Dear Friends,
You're receiving this email because you happen to be on the mailing list for either Terran Palmer-Angell, or Carmen Maria Alvarez. As many of you know, we've both left the Center for Contemplative Research in an effort to find a middle way in our practice (ideally six months of the year on meditation retreat.) The largest question that has arisen for us, is how we can go about working to repay the kindness of all of you who have helped to support us – and continue to support us – during the time we spend in our own intensive practice. (For those of you who don't know one or the other of us: Carmen has been setting aside time for regular long-term retreats since 2013, and Terran has been either in retreats, or preparing for retreats since 2007.) We've been working together on a number of immediate answers to the above question, which we will detail below (and have a number of other answers in the long-term pipeline – such as a podcast, more extensive written material, etc.)
Come Meditate With Us
The first, and most immediate, is that we would like to offer a place for those of you who are interested in doing your own meditation retreats, on your own terms. We both know how difficult it is to find a conducive, affordable environment for shorter periods of time – and also to find like-minded, on-site companions who are in a position to offer support, inspiration, and warmth when needed. This is all the more true if one has a small budget. That's why we've been working to set up a place for retreat in Upstate New York, for those of you who would like to do your own periods of intensive practice.
It's on 45 acres in the Adirondack Park, surrounded by hundreds of acres of state land. We'll plan to be here to offer support and companionship for those of you who come. Cooked meals will be delivered silently to the door, daily – and fees will be based on donation only. If you'd like to read more about the retreat house and property, or would like to reach out about scheduling a retreat, you can visit retreat.karma.works.
Dharma Support Calls
We would also like to help make sure you all are getting the support you need. (This is one of the most major factors we've heard mentioned.) Some of you are on retreat yourselves, in your own location, and would like to have a greater sense of sangha. Some of you are working to practice in the course of a daily life, and would like more of a sense of support. We'd like to help, if we can. Our sense is that for people in the above positions, it can often be hard to get the feeling of connection and fulfillment one really needs through large group calls, or gatherings. So our current idea is to schedule very small group calls (maybe the two of us, with one or two of you) to talk about practice, and support each other in the most conducive and focused way possible. We would also like to get high-quality recordings of these conversations to share with others, so that maybe they can benefit from the time as well. If you'd be interested in having calls like that with us, please reach out to info@dereify.com with questions or topics you'd like to have a call about, and we'll work to schedule the time that is best for you.
Organic Clothing Store
And finally, in addition to the long-term plans we're working on, we've also been trying to think of something fun we could offer. One idea we thought of is to experiment with offering sustainable, renewable, and organic clothing that reflects the values and ideas in our community (and offer small reminders for our daily practice.) We've done this by launching karmaworks.com. We hope there might be something there you might enjoy. Any profits from the site will go to support our own retreats, and also toward continuing to maintain and run the retreat place here for others.
We're so grateful to you all for everything you've done to support us, and look forward to being in touch, and being a part of your lives in the future. If there are others who you feel might be interested in any of the above efforts, please do feel free to share this email – or spread the word in any way you feel might be best.
With warmth and Gratitude,
Terran and Carmen
