buddhist

A warm welcome to our 7000 subscribers to the Christopher e-News. You will see Zoom/Residential retreats, courses, yatra and themes on the blog listed below. Our 4th Mindfulness Teacher Training Course (MTTC) starts in October 2021 for 60 people. Zoom and residential in Germany. With Ulla and myself as co-teachers.

A 60% REDUCTION OF INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

Our life ebbs and flows between the known and the unknown. Sometimes, we make a step out of the known to experience what might emerge from the unknown.
An opportunity arises to abide receptive, inwardly and outwardly, to the new or recognise a deep focus needed for a specific area.
While sitting at home in the kitchen in February having a cuppa tea, I made a spontaneous ‘decision’ to cut 60% of overseas travel.
I will continue to take the train to teach in Germany – Covid-19 regulations permitting.
I am ending travel to Israel, India and Australia. I would no longer fly to Israel where I gave teachings for 30 years. I have spent more than two years in total in Israel plus many 48 hour stays in Nablus, Palestine. I have spent more than 7 years in total in India since 1967 and spent four years in Australia including time on the road. Travelling the Earth runs deep in my DNA since the late teens.
I emailed in early March 2021 friends, organisers and managers of centres of this shift in priorities from the known to the known. We continue to keep in touch.
Friends asked me if I had opted for semi-retirement. No. Birthday occurs on 22 April (Earth Day), 2021. On that day, I will be 77.
Friends asked me if I need to rest rather than travel. No. Energy so far remains same as 50 years ago. I sleep a little more and the body takes a little longer to heal from a cold or pulled muscle etc.
Was it becoming a hassle trying to offer retreats with the on-off situation due to lockdown and social isolation? No.
Could I adapt to being at home 46 weeks a year? I wondered, too. Since returning from teaching in India in March 2020, I have loved the time at home.
During the lockdown in Britain in 2020, I completed a book TEN YEARS AND TEN DAYS – a memoir of my time on the road between 1967 and 1977. I will write about the memoir in the next e-News. An e-book of the memoir with 25 photos or more currently undergoes preparation.
I asked myself what would be the outcome of the change in the reduction of travel?
•    A regret?
•    A return to the known?
•    A major reduction in the dana?
•    A renewal?
•    A different lifestyle
•    An emergence of a creative vision?
In February, my 10-year-old passport expired. It seemed symbolic. I renewed it. I plan to offer a Zoom retreat every month, except when travelling to Germany.

Monthly Zoom Retreats

I plan to offer Zoom retreats. I invite people to give a registration of €30.00 for a Zoom retreat when the Zoom event replaces a residential retreat. Your registration will support centres struggling with finances due to lockdown. Let me know if you wish to join a zoom retreat. Contact: christopher@insightmeditation.org.
I will post on christopher titmuss blog zoom events supportive of UK, European, Israel, India and Australia times. https://www.christophertitmussblog.org/timetable-for-international-zoom-retreats-with-christopher-titmuss
All Zoom retreats are open worldwide. Please attend as much of the Zoom timetable as possible.

Do join. Take a look below.