Category Archives: Brahma Vihara practice

Reflections on the Brahma Vihara practices

This article (with minor amendments) was first published in the March 2014 BMIMC newsletter. Since returning to Australia and New Zealand from the United States eighteen months ago, I’ve been teaching several weekend retreats, day-long workshops and evening classes in New South Wales and Auckland.  Alongside the insight meditation practice, I’ve usually included some focusContinue reading “Reflections on the Brahma Vihara practices”

Welcoming the New Year

Greetings from snowy Massachusetts! I intended to write this post a few days ago, but I’ve been under the weather with a combination of jet lag, a head cold, AND a gastro bug. So I wasn’t exactly the life of the party on New Year’s Eve, but being forced to take time out has givenContinue reading “Welcoming the New Year”

Non-residential weekend retreat, Auckland, New Zealand

Update 24 July – ONLY 2 PLACES LEFT Freeing the Heart-Mind A non-residential weekend retreat exploring Buddhist meditation practices for developing wisdom and compassion During this non-residential weekend retreat we will explore two main forms of Buddhist meditation, insight (vipassana) and loving-kindness (metta). Together, these two practices help us to cultivate more awareness of ourselvesContinue reading “Non-residential weekend retreat, Auckland, New Zealand”

Metta weekend, Auckland, New Zealand

Gratitude to all the participants in the recent Metta weekend retreat held at Bella Rakha in Auckland, New Zealand. The dedicated team! Shrine prepared by Sue, with everyone’s aspirations in the bowl below

Winter in Australia and New Zealand – study and practice opportunities

This year is flying by, and in less than two weeks I plan to be in retreat at the Forest Refuge for the whole month of May.  So I wanted to take the opportunity now to remind NZ friends that there are still some places available for the 14-16 June weekend retreat at Bella RakhaContinue reading “Winter in Australia and New Zealand – study and practice opportunities”

Responding and reacting

CPR masks What?  Yet another act of mass violence? This one very close to home … I arrived in Boston yesterday morning, just a few hours before Logan airport was closed down due to the marathon bombings.  A friend picked me up and took me straight to a local hospital so we could spend timeContinue reading “Responding and reacting”

Effort and Enjoyment

Chicago lake shore Last week I gave a talk to the Lakeside Vipassana meditation group in Chicago.  It was an incredibly cold evening outside (by my standards) but there was a good turn-out and a warm response to my exploration of Effort and Enjoyment in meditation practice. I’ve been meeting with meditation groups in aContinue reading “Effort and Enjoyment”