Sacred Seeing: A Contemplative Photography Retreat

September 8–11, 2026
Holy Cross Monastery West Park, NY

What if nothing is missing — except our presence?

This four-day contemplative photography retreat is an immersion in sacred seeing. Drawing from the contemplative photography tradition of Miksang (“good eye”), the ancient Christian practice of Visio Divina, and the reflective discipline of photopoetry, we gather at Holy Cross Monastery on the banks of the Hudson River to practice seeing with clarity and devotion.

Within the monastery’s steady rhythm of silence and prayer, we slow down enough to notice what has always been here: color before concept, form before story, light before language. We begin to trust direct perception — the simple, vivid flash that arises before commentary.

 Each day, participants will have the opportunity to create and submit images. Through gentle instruction and shared reflection, these practices refine not only how you experience the monastery grounds, but how you encounter the phenomenal world of your senses. The skills cultivated here extend beyond the retreat, quietly transforming how you move through daily life.

 Visio Divina deepens this work. We sit with images — both our own and those of others — as one might sit with a sacred text: receptive, patient, attentive. Photopoetry completes the arc, pairing image and word in a dialogue that reveals layers of meaning neither could uncover alone.

 No technical mastery is needed. A simple digital camera or smartphone will suffice. What is required is patience, presence, and a willingness to see what is already here.

 About the Retreat Leader

 Tim Auman is a contemplative photography instructor, certified mindfulness educator, spiritual director, and Associate of the Order of the Holy Cross. Based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he served for twenty years as the chaplain of Wake Forest University.

 He teaches contemplative photography at a school for visual art and at the college level, integrating Nalanda Miksang practice, mindfulness, and poetic reflection into his work. Through retreats, courses, and spiritual direction, Tim invites others to cultivate clarity, presence, and reverent attention.

 For Tim, photography is not primarily about self-expression, but about relationship — a way of meeting reality with attentiveness and care, and discovering beauty in the ordinary, the mundane, and the everyday. He and his partner, Heidi, are the parents of four beautiful children.