An Enlightenment Intensive is a group retreat designed to enable an enlightenment experience or an experience of

nondualism Nondualism includes a number of philosophical and spiritual traditions that emphasize the absence of fundamental duality or separation in existence. This viewpoint questions the boundaries conventionally imposed between self and other, min ...

within a relatively short time. Devised by Americans Charles Berner and his wife, Ava Berner, the format combines the

self-enquiry Self-enquiry, also spelled self-inquiry (Sanskrit ''vichara'', also called ''jnana-vichara'' or '), is the constant attention to the inner awareness of "I" or "I am" recommended by Ramana Maharshi as the most efficient and direct way of discove ...

meditation method popularised by

Ramana Maharshi Ramana Maharshi (; ; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu Sage (philosophy), sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was b ...

with

interpersonal communication Interpersonal communication is an exchange of information between two or more people. It is also an area of research that seeks to understand how humans use verbal and nonverbal cues to accomplish several personal and relational goals. Communica ...

processes in a structure that resembles both a traditional

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

sesshin A ''sesshin'' (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive meditation (zazen) retreat in a Japanese Zen monastery, or in a Zen monastery or Zen center that belongs to one of the Japanese Zen trad ...

'' (meditation retreat) and

group psychotherapy Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. The term can legitimately refer to any form of psychotherapy when delivered in a group format, i ...

. Religious teachings and philosophical concepts are generally avoided. Charles Berner (1927 – 2007), who was later known as Yogeshwar Muni, created the Enlightenment Intensive. In the 1960s, he formed the Institute of Ability where he and his wife Ava promoted "holistic health techniques such as fasting and massage, communication exercises like those used in encounter groups, emotional release therapies, past life regression, and a host of other modalities popular among the 1960s counterculture." In spring 1968, it "just suddenly occurred" to Charles Berner - "what source it came from I know not but it wasn't a process of sitting down and figuring it out"Quoted in - to combine meditation methods with the structure of an interpersonal workshop.

References

Meditation Spiritual retreats Large-group awareness training {{spirituality-stub