Diamond Approach Teachers:
Kathleen Graham, Kara Vangen, and Jim Lockridge
February 23-25, 2024
This retreat is completely online via Zoom
Some spaces are available at the Christine Center if you wish to participate from a room or hermitage at the retreat center.
“In tenderness, you see not the reflection of yourself, but the reflection of your own soul.”
~John O’Donohue
Retreat Teaching
The sprouting of a new seedling is a delicate unfoldment. It needs special care to survive and grow. The same is true when something new is emerging in our soul. We also require a delicate attunement to ourselves to grow and mature.
Compassion is an essential quality of our nature that is integral to our inner journey and crucial to our development as human beings. It is an antidote to the harshness of our inner critic and illuminates our tendency to self-reject.
Just like the flower, it is hard to open unless the conditions are right. Without compassion, our quest to know ourselves becomes stagnant and the inner gates of our process can close rather than remain open.
Please join us for this retreat where we will explore the qualities of the Green Latifa; Essential Compassion, and start to look at what both blocks compassion and what helps to develop it.
Retreat Structure
This is an ongoing retreat group in the initial stages of the Diamond Approach work. We are meeting 4 weekends a year, with a mix of in-person and online retreats. As the group gets established, additional sessions will be added which will extend the retreat.
Weekend retreats will be composed of meditation, breath and movement practices, lectures, and self-reflection, exercises geared toward connecting with our True Nature and facilitating the unfoldment of our souls.
Schedule: Friday evening thru Sunday at noon. Time: Friday 7-9:30PM, Saturday 9:00AM-8:30PM, and Sunday 9:00AM-12:00PM. At 6 PM on Friday there is an introduction to the retreat for new people and anyone interested in reviewing the retreat format and practices at 6 pm on Friday.
You are invited accompany others who are exploring the Diamond Approach spiritual path. This weekend we will meet together online.
In-person retreats will be held at the Christine Center in Willard, WI. The Christine Center offers a serene, natural environment that enhances and supports inner exploration and integration. You may also choose to attend our online retreats from a hermitage or room at the Christine Center.
“If there’s anyone else you know who’s under 40 and on the fence about checking out the DA, here’s the link to the scholarship fund: https://dayouthfund.org/. It can be for the first retreat, either online or residential in-person and can also cover child care costs!”
This retreat marks the beginning of our exploration into the five Lataif; a group of essential aspects that not only enrich our lives but help us build the capacity for spiritual deepening in all aspects of our development.
More Information about Midwest 4 Diamond Approach Retreats
The Diamond Approach is the core teaching of the Ridhwan School (www.diamondapproach.org) and has been in existence since 1977. The method has become well known through the many books published by A.H. Almaas and the multiple opportunities currently to participate in Diamond Approach retreats throughout the world.
The Diamond Approach path was first introduced in the Midwest in 1996. This new group, DA Midwest Group 4, will be an open group, accepting new students for the next few years. The current teachers have been members of the school for over 25 years and live and practice in various places in the Midwest.
Registration
This retreat is held completely online
Cost: $175
There are spaces available at the Christine Center if you wish to participate from the retreat center. Prices listed below.
All Inclusive Online Retreat Pricing Options
Listed pricing includes all housing, meals, and program fee
Online Participation:
$175
Lodging Options:
Single Modern Hermitage: $565
Single Room in Main Building: $503
Single Rustic Hermitage: $409
Please contact our main office to make your reservation for any of the following (715-267-7507 or welcome@christinecenter.org):
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- To reduce the number of meals you would like
- If you need to make special arrangements
- If you would like to reserve pet friendly accommodations
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Cabin Bedroom: A private bedroom with 1 to 2 beds located on the property in a shared cabin; shared kitchenette; shared bathroom and shower.
Guest Room-Main Building: A private bedroom with 2 beds and private bathroom located in the main building.
Rustic Hermitage: One room cottage with anywhere from 1 to 2 beds; living area. No bathroom or kitchenette. Modern bath and shower facilities are located on the property.
Meet the Teachers
Kathleen Graham, RN, MS, she/her
Diamond Approach Teacher
Kathleen is an ordained Diamond Approach teacher (2016), and student member of the Ridhwan School (1996 – current). Her primary interest and passion is with health and wellness, and personal transformation, whether working as a hospice/ oncology nurse or Diamond Approach teacher. She continues to recognize and trust the alchemical process of transformation that can happen as one is engaged in the immediacy of one’s experience. She offers an open-hearted invitation to the inner journey that can open in ever-deepening ways to the preciousness of one’s truth.
Kara Vangen, MSW, CHTP, she/hers
Diamond Approach Teacher
Kara is passionate about doing the, “deep inner work” required to show up authentically in life and community and believes that our value and happiness as human beings arises from our ability to illuminate our inner life. She has been a member of the Ridhwan school for 25 years and is an ordained Diamond Approach teacher.
Kara’s professional experience includes front line work as a social worker in community mental health and as a Mental Health Therapist where she combines traditional and complimentary health practices to address mental health. She is co-director of the Cauldron Studies program which centers spiritual practice in both the study of culture and the sacred feminine. She has been teaching and working with others for over 20 years.
Jim Lockridge
Diamond Approach Teacher
Jim Lockridge is an ordained teacher of the Diamond Approach where he has been a student since 1998 and began working with students in 2012. He is a lifelong investigator of both the physical and spiritual worlds. Jim began his spiritual quest at age 14 when he first discovered Catholicism and soon became an altar boy. He was a research scientist for 40 years, an auto-mechanic, a floor waxer, army reservist, meditator, school bus driver, gardener, high-school summer teacher, father of 2 daughters, grandfather and lately, an expert popsicle developer. He currently lives in St. Paul with his lovely wife, Stephanie. Jim is passionate about teaching others how to investigate and reveal the truth of who they are.
2024 Retreat Dates and Venue
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February 23-35 (online)
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May 31-June 2 (in-person)
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August 30-September 1 (in-person)
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November 1-3 (online)
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