Has Anyone Attended Any Of Peter Ralston Retreats?

[Elahe]

I have been meditating and doing self improvement works for almost two years. My perspective towards life has been changed a lot. I am planning to register for the third week of Cheng Hsin Spring Retreat called “Transforming Your Experience of Life”. I have watched Peter Ralston videos and liked them a lot. Leo also named him as a modern SAGE in his videos. I think it would be a great opportunity to meet him and learn from him. Since it would be the first time I am attending any retreat, I have not many information about it other than what was written on his website. I have no idea how difficult it would be. How the section of  ” contemplation and communication with a partner” is gonna be look like? English is my second language, I am not sure if it would be a good fit for me. I would appreciate if you could share your experience with me.

Thank you

 

Here is the link of his website:http://chenghsin.com/workshop-transforming-experience-of-life.html

 

Edited January 8, 2017 by Elahe

[Space]

I'm really interested in going to one of his workshops as well. I live in the UK though, so it's going to be quite difficult for me - and expensive! I asked Leo about this a while back and his response was: 

" You don't need any prep to do a retreat. Just go with an open mind. I've found that $2000 for a retreat -- any quality retreat -- is worth it. But that's me. I probably have more money to spend than you."

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the 'contemplation and communication with a partner' is something similar to the techniques used in most enlightenment intensives. Here's some info on that: http://www.enlightenment-intensives.org.uk/technique.html . The process/technique might be slightly different if you were doing the 'Transforming Your Experience of Life Workshop' however. 

I haven't been to any of his workshops so not 100% sure if what i'm saying is correct. Anyway, hope this helped!

 

[Elahe]

@Reality Thank you. It was very helpful.

 

[Oneness]

On 7/1/2017 at 11:37 PM, Elahe said:

I have no idea how difficult it would be. How the section of  ” contemplation and communication with a partner” is gonna be look like? English is my second language, I am not sure if it would be a good fit for me. I would appreciate if you could share your experience with me.

Thank you

 

Here is the link of his website:http://chenghsin.com/workshop-transforming-experience-of-life.html

 

I did the full fall retreat of 2016 and I am attending the Cheng Hsin Apprentice Program 2017 too. The  ” contemplation and communication with a partner” is basically you are given a subject of contemplation and you contenplate, what ever comes up for you as a result of the contemplation you communicate to your partner who sits across from you. It feels kinda wierd at first but you actually get used to it very quickly. 

 

Regarding the language part.. English isn't my first language either and there were other foregin students there last time whose first language wasn't english either. Wasn't much of an issue.

 

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Edited January 28, 2017 by Oneness

[WaveInTheOcean]

5 hours ago, Oneness said:

I did the full fall retreat of 2016 and I am attending the Cheng Hsin Apprentice Program 2017 too. The  ” contemplation and communication with a partner” is basically you are given a subject of contemplation and you contenplate, what ever comes up for you as a result of the contemplation you communicate to your partner who sits across from you. It feels kinda wierd at first but you actually get used to it very quickly. 

 

Regarding the language part.. English isn't my first language either and there were other foregin students there last time whose first language wasn't english either. Wasn't much of an issue.

 

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Did you enjoy the retreat? That is to say, was it worth the money, did you get anything out of it?

[Space]

On 28/01/2017 at 1:08 PM, Oneness said:

I did the full fall retreat of 2016 and I am attending the Cheng Hsin Apprentice Program 2017 too. The  ” contemplation and communication with a partner” is basically you are given a subject of contemplation and you contenplate, what ever comes up for you as a result of the contemplation you communicate to your partner who sits across from you. It feels kinda wierd at first but you actually get used to it very quickly. 

 

Regarding the language part.. English isn't my first language either and there were other foregin students there last time whose first language wasn't english either. Wasn't much of an issue.

 

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

Oh man i'm so jealous! I'd love to be able to do the Apprentice program. If you get a chance, you should definitely write a couple of blog posts on this forum whilst you're there, talking about your progress etc. I'd love to hear about it.

I have a question about the contemplation and communication. How does it differ, if at all, from any other Enlightenment Intensive program? Just wondering because there are a few enlightenment intensives here in the uk, but i'd consider travelling to America if Ralston's were much better.

[Oneness]

9 hours ago, Reality said:

Oh man i'm so jealous! I'd love to be able to do the Apprentice program. If you get a chance, you should definitely write a couple of blog posts on this forum whilst you're there, talking about your progress etc. I'd love to hear about it.

I have a question about the contemplation and communication. How does it differ, if at all, from any other Enlightenment Intensive program? Just wondering because there are a few enlightenment intensives here in the uk, but i'd consider travelling to America if Ralston's were much better.

hehe perhaps I will

Regardarding how it differs from others. Depends on which of Peter's workshops you are attending. In some workshops there are more talks and dialogs given by Peter. In these workshops there are more different exercises and they are usually a bit broader about life.´

 

Other workshops have more time devoted to pure contemplation, primarily in the form of Contemplation and Communication Exrercises. These workshops are more like other normal "Enligthenment Intensive", where its pretty much only about having an enlightenment. The second consiousness week of this spring is more along those lines I believe. 

I have only done Peter's intensives, I don't really know how they are in the UK, so it's hard for me to compare. I've heard there are some minor differences in the format of the contemplation exrercise. In Peters instensive you also learn about how to actually contemplate, common traps, and if you are stuck in your contemplation you can go talk with him. I don't know if they do this too in UK intensives.

[Oneness]

On 28/1/2017 at 6:37 PM, WaveInTheOcean said:

Did you enjoy the retreat? That is to say, was it worth the money, did you get anything out of it?

Yeah I definetely enjoyed it. I learned alot about the contemplative endavour and alot about how my mind works, I also became conscious of some stuff about myself I wasn't conscious of before. Really liked the contemplation intensive, eventough I didn't get a breaktrough during the intensive I still cleared aloooot of crap out of my contemplation.

[eskwire]

I've been thinking about Peter Ralston's eyes all morning. After seeing him in a video last night, I can't shake them. Retreats weren't a big part of my to-do list in the next few years, but now there is a pull to go *be around* people like this and experience them. Assuming they're there. 

[Elahe]

@Oneness Thank you very much. I will be there too but only for one week, mid-April. look forward seeing you there.

[Elahe]

@Oneness After I registered for the spring retreat I received a "CHENG HSIN SPRING RETREAT
INFORMATION LETTER" which had the following "Special note" in it. To be honest, It made me a bit worried. Have you seen anything while you were there? or would you like to share things you have experienced and you think a woman would like to know?

Many thanks

 

Special Note:
Waiver: You should know that you will be asked to sign a waiver of your right to sue for any injury
or distress you might experience during this retreat. There will be strenuous physical activity, as well
as strenuous mental and emotional engagement. The ranch also holds various dangers, such as
barbed wire, wildlife, rugged terrain, etc. You must take full responsibility for any injury or mishap
that may occur for you during your stay here, regardless of the source. Of course, we will endeavor to
make your stay as safe and comfortable as possible, but given the location and nature of this retreat,
accidents, injury, and distress are possible. If you are unwilling to be responsible for your own wellbeing,
do not come to this retreat. Otherwise, you are most welcome.

[Oneness]

On 17/2/2017 at 1:46 AM, Elahe said:

Special Note:
Waiver: You should know that you will be asked to sign a waiver of your right to sue for any injury
or distress you might experience during this retreat. There will be strenuous physical activity, as well
as strenuous mental and emotional engagement. The ranch also holds various dangers, such as
barbed wire, wildlife, rugged terrain, etc. You must take full responsibility for any injury or mishap
that may occur for you during your stay here, regardless of the source. Of course, we will endeavor to
make your stay as safe and comfortable as possible, but given the location and nature of this retreat,
accidents, injury, and distress are possible. If you are unwilling to be responsible for your own wellbeing,
do not come to this retreat. Otherwise, you are most welcome.

That special note is probably just for formal reasons. In case  someone would get injured from some weird situation and choose to sue them, it's not a big deal.

"There will be strenuous physical activity, as well
as strenuous mental and emotional engagement"

Thats probably regarding his martial workshops where sports injury can happen from training. 

"The ranch also holds various dangers, such as
barbed wire, wildlife, rugged terrain, etc"

Did not see any wires and the terrain is just normal nature terrain. The wildlife thing is probably regarding some insects in Texas that can be poisonous, but I didn't see any of them while I was there.

 

Anyway.. you are probably safer there than at home, it's in the middle of nowhere. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Vercingetorix]

I would love to do the apprentice program but It's just too expensive for me right now. Hope Ralston will stay around for a few more years.

[Oneness]

5 hours ago, Vercingetorix said:

I would love to do the apprentice program but It's just too expensive for me right now. Hope Ralston will stay around for a few more years.

Unfortunately this is most likely his last apprentice program, unless there is a big interest in another one.

He's still going to do workshops for some years more I think.

But yeah I had to work my ass off at shit jobs to afford it, it was a big pain in the ass.

Edited February 20, 2017 by Oneness

[Vercingetorix]

@Oneness pain in ass is the way 

I'm sure it will be so worth it.

 

[Elahe]

@Oneness Thank you very much for the info

[WorthyBird]

Anyone planning to attend the "Insight and Enlightenment Workshop" April 22nd? Think I'm going to pull the trigger and register.

[WorthyBird]

Alright, booked. Attending the Insight and Enlightenment Workshop April 22-29. Haha looks pretty intense. Lmk if anyone else is going! 

[Kindle]

@WorthyBird let us know how it was when you come back :-)

[Elahe]

I attended the 2017 Cheng Hsin spring retreat facilitated by Peter Ralston. It was an amazing and life changing experience.  At first, I was registered only for one week, the first week of consciousness, but at the end of the first week, I just could not leave, so I stayed for the second week as well. Attending the retreat was a huge leap for me, I highly recommend it to everyone. It is like a whole new world opened up to me which was not possible before. The effects of Peters words were so powerful. I could clearly see he himself is practicing what he is saying and it is not a lie or pretense it is TRUE and POSSIBLE for everyone. The LOVE I saw in Peters' eyes have not seen anywhere. He is a human like everyone of us. If he can do it so can I.

I came back home last week and since then whenever I read his books I understand much better the depth of his words. I am so happy that I did not miss the second week.  I would like to attend the fall retreat as well.

Thank you very much Leo for recommending Peter Ralston retreat!