Non Duality Retreat with Francis Lucille in Madrid, Week 2

The retreat begins on Saturday the 21st March at 17:00 with a dialogue open to everyone interested in Francis’s teaching. It concludes on Friday the 27th March at 14:00.

Organizer: Eva Núñez Pérez

Email: [email protected] . Eva is happy to answer any query ( from meeting room to accomodation, from the fundamentals of Francis´ teaching to the most practical matters ), and is grateful to receive your emails to confirm attendance.

Please do not contact the retreat venue, always email Eva.

Schedule

March 21st : Dialogue at 17:00

March 22nd to 26th: Meditation and dialogues from 16:00 to 20:00

March 27th: Satsang from 10:00 to 14:00

Retreat venue: Casa de Espiritualidad Rafaela María (casarafaelamaria.org) is a quiet convent where we are welcome to use the meeting room and garden.It is located in the Chamberí district, a beautiful and historic area of Madrid, part of which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site (whc.unesco.org/en/list/1618). Please do not contact the convent directly, for any questions write to Eva [email protected]

Accomodation and meals: The retreat is non residential, neither room nor meals are supplied. In this manner, every attendee will have the freedom to choose them in accordance with their preferences, budget or needs. Madrid is a large city with excellent public transportation (especially metro and bus), so it is easy to find options to suit everyone in these very diverse and cosmopolitan gatherings. At the end of the page you’ll find guidance to choose accommodation.

Languages: English with no translations.

Tuition Fee: The standard tuition fee is $ 990,00 (aprox.850,00 €), the early bird discount fee is $ 880,00 (aprox.750,00 €). An additional processing fee of about 7% will be charged by Eventbrite upon reservation. There are 20 early bird tickets available on a first come, first serve basis until January 31, 2026.

Venue fee: €50 per retreat, to be paid in cash during the retreat.

Other retreats in Spain and Europe: Only 2 weeks of retreats in Madrid during March.

No other retreat is scheduled in Europe apart from the one in Germany during the summer.

Accommodation Guide

Since satsang takes place just in the afternoon, you can devote some time to get to the retreat venue and therefore it is possible to choose accommodation outside of the Chamberí district, where the retreat center is. However, as Madrid is a large city, the travel time to the retreat venue can vary significantly, please take that into account .You can check routes and estimated travel times at rome2rio.com or on Google Maps.

Hostels

Ideal for those looking for a very affordable option.

The Spanish Youth Hostel Network (REAJ) is a non-profit organization offering excellent prices and good quality.Many hostels also provide meals. Don’t be misled by the word youth — they welcome guests of all ages.

There are also numerous privately run hostels listed, for instance, on hostelworld.com.

Vacation Apartments:

You´ll find useful to know the street of the retreat venue: Paseo del General Martínez Campos , 12.

If you would like to share an apartment with other attendees, do ask Eva, the organiser. She will give you a link to a whatsapp group for those attending the retreat.

Useful platforms to search for apartments:

• holidu.es
• hometogo.es
• luxuryrentalsmadrid.com
• airbnb.es

Hotels

A short selection of the many hotels nearby:

• Hotel Miguel Ángel by BlueBay
• Hotel Juan de Austria
• InterContinental Madrid
• Hyatt Regency Hesperia Madrid
• Barceló Emperatriz
• AA Serrano Hotel
• Petit Palace President Castellana

Inspired by Jean Klein, Francis´ Teachings on Advaita Vedanta merge nonduality with art, music, and science, offering a transformative path full of depth and beauty.

Francis Lucille is a spiritual teacher in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta. A longtime friend and disciple of Jean Klein, whom he met in 1975, Francis conveys the ancient wisdom of non-duality, the common foundation of Advaita Vedanta, Chan Zen Buddhism, Taoism, and Sufism.

His teachings reflect those of his master, Jean Klein. Jean met his guru in India in the early 1950s and studied with him for several years. Later, he studied the traditions of Kashmir Shaivism with Dibianandapuri and Hatha Yoga with the renowned teacher Krishnamacharya. Jean Klein was an Acharya, that is, a guru who, having realized the shared truth of all spiritual paths, could teach across many traditions with equal ease. He loved the humor of the Zen patriarchs, the elegant poetry of Rumi and the Sufi tradition, and the sweetness of the Christian expression of the Absolute by Meister Eckhart. His teachings embody his love for art and music, addressing the needs of a demanding intellect while focusing heavily on the perceptual and sensory aspects of our experience.

Francis' teachings reflect this same appreciation for humor, art, music, and poetry, further integrating his own passion for the sciences, derived from his background in Mathematics and Physics. His pedagogical approach is characterized by its intellectual rigor and an emphasis on the investigation of the body and its sensations. He guides meditation and yoga inspired by the Tantric and Hatha Yoga traditions, in addition to traditional Advaita dialogues (satsang).

“Simply, remain in waiting without waiting. You are the love in everything you love. You are the beauty in everything you behold. You are the intelligence in everything you understand. You are the sweetness in all things.”

The term Advaita is a Sanskrit word that literally means "not two." This refers to the highest teaching of Advaita Vedanta: that there is only one reality. Advaita, often translated as non-duality, is not a philosophy or a religion. It is the experience of our true nature, which is revealed as absolute happiness, love, and beauty.

Advaita, in its purest form, is transmitted from generation to generation by a line of sages. Ramana Maharshi, Krishna Menon, and Jean Klein were such sages who taught in the 20th century. Their approach was distinctive in that they directly pointed to the experience of a spiritual aspirant's true nature. This teaching, Advaita Vedanta, is called the direct path.

Across traditions and methodologies, sages from various backgrounds converge on a shared recognition of non-duality. This understanding is shared in the teaching of the founders of all the world's great religions and traditions.

Hinduism: "That which is not (objects as separate from the Self) never comes to be, and that which is (The Self) never ceases to be." (Bhagavad Gita)

Hinduism, Kashmir Shaivism: "Oh Wonder! This illusion, though expressed in multiplicity, is nothing but secondless consciousness. Ah, all is pure self-aware essence!" (Abhinavagupta)

Sufism: "There is nothing but God"

Zen Buddhism: "Question: When a sound ceases, does consciousness cease? Answer: Consciousness never ceases" (HuiHai)

Hinduism, Kashmir Shaivism: "The universe awakens when You awaken and disappears when You withdraw. Therefore, the entirety of existence and non-existence is one with you." (Abhinavagupta)

Christianity: "Jesus said: 'I' is the light (of consciousness) that shines upon all things. 'I' is the All from which everything emanates and to which everything returns." (Thomas, 186)

Enlightenment is the sudden recognition that non-duality is, has always been, and will always be the reality of our experience. Self-realization is the subsequent stabilization in the peace, happiness, and freedom of our natural state.

A living master is, in most cases, necessary to facilitate both enlightenment and self-realization. While any person or thing can serve as an upa guru, pointing a seeker the way, it is ultimately the karana guru who serves as the final teacher, guiding the disciple through the last stages of realization. A relationship of love, freedom, and friendship leads to stabilization in the happiness and peace of our true nature.