The Method in Madness Institute

Don't hide the madness. 

I used to think I was mad to want to be a saint, but now what have I got to fear? People’s opinions? (…)

The effect is to release self and audience from a false and self-denying self-deprecating image of ourselves which makes us feel like smelly shits and not the angels which we most deeply are.

ALLEN GINSBERG

The third and last event in the MiMi Summer 2024 The Roots of Writing Practice writing season will study the way another prominent Beat poet and essayist, Allen Ginsberg, integrated poetry and meditation.

We'll see how, for him, "the life of meditation and the life of art are both based on a similar conception of spontaneous mind," not only in his own work but also already in that of the authors that were at the center of the first two Summer MiMi Retreats, Arthur Rimbaud and Jack Kerouac, as well as Ezra Pound, William Carlos William, and even Shakespeare.

But what does that mean, concretely? What is it that meditation and literature have in common, for Ginsberg, and how to use that recognition to further develop a writing style that is simultaneously a form of meditation, of "self-liberation"?

Ginsberg shows that it is a matter of spontaneous "pure perception," a Buddhist notion that he links to the long tradition, in English-speaking literature and philosophy, of the rejection of abstract thinking and a predilection of the "minute particulars" (William Blake), the details of what is right in front of us.

How to practice this form of "spontaneous awareness" while writing? And to what extent is it similar to Natalie Goldberg's Writing Practice Rules? 

That's what we'll see during the MiMi END OF SUMMER 2024 Retreat on SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 15! 

PRACTICAL INFO

The event begins at

9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET, 5 pm UK, 6 pm Paris-Amsterdam

and ends 4 hours later.

FEE: 49 USD

A recording of the retreat will be available within about a week after the event.

The MiMi Scholarship Fund has a limited number of places for those who need financial assistance to be able to benefit from our community's activities too (see below).

This is only possible thanks to the generosity of our donors, so if you can afford it, please add a donation to your order during checkout. Every little bit helps!

FOR WHOM?

MiMi retreats are open to anyone interested in writing, literature, and mindfulness. No meditation or Natalie Goldberg writing practice background is necessary. Whether you're a seasoned writer or simply curious about the intersection of mindfulness and writing, this event is open to any level of experience. All that's required is an open heart and a willingness to explore.

FACILITATOR

Anja Van Rompaey is a published author, philosopher, and certified Trauma-Sensitive meditation teacher (trained in teaching Jon Kabat-Zinn's MBSR, Mark Williams' Mindfulness, and Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach's Awareness meditation programs). She led the writing practice community EU Writing Down the Bones for more than four years and founded The Method in Madness Institute (MiMi), a MindX SRL division dedicated to helping participants learn how to meditate, read the classics in world literature, philosophize, and use writing practice as an authentic Zen "study of the mind" - or to take their practice to the next level.

At present, Anja teaches the Compassionate Writing Year program and a weekly seminar on Suzuki Roshi's classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Passionate about writing, reading, mindfulness, and sharing her knowledge and expertise wherever possible, she has organized over fifty half-day and full-day online Sit Walk Write Retreats. She's currently a student of Mingyur Rinpoche.

To apply for a scholarship click HERE. 

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We guarantee a full refund until 24 hours before the day of the event.