In this four-month program we will be deepening our practice through studying and practicing with the teaching that liberated the Buddha: dependent arising (Paṭicca Samuppāda). This teaching helps us to clearly see: how does dukkha (unsatisfactoriness) arise, and how does dukkha cease, leading to happiness and freedom? We will learn practical ways to use the teaching on dependent arising in our day-to-day lives, as well as look at some of the deeper, potentially liberating, layers of this teaching.

The enlightened Vipassana teacher Nani Dipa Ma once said that at a certain point love and wisdom become one. We don't have to be highly realized beings to explore and directly feel this truth. In our time together, we will review how the 3 characteristics of experience - change, not self and suffering - merge with love through reflection and practices of loving kindness as well as compassion. We will also consider the freedom that this understanding and felt sense imparts.

During this hybrid non-residential weekend retreat we aim to cultivate relaxation, awareness, and insight. We will explore how open, relaxed awareness can naturally reveal the patterns and conditionings that shape our experience. By approaching our practice with relaxed interest, we create space for experience to unfold simply and naturally, allowing wisdom to emerge in its own time.

This retreat invites you to explore insight and the awakening of the heart. Drawing on a traditional image of the mind being gently cleansed and brightened, we will learn to recognize and release difficult mindstates so that qualities like clarity, confidence, and kindness can naturally arise