KFA - Krishnamurti Foundation of America

The Krishnamurti Foundation of America is excited to present the
2013 Krishnamurti Summer Study-Intensive
& Retreat Program
in Ojai, California

Unburdening and Freeing the Mind

Sunday, August 4 to Sunday, August 11, 2013
A Rare Opportunity to Study & Retreat in Krishnamurti’s Home in the Beautiful Ojai Valley

Download Brochure (PDF)

HOW TO APPLY:

To apply for the program please fill out our Online Application Form.

Richard Waxberg, director and co-facilitator of the program, will contact you as soon
as he receives your application to answer any questions you may have.

Once you have been accepted into the program,
please use the secure payment form to pay your deposit.

The Krishnamurti Study-Intensive & Retreat Program provides a rare opportunity for a deeply immersive in-depth exploration into the life-changing teachings of J. Krishnamurti, within a nurturing atmosphere of encouragement, affection and support.

Our program is truly a journey of self-discovery

Our Inquiry-based program gives each participant the opportunity to explore Krishnamurti’s teachings in-depth in order to discover for oneself the ground for the possibility of a transformation of consciousness. We inquire together as a group within a spontaneous, dynamic, interactive dialogical format twice each day. We are interested in applying Krishnamurti’s approach of directly “seeing” and directly “listening” during our explorations together to reach deeper levels of awareness usually beyond the reach of our daily range of perception.

By sharing our penetrating insights and observations together, a resonance can emerge that unlocks dormant trapped energies waiting to be released. The rigidly static conditioning and beliefs that our minds have absorbed since childhood begin to break-up and melt away under our intense direct ‘seeing’ and ‘listening’, freeing the mind.

Krishnamurti pointed out that we rarely ever have an opportunity to directly examine the hidden structures of thought and belief that continuously condition our minds and that dominate our daily thinking. In our program, we work together to directly “see” and to render transparent those patterns of thought that create inner conflicts and confusion, and that limit our perceptual freedom. We are looking to free the mind of limitations so that we can re-establish a vivid, creative relationship with life.

We work together to shine a powerful light that exposes the hidden operations of the mind in order to allow the unconscious mind to be seen and understood. In this way we can begin to ‘see’ wholistically with precision and clarity, and so move beyond fear, conflict, the illusion of separation, confusion, limitations, and the darkness and suffering born of these hidden shadow areas of the mind.

Through our work together, we can release potentially transformative energies that have been trapped as conditioned, mechanical responses in our unconscious mind since childhood. The release of these vital energies occurs spontaneously as we gain deeper insight, understanding and clarity into what is preventing each of us from awakening to a new, unburdened mind.

Our program invites us to actually meet Krishnamurti’s teachings inwardly, while being fully aware and fully awake, so that we are capable of “seeing” and “listening” with that quality of awareness that Krishnamurti characterized as “a different quality of mind, not bound by any dogma, by any belief, by any experience and therefore a mind that is free to observe and through that observation see exactly ‘what is’ and also find that there is energy to transform it.”

When the mind is free of its accumulated, psychological problems, there is space for a new, wholistic dimension of awareness to flower. Together we are birthing a new mind, a mind that has tremendous energy, a mind that is fresh and alive.

Areas of exploration that our program covers:

• Impersonal listening as a preliminary awakening
• The nature of thought & image-making
• The effect of belief and conditioning on the mind
• Becoming and psychological time
• The ending of conflict and division in the mind 
• The illusion of separation and how it shapes perception
• The relationship of fear and security
• The flowering of insight 
• The ending of personal problems and the problem solver 
• Meeting life beyond problems 
• Aliveness and the energetic whole

Come join us for this unique, transformative 7-day residential Study-Intensive and Retreat program.

We offer an opportunity to enter into a shared exploration of J.Krishnamurti’s teachings with like-minded people from around the world. There will also be time for quiet walks and meditation. Krishnamurti’s living quarters in Pine Cottage are open as meditation rooms.

The exquisite beauty of the Ojai valley offers us the perfect space in which to enter into this work together. Inquire with us in this beautiful, peaceful valley where Krishnamurti lived and taught. You will be surrounded by majestic mountains, lush orange and avocado groves, and colorful blooming flowers.

SPECIAL NOTE TO COLLEGE STUDENTS:

We are fully aware of the impersonal, institutional approach of most college educational experiences. For many college students there is also a great deal of confusion that arises as a result of the fragmented nature of treating different disciplines as “separate” islands of knowledge, and the insistence that learning is nothing more than memorization. In the Krishnamurti Study-Intensive Program, you will have the opportunity to go very deeply into the core questions that can lead us directly to find out for ourselves how the mind actually works, and what is preventing us from making a leap into another more wholistic dimension of awareness.

TUITION AND SIGN-UP INFORMATION

Retreat and study in peaceful, breathtakingly beautiful Ojai, California, amidst majestic mountains, lush orange and avocado groves, and wonderful hiking trails.

The Tuition fee and the Pepper Tree Retreat room fee cover the entire program including all meals and materials and round-trip transportation from Ventura to Ojai. We pick-up and drop-off all participants taking a shuttle from LAX to Ventura, once on the first and last day of the program.

Registration: $40

Regular Tuition: $750

College Student Discounted Scholarship Tuition: $350
Scholarships must be approved. Students, please contact Richard Waxberg for further information.

Local commuter participants pay the Tuition of $750, which includes lunch and dinner.

Pepper Tree Retreat room fee: $475

Contact: Richard Waxberg to sign up for the program or for further details, email: by email
Or call: 805-640-0532

We ask all participants to please pay the $40 Registration fee plus a 50% deposit on both the Tuition and the Pepper Tree Retreat fees, in order to hold their place in the program. The balance of payments is due one month before the program begins. The program fills on a First-to-Sign-Up basis.

Please fill out the on-line Application Form which goes directly to Richard, and he will contact you as soon as possible. For further details about the program, please call Richard at 805-640-0532 or by email.

Once you have been accepted into the program, you can pay your Deposits to hold your place in the program (Registration, plus half of your Tuition fee, and half of the Pepper Tree Retreat room fee) by submitting your credit card information via our Secure Payment Form. Please select the correct Tuition fee (Regular or Discounted College Student Scholarship), at the top of the form and also enter your name and contact information.

Participants flying into LAX can be picked up, free of charge, in Ventura, at 2:45 PM on Sunday, the first day of the program, and driven to Ojai, by taking the reasonably priced Ventura County Airporter Shuttle Service ($65 Round Trip) from LAX to Ventura. We will also drive participants back to Ventura on the last day of the program to catch the 10:45 AM Shuttle to LAX. Call Richard or email him for further details.

PROGRAM COORDINATOR AND CO-FACILITATORS:

Richard Waxberg is the Director of the Krishnamurti 7-Day Study-Intensive & Retreat Programs. He co-facilitates all the Study-Intensive Programs along with Professor Satish Telegar and Deborah Kerner.

PROGRAM POLICIES for the Krishnamurti Study-Intensive & Retreat Programs:

Registration and Payments: Participants are required to pay a non-refundable $40 Registration Fee, including a 50% Deposit of the Tuition Fee and the Pepper Tree Retreat room fee, to hold their place in the Program. The Tuition fee and the Pepper Tree Retreat room fee include all meals and program materials. The balance of all program fees is due one month before the program begins.

If the participant cancels their participation in the Program before 30 days, they get half of their Deposit back, excluding the Registration Fee. If a participant cancels after 30 days before the Program starts, they are obligated for the full Tuition and Registration Fee.

We strongly recommend that every participant independently purchase trip-insurance from a number of carriers for around $80-$120 (www.insuremytrip.com), just in case the unlikely possibility arises that the Programs do not run, or that a participant must cancel for personal reasons.

Food: Delicious vegetarian food is served during the program. No meat is allowed at the Krishnamurti Education Center. We will make reasonable efforts to meet your dietary and other special needs. Please let us know in your application.

Transportation: The Ventura County Airporter shuttle from LAX to Ventura (Holiday Inn Express) charges $35 each way and discounts the fare if the round-trip is purchased ahead of time (www.venturashuttle.com). At no charge, the retreat will pick up participants at the Holiday Inn Express at 2:45PM on the first day the program begins, and will drop off participants at the Holiday Inn Express at 10:45 AM on the day the program ends. At all other times, participants must make their own travel arrangements.

We advise that you not make flight reservations until final confirmation of the program and your enrollment. If the program is cancelled for any reason, all course payments will be returned.

For further information, please contact Richard Waxberg at 805-640-0532 or by email.

COMMENTS FROM PARTICIPANTS:

• After participating in the winter retreat, there is now an inexpressible love, freedom, clarity, and goodness to life. I am continuously astonished by the creativity and freedom in all my actions. A boundless sense of joy came to me this morning as I sprung out of bed. Before participating in the winter retreat, I felt very deeply that I was caught up in an endless stream of disappointment and suffering. I tried to find a solution in so many different programs, guru’s, and religions. A complete transformation has now occurred and continues to unfold. It is impossible to adequately express one’s gratitude for the loving gentle way in which you pointed out that, with fearless attention, one can be a light unto oneself. I feel as though the well-being of so many people is being affected by my participation. Please also express my appreciation to the foundation for the scholarship that was provided. Without this help, I would not have been able to participate. Love to all. ~ Jonathan, student
• The dialogue study intensive stimulates the opening of space and light within. And breaking through dead thought is like a fresh breeze blowing through the mountain brush along a trail, it asks nothing, says nothing, is no thing. Richard, Deborah, and Satish facilitate the dialogues in a way that makes the participants comfortable to share and probe thoughts and feelings. This allows for penetrating exploration and enables the group to move to deeper levels of inner awareness and group observation. There is a sense of playful experimentation, of finding the humor of life as one penetrates serious questions.
  The program opens timeless space within and allows a glimpse of the extraordinary possibilities of living, casts a light over consciousness and how it operates, accelerating effortless transformation. I am deeply grateful for this program because of how intelligence is ignited and I recommend it to anybody who is serious about changing the current state of chaos in the world and within. ~ Maria, writer
• The 7 day session was a total and complete immersion into K’s living ideas. We created a community and understanding through honest and thoughtful discussion and dialogue. Most of us need a community of partners, of friends, who help us shine a light on K’s teaching, this way and that, upside down and inside out. We need people who challenge Krishnamurti’s thinking, just as K had hoped we would do, and said so many times. In our sessions, we did just that. We lovingly challenged and learned what it means to function in the world with a deeper understanding that we absorbed through K’s ideas.
  All of us underwent a fundamental change during those 7 days. None of us will be the same. We will live through observing who we are in this world, living in the present moment and watching our interactions with others. In this way each group who is fortunate enough to go through this important program will change their small part of the world. ~ Carol, educator
• Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the care and time you gave to me and all participants in our retreat. You are very special people and it was an honor to learn from you. I’ll try my best to give back in the way of continuing work with Krishnamurti’s dialogues. You three are wonderful facilitators who imparted wisdom, truth and most of all love. Best wishes with continuing dialogues and confidence in the fact that you are making a difference. With great affection ~ Kathi, retreat owner
• The Krishnamurti Summer Study Intensive has undoubtedly changed my life. It has turned on a light which allows me to see, search, and explore myself in a way that is truly immeasurable. Certainly I have discovered a new approach, a new way to observe, and through the teachings of Krishnamurti and intense yet relaxed dialogues, new insights come to me every day. An immense energy has been released. An energy that I have been holding back for so long and was afraid to look into the reasoning of. It is of utmost importance that anyone and everyone begin this exploration to also possibly release this energy. I would highly recommend this program to anyone that I know and to anyone that has the slightest intention of looking for a change. I truly hope that a program like this should continue to be highly supported, because nothing is more important than spreading this sense of beauty that every human is capable of seeing. ~ Aria, student
• Thank you very much for your kind work, attention and compassion in the program! The most unusual thing for me was the fact that people with different backgrounds and different conditioning could feel and understand each other so deeply. Sometimes there was an extraordinary calmness and clarity in my looking at myself and at the world around me. So, there was no separation between me and the rest of the world at all. There was no separation between my heart, my brain and my body. That was a feeling of direct perception of myself, nature, all the people around me, the feeling which I would call the true love. ~ Eugene, student
• When I finished the 7 day Intensive, I left Krishnamurti’s home in an awakened state that I felt was a gift. It was not mine alone, but shared amongst fellow beings that came together, and voluntarily agreed to question every thought and every idea that we were stuck too. ~ Christopher, designer
• I cannot express adequately with words how amazing this program was, that I participated in with facilitators Richard, Deborah, and Satish, and all the students and participants. It simply changed the way I look at life now in every aspect, how I relate to my family, my students, nature. I observe and see with new eyes. I look at people around me that I already know, as if I am seeing them for the first time, and it is really liberating and opens space within me that I didn’t know existed. I now pay attention to my thoughts and listen. There is a different quality to my understanding and people around me feel it which is proof that this program planted seeds for profound changes. ~ Maya, yoga teacher
• The dialogue work we did in the program in Ojai was the catalyst that unleashed unknown energies within me. By the end of the course, I was equipped with the tools of awareness needed to examine the thoughts which had been suppressing these energies. Mere words cannot express the gratitude I have for what went on in the program. ~ Ryan, student
• The Intensive doesn’t end after the 7 days but carries one back into the world of daily living. This “daily living” rides on the surface of a much deeper and profound peace and quietude that remains undisturbed. Richard, Deborah and Satish create a harmony with the participants which is free from ego and authority. In this environment, the group as a whole is transformed into a state of unity, free to explore the serious questions Krishnamurti raises, so the truth of our existence may be revealed. This program is a blessing, open to all who are serious to examine inside and outside of themselves. This intensive, through grace, reveals the truth which has the potential to set us free. ~ Pam, yoga teacher