Online weekend retreat: Rest, Resilience, Renewal, Release – Exploring the four brahmavihāra heart qualities in daily life
for London Insight
Friday May 12 7:00 – 9:00 pm UK
Saturday May 13 9:00 – 5:00 pm UK
Sunday May 14 9:00 – 5:00 pm UK
The four brahmavihāra heart practices of kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity are powerful tools that strengthen our inner resources, helping us to navigate the individual and collective challenges of our times.
Although the brahmavihāra are often taught as formal meditation practices to develop concentration, in this online weekend retreat, we will explore a range of different approaches aimed at cultivating these skillful qualities in the midst of everyday life. Through a mix of guided meditations, dharma talks and small group discussion, we will develop the capacity to rest in kindness, strengthen resilience through compassion, orient to appreciative joy for renewal of our energy, and experience the peace of equanimity that comes through the release of reactivity.
This retreat is suitable for beginners as well as more experienced practitioners. However, please make a commitment to attending all of the sessions over three days as this is not a drop-in event.
More info and to register here
Auckland Insight community celebration day 2023
Sunday 21 May 9:30 am – 4:30 pm NZST
In the Buddhist calendar, the full moon in May is used to commemorate the Buddha’s birth, Awakening and passing away, and is a time of celebration in Buddhist communities all around the world.
Auckland Insight warmly invites you to attend our own day of celebration, an opportunity to come together for a day of meditation practice, short dharma talks, small group discussion and informal socialising.
Morning and afternoon tea and lunch will be provided.
Anyone who is interested is welcome to attend, whether you have previously been to our Auckland Insight group meetings or not.
Cost: $12 + dana*
Location: Westmere, Auckland 1022
More info and to register: here
*The registration fee covers only a contribution to room hire and catering.
In keeping with Buddhist tradition, the teachings are offered on a dāna basis which means the teacher is not paid to offer this workshop. Instead, they rely on the generosity of the participants to help them continue to share their teachings with others, and there will be an opportunity at the end of the workshop to offer donations to support their ongoing teaching.
Opening to the flow of vedanā (feeling tone):
A day of online meditation
with Jill Shepherd, Willa Reid and Elizabeth Day
You are warmly invited to join our international sangha for a day of online meditation practice together, to strengthen our capacity for an embodied wise response to the vedanā (feeling-tone) that arises in response to our experience of the world.
We will offer regular 30 minute meditation sessions every hour between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm NZT (see below for other time zones).
Each session will begin with a few minutes of guidance followed by silent meditation for 30 mins, then a half hour break before the next session begins. There will be a break in the middle of the day, with an optional session of relational practice in the afternoon, where you can connect with other meditators in breakout rooms to contemplate a dharma theme together.
You’re welcome to join as many of these sessions as you like, and as suits your time-zone.
This event is offered on a dāna / donation basis and is free to register.
NOTE Please make sure to register for a ticket, so that you can be sent the Zoom registration link a day before the event starts, plus more detailed information about the timing of meditation sessions throughout the day
Meditation Sessions at hourly intervals throughout the day
Auckland 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Sunday 25 June 2023
Sydney 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Sunday 25 June 2023
Singapore 5:00 a.m. – 1:00 pm Sunday 25 June 2023
San Francisco 2:00 p.m. – 10:00 pm Saturday 24 June 2023
New York 5:00 p.m. – 1:00 am Saturday 24 June – Sunday 25 June 2023
Cost: $0 + dana*
To register: here
*There is no registration fee for this event.
In keeping with Buddhist tradition, the teachings are offered on a dāna basis
Coming Home to the Heart: A Brahmavihāra Retreat
Friday, June 30, 2023 – Sunday, July 2, 2023
This online retreat offers an opportunity to strengthen our natural resilience and capacity to meet life’s challenges with more steadiness, ease, and even appreciation. We will meet together throughout the weekend to explore the four brahmavihāra practices of kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity, to directly experience the possibility of a balanced heart – no matter what our current life circumstances might be.
Each day, there will be teaching sessions that everyone is asked to attend. Outside those required sessions, you are encouraged to follow the retreat schedule of formal meditation practice to whatever extent you’re able, within your current life context.
This retreat begins on Friday, June 30, at 7:00 pm ET and concludes Sunday, July 1, at 12:00 pm ET. A full home retreat schedule and instructions will be offered.
To register: here
You can find more information about these and other online events on my Teaching - Online webpage here
Jill Shepherd: insight meditation 