Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center: dharma talks and meditation instruction

(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) To bring attention to the right things in the right way is crucial for our path. Through the mindful contemplation of our experience we can gain insight and develop liberating wisdom.

(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) The Four Immeasurables. Brahmavihāra are not mere emotions but constitute different tones of relational empathetic resonance. They constitute nothing less but our humanity.

Brahmavihāras are cultivations not just 'states'. They are more than empathy but intentntional attitudes.

(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) The workings of not-knowing – the workings of attentional habits. Involuntary attentional patterns seem to govern much of our experience. Yet training is possible, training is needed.

Such training entails acknowledgement, attentional tasks and specificity.

Negotiating pain.

(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) About the value of samatha – the practice of stillness – and samādhi – the state of unification brought about by samatha practice.

Terminology: Why concentration is a bad word for either samatha or samādhi. What the diffence of attention and mindfulness is.

The intrinsic value of unification, its relationship to vipassanā. Four reasons why Buddhist traditions value the practice of stilling the mind.

(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) Calming and collecting the mind

(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) This meditation explores upekkhā, or equanimity—the deep steadiness of heart that meets life’s joys and sorrows with wisdom and care. Through reflections, guided phrases, and a progression of categories (from self, to loved one, neutral person, difficult person and finally all beings), we cultivate balance and spaciousness in the face of life’s ever-changing conditions. Rooted in the Brahmavihārā tradition, this practice invites us to rest in the truth that all beings are moving through causes and conditions beyond our control.

(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) In this talk, we explore mindfulness of thoughts as part of the third foundation of mindfulness—learning to meet thoughts not as distractions or enemies, but as present-moment experiences to observe with curiosity and care. Through guided practice and teachings, we investigate the nature of thinking, including how to relate to repetitive or difficult thoughts with clarity and compassion. By developing this skill, we discover a deeper steadiness and freedom in the midst of the mind’s activity.

(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) We begin with a song and for the first half hour Kaira Jewel gives a brief overview the Four Brahmaviharas followed by an introduction to the practice of metta: what it is, how it can transform our lives, what some of the challenges are and then how to practice with the categories and the phrases. Then in the second half hour Kaira Jewel leads a guided metta meditation offering metta to ourselves, our benefactor and a dear friend.

(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) In this talk we explore the power of equanimity to help us remain steady and spacious in the face of life's ups and downs. Trusting, relaxing and letting go all help us to see we don't have to hold the challenges of life alone, we can open to the larger mystery holding us all. We also look at how to engage with the suffering and injustice of our world, to practice sacred criticism, and depolarizing ourselves and our communities. We take inspiration from the Civil Rights Movement and their practices of self-emptying and how we can give our whole hearts to the task and then let go of attachment to the outcome. Kaira Jewel ends by singing the poem Recommendation by Thich Nhat Hanh.

(Insight Meditation Society - Retreat Center) Talking about the paradox of perfection and improvement. Loving ourselves to wholeness. Love as the path. Mara as teacher rather than foe or antagonist. Teaching us to love ever more deeply.