July 5 @ 2:00 pm - July 12 @ 2:00 pm
8-Day Residential Vedanta Spiritual Retreat
This welcoming retreat invites you to explore life's deepest questions in a supportive environment. Together, we'll use guided contemplations, relatable examples, diagrams, and lively discussions to peel away layers of misunderstanding regarding your existence, the basic understanding of self. No previous experience required – just bring your curiosity and openness.
You'll be guided through two texts:
TEXT 1: Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad – 12 verses
The Māṇḍūkya is the shortest of the principal Upanishads – just twelve verses. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya declared it alone sufficient for liberation.
The text opens with the statement that OM is all this – everything past, present and future, and even that which lies beyond time, is OM. From there, it introduces the teaching of the four states familiar to everyone.
The first three are the states you move through every day: waking, dreaming and deep sleep. The Upanishad looks at each one carefully – who is experiencing, what is being experienced, and what the nature of that experience actually is. The underlying point is that these three states are appearances arising within consciousness, and that you are not any one of them but the consciousness in which they appear.
That consciousness is the fourth – Turīya. It is described as peaceful, auspicious and non-dual, neither conscious of an inner world nor an outer one, beyond language and inference. This is Self, what you really are.
The text then maps these four dimensions of experience onto the three sounds that make up OM – A, U and M – with Turīya corresponding to the silence in which the syllable rests. The teaching and the mantra become one and the same.
TEXT 2: Gauḍapāda Kārikā – 47 verses
Gauḍapāda was the guru of Adi Shankara – the teacher's teacher's teacher. His Kārikā is a verse commentary on the Māṇḍūkya, spread across four chapters, that examines the Upanishad's teaching from several different angles.
He looks carefully at the waking and dream states and asks whether one is really any more real than the other. He uses the image of a sky that appears enclosed inside a pot to explain the relationship between the individual self and Atman (the true self). And he points to the rope-snake analogy – how something harmless is mistaken for something threatening – to describe how we misidentify who we are.
His final chapter arrives at Ajātivāda – the position that nothing was ever truly born. No bondage was ever real to begin with. This is not a consoling idea so much as a careful logical conclusion that he builds toward step by step throughout the text.
Who is Teaching?
Residential retreat will be held at Vlierhof, Kleve, Germany – led by Vedic and Sanskrit teacher Andre Vas. You will be systematically guided through the verses so your vision is aligned with the vision of the book.
Teachings are based on Swami Dayananda and Swami Chinmaya. You can get the book on Amazon.
We will have 4 sessions per day (2x morning, 1x afternoon, 1x evening).
Some of our previous retreats:
What's Covered?
Material Used In Class:
Where is it?
- Address: Klever Strasse. 115 47533 Kleve, Germany.
- Description: Retreat will be held at the Vlierhof, an eco-community. In the large seminar house next to the farmhouse, is a beautiful group room, a dining room, and a relaxation lounge. All of which can be used freely. There is also a large camping area. Meals are provided by the Vlierhof cooks, using vegetables from their own garden. See Vlierhof website for pictures.
Dates:
- Arrival: Please arrive on 5th July – by 2:00pm.
- Departure: Departure is on 12th July – by 2:00pm.
Cost:
- Registration Fee: €100. Covers rental cost for the seminar room and organizational costs.
- Accommodation/Food Fee: €600. There are cheaper options on registration page. Includes 8 days of your stay, bedding, sheets, pillows, and 3 meals per day.
- No charge for the Vedanta teaching itself as it's the standard in tradition.
- SUMMARY: Total Cost = Registration Fee (€100) + Accommodation Fee (€600) + Your travel expenses.
How To Register:
- Register here — and tick…
- Mandatory:
- I want to participate in the Intensive Vedanta Retreat from 5 to 12 July 2026 (€100).
- Accommodation Type: Currently only these are left…
- Room in Fristerhof – pleasant 1.9km walk by river from seminar room (seven nights + all meals = €610) [See pic]
- Camping
- Mandatory:
- Organizer Otto will ask you to pay to secure a room. (If any issues paying, can do credit card at our donations page)
Getting There:
- Closest international airport is: Dusseldorf Airport [DUS]. From there, get a taxi via “Freenow” app, similar to Uber.