October 3 - 10; 7 days with Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters

Vipassana: Awakening to Life

Purifying the heart supports liberating insight as well as strengthening our capacity to live in harmony with compassionate wisdom at home, at work and in relationship. The universal qualities of all ‘good human beings’, are known in the Buddha’s teaching as the paramis: the forces of purity. Instruction will be given on developing the practices of generosity, patience, lovingkindness, simplicity, honesty, understanding, clarity and stability of mind. In addition, through daily dialogue, we will identify and address your challenges to living fully aware and free. The guidance on this retreat, suitable for new and experienced students, will emphasize developing the continuity of awareness in order to support a seamless transition to awakening to all of life’s activities.

Steven Armstrong has practiced insight meditation since 1975. He has served for many years at the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts as Executive Director, Board member and senior teacher. As a monk in Burma under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita he undertook intensive, silent practice of insight and lovingkindness meditations for 5 years and in Australia, he studied the Buddhist psychology (abhidhamma) with Sayadaw U Zagara. He continues his practice under the guidance of Sayadaw U Tejaniya. Steve is a co-founding teacher of the Vipassana Metta Foundation’s dharma sanctuary and hermitage on Maui. He has been leading meditation retreats internationally since 1990 and encourages spiritual development through cultivating insightful awareness and liberating understanding of the core teachings of the Buddha in all life activities.

Kamala Masters is one of the founders and teachers of the Vipassana Metta Foundation on Maui, where she is currently developing Ho'omalamalama, a sanctuary-hermitage for long term practice. She teaches retreats in the Theravada tradition at venues worldwide, including being a Core Teacher at the Insight Meditation Society at Barre, Massachusetts. Practicing since 1975, her teachers have been the late Anagarika Munindra of India and Sayadaw U Pandita of Burma with whom she continues to practice. Kamala has a commitment to carrying and offering the purity of the teachings of the Buddha in a way that touches our common sense and compassion as human beings. She lives in Hawaii where she raised 4 children, and is now blessed with 5 grandchildren.

Retreat cost: $420 plus dana offering.  Register Here

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October 24-27; 3 days with Lama Michael Conklin

Tonglen Retreat

As you turn the mind from personal benefit toward the welfare of others, compassion beyond ordinary sentimentality develops. As you let go of personal projections & territory, insight into the true nature of phenomena becomes possible. The union of these two is liberation itself.

In the practice of mind training, as we turn our habitual focus from our own interests, perception is more clear, and we surrender to "things as they are" more willingly. Using the aphorisms of the "7-Point Mind Training" as focal points, we meet ordinary situations in a context of continuous meditation and attention to our moment by moment conduct, thus making every situation practice. The eventual fruit is the realization of non-self, and compassion beyond the narrow boundaries of sentimentality and pity.

The retreat includes formal instruction in meditation and contemplation practices specific to the "Mind Training" tradition. The emphasis in this tradition is the application of dharma to everyday life. Rather than calcifying practice into rote learning, liturgical chanting, or a series of set responses and practices, this system leads individuals to the employment of intelligence and compassion in every aspect of their life.

Lama Michael Conklin is a long-time student of the late Kalu Rinpoche. Lama Michael completed the traditional 3-Year retreat in Oregon in 1989. He teaches in Portland at Kagyu Changchub Chuling, a center founded by Kalu Rinpoche.

Pre-requisites
This retreat is suitable for beginning and experienced practitioners, regardless of background. If you have not been to this retreat before, it is necessary to contact Lama Michael before registering, conklin@kcc.org or call 503-890-4243.

There will be some limited opportunity for personal interviews.

Participants must: 1) arrive between 4 and 7 pm on Friday, 2) attend the orientation session, and 3) stay through the close of the retreat on Monday, 2 pm.

Recommended Readings
The following books are recommended for this retreat, but not required:

Buddhism with an Attitude, by Alan Wallace
Start Where You Are, by Pema Chodron
The Four Immeasurables, by Alan Wallace

Retreat cost: to be announced
Registration is through KCC.
For more information call 503-284-6697 ext. 3 or visit the KCC website at http://www.kcc.org/

Accommodations
Cloud Mountain offers mostly double and dormitory-style rooms. Guest rooms include electric lights, heat, single or bunk beds and small wardrobes. Toilets and hot shower facilities are in a separate building. There are flush toilets at several locations on the property.

Chores
Retreatants will be asked to participate in a small daily chore (for example, helping in the kitchen, cleaning, etc.), as well as helping out with final clean-up at the end of the retreat. No chores will interfere with attending scheduled meditation sessions.

Sponsor
Kagyu Changchub Chuling (KCC) http://www.kcc.org/, a Dharma Center in Portland, Oregon, is sponsoring this retreat. KCC was founded in 1976 by the Very Venerable Kalu Rinpoche, one of the eminent meditation masters of modern Tibet and a holder of the Karma Kagyu and Shangpa Kagyu lineages. The mission of KCC is to make the teachings of these lineages accessible for all practitioners, whether they are just beginning to investigate Buddhism or are long-time students.

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October 31 – November 7; 7 days with Michele McDonald and Linda MacDonald

Vipassana

Vipassana, or insight meditation is the simple and direct practice of moment-to-moment observation of the mind/body experience through calm, open and precise awareness. By learning to observe experience from a place of spacious stillness, one is able to live in a balanced state of wisdom and compassion. This retreat will encourage an understanding of the path of insight and a gentle strengthening of mindfulness and concentration so that, ultimately, people can access the peaceful depths of their experience in every moment. The retreat format includes silent sitting, walking meditation, interviews with the teachers, and evening Dharma talks.

Michele McDonald has practiced Vipassana meditation since 1975 and has been teaching worldwide since 1982. She is a founder of Vipassana Hawaii and the Metta Dana Project in Burma, and a current developer of a regional international retreat center in Hawaii. Michele is deeply interested in exploring the relationship between intensive practice, daily life practice, and psychotherapy, in preserving the ancient teachings, and in finding ways of expression that make them more accessible and authentic for us in this time. She is particularly drawn to the teachings on liberation - the very real possibility of freedom from greed, hatred and delusion in this life.

Linda MacDonald began Vipassana and Metta meditation in 1987. Prior to formal meditation practice, her spiritual journey included a foundation of Christian mysticism, Native American spirituality, and contemplative self-inquiry practices. Since 1987, Linda has led sitting groups, managed retreats, and served as a Board member in the Vancouver meditation community. She has also worked as a psychotherapist for twenty-five years and currently continues to work as the Executive Director of the Westcoast Dharma Society. She is a graduate of the IMS teacher training program and has been teaching meditation since 2001. Her teaching emphasizes lovingkindness, the awakening heart of bodhicitta, and unshakeable trust in the unfolding of our experiencing.

Retreat cost: $420 plus dana offering.  Register Here

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