? Joy ? Sunday 8 February 2026 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm UK timeSunday 8 February 2:30-4:00 pm US Eastern timeMonday 9 February 8:30 – 10:00 am NZ timeJoy is an important aspect of the Buddha’s path to freedom, appearing as both an awakening factor and one of the four heart qualities known as the brahmavihāra. However,ContinueContinue reading “Online evening workshop for London Insight”
Category Archives: Seven Factors of Awakening
NEW nine-day retreat – registration now open
Dates: 20 February – 1 March 2026Teachers: Jill Shepherd and Di RobertsonLocation: Te Moata Retreat Centre, Tairua, Aotearoa / New Zealand Requisites for the journey: The seven factors of awakening Insight meditation harnesses the power of mindfulness to develop understanding in all aspects of our lives, which leads to greater ease, happiness, and freedom.In thisContinueContinue reading “NEW nine-day retreat – registration now open”
A few resources for resilience
Feeling stretched? As the bad news continues and intensifies in various parts of the world, I’ve started collecting news articles, books and courses to turn to when I need some inspiration. Below are just a few suggestions – let me know if you have any favourites of your own! Chipmunk between fenceposts, Barre, Massachusetts FindingContinueContinue reading “A few resources for resilience”
November 2016 full moon – Turmoil
almost super-moon, Newcastle Beach NSW Australia 13 November 2016 Turning towards and turning away Whether it’s global political upheaval, worsening social injustice, natural disasters, personal stress, emotional pain, relational crises, or health challenges, we seem to be in a phase of intense turmoil right now. Many of the communities around the world that I careContinueContinue reading “November 2016 full moon – Turmoil”
August 2016 full moon – Seven Factors of Awakening and Equanimity (again)
Seven Factors of Awakening I’ve recently enjoyed leading a couple of longer residential retreats in New Zealand and Australia, exploring the teachings from the Satipatthana Sutta on the Seven Factors of Awakening: mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy or rapture, tranquillity, concentration or stability of mind, and equanimity. When cultivated together and brought into balance with eachContinueContinue reading “August 2016 full moon – Seven Factors of Awakening and Equanimity (again)”
October 2015 full moon – Digital detox (or finding antidotes to “restlessness and worry”)
Last month I wrote about the hindrance of “sloth and torpor,” the dullness of body and mind that gets in the way of clear seeing, insight. This month, I’ve been more aware of the opposite of sloth and torpor, which shows up in the form of “restlessness and worry”, the fourth of the five hindrances. ContinueContinue reading “October 2015 full moon – Digital detox (or finding antidotes to “restlessness and worry”)”
Three new and interesting books for experienced meditators
I’m currently working my way – slowly! – through three new books that may be of interest to experienced meditators: Seeing That Frees: Meditations on Emptiness and Dependent Arising Rob Burbea 10 October 2014 Hermes Amara Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas Leigh Brasington 13 October 2015 Shambala Compassion and Emptiness in EarlyContinueContinue reading “Three new and interesting books for experienced meditators”
September 2015 full moon – Maintaining Motivation (or finding antidotes to “sloth and torpor”)
The five hindrances I’ve been back in New Zealand for the month of September, and with the Auckland Insight group, we’ve been exploring the Five Hindrances, five particularly unhelpful states of mind that get in the way of clear seeing, of insight. They appear in the Satipatthana Sutta under the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness, asContinueContinue reading “September 2015 full moon – Maintaining Motivation (or finding antidotes to “sloth and torpor”)”
February 2015 full moon – freedom from the fetter of views
While in San Francisco recently, I had an opportunity to visit Alcatraz island, the former federal penitentiary, 19th-century military fortress, site of Native American heritage and protest, and now one of America’s most visited national parks. As we walked through the decaying cell blocks, I was struck by the layers and layers of defence thatContinueContinue reading “February 2015 full moon – freedom from the fetter of views”
October 2014 full moon – viriya / heroic energy
Viriya: persistence; energy; vigour; courageous effort; heroic exertion I recently had the good fortune to sit a two-week retreat offered by Gil Fronsdal at the Insight Retreat Center near Santa Cruz, California. As Gil led us deeper and deeper into one of the core texts on mindfulness of breathing, the Anapanasati Sutta, I again foundContinueContinue reading “October 2014 full moon – viriya / heroic energy”
Jill Shepherd: insight meditation 