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Spiritual Exercises Retreat: Govardhana Dandavat-Parikrama
Spiritual exercises was the phrase given by Saint Ignatius — one of the founders of the Jesuit order of Christianity — to describe his own process and imperative for recruits that involved a retreat into nature’s solitude for four-weeks of demanding contemplative and prayer practices intended to commune with more deeply and discern the will of God and thus transform the individual by means of internal fitness.

Govardhana dandavat-parikrama, the practice of circumambulating the 14 mile in circumference -mount Govardhana- through prostrations, is a centuries old practice; an odyssey of self-discovery filled with psycho-physical heights and depths guaranteed to expose us to our selves and thus activate the rejuvenating experience of the “true voyage of discovery” which is not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

What will we do?

Synthesizing these two ancient practices, this retreat is intended as a call to friends by friends to join hands and intentionally enter a rewarding, albeit demanding, crucible for potentiating a more expansive perception and deeper sensitivity and responsiveness to Grace and God.

Who is it for?

I guess it should be said that this retreat is not for everyone; there won’t be site seeing (except for within) or exotic restaurants. But it is for anyone who has come to appreciate that the fullness of divine life is a matter of complete perception, which this journey is sure to make its indelible mark and goad us forward.

Structure of The Spiritual Exercises

Each day of the retreat will consist of three crucibles—the physical, the mental, and the vocal.

The Physical crucible (Morning): consists of the exercise of the physical body (and will) through performance of the prostrative prayer for an average of two hours. Beginning at the foot of Mount Govardhana at approximately 6am in the morning with group recitation of prayer invoking grace (mangalācarana), we, as the needle holding the thread of our individual intention, shall weave, with our body, a sacred wish-circle around wish-fulfilling Mount Govardhana for at least two hours a day.

This will be followed by breakfast.

The Mental Crucible (late Morning and early afternoon): consist of the exercise of heightened attentiveness to God and Grace through personalize contemplative prayer, meditation, responsive-journaling, vocal prayer, divine reading, etc.

This crucible is concerned with the integration of the peaks and troughs of the morning sessions and journey in general. Its focus is to learn how to sit “alone with the Alone,” and hear with inner ears, what grace and God has to reveal to us—both wondrous and disconcerting—and to respond in real time with humble receptiveness.

This may be the hardest part of the day, the one that challenges us most, due to being unaccustomed with such heightened attentiveness for so many hours at a stretch. In some ways, this is the heart of the spiritual exercises meant to fill with generative waters the last crucible.

This will be followed by lunch.

The Vocal Crucible (late afternoon/early evening): consists of the exercise of voicing in communal space the head (deliberations) and heart (feelings) of the revelations received during the first two crucibles.

This “divulging and inquiring of secret things” is the heart of loving exchange amongst the pilgrims of divine love. This crucible is not about didactic vertical (from high to low) philosophical/conceptual dissemination. The emphasis here is dialectical horizontal (shoulder to shoulder in friendship) vulnerable sharing of the ecstasies and challenges of sloughing off the stunted self and stepping into an expanded awareness.

There will certainly be katha by guest mystagogues and retreat facilitators, and hours of kirtan to Gaura and Krishna. But the emphasis is intentional loving exchanges amongst friends.

The daily three crucibles are framed by an intention-setting ceremony before the beginning of the rite and a circle-closing ceremony at the end of the rite.

Location: Govardhana Retreat Center

The newly constructed Govardhana Retreat Center is the hostel space we'll be hosting all participating pilgrims and in which we'll hold the communal work as well as serve prasada.

A key feature of the GRC campus, and a huge part of its appeal for this deep work, is its six "gosvami kutirs" crafted precisely for the type of work intended in the mental crucible. To receive a key to one of the spaces, one must check in their technology at the reception. The bathroom is kept outside the kutirs; and within them there's an upstairs as well as a cave-like dwelling below for deep prayer work.    

Prasad Seva

There will be two major meals and a lite dinner severed everyday on GRC campus.

For maintaining coherence of purpose for the spiritual exercises and insuring nutritional health for participants during the full course of the the spiritual exercises, daily prasadam for the two weeks is intentionally kept simple, but nutritious to insure the somatic health of all participating pilgrims throughout the odyssey. On the last day, after serving prasada to local pilgrims and sadhus as a closing ceremony of the rite, there will be a celebratory feast!

Each day in the morning prasadam will be… (communicated closer to the date)
Each day in the lunch prasadam will be…  (communicated closer to the date)
Each day dinner prasadam will be…(communicated closer to the date)

During the first crucible, a cart carrying electrolyte infused water and regular water along with homemade protein bars, granola, and assorted fruits, will also be provided.

Training

After signing up, there will be online group sangas to prepare us physically, interiorally, and relationally for the odyssey we'll be going on together. Some sangas will focus on prostrative prayer practice; some on sharing variegated creative ideas for private prayer practices. Training will also include several special guest with decades of prayer work under their belt, to give guidance on building a progressive prayer practice and how tips on how to encounter the heights and depths of such rigorous work.

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