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Unfettered Retreats
Podcasts & Audio Files

Every year, Ken McLeod teaches four or five retreats, some as short as three or four days, some as long as three weeks. Here you will find recordings of all Ken's teachings at these retreats.

These resources are free. Your support, through donations, will keep them available to everyone. To donate, please click here.

Below are links to the .mp3 files grouped by retreat. Select a grouping from the list below to see all the files from that retreat. When you click on a file title, a new window will open to play the sound file. You can put the window in the background and continue to browse while you listen.

To listen online now click on a title below.
To download the mp3, right-click the title (if you are a Windows user) or option-click the title (if you are a Mac user).
To subscribe to this series as podcasts go to iTunes Music Store.

ATP01: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Introduction
Explore “Why am I here?”; become quiet enough to listen to your own heart, the “stammering voice;” initial answers usually conceptual; go deeper into your body; go beyond words and rest there; what arises brings us in touch with natural knowing present in experience.
Duration 00:53:08

ATP02: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Primary Practice
Instructions for primary practice; primary practice: how to come into experience as it arises right now; being in the experience, as opposed to observing experience; relationship to shamatha and vipassana.
Duration 01:44:17

ATP03: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Shame and the Four Powers
Skipping steps in the primary practice suggests ignoring or suppressing; ascent and descent; three types of shame: shame from acting inconsistently, shame from violating social norms, shame from compromising personal ideals; how do we come to terms with shame and all experiences?; four powers: regret, reliance, remedy and resolve; the impact of practice on relationships.
Duration 01:52:29

ATP04: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Finding Balance
Three types of practices: practices of presence, of purification, and of energy transformation; relationship between primary practice and the rest of life; how to live in a way that supports spiritual practice; guidance from others is not absolute; train to recognize imbalance and move in the direction of balance; patterns create imbalance; bodhisattva vow -- an aspect is never to indulge our own confusion; open to everything all of the time.
Duration 01:56:19

ATP05: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Pith Instructions
Increasing our relationship to emotional material through practices of loving-kindness, compassion and devotion; awareness of body is key; Mahamudra pith instructions; “body like a mountain, breath like the wind, mind like the sky; heart and mind not distinct; difference between method and result; developing capacity by stopping before attention dissipates; relationship of Mahamudra to primary practice.
Duration 01:55:09

ATP06: A Trackless Path (retreat)
The Four Ways of Working and Relationships
The effect of eye gaze in meditation; four ways of working: power (based on coercion, demands), ecstasy (connection through opening), insight (seeing into things) and compassion (being present with another’s pain or when another is in pain); which operate in our close relationships?; three bases of relationship: mutual benefit, shared aim and emotional connection.
Duration 02:01:24

ATP07: A Trackless Path (retreat
Taking and Sending
Learning to be nobody; allowing a space for problems to resolve; answers to questions regarding compassion and taking and sending; being present in difficulty; developing capacity to be present and open to pain, negativity, even criminality; discussion of different kinds of offerings.
Duration 02:13:54

ATP08: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Four Principles of Practice
Understanding the rhythm of practice; with attention, peace and openness eventually arise; “Look in the resting, rest in the looking.”; summary of Ken’s approach in four principles: everything is evolving, evolution isn’t toward anything, actions have consequences, and we can’t know all of the consequences; approach life without expectation, recognize both mystery and significance in what occurs, and see what happens as part of a process.
Duration 01:56:20

ATP09: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Idealism and Ideology
Letting go of idealism; danger to spiritual life from institutional mindsets; counteracting with compassion; walking meditation instruction; being no one in a position of leadership; creating conditions that allow others to do what’s needed; discussion of ten methods of mind-killing and how they corrupt practice.
Duration 01:53:31

ATP10: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Refreshing the Mind
Advice regarding thoughts of life after retreat; importance of the four reminders: precious human existence, death and impermanence, karma and samsara; why traditionally loving-kindness practice is not to be directed at a child; primary practice; what is Mahamudra?; refreshing the mind through resting.; devotion as means of transforming energy; explanation of the guru yoga prayer, “The Magic of Faith: A Teacher Practice with Niguma.”
Duration 02:16:53

ATP11: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Practice of Power
Speaking from direct experience as a practice of power; the importance of developing power is often ignored both in our society and in traditional Buddhist practice; shamatha is main practice for developing power; explanation of prayer “The Wisdom Experience of Ever-present Good;” investigate why you are here; look at mind, heart, body, intellect, emotions and intuitions, and open to all the answers that arise.
Duration 01:09:53

ATP12: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Why am I Here?
The “five whys” of "why am I here?" as a way to explore more deeply, moving from conceptual to emotional level; discussion of Kalu Rinpoche’s “Essence of the Dharma;” refuge as setting a direction; awakening mind; four great vows from the Zen tradition; mantras: “what protects the mind”; preparatory practices (ngondro); finding your own path.
Duration 01:55:34

ATP13: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Rely on the Principal Witness
Learning to sit in the mess; discussion of the mind-training principle: “Rely on the principal witness;” avoiding institutional mindsets; path as a process of growth; importance of sangha; more discussion of “The Wisdom Experience of Ever-present Good.”
Duration 02:05:34

ATP14: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Protector Principle
Point of practice; paramitas; being without reference; discussion of protector principle and the relationship of protector principle to protector rituals; transmission rituals; longing can easily degenerate into greed; further discussion of “The Wisdom Experience of Ever-present Good.”
Duration 02:22:00

ATP15: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Progress
Emptiness and compassion as the two components of awakening mind; the impediment of despair; discussion of Longchempa’s advice: “Practice these two together (goodness and pristine awareness);” the notion of progress in society and spiritual life; instructions for the dispersion practice, a practice for balancing energy.
Duration 01:55:31

ATP16: A Trackless Path (retreat)
Conclusion
Middle way as holding both extremes in attention at the same time or “How can I experience this and be at peace at the same time?”; discussion of “Vajra Song Recognizing Mind as Guru;” spiritual path as individual exploration; learning from mistakes; letting go of inner holding; look at life as the field of practice; notice space in which experience arises.
Duration 01:51:16

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