Friday, November 2 - Sunday, November 4, 2001 Avila Retreat Center (20 miles north of Durham, NC)

Except for the point, the still point, There would be no dance, and there is only the dance. -T.S. Eliot

Contemplation and community, quiet time and fun time, a chance to let spiritual life emerge and flourish . . . the annual Avila Retreat is a highlight of the Self Knowledge Symposium's year. Whether you're a long-time member of the SKS community or just learning about us, the Avila Retreat is a great chance to explore your spiritual path and share it with others.

If you're like most people, the to-do list you kept before September 11 might look a little less important now. It's from a different world. The future that we're always living for, which seemed inevitably to be better than what we have right now, is no longer so bright nor so certain.

But in fact, this future we've always rushed towards has never really existed.

We rush around to our jobs, classes, family activities, etc., always thinking in the back of our minds that it will get better soon. We'll finally "get organized," we'll spend more time with our loved ones, we'll get rid of that old clunker that's been driving us crazy and get a nice new car. THEN we'll be happy. Not now, but then. And we suspend our lives waiting for that time when everything will at last be "OK."

The fact is, as saints and poets have tried to tell us, there IS no future, no past, only NOW. As T.S. Eliot wrote:

Except for the point,
the still point,
there would be no dance,
and there is only the dance.
(from "Four Quartets")

We in the Self Knowledge Symposium invite you to attend our annual retreat, "The Still Point of the Turning World," and find the still point that is so easily lost.

Register now and we'll save you a spot and send you more information.

"The SKS Avila retreat sparked new changes in my life. I feel like I found out more about myself after that weekend than I ever have in any weekend of my life."
— Evan Harrison, UNC-Chapel Hill

Featuring:

• Augie Turak, Software Executive and SKS Founder
    > Biography of Augie Turak
    > Augie's famous "Five Years with a Zen Master" talk
    > Augie's "What is Zen?" talk

• The Transactors Improv Company
    > "Spirituality in Improv" from the Transactors Web site

• Bob Cergol, entrepreneur

• Dave Gold, author of After the Absolute
    > Order a copy of Dave's book!
    > Dave's "Thinking the Unthinkable" talk

• Georg Buehler, co-author of Radical Spirit
    > Georg's "Writing as a Spiritual Discipline" workshop

"At the Avila retreat I found myself profoundly moved by the depth of respect manifested by the leaders and the members of the group for diverse paths of spiritual seeking in a context of genuine caring and support for each person. I left with a renewed sense of hope that the emerging world of the future may be directed by leaders who not only are highly qualified in terms of technical knowledge, but also are compassionate and wise."
— Dr. William Richards, Psychotherapist

• Click here to register for Avila 2001.
• Click here to read more about last year's Avila retreat.
• Or, you can download the Avila welcome packet (it should have been mailed to you but some people registered kinda late and you may not get it in time but you want to make sure to have it before you show up ya know what I mean?) in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat format.
• Finally, you can click here to read the T.S.Eliot poem "Burnt Norton" from which this year's Avila took its theme.

---

Directions to Avila Retreat Center
711 Mason Road
Durham, NC 27712-9229
From Raleigh

1. Take 40 West to 147 North (Durham Freeway).
2. Take the Duke Street exit.
3. Follow Duke Street straight on out. Duke Street eventually becomes 501 North (Roxboro St.). Continue on 501. When you pass Northern High School (on the left), go approximately 1½ miles and look for a grass median in the highway.
4. Go up to the traffic light in median and turn left on to Mason Road. (Please note: Mason Road is the left turn off of 501, and Snow Hill Road is the right turn off 501.)
5. Come down Mason approximately 1 mile and you will see the Avila Retreat Center Sign on the left

From Durham

1. Follow directions from Duke Street above

From Chapel Hill

1. Take 15-501 North (Duke University "bypass" exit, not South Square "business"). 15-501 will merge into I-85: keep going.
2. Take the Guess road Exit. Turn left on to Guess Road and follow Guess Road approximately 6-7 miles until you come to a Triangle gas station/convenience store on the right. (Red and white sign)
3. Turn left onto Mason Road and go approximately 1½ miles and you will see Avila Retreat Center on the right.

Click here for Avila's Web site, which has some beautiful pictures of the retreat center.