Daylong Meditation Retreats at Vermont Insight Meditation Center, Neighbors' Hall, Solar Hill 229 Western Avenue, Brattleboro Upcoming Monthly Retreats Sunday March 28th from 10am to 4pm "Appreciative Joy and Yoga" with Cheryl Wilfong and Eowyn Allstrom Appreciative Joy (mudita) meditation practice focuses on the recognition of the many blessings and good fortune in our lives and in the lives of our friends, relatives and acquaintances. Gentle Restorative Yoga cultivates ease and opening in the body. This guided daylong is a rare opportunity to bring both practices together in a silent retreat environment. By alternating sessions of mudita meditation and yoga, we release clinging to comparing mind or self-importance and we expand our heartfelt wishes to the joy and good fortune of all beings everywhere. Please join us for this day of guided sessions of meditation and yoga, open to all. Space is limited, and since we expect a large number of participants, pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Chairs, cushions and mats provided or bring your own. Be sure to bring your own lunch. Tea is provided. Cheryl Wilfong attended her first meditation retreat in 1977. She has a degree in Counseling Psychology from Antioch New England University with a concentration in Mindfulness and completed the Community Dharma Leader training program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in 2008. A co-founder of Vermont Insight, Cheryl has been teaching in southern Vermont since 2001. Eowyn Allstrom is a long time student of yoga and meditation. She is a certified yoga teacher through Karuna Center in Northampton, MA, where she teaches two weekly classes. Eowyn also leads yoga sessions at retreats at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA. She loves to share the synergy of Buddhist meditation and yoga. For more information about Eowyn, visit www.yogawitheowyn.net. To register email information@vermontinsight.org or call 254-7077. There is a $15 registration fee for the day to cover expenses to Vermont Insight. In this tradition, a Dana or generosity offering is made to the teachers at the end of the retreat out of gratitude for the teachings. Retreats offered earlier in 2010 "The Ordinary Way to Freedom" with Kate Wylie -- Sunday February 28th from 10am to 4pm The practices of Buddhist meditation and compassion can seem exotic and extraordinary because they originate in cultures far from here. But this view can be quite detrimental to awakening to the life we actually lead. We can only wake up as simple humans in our limited world. We have all that we need to free ourselves from the oppression of struggling to be different than we are. Our human nature is potentially and already free. The less we add or subtract from that simplicity, the more we will reap the benefits of practice. This day of practice will provide the time and space to explore our life as it is through sitting and walking meditation together with other ordinary humans. Kate Wylie has practiced meditation since 1975 at Insight Meditation Society, Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, and with her current teacher, the Venerable Tsoknyi Rinpoche. She has taught Insight meditation throughout New England for 10 years. Kate trained with Jon Kabat-Zinn in Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction. She is also a graduate of the Social Justice Issues Training Project at UMass. "Introduction to Insight Meditation" with Jack Millett -- Saturday February 20th from 1pm to 5pm Insight Meditation is a direct and simple form of practice that allows one to move towards a more peaceful and awakened state of mind. This practice helps to free the mind and emotions from reactivity, fear and stress, leading to steadiness, wisdom and compassion in everyday life and relationships. The session focuses on a series of short meditations with instructions followed by time for questions and reflections. We begin with a correct posture for meditation – chairs and cushions are available or bring your own. We then move to establishing the breath as the primary object of meditation. Hearing and walking meditation are also introduced. Brief presentations of key principles of Insight Meditation are included at different points throughout the day. Jack Millett is a co-founder of Vermont Insight Meditation Center. He has practiced this path for over 20 years and has been teaching since 1995. Joseph Goldstein and Carol Wilson have been his primary teachers at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. "Every Day Patience, Everyday Wisdom" with Cheryl Wilfong -- Sunday January 24th from 10am to 4pm Patience is one of the ten supreme virtues that the Buddha emphasized for our development as truly human beings. Patience is not about grinning and bearing what is happening, but rather about a spacious quality of mind that allows us to open to life just as it is in the this moment. Patience increases our ease of well-being thereby increasing our wisdom. During this retreat, we explore all of the meanings and practices of patience as well as hindrances to patience that can lead to impatience. Cheryl Wilfong attended her first meditation retreat in 1977. She completed the Community Dharma Leader training program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in 2008. A co-founder of Vermont Insight, Cheryl has been teaching in southern Vermont since 2001. Monthly Retreats offered in 2009 "Things as They are" with Mu Soeng - Sunday November 22 from 10am to 1pm (Half-Day Retreat) The Buddhist understanding of what is true and real has to do with penetrating insight into the nature of phenomena presenting itself to the inquiring mind in each moment. This understanding is the farthest thing from a metaphysical statement of truth. In this workshop, we will explore how the Buddha explained this approach to truth and reality in the Pali Canon, and how we may match our own experience with this explanation. Please join us – open to all. Mu
Soeng is the
program director and a resident scholar at Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in
Barre, MA. He trained in the Korean Zen tradition and was a monk for eleven
years. He is a well-known author of a number of books on Buddhist thought and
practice, including Trust in Mind and the forthcoming The Heart of the
Universe: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra. "Honoring the Fire of Truth" with Myoshin Kelley - Sunday October 25 from 10am to 4pm
Each
of us have an inner yearning to know true happiness and to live in alignment
with what is true. This often gets lost in confusion apathy and despair. Let's
face it, it's not easy to be a human being. During the course of this day we
will explore aspects of the Buddha's teachings and practice that help us to
clarify truth and how we can work with that which undermines our heart's
deepest longing. As we learn to clarify and honor that which is, this gives way
to greater peace and harmony in our lives.
Myoshin Kelley began meditation practice in 1975. Studying with teachers in both the Theravadan and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, she has offered retreats worldwide since 1995. Her teaching style emphasizes a relaxed, caring and attentive attitude combined with joyful interest. She has been the Teacher in Residence at The Forest Refuge, at IMS in Barre, MA since 2003 "Compassion and Yoga" with Claire Stanley and Eowyn Allstrom - Sunday September 27 from 10am to 4pm Compassion (karuna) meditation recognizes the difficulties or pain in our lives and allows the mind to hold it with greater ease. Gentle Restorative Yoga cultivates ease and opening in the body. This guided daylong is a rare opportunity to bring both practices together in a silent retreat environment. By alternating sessions of karuna meditation and yoga, we release long-held mental and physical tensions and expand our awareness toward our own peace, welfare and benefit and that of all beings everywhere. Claire Stanley is Guiding Teacher and Co-Founder of Vermont Insight. She has been a student of meditation since 1986 and has been teaching in the New York/New England area since 1995. Recently, Claire has been turning towards compassion practice in the face of the current circumstances in this world. Eowyn Allstrom is a long time student of yoga and meditation. She is a certified yoga teacher through Karuna Center in Northampton, MA, where she teaches two weekly classes. Eowyn also leads yoga sessions at retreats at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA. She loves to share the synergy of Buddhist meditation and yoga. For more information about Eowyn, visit www.yogawitheowyn.net. "Settling the Heart-Mind into Stillness" with Leigh Brasington - Sunday August 9 from 10am to 4pm This day-long retreat presents an introduction to the jhanas or meditative absorption states that settle the heart-mind and help us connect with stillness and ease. Periods of instructions and the Dharma talk focus on the relation between the jhanas and Vipassana (insight) meditation practice. Sitting and walking meditations as well as ample time for questions and answers help us learn about the jhanas and decide whether to pursue further study and practice on a longer retreat. Leigh Brasington has been teaching meditation in Europe and North America since 1997 at the request of the Venerable Ayya Khema. He is her senior American student. Leigh began practicing meditation in 1985. Leigh’s website (www.leighb.com) is chock-full of Loving-Kindness meditations and instructions on how to safeguard your computer. Leigh teaches the jhanas (meditative absorptions) and recites suttas from memory. He grew up in Mississippi and is currently doing many months of retreat at the Forest Refuge. "Buddhist Personality Types" with Amita Schmidt - Sunday July 26th from 10am to 4pm What can be learned from the Buddhist teachings on personality types? This daylong retreat includes sitting and walking meditation with a dharma talk and reflections on the six personality tendencies and how to skillfully work with them in daily life. The talk also explores how our difficult tendencies can be transformed into our greatest strengths through the power of practice. Open to beginners and experienced meditators, this silent retreat day consists of sitting and walking meditation, and includes meditation instructions. There will also be talks and discussions about the meditation practice. Amita Schmidt is a Vipassana teacher and social worker who lives in Hawaii. She was the resident teacher at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA for six years and is the author of Dipa Ma: the life and legacy of a Buddhist Master (Bluebridge, 2005). She is also the author of, “Which Buddhist Personality Type Are You?” Tricycle Magazine, Spring 2009. "Lessons from Impermanence" with Kate Wylie - Sunday June 28th from 10am to 4pm Change is a fact of our human existence that we may not fully realize. It challenges us to live free of the illusions of control. Fully accepting and realizing impermanence allows for wisdom in all our activities. How can we engage in life and participate in a world that escapes our grasp? As we observe change inside and around us, these are just some of the areas for inquiry in our practice of meditation together. Open to beginners and experienced meditators, this retreat day consists of sitting and walking meditation, a little discussion, guidance with meditation instructions, a talk on the subject of impermanence, and the company of others. Kate Wylie has practiced meditation since 1975 at Insight Meditation Society, Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, and with her current teacher, the Venerable Tsoknyi Rinpoche. She has taught Insight meditation throughout New England for 10 years. Kate trained with Jon Kabat-Zinn in Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction. She is also a graduate of the Social Justice Issues Training Project at UMass Amherst. Hard Things That Open The Heart" with Cheryl Wilfong - Sunday May 31st from 10am to 4pm When life events offer us unpleasantness, we can resist the flow of life or we can open our hearts. First, we open our hearts to ourselves and treat ourselves with kindness and compassion. We may also want to open our hearts to those we love who are in difficult situations themselves. In Buddhist practice, difficult conditions often remind us of the Heavenly Messengers of illness, old age, and death, and they call us to cultivate the wisdom of the fourth Messenger: the spiritual practitioner radiant with inner peace. Come re-treat yourself. During this day-long retreat we will practice seated and walking meditation together and consider our subjective experience from the point of view of the Buddha's 2500-year-old teachings on the workings of mind. Cheryl Wilfong attended her first meditation retreat in 1977. She completed the Community Dharma Leader training program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in 2008. A co-founder of Vermont Insight, Cheryl has been teaching in southern Vermont since 2001. "Mindfulness of Body" with Chas DiCapua - Sunday April 26th from 10am to 4pm Mindfulness of the body is the first of the four foundations of mindfulness that the Buddha taught as the direct path to liberation. It plays a central role in both our formal and informal (daily life) meditation practice. Much of our upbringing did not teach us to inhabit our bodies. Sociatal norms only exacerbate this condition. During this day of silent retreat, we focus on how we can inhabit our bodies with awareness in all aspects of our lives. Open to beginners and experienced meditators, this retreat day consists of sitting and walking meditation, and includes meditation instructions. There will also be talks and discussions about the meditation practice. Chas DiCapua started practicing meditation in the Soto Zen tradition in 1989. He sat his first Vipassana retreat at IMS in 1995. Since then he has practiced in the US and Asia, both in the Mahasi and Thai Forest traditions. Chas is currently the Resident Teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. "Finding Wisdom in Uncertain Times " with Claire Stanley and Jack Millett - Sunday March 22nd from 10am to 4pm The truth is that we live in uncertain times. We suffer when we believe the stories that arise due to these conditions. Yet this very place of discomfort can be the ground for our awakening, just as it was for the Buddha 2,600 years ago. Join us for a day of meditation, inquiry, and inspiration. Learn how to use uncertainty as a vehicle for finding the clarity, wisdom and compassion that lead to freedom from suffering. Open to beginners and experienced meditators, this retreat day consists of sitting and walking meditation, and includes meditation instructions. There will also be talks and discussions about the meditation practice. Jack Millett and Claire Stanley are co-founders of Vermont Insight Meditation Center. They have both practiced this path for over 20 years and have been teaching since 1995. Joseph Goldstein and Carol Wilson have been their primary teachers at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. "Introduction to Insight Meditation" with Jack Millett - Sunday, February 22nd from 10am to 3pm Insight Meditation is a direct and simple form of practice that allows one to move towards a more peaceful and awakened state of mind. This practice helps to free the mind and emotions from reactivity, fear and stress, leading to steadiness, wisdom and compassion in everyday life and relationships. The day focuses on a series of short meditations with detailed instructions followed by a time for questions and reflections. We begin with a correct posture for meditation – chairs and cushions are available or bring your own. We then move to establishing the breath as the primary object of meditation. Hearing and walking meditation are also presented in detail. Brief presentations of the key principles of Insight Meditation are included at different points throughout the day. "Metta and Yoga " with Claire Stanley and Eowyn Allstrom - Sunday, January 25th from 10am to 4pm Metta, or Lovingkindness meditation practice, opens the heart and mind in both subtle and powerful ways. Gentle Restorative Yoga opens the body and mind in equally subtle and powerful ways. This guided daylong is a rare opportunity to bring both practices together in a silent retreat environment. By alternating sessions of metta and yoga, we release long-held mental and physical tensions and expand our awareness toward our own welfare and benefit and that of all beings everywhere. Claire Stanley is guiding teacher and co-founder of Vermont Insight. She has been a student of meditation since 1986 and has been teaching in the New York/New England area since 1996. Claire has practiced and taught Metta meditation for many years and always finds it an extraordinary practice. Éowyn Ahlstrom is a long time student of yoga and meditation. She is a certified yoga teacher through Karuna Center in Northampton, MA, where she teaches two weekly classes. Éowyn also leads yoga sessions at retreats at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA. She loves to share the synergy of Buddhist meditation and yoga. For more information about Éowyn, visit www.yogawitheowyn.net. Monthly Retreats offered in 2008 Meditation as Basic Sanity with Kate Wylie - Sunday, November 23rd from 10am to 4pm On Delusion with Mu Seong - Sunday, October 23rd from 10am to 1pm The Many Faces of Desire with Jack Millett and Claire Stanley - Sunday, September 28th from 10am to 4pm "You Never Loved Me" Exploring the Depths of Non-Mindfulness with Doreen Schweizer - Sunday August 24th from 10am to 4pm The Fruits of the Spiritual Life with Leigh Brasington - Monday, July 28th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm The Power of Intention with James Baraz - Sunday, June 22nd from 10am to 4pm Resting the Mind with Winnie Nazarko - Saturday, May 24th from 10am to 4pm Cultivating Mindfulness in the Inner and Outer Gardens with Cheryl Wilfong - Saturday, May 10th, 9:30am to 12:30pm Letting Go - Being Free with Claire Stanley and Jack Millett - Saturday, March 29th from 11am to 5pm Introduction to Insight Meditation with Cheryl Wilfong - Saturday, February 16th from 10am to 3pm Fine-tuning our Understanding and Experience of the Meditation Practice with Taraniya - Sunday, January 27th from 10am to 4pm Monthly Retreats offered in 2007 Mindfulness and Compassion: Path of Liberation with Michele McDonald - Saturday, October 27th from 10am to 4pm The Heart Sutra: Heart of Buddha's Teachings with Mu Seong - Saturday, September 29th from 10am to 4pm Bearing Witness with Amita Schmidt - Saturday, August 11th from 10am to 4pm Turning Towards the Dharma with Chas DiCapua - Sunday, June 10th from 10am to 4pm Karma: Planting Seeds, Harvesting Fruits - Saturday, May 12th from 10am to 4pm The Presence of Happiness with Kate Wylie - Sunday, April 29th from 10am to 4pm Introduction to Insight Meditation with Jack Millett - Saturday, March 17th from 10am to 3pm Discovering Inherent Stillness with Amita Schmidt - Saturday, March 10th from 10am to 4pm Introduction to Insight Meditation with Jack Millett - Saturday, February 17th from 10am to 3pm The Seven Factors of Awakening with Claire Stanley and Jack Millett - Saturday, January 27th from 10am to 4pm |
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