July 16—21, 5 days with Andrea Fella and Greg Scharf (Friday-Wednesday)
Vipassana and Metta Retreat: Wise Attention and
Opening the Heart
This Vipassana and Metta retreat will emphasize how the understanding of wisdom in present moment awareness opens the heart to the beautiful qualities of love and compassion. We will explore how the wisdom teachings of Buddhism point us to directly touch and understand our experience. We will also offer the practice of Metta, or Lovingkindness, which brings kindness and compassion to our relationships, not only with others, but to our own experience.
Andrea Fella has been practicing Insight Meditation since 1996, and was quickly drawn to intensive retreat practice. She has done many retreats of several months in length, both in the U.S. and Burma. She has practiced both as a lay person and as a nun. Her Burmese teachers include Sayadaw U Pandita, Sayadaw U Janaka, and Sayadaw U Tejaniya. Her main American teachers include Joseph Goldstein, Gil Fronsdal, and Carol Wilson. Andrea has been teaching residential retreats since 2006. She also teaches classes at the Insight Meditation Center (IMC) in Redwood City, California, and works closely with Gil Fronsdal to create IMC's programs. She is especially drawn to the wisdom teachings of the Buddha. Her teachings emphasize clarity and practicality. She has taught residential retreats at IMC, Cloud Mountain and Spirit Rock.
Greg Scharf began meditation practice in 1992. He has studied with a variety of teachers both in Asia and the west, and has trained as a Buddhist monk in Burma at Panditarama and Chanmyay Yeiktha Meditation Centers. Greg has served on staff at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and as manager for the annual foreign yogis' retreat at Kyaswa Monastery in upper Burma. He has also served as attendant to Vens. Sayadaw U Pandita, Sayadaw U Lakkhanna, and Pa-Auk Sayadaw. Greg has been teaching residential retreats since 2007. His teaching emphasizes the natural unfolding of love and wisdom through the cultivation of mindful awareness.
Click here for information pertaining to arrival, departure, and general retreat guidelines.
Retreat cost: $300 plus dana offering. Register here.