Please join us!
Please join us!
“We all have the potential to abide in loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity. When we know how to do this, these capacities become an inner wealth, more valuable than any outer riches. …Love doesn’t have to be dependent on ideal circumstances; rather, we can learn to recognize, awaken, and develop it so it becomes the natural dwelling place of the heart.”
Gil Fronsdal
In this retreat, we will explore what it means to recognize, awaken, and develop these four Brahmaviharas in our lives as they are actually lived. We will draw from both Buddhist suttas and contemporary poetry to support a direct and embodied experience of these transformational heart qualities.
This retreat is offered through the relational meditation practice of Insight Dialogue. Like our individual silent practice, Insight Dialogue brings together the elements of meditative awareness and the teachings of the Buddha to support the development of wisdom, compassion, and liberating insight. It then adds the element of innate human relatedness. As we meditate together in relationship, we bring our moment-to-moment awareness to what arises as we speak and listen. Each meditator’s discoveries are deepened by the words and experiences of their meditation partner. A set of simple yet profound guidelines supports this practice.
This retreat will include periods of silent meditation, instruction, and in-depth practice of Insight Dialogue in pairs and larger groups. It is appropriate for all levels of experience, including those new to Insight Dialogue. All are welcome!