Living Into Unbroken Wholeness: The Journey from Small Self to Expansive Being

A One-day Meditation Retreat with Dharma Teacher John Bell

A Spirit Week Offering at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Concord, NH

An invitation from our teacher for this retreat, John Bell:

We are whole and unbroken. But we forget this. Or rather, the awareness of our miraculous being gets narrowed, obscured or repressed by a steady stream of hurtful messages or unwholesome experiences from a damaged world. Even if we can’t articulate it, most of us carry an inner sense we are more loving, more generous, more courageous, more creative, more intelligent, more powerful than we can usually show. And most of us long for deeper connections with each other, the natural world, “the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible,” and the fabric of the Great Mystery of life itself.

If any of this resonates with you, please come join us as we explore questions like: Where is home? Where do I belong? What if I embraced myself with unconditional love? What is unbroken wholeness? How can I more deeply touch the ground of being? What do I need to let go of in order to be free? And how is the planetary meta crisis a crisis in our relationships in all dimensions?

The retreat includes silence, guided meditations, poetry, singing, and small group sharing.

Retreat details:

This daylong retreat is offered in-person and online on Saturday, April 18, as part of our annual Spirit Week. The retreat will begin at 9 AM and finish at 4 PM. If you choose to participate, please plan to attend for the full day.

For in person participants: We will be prepared to welcome you from 8:15 AM on—we’ll ask you to arrive in time to settle in so we can begin promptly at 9 AM. Lunch will be offered, with vegan and gluten-free options. 

For online participants: You will receive a Zoom link a few days before the retreat. We’ll ask you to log on at 8:50am on the day of the retreat, to give yourself time to settle in before we begin. Please prepare a lunch for yourself that you can enjoy with the online group.

Registration and Requested Payment: A $25 registration fee is requested for this retreat; this supports our church’s ability to offer this event. You can register here:

If there is a financial barrier around this fee, please register by contacting the church at office@concorduu.org. All participants are welcome, regardless of ability to pay.

During the retreat, you will have the opportunity to offer a donation to our teacher, John Bell, in support of his teaching.

About John Bell 

John Bell is an ordained Buddhist Dharma Teacher in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh.  He has been facilitating the Mountain Bell Sangha in the Boston area since 1997, and offers retreats around the country. He has served on the Plum Village steering committees of the North American Dharma Teachers Sangha; ARISE, the racial justice initiative; Earth Holder Community, the earth justice initiative; and most recently, the Beloved Community Circles for Mindful Action network. In recent years, he has been arrested twice with a group of local faith leaders for protesting the installation of a fracked gas pipeline near Boston, MA. He is a long-time member of the UU church in Belmont, Ma. He is also happy to serve on the EcoDharma Advisory group along with Margaret Fletcher.

In his wider work life, he has 40 years of experience in the youth field as teacher, counselor, community organizer, leadership trainer, director, and father.  He is founding staff member of three youth leadership organizations: Youth Action Program (in 1978) in East Harlem; Children of War (in 1984), an international youth leadership organization; and of YouthBuild USA (in 1988).  Until his recent retirement, John was the Vice President for Leadership Development at YouthBuild USA (www.youthbuild.org), an international nonprofit with 350 programs in 15 countries that works with young people who have dropped out of school and provides them with further education, vocational training building tangible community assets, and leadership skills. He is a nationally recognized trainer and consultant in the areas of youth leadership development, peer counseling and healing, and diversity.  He has done training and consulting work for the Peace Corps in Africa and South America. Besides many published articles and handbooks, he is the author of YouthBuild’s North Star, and his most recent book, Unbroken Wholeness: Six Pathways to the Beloved Community. His blog is “Begin Within,” www.beginwithin.info.