Retreat gives us the time and space to explore our experience and discover aspects of your being that are difficult to connect with in everyday life. It allows you to focus on meditation practice throughout the day, both on and off the cushion. A community retreat has the additional benefit of being supported by the practice of others.

This is the second year offering the Joy of Living Program in its entirety as a one-month retreat program. This program was developed at Mingyur Rinpoche’s request, and offers participants the opportunity to receive the Joy of Living 1, 2 and 3 teachings, and complete the homework simultaneously in a retreat context. These introduce the foundations of meditation practice, focusing on awareness, loving-kindness and compassion and wisdom. Learning the Joy of Living in this way allows for profound experiential learning, deepening of one’s personal practice, and the opportunity to see how each of these levels integrate and support one another.

In the Buddhist tradition, the cultivation of wisdom and compassion is considered the key to transforming the mind and alleviating our suffering. Cultivating wisdom involves letting go of fixed perceptions of how the world appears to be and looking at how things actually are. As freeing as this ultimately is, the path can often feel scary and challenging. Thus we need to practice in a way that is infused with compassion or a tender heart that wants to alleviate suffering. A compassion that becomes more informed by wisdom.