International Retreat Group

The group meets twice yearly for eight days in San Rafael, California (just north of San Francisco) at Santa Sabina Center, a serene residential retreat center whose staff and environs are profoundly supportive of spiritual work. The group remains open to new students. It will continue to meet twice yearly. Future scheduled dates are as follows:

In 2008: Sunday, December 7 through Sunday, December 14

In 2009: Monday, May 4 through Monday, May 11, and Monday, December 7 through Monday, December 14

We will publish future dates as we know them. At this point, Santa Sabina tends to finalize their calendar about a year in advance.

The Teaching
The overall orientation of this group will be the shifting over time of one's identity and sense of self from the personality or ego to our deeper and ultimate nature — Being; and just as importantly, the integration of this experiential knowledge such that one's everyday life becomes a lived and fulfilling expression of that deeper nature. The confluence in recent decades of the streams of psychological and spiritual wisdom afford a wide range of unprecedented avenues of access to spiritual development. This confluence will be an important part of the orientation of this group.

The teachings will include practices and knowledge spanning several traditions. The enneagram will figure largely in terms of the psychological portion of the teaching because of the multi-faceted and penetrating perspective it provides on the personality of ego — its underpinnings, childhood development and modus operandi. When it comes to working directly with spiritual material, the group will be oriented around the basic principles of the Diamond Approach®, including open-ended inquiry into present experience, the practice of presence and working with the theory of holes. The spiritual orientation will also be significantly informed by the Diamond Approach®, as well as by the enneagram of Holy Ideas and the enneagram of virtues.

There will be a focus on body and movement work to help us explore and cultivate our experience and understanding of embodied presence by working directly with and deeply in the body. Sandra plans to have visiting masters of Chi Gung and other movement meditation practices come and teach the group on an ongoing basis. There will also be a focus on meditation and on interpersonal work as part of spiritual work — that is, group members learning techniques of interpersonal and group processing, and working directly with each other to practice and develop these capacities. In addition to the large group meetings that Sandra teaches daily, students will also participate in smaller process groups led by other teachers. Students will also have one private session with one of the assisting teachers. These process groups and private sessions are intended to help support your personal unfoldment, understanding, and integration of the teachings.

While Sandra knows in advance several of the core teachings and practices that will be taught, others will be revealed as she finds out through the organic unfoldment of the group and its needs what additional teachings will be most supportive at various junctures.

Where, When and How Much
The group will meet twice yearly for eight days in San Rafael, California (just north of San Francisco). It will be held at Santa Sabina Center, a serene residential retreat center whose staff and environs are profoundly supportive of spiritual work. Upcoming dates in 2008 are December 7 thru December 14. The group will continue to meet twice yearly.

Cost for the retreat group is $1,675 per person (for a double room) and $1,800 (for a single room), which includes tuition, process groups, one private session, meals and accommodations. Additional private sessions may be arranged for $90 each. There are a limited number of single rooms which will be assigned on a first come, first served basis... so if having a single room is important to you, please make sure to register early. The tuition-only rate is $1,180, which includes a $26 per day commuter fee charged by the retreat center. A deposit of $500 is required to reserve a space.

To apply for the group, make your $500 deposit payable to "Maitrayana, Inc." and send it to the address below. Please note that $150 of this deposit is a non-refundable application fee.

Maitrayana, Inc.
P.O. Box 150457
San Rafael, CA 94915-0457

INCLUDE YOUR NAME, PHONE NUMBER, EMAIL ADDRESS AND NAME OF THE GROUP ("IRG") WITH YOUR PAYMENT. If your check is for more than one person, include the same information for each participant. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept credit card payments.

Upon receiving your deposit we will send you an in-depth application to complete. When we receive and review your application we will contact you to let you know if we have further questions or to let you know you have been accepted. Should it become clear to us during the application process that this work may not be beneficial for you at this time, we will refund you $350 of your original $500 deposit.

If you would like more information about the group, please contact our retreat coordinator, Vivienne Kretschmer, at IRGCoordinator@sandramaitri.com or by phone at (415) 457-9480.

Having been trained and certified in teaching the enneagram several years ago, I began a search to find a like minded community to come together with to further and enhance my spiritual journey. In my search, I discovered that Sandra Maitri was starting an International Retreat Group.  While the enneagram and her teachings are what initially attracted me to this group, what I have found here is so much more. The enneagram is still an intricate part of this teaching; however, the group has taken on a dynamic and life of its own. Sandra and the rest of the teachers are totally dedicated to the spiritual awakening of each member of this group. The group itself is the most supportive and mature group I have ever been a part of.  I would highly recommend this group to anyone searching for Truth and a vehicle for exploring it. It is not too late!--Ann Devlin
 
Sandra Maitri's masterful teaching skills, depth of understanding and transmissions have created for me a sacred space of spaciousness for what I have experienced as a form of "radical transformation." Within three retreats, the gradual and compassionate process of deconstructing my personality beliefs, patterns, assumptions has allowed my soul to open to what I call the "fertile void" of Becoming, moment to moment. It is now possible for me to experience this conscious unfolding moving through my body and soul. This work is responsible for a quantum leap in my psycho-spiritual awakening. I am deeply grateful to Sandra, her excellent teachers and our committed group for holding this transformational field for awakening our collective consciousness.--Michelle Jurika, Soul Circle Leader

What a gift to come together with a diverse group of spiritually committed people to learn and experience true liberation.  Sandra's unique blending of Diamond Approach and the Enneagram and her own deep spiritual wisdom gives me the experiences and practices I need to find my way to my own true nature.--Belinda Gore, Ph.D., psychologist and leadership consultant

Sandra's clarity, her mastery of the subject and the words to convey it are the catalyst for a thoughtful, committed and articulate group.  We explore our individual experience through a process of inquiry that brings us into direct contact with our moment to moment feelings, reactions and responses, which reflect the unique and individual natures that we have developed in the alternately nurturing and and buffeting process of growing up and interacting with our families and the world.  The process has been a revelation for me.--Derek Broadmore, attorney