We are offering another opportunity to sit alone among the rocks and bushes of Madre Grande. We call this experience the Desert Solo Experience (DSE).
The next DSE will be May 25-29, 2025— It is usually quite beautiful out there at Madre Grande Monastery at this time of year, especially if there has been rain during the winter. The days are not too hot and the nights not too cold. Usually quite comfortable. Unless, of course, Mother Nature decides to surprise us, which she does regularly these days.
Being alone with oneself and with the natural world. People have known the value of this kind of experience for hundreds of years. And now, when the beings of the Earth and the Being of the Earth herself is endangered, it is more and more important that we make an intimate connection to the sacredness of the natural world; that we connect to the Quiet and our Inmost Being in this way.
If something in you has been asking for this and it seems like the right time to do such a thing, give me a call or send me an email.
Here is what one woman said after sitting for 3 days:
“What lingers still is this; beyond the stress, noise and busyness of life, there is a stillness deep inside of me that has become my touchstone. I’m not saying that I’m not still affected by the challenges of everyday life, but now there is a peaceful presence I didn’t have access to prior to my Desert Solo Experiences. Now I know this stillness…this presence is my essential nature.
It is always within me…and it is accessible.” (Heather)
And another:
“The desert solo is a feast for the senses. It will broaden your perspective, soften your edges, and make you melt in the horizon of love.”
Thank you for facilitating these wonderous experiences Joseph. — (Marie, Sept. 2023)
And this:
” I have done every event you can imagine — Tony Robbins, Wake-up Warrior, all kinds of personal development, Dale Carnegie, read tons of books on stuff like this and nothing has been more impactful than the self revelation I’ve had this past 3 days! — Realizing how important things are that I wasn’t aware of, I wasn’t even present to realize what I was missing out on. Getting up on this hill and to be able to realize the importance of my life and the importance of the people who love me and care for me has been mind-blowing.” (Mike)
I am not sure it matters where you sit,
except that you do choose to sit somewhere, and
that place becomes your place,
and your experience is intimately connected to place.
Any place can become home,
can become the cradling place
that gives birth to something new in you,
that gives birth to you…
What matters is placing yourself in the hands of emptiness;
the emptiness of not eating,
the emptiness of nothing to have to do,
the cradling hands of rest.
What matters is being released from the small hands of time
and living in the slow movements of the sun, moon and stars
being freed from our straight-line world,
the habitual boxes we live and move around in
and roam for a while in the open spaces and
mysterious forms of nature,
in the inner dream landscapes of our being
and the undefined territory of prayer.
Here the secret passageway opens
and everything becomes a sign, a teacher –
(from a poem by Joseph Rubano)
During the Solo you agree to take away most of the things you habitually reach for when you are in any way inwardly uneasy — the phone, the computer, a book, food, drink, a friend.
Here you are invited, almost forced, to be with yourself, with your mind, your thoughts and feelings. To meet and not avoid or turn away.
You are not totally alone — you can reach for, open to, the sky, the stars, the birds, the bushes, the rocks, your breath. Open to the silence, stillness that is always available to you underneath the noise of the mind. Let go, Let be, Let in. Take a drink of the simple clear water by your side and open.
Cost: For 3 days: $480 donation. Donations cover preparatory and follow up meetings as well as the actual 5-6 day process (including meals) and fees to Madre Grande for camping and wood. If money is an issue, talk to me, we will make it work. If money is plentiful and your experience is rich, you are welcome to donate more! $80 deposit required to hold a space.Interested?? — I can be reached at 760-576-7573 or josrubano@hotmail.com. I hope to meet you soon.