John Dear, a 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and internationally known voice for peace, will lead a weekend opportunity to explore nonviolence at the Copper Beech Institute.

John Dear. Submitted photo

Submitted by the Copper Beech Institute

Copper Beech Institute will welcome 2015 Nobel Peace Prize nominee John Dear for a weekend retreat, Disarming the Heart, Disarming the World: Active Nonviolence in a World of Violence, March 20-22, 2015. Through meditation, group discussion, and teachings on nonviolence, participants will learn how to become more peaceful in their own lives and in the world. Overnight guests and commuters are welcome.

John Dear was nominated for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize by the Intergovernmental Organization of the States, based in Rome. The I.G.O. cited Dear’s relentless work for peace, including his role in founding Campaign Nonviolence. (For the full text of the peace prize nomination letter, click here.) Dear has now been nominated three times for the prize, including in 2008 by Archbishop Desmond Tutu who recognized him as “the embodiment of a peacemaker.”

Participants in John Dear’s retreat will explore the violence in their own lives, the way of nonviolence and the call to make peace, reflecting upon the teachings of the Gospels and by Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton.

Tuition for the weekend program is $250 plus accommodations for overnight guests and $325 for commuters. The retreat weekend includes yoga classes, meditation practice, and meals for all guests, as well as a Saturday Nights on Retreat performance from singer-songwriter Krizta Moon. Healing arts therapies including massage and reflexology are also available for an additional charge.

To learn more about Copper Beech Institute as well as scholarships through the Boundless Heart Fund, please visit copperbeechinstitute.org.

An independent, nonprofit retreat center, Copper Beech Institute is located in West Hartford, CT on the campus of Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center where it leases space. The Institute offers day retreats, overnight retreats, professional trainings, and extended learning opportunities. Copper Beech Institute has also has partnered with the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Mindfulness to offer an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Course three times a year. The Institute’s campus has quiet places to rest with 200 beds, an art gallery and stone labyrinth, all on 48 wooded acres, with healing arts therapies and farm-to-table food to nourish health, and a compassionate staff to support personal growth and exploration.