CAD

Register Now

Dean is a very skilled, knowledgeable and interactive presenter. He delivered a two day introductory Counselling Skills Training for the Akisqnuk First Nation Health and Administrative staff which was very well received and beneficial to all participants.
Gerard GregoireAkisqnuk First Nation Health
You are never quite sure how the unknown is going to be, but mindfulness will exceed your expectations and open your eyes to how beautiful the mind really is. Maureen’s warm personality and patience helped ease us into it, especially for those of us in unfamiliar waters. Her delivery, tone and pace were perfect for me to digest.
Gareth WebbCounsellor, Youth Substance Use
As I mentioned I have some experience (but don’t have a structured daily practice except in times of Crisis). The wording that Maureen used was very clear and could easily be understood and added to my knowledge. Also she made it very easy to incorporate into everyday life. The second best thing was the profound peace that I felt by the end of the second day. I left feeling absolutely lovely and this state lasted the rest of the weekend. Thank you.
Ann Morin MSW, Invermere BC
Dean is a professional with an amazing ability to understand what I couldn’t. Dean never did the work for me and he always seems to know what to say to help guide me towards making up my own mind and figuring out my issues. Having Dean as a counsellor is like having a caring knowledgeable friend help you through hard times.
PK

Winter Meditation Retreat: The Kasinas
2020-12-04 16:00 - 2020-12-19 14:00 (America/Chicago) | BC
In-Person and Online Meditation Retreat
Kasina meditation is a concentration meditation (samatha, jhana) intended to settle the mind and create a foundation for liberation.
Take advantage of Acariya Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei’s mastery and wisdom in this powerful and rare two-week meditation retreat. Held online and at Clear Sky, in the Rocky Mountains of BC.
*IMPORTANT* We welcome you to spend additional nights at Clear Sky. When booking additional nights and flights, note that flights booked December 21-23 require personal transportation to the airport.
Registration ends November 20, 2020
This is a two week retreat and the Teachers have added a one week option. The Teachers recognize that circumstances may make it difficult for some people to attend both weeks. Attending the full two weeks is ideal.
If you choose to take the one week option it is the first week, December 4 – 12, 2020.
The teachers will be offering a Chenrezi Wongkur at the beginning of the first week. This empowerment will be streamed live, enabling both online and onsite participation. (Exact time and date to be announced.)

Retreat at Clear Sky (1 Week)

Retreat at Clear Sky (2 Weeks)

Retreat at Home – 1 Week (Online)

Retreat at Home – 2 Weeks (Online)

COVID-19 RESPONSE
Our main priority is to offer a retreat that is accessible and supports your health and safety. In response to COVID-19, we are offering two options for attending this retreat: In person at Clear Sky or (for those unable to travel), online from home.
See our FAQ section below for more details about our covid policy and requirements for attending online and in person.

Settling the Mind, Cultivating Concentration
The ten kasina are part of the forty kammatthana: objects of meditation. They are described in detail by Buddhaghosa in the meditation section of the Visuddhimagga.
Kasina meditation is a concentration meditation (variously known in different traditions as samatha, dhyana, or jhana meditations), intended to settle the mind of the practitioner and create a foundation for further practices of meditation. In the early stages of kasina meditation, a physical object is used as the object of meditation, being focused upon by the practitioner until an eidetic (after-image) image of the object forms in the practitioners mind. In more advanced levels of kasina meditation, only a mental image of the kasina is used as an object of meditation.
Experience Acariya Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei’s meditation experience in this strengthening, mind settling and concentration building retreat.
Held online, and at our home retreat centre, Clear Sky, a 21st-century model for innovative awakening, situated in the beautiful B.C. Rocky Mountains.

Why Meditate on the Kasinas?
This winter meditation retreat focuses on the kasinas, part of the 40 classical Buddhist meditations.
By focusing on ten kasinas as mind objects we developing concentration, calm and bliss. As we deepen our focus, we develop and strengthen our absorption, the jhanas. This provides a platform for awakening.
There are ten kasiṇa described in the Visuddhimagga, which are also mentioned in the Pali Tipitaka:[1]

earth पठवी कसिण (Pali: paṭhavī kasiṇa, Sanskrit: pṛthivī kṛtsna)
water आपो कसिण (āpo kasiṇa, ap kṛtsna)
fire तेजो कसिण (tejo kasiṇa, tejas kṛtsna)
air, wind वायो कसिण (vāyo kasiṇa, vāyu kṛtsna)
air, wind वायो कसिण (vāyo kasiṇa, vāyu kṛtsna)
blue, green नील कसिण (nīla kasiṇa, nīla kṛtsna)
yellow पीत कसिण (pīta kasiṇa, pīta kṛtsna)
red लोहित कसिण (lohita kasiṇa, lohita kṛtsna)
white ओदात कसिण (odāta kasiṇa, avadāta kṛtsna)
enclosed space, hole, aperture आकास कसिण (ākāsa kasiṇa, ākāśa kṛtsna)
consciousness विञ्ञाण कसिण (viññāṇa kasiṇa, vijñāna kṛtsna); in the Pali suttas and some other texts; bright light आलोक कसिण āloka kasiṇa according to later sources, such as Buddhaghosa‘s Visuddhimagga.

The framework we’ll use is the classical teachings on the Kasinas from Buddhaghosa’s 5th-century text Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification).

Meet the Teachers

Doug Duncan & Catherine Pawasarat Sensei
Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Centre, BC, Canada. Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state. Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.

Retreat at Clear Sky (1 Week)

Retreat at Clear Sky (2 Weeks)

Retreat at Home – 1 Week (Online)

Retreat at Home – 2 Weeks (Online)

What can I expect?
Our teachings and Clear Sky operate based on the ancient tradition of Dāna or generosity. As generosity is the basis upon which all spiritual practice flourishes, we recommend that you learn more about this profound practice before you register.
Daily Schedule: Here is a sample schedule of what you can expect at this retreat.
Food: Our food is sourced as organically and locally as possible. Expect to be nourished with three wholesome meals a day.
Accommodation: Shared and private accommodation options are available.
What’s Expected of Me?

This meditation retreat consists of many hours of consecutive practice each day. Therefore some experience, especially with insight meditation, is highly recommended.
NOTE: If this is your first two-week retreat, advance permission from the teachers is required.
An open mind and heart, and a spirit of adventure are excellent things to bring!
It’s human to have some apprehensions about doing something new, meeting new people, or going to a new place. Particularly when all three happen together. We try to make this as supportive as possible.
This is a silent retreat. To deepen your meditation, we ask that participants refrain from reading, using the internet, phone or listening to music during the course.

About Clear Sky
Located in the BC rocky mountains, we offer over 300-acres to deepen your practice and reconnect with nature. Founded by Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat, we are home to students from around the globe who are dedicated to co-creating a supportive and innovative space for awakening in our modern world.
Here are some FAQs on how to get here, what to bring and what to expect.
To help you get acquainted with us, some community members made this short video during our 2019 Buddhas in Action retreat. To learn more about us and our incredible community, click here!

FAQs
Dana and In-Person Retreat Pricing
Dana: This course is offered by Doug and Catherine Sensei through the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. The retreat fee covers the cost of food and accommodation, whereas the Teachings are offered by generosity. Learn more about Dāna here.
Pricing: As a charitable organization, we strive to provide locally sourced organic meals and comfortable accommodations at an affordable price. Fees vary depending on your accommodation choice and early bird pricing.
Dana and Online Retreat Pricing
Dana: This course is offered by Doug and Catherine Sensei through the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. Learn more about Dāna here.
Pricing: In order to bring you this retreat at home, there is an additional pay by the heart, sliding scale admin fee* of $200-$700. The admin fee is to cover the costs of running these online courses – for equipment and software to provide you the teachings online.
How Much to Give? A short exercise:

Take a few quiet breaths and center yourself.
Spend another few moments contacting as best you can a sense of health, strength and abundance (noticing without judgement if this is hard to contact)
Offer an aspiration (using the below, or your own words).
May this practice of dāna open up a space inside me to learn and receive.May this gift support the teachers and teachings for the benefit of many other people.May this gift directly support my own awakening through a strong dāna practice.This gift, myself the giver, and the teachers are all impermanent – with this in mind I give lightly and generously, for the benefit of all beings!

Now check with your heart and mind what amount feels both consistent with your situation, and expressive of your aspiration. Remember, you are free to offer whatever amount of dāna feels good for you right now.
Now simply, with a joyful abundant heart aspiring for awakening, and awareness of the preciousness and impermanence of life, enter the amount you choose to offer.

About the administrative fee
In a traditional model of in-person teachings, a retreat center or urban meditation center invites teachers to visit. In these cases the centers have infrastructure and organization costs to cover, which might be covered by an admin fee. For the teaching itself, dāna to the teachers is offered in a bowl. This honors both the sustainability of the teachers, and of the supporting center.
We’ve tried to recreate this approach online.The teachers’ time and the teaching themselves are offered on the basis of dāna, separate to the admin fee. With our dāna offering we are making a direct gift of generosity to the teachers to support their teachings and livelihood. Learn more about the practice of dāna here.
The admin fee goes to support the infrastructure and organization necessary to support them to teach. As anyone with an online business will know, it can be surprising the costs of setting up a good infrastructure to support effective teaching and connection online.
Below are a few of the work and benefits that your admin fee payment is supporting:

high speed internet (to allow interviews and classes on-line)
online class systems (Zoom)
registration / admin systems (Eventbrite, Basecamp)
communication systems to keep everyone informed, share connection details, teachings and other resources (Mailchimp)
online storage (for example, Dropbox, to allow us to let students watch recordings, and to store and share selected teachings in other forms such as podcasts and video later, and Amazon cloud)
quality sound, video and editing equipment (both for live teachings and to provide good enough quality for later sharing as podcasts and video). We are regularly updating our equipment to improve your user experience.
online calendar booking system to allow students to book interviews
website hosting and maintenance for sharing upcoming courses, teachings, blogs and other resources.

May all our efforts be sustainable, abundant and for the benefit of all beings!
We welcome any questions. Please feel free to contact michelle@clearskycenter.org
Online Retreat Requirements
If you are taking this retreat online, we require that you devote your full attention to the retreat for the entire two weeks.
Online Retreat Requirements:

Block out the two weeks and be focused on the retreat for this entire period, using this time and participating in the retreat as if you were at Clear Sky in person. This includes a rigorous, full, daily meditation schedule.
Participate in all of the daily classes and group practices via online streaming.
Set up a quiet space or location where you can focus on the Meditation Retreat, and not need to engage in conversation or work with others.
Put away your phone, digital devices and other distractions.
If there are enough people in the same time zone as you, you could also make a cohort to meet to do a group practice throughout the retreat.
Classes and group sits will be recorded. Attendees from previous online retreats found it optimal to attend live where time zones support this.

COVID-19 Policy
Please note, we are taking measures to keep us all healthy during this retreat, including:

You must have experienced no symptoms associated with COVID-19 in the past 14 days and will be required to take an online assessment prior to your stay.
You have not travelled outside of Canada in the past 14 days.
Physical distancing (2m) amongst all visiting retreatants will be observed during this retreat.
Please bring your own face mask(s) that you will feel comfortable wearing. When physical distancing is not possible during this retreat, you will be asked to wear a mask.
Sanitation and hand washing procedures will be explained when you come and must be followed.

Learn more about our COVID-19 Policy here.
Arrival & Departure
Arrival is Friday, December 4 at 4pm.
Departure is Saturday, December 19th at 12:00pm.
Booking a Flight?
Airport pickups can be booked when you register for the retreat. On the rare chance that this retreat is cancelled, we highly recommend purchasing travel insurance.
In order to give enough time to rest from travel before the retreat starts, we recommend that domestic travellers arrive one day early, and long distance international travellers arrive two days early.
After the retreat we also suggest staying for at least another day for integration.
Travel Restrictions, COVID-19 Policy: Please contact us – Email michelle@clearskycenter.org or (250) 429-3929 for details/options for local participation.

Retreat at Clear Sky (1 Week)

Retreat at Clear Sky (2 Weeks)

Retreat at Home – 1 Week (Online)

Retreat at Home – 2 Weeks (Online)

Sangha Christmas Package 2020
2020-12-20 16:00 - 2020-12-24 14:00 (America/Chicago) | BC
Sangha Christmas Package 2020
Looking to make the holidays a little more clear and bright? You’re invited to celebrate this Christmas in awakening community!

Join the teachers, your sangha, Sonora, Duke and other furry friends for celebration, group meditation, and an abundant turkey dinner.
*IMPORTANT* Airport pickup and drop-offs are only available on the first and last day of this retreat. Flights booked December 21-23 require personal transportation to the airport.

Wrap Up Your Registration

COVID-19 RESPONSE
This offering is available to people who have not experienced symptoms associated with COVID-19 for the two weeks prior to December 19, 2020. You will be asked to take an online assessment prior to your stay, to bring your own mask and to follow our physical distancing requirements while on site.
Learn more about our COVID policy here.
Spend quality time with the teachers and community and enter 2021 feeling supported, grounded, rejuvenated.
This package is a fantastic reintegration for Winter Retreat participants, as well as a recalibration for local sangha looking to spend the holidays with Clear Sky family.
As the family that we get to choose, we’d love celebrating Christmas with you too.
Looking to spend even more time at Clear Sky? Special options are available for additional stay (including working and studying remotely from Clear Sky). Contact Dean@ClearSkyCenter.org for details.

What can I Expect?
1. Group Meditation

Embrace the Triple Gem! Group meditations with our incredible Teachers and Sangha

2. Karma Yoga

Dishes and cooking
1.5 hours per day of group Karma Yoga

3. Festivities

Time to connect with the Teachers and community
A Christmas Feast
Singing, dancing and an intergalactic murder mystery

Register Now

Dāna, Fees and Travel
Dana and In-Person Retreat Pricing
Dana: This course is offered by Doug and Catherine Sensei through the ancient principle of generosity, or Dāna. The retreat fee covers the cost of food and accommodation, whereas the Teachings are offered by generosity. Learn more about Dāna here.
Pricing: As a charitable organization, we strive to provide locally sourced organic meals and comfortable accommodations at an affordable price. Fees vary depending on your accommodation choice and early bird pricing.
COVID-19 Policy
Please note, we are taking measures to keep us all healthy during this retreat, including:

You must have experienced no symptoms associated with COVID-19 in the past 14 days and will be required to take an online assessment prior to your stay.
You have not travelled outside of Canada in the past 14 days.
Physical distancing (2m) amongst all visiting retreatants will be observed during this retreat.
Please bring your own face mask(s) that you will feel comfortable wearing. When physical distancing is not possible during this retreat, you will be asked to wear a mask.
Sanitation and hand washing procedures will be explained when you come and must be followed.

Learn more about our COVID-19 Policy here.
Arrival & Departure
Arrival is Sunday, December 20th at 4pm.
Departure is Thursday, December 24th at 1:30pm.
*IMPORTANT* Airport pickup and drop-offs are only available on the first and last day of this retreat. Flights booked December 21-23 require personal transportation to the airport.
Booking a Flight?
Airport pickups can be booked when you register for the retreat. On the rare chance that this retreat is cancelled, we highly recommend purchasing travel insurance.
Travel Restrictions, COVID-19 Policy: Please contact us – Email michelle@clearskycenter.org or (250) 429-3929 for details/options for local participation.
*IMPORTANT* Airport pickup and drop-offs are only available on the first and last day of this retreat. Flights booked December 21-23 require personal transportation to the airport.

Retreat at Clear Sky

Personal Coaching (Online)
2021-01-01 08:00 - 2021-12-31 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Online
Personal Spiritual Coaching with Karen McAllister & Duncan Cryle
Are you ready to unfold?

Given Covid-19 and the big life-changes many of us are experiencing, this is a perfect time to receive support in areas that may need deep care, or are holding us back. We can use this unique time to nurture what is seeking our attention or we might not have prioritized before.
Karen McAllister and Duncan Cryle are offering live group coaching to a smaller group, exclusively to graduates of the Ignite Your Spiritual Life course.

REGISTER HERE

For those looking to go deeper

Our personal coaching program is for you if after completing our 6 week Ignite Your Spiritual Life Online Course, you want to go deeper. As we only had a little time on each principle during the course, 1:1 coaching supports you to take a deep dive into one or two areas in your life that are calling for your attention. Many people join our group coaching sessions after Ignite Your Spiritual Life, but you might find group-work triggers more protectiveness in you than it does vulnerability, being real and exploring what you really need right now.
Maybe life is calling you to change. What used to work, no longer does. You’re ready to answer the call to change. You want to wake up more deeply and step more fully into your power. You now have clarity and strength to be with and explore past hurts, patterns, relationships and or beliefs that are holding you back. You may have tried new routines with meditation and yoga, new diets and even explored how to improve your relationships with yourself, others, money and time. The thing is, often we can’t shift habitual patterns without understanding what’s holding them in place and why. The reason these may not have worked is that you may have lacked support from someone with experience to see behind the appearance to what is driving the behaviour you want to shift.
About the Program
We have seen that personal coaching with Karen and Duncan frees up energy and has led to the following:

deeper involvement in spiritual teachings, relationships and service with community
more emotional honesty
more relaxation and joy
a career path plan that is in alignment with your vision and values
improved relationships
a new business
improved finances
better time management

Here is what we can offer you:

15 mins free consultation (to connect and see if a coaching program could support you)
Four 1:1 personal coaching sessions for anyone who has attended Ignite Your Spiritual Life.
Pay from the heart min $75 max $250/hr

Logistics:

Register and commit to a series or one session
Book your first call on the calendar link provided in the registration confirmation email
Set time aside prior to your first call to get clear on what it is that you want to work on.
Calls will be over zoom and we recommend that you set aside 15-60 minutes before and after for prep and integration.
Set aside a minimum of 2 hours per week to work on this.

Meet Your Coaches
Karen and Duncan have both been on their spiritual path for over 20 years working closely with highly accomplished teachers, Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei, while also living in and supporting conscious community the entire time. They have been through many personal transformations themselves and led many others along the way. They are gifted at holding a beautiful and safe space for you as you peel back the layers.
Experienced and professionals in their careers, Karen is a certified coach and Duncan a former IBM executive, they can provide guidance, mentorship and structures for you to dig more deeply and be accountable to yourself without being fooled by your own stories. If you are willing to share what’s really going on by being emotionally honest, listening, receiving and following through on feedback, you can benefit from working with a coach that is walking their talk. A coach that has addressed their own challenges and deeper issues around aspects of the spiritual container in their lives. For this reason, they can give real live, experiential guidance and mentorship in these areas.

Karen McAllister
After meeting our founding teachers in Japan, I managed the meditation centre there for many years while serving simultaneously as part of the Clear Sky Board. In 2003, I helped search for a site for Clear Sky, looking at around 30 properties until we found our current location in the magical Kootenays.
I’m now Chair of the Board and Director of Business Development. I’m passionate to be teaching the much-ignored principles of nurturing the factors – like honor your space, structure, and communication – that create the conditions we need to wake up more in daily life. I see how I learned and embodied these principles in my different roles at Clear Sky, as the centre went from self-starter to second-stage growth. This is what I call “the hands-on way of doing an MBA with a spiritual bottom line!”
In my free time, I love travelling, speaking Portuguese and reading history, architecture, and art books.

Talk with Karen

Duncan Cryle
I’m the former Clear Sky Chair, a certified Mindfulness teacher, Dharma teacher, and a member of senior management at a dynamic award winning international software firm.
Through 15 years of teaching meditation and mindfulness, alongside an active career working all over the world, I’ve learnt a lot about an integrated spiritual path. With a Ph.D. in philosophy in my pocket, I was gung ho to join a monastery until I met my root teachers Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat in Japan in 2001, who turned my views upside down and encouraged me to grow and contribute at the busy end of life!
A founding member of Clear Sky in 2004, I’m amazed at the power that working together in compassionate service has for enriching and widening spiritual growth. Combined with a dynamic relationship and a challenging career, I have fun with a wide-ranging and holistic approach to spiritual growth.

Talk with Duncan

“I am at the point now where I feel ready to apply for school, to change direction in my career, and better understand how my relationship with my father has created this. I have stopped hanging on to some of the past to protect the hurt, which has made me feel more ready to move on.”
Kyle
“Karen is both knowledgeable and kind. Not only is she wise and helpful with Buddhist teachings, but when she shares it is from the heart with incredible tenderness.”
Kakoom

REGISTER NOW

Latest News

The Abhidhamma: A Study of Consciousness (Online)
2021-01-11 19:30 - 2021-02-03 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Clear Sky Meditation Center, 3567 Cockell Road, PO BOX 19, Fort Steele, British Columbia, V0B 1NO, Canada
An Online Course
January 11-February 7, 2021
Mondays: 7:30pm-9:00pm MDT *Click here to see your timezone
Recordings available for those who cannot attend live
Includes 3 Master Classes on Sundays and a Flash Retreat February 5-7
Study one of the most profound ancient ‘sciences’ of consciousness – the Abhidhamma Pitaka. This ‘basket’ of teachings brings detailed analysis to mental and physical phenomena.

Register for Online Course

Register for Study Group

Credit: Burmese-Pali Manuscript. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
The Studying the Abhidhamma
The Abhidhamma Pitaka is the third division of the Buddhist Tripitaka, the Three Baskets. The seven books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka give an extraordinarily detailed analysis of the basic natural principles that govern mental and physical processes.
As human beings, our consciousness is built to awaken. Our awakening is supported by the universe – the Abhidhamma Pitaka gives us an understanding of the mind and body in a profoundly detailed manner.
Class 1 – Monday, January 11, 2021
In this first class, we will introduce the Abhidhamma – what is it and what can we learn from it?
Then we will begin to investigate the four different types of consciousness: Sensing, form blisses, formlesses blisses, and transcendent. We will cover a definition of abhidhamma terms and discuss the roots of different types of consciousness. What happens in a thought process? How would we ascertain if they are ethical, neutral or unethical?
Finally, what factors are present in the blisses? Is there only one type of transcendent consciousness, or is there many?
Class 2 – Monday, January 18, 2021
In class two, we will observe how in each of the consciousnesses, there are different factors. What are they? What factors are present in what consciousness?
How does feeling relate to consciousness? Do different consciousnesses have different feelings? What are feelings? What are the functions of mind? How do they work? How do the senses connect to consciousness?
Class 3 – Monday, January 25, 2020
Class three covers Karma. We will explore how many kinds of karma exist and where do they operate? How does karma affect rebirth consciousness? What is death?
Class 4 – Monday, February 1, 2020
In the final class of the series we will look at the nature of form and transcendence. Using the laws of dependent origination we can study dependent arising, causal relations and attainments – what are these?
What is Mental Culture – how do you cultivate your mind?

Study and Meditation Electives
Master Classes – Three Sundays
There are weekly Master Classes (akin to online Q&A Office Hours) during this online course to support your deepening learning and practice, on the following dates at 3pm MST:

Sun. Jan 17
Sun. Jan 24
Sun. Jan 31

You can elect to attend all three or individual dates.
Registration & Dana links for Master Classes will be accessible to you when you register for the course.

Flash Retreat
February 5-7, 2021
Elect to deepen your practice via a Flash Retreat during the last weekend of this course. The retreat provides practitioners a valuable opportunity to integrate and seal the learnings from the online course, in a format well suited for our contemporary lives.
The retreat will include instructions, online check ins, and a Master Class on Sunday, February 7th.
We encourage you to attend this weekend retreat at Clear Sky Centre, or together with your local sangha, or if those not available to you, in your home.
Registration and Dana links for the Flash Retreat will be accessible to you when you register for the course.

Register for Online Course

Register for Study Group

Sangha power – consider organizing or joining regional in-person or online sangha groups to support one another during the online courses and Flash Retreats.
Meet Your Teachers
Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat are Dharma and meditation teachers who founded Clear Sky Meditation Centre, BC, Canada.
Achariya Doug Duncan received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 1978, and is a lineage holder in that teaching. Known for his direct, humourous and compassionate engagement with students, Doug embraces various traditions, contemporary psychology, and science, to mentor all beings to a more awakened state.
Catherine Pawasarat has trained daily with Acariya Doug Duncan since 1998 in an intensive spiritual apprenticeship that is rare in the modern West. She received lay ordination from Namgyal Rinpoche in 2003. In addition to Buddhist philosophy and its applications to daily life, Catherine also draws on generative living and the arts. With Doug she is co-founder of Clear Sky Retreat Center in the BC Rockies.

Catherine Pawasarat Sensei

Doug Duncan Sensei
Course Details
Time and Location
Each of the four weekly classes in this online course will be video streamed live at 7:30pm MST. The recording will be available for one week after each class.
Study and Meditation Opportunities in addition to the classes include Master Classes on three Sundays at 3pm MST, and a Flash Retreat on February 5-7, 2020.
What Does the Course Cost?
We offer this course on the basis of dāna, as well as an admin fee of $100 (USD). The admin is to cover the costs of running these online courses – for equipment and software to provide you the teachings online.
For our teachings itself – You may have come across this is the form of “pay from the heart”. Dāna is a Sanskrit term meaning “generosity”. With dāna, we give as a mutual exchange of generosity. It’s our joy to offer this course, and we trust you’ll match our time, energy, and passion by giving an amount of money that feels good and healthy to both you and us. We suggest a range between $120 and $500 for this four week course.

Bonus Course: Abhidhamma Study Group
Tuesdays at 3pm MST, February 16- April 6th
Following this four-week series, Doug Sensei is offering an eight-week study group for those who would like to go deeper with the Abhidhamma study.
Prerequisite: To attend the Study Group, you must complete the four-week Abhidhamma online series.

Register for Online Course

Register for Study Group
