Green Latifa Retreat, Mandali, Italy
Essential Compassion The Courage to Feel
A residential retreat with Emilio Mercuriali in the Diamond Logos lineage of Faisal Muqaddam.
There is a kind of tenderness that most people have learned to protect themselves from. Not because it is weak, because it is overwhelming. The capacity to feel what is actually here, without filtering, without managing, without the usual distance we maintain between ourselves and our own hearts.
This is not sentimentality. It is the most precise instrument a human being has.
The Work
The Green Latifa is the quality of essential compassion, not the compassion of trying to be kind, but the natural tenderness that arises when the heart is undefended. It is what allows a person to be genuinely touched by their own experience and by others without losing themselves.
When this quality is lost, and for most of us it was buried under layers of self-protection, the personality creates substitutes. False compassion: people-pleasing, merging with others, avoiding conflict at all costs, performing kindness while the real heart stays hidden behind the wall.
In this retreat we work directly with that wall. What built it, what maintains it, and what it costs a person to live with a defended heart. The territory includes the fear of vulnerability, the confusion between weakness and sensitivity, the patterns of merging and withdrawing, not as problems to fix but as maps leading back to the real thing.
When the defences around the heart soften, something becomes available that was always there. Not a sentimental warmth, a radical sensitivity that can hold anything.
The Format
This is a residential retreat. When you step out of ordinary life for several days, something becomes available that isn't available otherwise. The usual supports fall away. What remains is closer to what is actually true.
Each day includes teaching and guided self-inquiry. The teaching is precise, it maps the territory of the Green Latifa, its obstructions, its movement. But this is not a seminar. The Logos, the teaching itself, carries a direct transmission. Something in the words, when received in the right conditions, does not merely inform. It activates.
Self-inquiry then works with what has been activated. The understanding that emerges is not added to what you already know. It moves through you differently.
Who This Is For
This retreat is for people who have done inner work and want to go deeper. Prior experience with meditation, inquiry, or psychological work is expected. You need to be willing to look honestly at yourself, at where you defend, where you withdraw, and what you have been afraid to feel.
This is not an introduction to the work.
About Emilio Mercuriali
Emilio Mercuriali has been teaching in the Diamond Logos lineage for over 25 years. His work integrates the direct investigation of essential nature with a precise psychological understanding of the structures that obscure it. He is an authorized teacher of the Diamond Logos teachings of Faisal Muqaddam, and teaches internationally in Italy, Japan, and online.
Writings
Further reading on the themes of this retreat by Emilio Mercuriali
Why Vulnerability Feels Dangerous
The Difference Between Real Kindness and People-Pleasing
The Map: Psychological Architecture of the Human Being
Through his teachings, I discovered both my strengths and my limitations, and gained deep insight into patterns that were holding me back. With his guidance, I found a deeper connection with myself and tools that continue to support my growth.
, Jeanette Brynildsen, Norway
Practical Details
- Dates
- Autumn 2027 (exact dates coming soon)
- Location
- Mandali Retreat Centre, Italy
- Price
- Varies by accommodation, contact Mandali directly at [email protected]
- Included
- Full board. Single, twin, premium, shared rooms and hermitage available.
The Five Essential Qualities
Tap any point to explore a different quality
Book Your Place
Contact Mandali Retreat Centre directly for availability, accommodation options, and pricing.