The Costs of War, Violence & Denial

Admission to this evening program is FREE. No registration is required. Arrive at Omega’s Rhinebeck campus 30 minutes prior to this evening event and check signs at the administration building for event location.

“We who have fought in war know intimately about life and death,” says Claude Anshin Thomas. “We who have been wounded by war—physically, psychologically, and spiritually—need to come together in order to support each other.”

Many of us live with the after effects of war, known as post-traumatic stress. Symptoms include explosive anger, depression, and flashbacks. The attempts of traditional counseling and therapy, although valuable, often leave our spiritual wounds unaddressed. Without doing the work of healing spiritually, we only address the symptoms, and this often does not support a change in our hearts and minds.

In this retreat, we practice many different forms of meditation as a path to healing. “Meditation can simply be understood as the art of discovering what prevents us from living directly,” Thomas says. Thomas also shares his inspiring spiritual odyssey from combat to Buddhism as a road map for any of us who might feel trapped in cyclical patterns of response from any type of traumatic experience. This retreat is open to people of any religious or spiritual tradition.

This program begins at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21 and ends Sunday, October 25 at 12:30 p.m.

The cost of this retreat is substantially funded including tuition, accommodations, and meals. Claude Anshin Thomas does not accept payment for his teachings. Omega is donating a portion of the retreat’s proceeds to the Zaltho Foundation. Additional voluntary donations to the foundation may be made during the retreat.

Claude Anshin Thomas received numerous awards, including the Purple Heart, for his service in the Vietnam War. After struggling with re-entry into society, Thomas studied mindfulness meditation with Thich Nhat Hanh. He is author of At Hell’s Gate and founder of Zaltho Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes peace and nonviolence. zaltho.org