The Word On Our Fall Noble Silence Meditation Retreat Weekend

Happy Halloween! “Every day is Halloween, isn’t it? For some of us,” said Director Tim Burton. Halloween is a special harvest time in the rural Midwest and especially here, marking the 9th year and 3,285th day and night we’ve resided on our farm in South Haven, Michigan, USA. Over that ten years, we’ve come to don a Ceremonial mask monthly in the service of healing others, and are delighted to wrap up an absolutely off-the-charts October retreat month, with so many developments even RoZie my dog and I could barely keep up. And RoZie runs like a deer, being a Hungarian Vizsla and one of the world’s fastest breeds. Saluki who knewki? Apparently not winning, placing or showing, but coming in 4th at a very respectable 40 m-p-h, as I like to say, she does come in a lil’ hot. She certainly can be your best pal, but jury is out or perhaps more training called for as to asking anything of her. Regardless, you’ll love her, and the feelings of unconditional adoration will most assuredly be returned.

Before this becomes an ad for my sweet sidekick, also known as The Higher Haven’s Rose, let’s pound our wetlands wooded pathway back a few weeks to our Fall Noble Silence Meditation Retreat Weekend. We’ll be working out our Winter schedule and offering some Noble Silence Meditation Retreats (NSMRs) in the Spring of 2024, but for now, there’s still a chance to take in our NSMR’s main teaching at this Saturday’s Meditation + Mindfulness 101 Class. And we’ll pretty much guarantee that if you’re willing to do a little work, you’ll acquire a mini-taste of spiritual purification, a similar experience reported on by new students Brooke and Shelley below. Join us this weekend for one of 2023’s final teachings, watch for our 2024 scheduling that includes our new Winter Zen Walk Workshop — with a sneak preview boardwalk photo above — and more on RoZie’s All Souls Day shenanigans all coming soon.

"We can't stress how much this weekend meant to us. What an amazing stay. For the first time, we felt the positive effects of sitting meditation, and feel it's a great re-start in achieving balance and reconnecting with our spiritual selves. We're both interested in coming again, and have shared with friends who we think would benefit from and enjoy this type of experience. Thanks to Paul — although this phrase doesn't even begin to convey our feelings on it — whose energy helped create this experience. We both loved our time at The Higher Haven, will continue telling everyone what a great time we had, and are looking forward to future teachings!  - Brooke + Shelley

Our September Way of the Contrary Ceremonial Weekend

“Everything about this retreat exceeded my expectations. The grounds are tranquil and the guest house provided an opportunity for peace and community. I enjoyed the casual but powerful experience. There was time for relaxation and there was also opportunity for deep growth and learning. The weekend was very healing. Our group even committed to returning together next year, because we found so much inspiration participating in the Ceremony together! Paul offered us a rich opportunity to share, learn, and connect. And he is a terrific host, practitioner, and storyteller!” ~ Gina C. A very sincere Pilamaye or word of thanks to our early September Ceremonial Crew, the beautiful, brave people pictured above who came together seeking all that is good and best within themselves and apparently found it. They even vowed to return next September, a commitment I like the sound of, distant drum sounds rising on the crisp, clean, country air. Whenever I grab my dog Rosalita I shout “Group Hug!”, and the entire weekend ended up feeling like one big, shared, energetic embrace. Wopila

Per your requests, we’ll be posting several 2024 retreats soon, and will only offer this Ceremonial Weekend a few more times in 2023 — the October Pumpkin Lodge being quite full, with a pre-Thanksgiving gathering the November 18th weekend and a final December Lodge the weekend of December 9th. But if the raw, healing energy of a primitive purification Ceremony isn’t exactly your thing, consider the equally comforting, healing practice of finding and fostering your our own inner stillness at our upcoming Fall Noble Silence Meditation Retreat Weekend. We’re excited too, that we’re shaking up our normal Retreat Break to offer a Holiday Silent Night and Winter Zen Walk Workshop. God will surely be in the details to come.

Our Upcoming Classes and Retreats

We are a sanctified, world-class retreat center set apart in the bucolic heart of Midwest America. But for folks who haven’t yet found the time for a full retreat visit, we offer standout classes that convey a lot of valuable lessons and learning in one short afternoon. In fact, early Fall is a wonderful time to visit the South Haven, Southwest Michigan area, when the blueberries are bursting, the weather cools, and the visiting crowds thin. “Nobody on the road, nobody on the beach, I feel it in the air, the summers out of reach. Empty lake, empty streets, the sun goes down alone. I’m drivin’ by your house, though I know you’re not home. But I can see you…” Love that line, and I heard that Tom Petty regrettably passed on The Boys of Summer, the tune being written by his Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell then recorded by Don Henley and released in Fall 1984.

Be like Don and not like Tom and don’t let an equally amazing rock and roll opportunity slide on by, when you could visit The Higher Haven in the next few weeks or months for an mere afternoon or weekend of life-changing learning. This is a shot above of our Meditation + Mindfulness 101 class from July that we took part in again mid September. It’s an excellent class that covers the different forms of our world’s spiritual practices, how thought presents itself as a process, and defines meditation as a series of internal skills easily developed with systematic practice. We then touch upon each of those skills — concentration, relaxation, insights into the nature of reality and unconditional love — and dive into meditations that better develop them. The next Meditation + Mindfulness 101 class happens Saturday, November 4th. And for those ready to take on a life-changing weekend of fostering inner stillness, there’s still time and space to join our Fall Noble Silence Meditation Retreat Weekend, running from spooky Friday eve, October 13th through the 15th’s Sunday afternoon.