Balancing Effort and Enjoyment This weekend retreat will focus on the balance between effort and enjoyment in insight meditation, to help refresh, renew, and re-inspire your practice. For many people, enjoyment is less well developed than effort—as it was for the Buddha himself at the start of his own journey to freedom—so there will beContinueContinue reading “NEW: online weekend retreat”
Tag Archives: enjoyment
November 2014 full moon – Right Effort and the Middle Way
Last month, I wrote about the quality of viriya, sometimes translated as “heroic energy,” and how at times, just signing up for a retreat can seem to kick-start an inner process where qualities such as determination, dedication, commitment, effort, and trust begin to deepen – even before we actually arrive at the retreat itself. AlsoContinueContinue reading “November 2014 full moon – Right Effort and the Middle Way”
Doing and being
Mangawhai Beach One of the delights of teaching insight meditation retreats is experiencing first-hand how even though the form and content of each retreat is similar, the mix of people attending each event is unique, and out of this uniqueness, different practice themes naturally emerge. Recently I taught a couple of day-long silent retreats inContinueContinue reading “Doing and being”
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 aContinueContinue reading “Effort and Enjoyment”