August 8 - 13; Saturday (evening) to Thursday, 5 days with Rebecca Bradshaw

Awareness and Ease

In this traditional vipassana meditation retreat we will explore how relaxation facilitates our connection with natural spacious awareness. By developing a balance of alertness and ease in our meditation practice, we’ll increase our ability to meet the joys and sorrows of life with equanimity and kindness. The retreat will include both insight and loving kindness practices and is appropriate for both beginning and experienced meditators. Yoga/movement meditation will be offered each afternoon.

Rebecca Bradshaw has been practicing vipassana meditation since 1983, and teaching since 1993. She teaches frequently at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, where she leads the teen and young adult retreats and is a member of the annual Three Month Retreat team. Rebecca is the Guiding Teacher of the Insight Meditation Center of Pioneer Valley in Easthampton, MA, and the Buddhist advisor at Mount Holyoke College. She also holds a master's degree in Counseling Psychology and works as a psychotherapist in the inner city. Her teaching emphasizes gentleness, love, and depth in the development of our practice.

Retreat cost: $300 plus dana offering.  Register Here

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August 15 - 29, 14 days with Leigh Brasington and Santikaro

Three Pillars of Practice: the Buddha's own Essentials

In this two week retreat we will take an in-depth look at three of the Buddha's most important teachings: mindfulness with breathing, the jhanas, and dependent co-origination. We will explore these three crucial aspects of the Buddha's own practice and how they can be used to gain insight into the nature of things as they really happen and release us from clinging to suffering. Detailed mindfulness, meditation, and Dhamma teachings will be supplemented with private interviews, posture work, and qigong. This retreat is recommended for practitioners interested in a comprehensive practice based on the original teachings.

Leigh Brasington has been practicing since 1985 and is the senior American student of the late Ven. Ayya Khema. She confirmed Leigh's practice and requested that he begin teaching. Leigh assisted Ven. Ayya Khema's teaching on retreat since 1994, and continues to teach in Europe and North America.Visit Leigh's Web Site.

Santikaro, was ordained as a Theravada monk in 1985, and subsequently trained at Suan Mokkh with Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, a leading Thai teacher, scholar, and reformer of Theravada Buddhism. He became Ajahn Buddhadasa's primary English translator and was abbot of nearby Suan Atammayatarama. He is a founding member of Think Sangha, a community of socially engaged Buddhist thinker-activists that has given special attention to the ethical and spiritual impact of consumerism and militarism. He teaches Buddhism and meditation with an emphasis on the early Pali sources, and is a lucid interpreter of the original teachings and discourses. In 2001, he returned to the USA's Midwest, and to lay life in 2004. He is the founder of Liberation Park, a modern American expression of Buddhist practice, study, and social responsibility within community. There he continues to teach, translate the work of his teacher, and work for a Dhammic society.

Retreat cost: TBA plus dana offering. Register Here

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