Vivekananda Retreat Ridgely page

We are happy to announce that Vivekananda Retreat will open to DAY VISITORS ONLY on July1. (If that goes well, we will open for overnight stays on August 19.) We look forward to seeing you! Of course, this could change, as the pandemic is not over yet. PLEASE NOTE THESE REQUIREMENTS: -At this time VACCINATION IS REQUIRED. This means that, for the time being, unvaccinated adults and children may not visit the Retreat. Proof of vaccination required the first time you visit. Ou...r staff is fully vaccinated. -We are limiting tours to 8 people or less. YOU MUST CALL US AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE TO SCHEDULE A TOUR. Our phone:(845)687-4574. Our tour hours are 2-5pm. -MASKS: REQUIRED -SOCIAL DISTANCING REQUIRED IN THE SHRINE -NO DROP-IN VISITS. As stated above, you must call us at least 24 hours in advance. FOR OUR MEDITATING FRIENDS: If you are only coming to use the shrine for meditation. The Manor House will be locked. You will need to ring the doorbell. During the group meditation times the door will be open. GROUP MEDITATION TIMES: 6-7am 6-7pm THE RETREAT CLOSES AT 7pm SHARP. People have many reasons for not getting the Covid vaccine.We recognize that. Here is the reality for an organization like Ridgely that relies on the support of our visitors and friends: The Covid restrictions that currently exist for places like ours are all waived for the vaccinated public but not for the unvaccinated. That makes it possible for us to re-open on a limited basis only. We will do this, unless the pandemic takes another unforeseen turn. We look forward to the day when all restrictions will no longer apply. That day, realistically speaking, won’t be anytime soon. With all the above in mind, and because we have enjoyed meeting new friends via Zoom, we will be continuing our Zoom classes- the Wednesday Gita class and the Sunday Ask the Sisters class, both every week at 5:30pmEDT.

Dear Friends, Vivekananda Retreat, Ridgely will remain closed throughout the month of August, 2020. I have to admit that the question of how safe it is to open the retreat has hijacked many of my morning meditations. It has really weighed on my mind. Many people have asked us when we are going to open. Understandably they want to escape the city and visit a beautiful, quiet place such as Ridgely. As I mentioned last month, I am following the other local religious/spiritual ce...nters that have a situation similar to ours- places where living space is shared, meals are communal, and visitors are moving through the same spaces where the staff lives. These centers remain closed and so will we. This is the reality of the pandemic. In my hijacked meditations when I weigh the lives of the staff and visitors against the need for a drive in the country to get away, the choice is clear. We are not open.Unfortunately, this could last much longer than we imagined back in March. See more

Dear Friends, As most of you know, Vivekananda Retreat has been closed during the winter. Now, due to the Covid -19 pandemic, we will remain closed until the CDC determines that it is safe to return to normal social interactions. This means no visits to Ridgely at all! The Manor House will be locked, the shrine not available. I am working on a plan to live-stream our Sunday class, either using Zoom or our Facebook business page. I would like to offer some of my thoughts rega...Continue reading

Many apologies for neglecting our page. Now it is winter and we have more time. This morning, more than 1 foot of snow. That means the retreat is now closed until winter conditions improve. Our internal roads are dangerously slippery and ,as you can see, the snow is piled high. We won't allow any visitors for a few weeks. Or, depending on the weather, it could be spring before we open again.

We have re-opened the retreat to day visitors. On April 1 we will open up for overnight visitors. The usual requirements apply: please call in advance if you wish to visit the retreat as a day visitor. Please make reservations via our website for overnight stays at least 5 days in advance. If you are coming just to sit in our meditation room and have visited before, then you do not need to let us know. We have many friends who use our shrine room between the hours of 6am and ...6pm. We have group meditations from 6-7am and 6-7pm after a short vespers service. Retreat with Pravrajika Gitaprana Saturday May 4 Puja/Ritual Worship Intensive Ritual plays an important role in every religious and spiritual tradition. It is a way to link the individual seeker with Divine Reality in a particular setting, using an established ritual structure. In India, the ritual usually is called ‘puja’ and has been practiced in various forms for millennia. Over this vast amount of time puja, in addition to serving as a focus for devotion, has come to include layers of nuanced philosophy and what might be called ‘yogic technology’ for lack of a better term. Puja in the Hindu tradition centers around the idea that the infinite, all-pervading Divine, the source of all being, can choose to appear in one particular place, and image when invoked/requested by the one who performs the puja and the ones who attend. There are many kinds of puja. In fact, in the wonderfully eclectic and inclusive Indian spiritual tradition, there are many ways of doing the same puja! In this intensive we will be talking about the puja associated with the Divine Mother. We will talk about the power of mantra and the sound universe, the subtle forms of divinity known as yantra/mandala, the 2 very powerful meditations that are part of the puja, and the order and meaning of the parts of the puja. We won’t be teaching you how to do it yourself as that usually requires formal initiation by a qualified teacher. Please come and join us if you are interested in entering into the world of the Divine Mother and her worship. If you wish to attend this retreat as a day visitor please register by sending an email or calling us. Email: [email protected] Phone: 845 687-4574 If you wish to register as an overnight guest please go to ridgely.org and fill out the overnight application. June 13-15 Retreat with Swami Sarvadevananda We will announce the topic and schedule next month.

This could be done at Ridgely this morning. We are wearing our outdoor clothes in the house. Even with the furnaces blazing away it's only about 49degrees inside in most rooms. Grateful that we do have a warm place to stay unlike so many others.