Friday, September 13, 2013

Insight Dialogue Retreat - Relating Wisely to Daily Life

     This is a uniquely beneficial retreat, ideal for those who've already attended a few silent retreats and now feel the need to more consistently bring into their daily "householder" lives those wiser qualities experienced during retreat. I had the privilege of attending last year and WHOLEHEARTEDLY recommend it.

     “... breaks new ground in applying the Buddha’s teachings to our lives, relationships, and meditative understandings [...and is] of tremendous benefit to all those seeking freedom in their daily lives.”   Joseph Goldstein

4th Annual Cascadia Insight Dialogue Retreat 
with Gregory Kramer and Mary Burns
Samish Island Camp, Bow, WA (near Bellingham)

May 3 - May 11, 2014

A BUDDHIST PRACTICE FOR CULTIVATING WISDOM AND COMPASSION THROUGH MEDITATION IN DIALOGUE
Humans are relational beings.  We are pack animals, born of mother and father, raised with families and friends.  We work and live with others.  It is no surprise that much of our suffering is people-suffering.  We meditate to understand and be free from suffering.  Yet sometimes a gap arises when interpersonal suffering is being addressed in intrapersonal meditation.  We perpetuate the “island universe” of the individual self even as we seek freedom.

Insight Dialogue is a fully relational meditation practice based on Buddhist Vipassana Insight Meditation and a relational understanding of the Dhamma.  The mind is invited to stillness and keen mindfulness even as we remain in dialogue with others.  Here, we meet the shared human experience that transcends our very real differences in genetics, background, and worldly circumstances.

For each of us, the body is home. We have an unfathomably remarkable brain.   As humans, we are sensitive to light and sound and vibrate deeply with every interpersonal contact.  Recognizing our common foundations, the shared legacy of suffering is understood anew.  Through practice, loving-kindness becomes a lived experience that encompasses each and every specific person we encounter here and now -- whether he or she is a loved one or an enemy.

In this retreat, we will maintain noble silence as a support for traditional meditation and Insight Dialogue.  There will be time in nature to support ease and solitude.  Holding “retreat” as one element in the mosaic of awakening, we will live the following question throughout our time together: “How can this practice support insight right now and how can the Dhamma be carried forward into my entire life?”

Retreat cost:
U.S. or Canadian $500, After April 1:  $530
The registration fee includes accommodations for 8 nights and 24 meals.
Partial scholarships available on first come first-served basis. We invite participants to offer dana (freewill donation) at the end of the retreat to support the teacher and the teachings


For more information:
www.cascadiainsightdialogue.com
cascadiaretreat@gmail.com
Register online:
http://goo.gl/2JEJz
More about Insight Dialogue: www.metta.org

Gregory Kramer
has been teaching Vipassana and Loving-kindness meditation since 1980.  He is the director of Metta Programs and a visiting faculty member at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.  Gregory is the co-creator and developer of Insight Dialogue.
Mary Burns, senior teacher of Insight Dialogue, leads retreats worldwide and offers teachings online through Metta Programs.  A long time student of meditation and yoga, Mary is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker; she teaches Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and has studied and practiced for 3 decades at the intersection of western and eastern healing traditions.

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