Letting go in love; cultivating a relationship with my own death Course facilitator – a training with Anne Overzee
‘This course is a contemplative path we can choose to walk together now, wherever we are in our lives. We can never know how or when we will die, but those who work with the dying often share the view that for some it can be a time of healing and spiritual transformation. Bringing compassion to our current feelings, thoughts and unspoken half-conscious intuitions concerning our own death at this point, can help us shape our own death awareness into an inner ‘staff’ to support us as we go forward. In addition, we will explore the existential territory of our mortality through reflection, textual study and collective enquiry. The fundamental intention underlying the course is to enable us to live with a greater sense of joy and aliveness at the heart of our experience, and to die our ‘little deaths’ with more openness to grace.
Sometimes we can only imagine what it might be like to walk alongside those we care for, and our loved ones, with hearts that can open and close appropriately and naturally when faced with the threshold of death. But if we choose to let go and enter the threshold of our own death now, perhaps our practice in this territory can enable this to become possible, so that our hollowed out hearts can let more love shine through.
Who is eligible?
The course is designed especially for those who are involved professionally or personally in caring for those at the end of life, since while many of us are familiar with co-creating circles of compassionate care around others, we are not accustomed to wrapping around ourselves such deep-hearted intentionality and care. In addition, anyone who feels drawn to this territory is welcome to attend and to this end, it is possible to take a module as a one-off in addition to choosing to follow all three modules as a path
Module One: Being on Thresholds of the Unknown
Let this darkness be a bell tower
And you the bell…
Rilke: Sonnets to Orpheus
In Module One we will have the opportunity to enter the thresholds of our own fragility and mortality, and to call in the potency of love to surround and bless us as we commit to this journey together. Silence will be a key thread running through our days together, and we shall spend time tending to ourselves with heart as we listen to what arises and speaks to us in the moment. Working with the senses, symbolism and wordcraft we will explore our experience together of the implicate realm where death and life can be experienced as a non-dual ground state of being.
Module Two: Dreaming my Dying
In this uncontainable night,
Be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
The meaning discovered there…
Rilke: Sonnets to Orpheus
In Module Two we will explore the dying process, especially drawing on Tibetan understandings of the dissolution of the senses. Using guided visualization practices and image work we will open the door of the ‘love-window’, to let the ‘moon’ of our being-nature reveal to us in the present the simple things that matter to us, giving us meaning.
Module Three: Moments of Recognition in Life and Death
And if the world has ceased to hear you,
Say to the silent Earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am….
Rilke: Sonnets to Orpheus
Module Three will provide opportunities for sharing our collective wisdom gathered in our lives so far, as well as on this path, concerning opportunities to surrender, and to allow the veils protecting our hearts to gently dissolve in love. Is dropping into the transparent immediacy of our present experience enough to enable us to taste deathlessness? We will consider what we draw on to nourish ourselves so that we are resourced enough to bring our hearts more fully into our work, our world. This deep learning can help us continue to cultivate a relationship with our own death, which by now may be felt as our lifelong ‘staff’ and companion.
Dates, timings and location
The workshops will be held in Northern Italy in the lovely surroundings of Maguzzano Abbey on Lake Garda in Via Maguzzano 4, Lonato (BS) in the following dates:
– from Wednesday 15th of April to Sunday 19th of April 2026;
– from Wednesday 30th of September to Sunday 4th of October 2026;
– from Wednesday 14th of April to Sunday 18th of September 2027.
The modules will start on Wednesday afternoon and finish on Sunday at lunchtime.
The Abbey is less than 15 minutes drive from the train station of Desenzano, from which you can reach it with a local taxi (cost approx. 15 euros).
The closest international airport is Verona (about 35 minutes drive) or Bergamo Orio al Sorio (1 hour drive).
Participation fee
The cost of the whole Training is 1470 euros plus 25 € for the annual registration in the organization. The participation fee for a single module is 590 euros plus 25 € for the annual registration in the organization.
The payment has to be done through bank transfer to:
Associazione Sati Mudita
Iban IT83 E030 6909 6061 0000 0128 339
Bic BCITITMM
Causal: Surname and Name of the Participant – Letting go in love
Or through the following paypal account: segreteria@satimudita.com
The cost for room and board is 80 euros per night in single room with private bathroom or 70 euros.
Anne Overzee
(M.A. (Cantab.), Ph.D.; E.A.P. reg. psychotherapist)
Anne’s work over the years has been on the interface between spiritual practice and psychotherapy. She has always been interested in how contemplative practice can help transform our experience of daily life, of being in relationship, and of deepening our capacity to live in the moment and with greater open heartedness. After years working in the field of psychotherapy (‘mindfulness in relationship’), her main focus now is in working with others keen to explore ways of living as a committed contemplative actively engaged in the world. Following her first degree at Cambridge University in Theology and Religious Studies, Anne’s subsequent research in eastern spiritual practices was in India where she lived between 1975-77. She subsequently studied for her doctorate in Religious Studies (The Body Divine: Cambridge University Press, 1986) while completing her training to become a Psychotherapist, and her work with clients, supervisees and training groups as a staff member of Karuna Institute, U.K. spanned the following 40 years. Her psychospiritual approach comes from Core Process Psychotherapy, which was then a completely innovative approach integrating Buddhist awareness practices and psychology with western psychotherapy. She has been practising Buddhism since the 1970’s when she went to Dharmasala, the seat of H.H. Dalai Lama.
How do I apply?
For any further information and to apply please write to: segreteria@satimudita.com
Please note: it is recommended that if you have experienced a recent death or loss (within two years) you consider delaying your start to this course. If you have any queries about this or anything else please contact: segreteria@satimudita.com
For further information and enrollments, please fill the form below or write to: segreteria@satimudita.com
