On-Land Retreat

Uncovering the Luminous Gold Within: BIPOC Mettā Retreat

“To reteach a thing its loveliness is the nature of mettā. Through lovingkindness, everyone and everything can flower again from within.” ― Sharon Salzberg There is a rich repository of deep peace and ease that resides within the heart. Mettā, the practice of lovingkindness, brings to awareness the messages of conditioning that cloak the inner sacredness of our being. Mettā transforms the heart into a sanctuary by which we are strengthened to stay lovingly engaged with the tumultuous tides of life. This retreat will offer silent and guided lovingkindness meditation, Dharma talks, movement meditation, and restful time to nourish the body and heal the heart. Through the practice of mettā, we will journey towards our true place of belonging and again encounter the tender sacredness of our being.

Teaching Team

Amana Brembry Johnson

Amana Brembry Johnson

Teacher

Amana Brembry Johnson, Residential Dharma Teacher and Community Leader, is a Core Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center located in Oakland, CA and Guiding Teacher of EBMC’s Spiritual Teacher and Leadership Training. Amana mentors groups of emerging Mindfulness teachers through the international Mindfulness Meditation Training Certification Program.

Bonnie Duran

Bonnie Duran

Teacher

Bonnie Duran met the Dharma in 1982 and has received teachings from many Western and Thai, Burmese, and Tibetan teachers. Bonnie is a graduate of the IMS/SRMC retreat teacher-training program and is on the SRMC Guiding Teachers Council. Dr. Duran is a professor emeritus at the University of Washington

Gullu Singh, JD

Gullu Singh, JD

Teacher

Gulwinder “Gullu” Singh is Dharma teacher and corporate attorney with extensive training in both the practice and instruction of meditation. Gullu is inspired to share the Buddhist teachings as a path to well-being and a way to meet the challenges of life with more ease, grace and resiliency.

bruni dávila

bruni dávila

Teacher

bruni dávila (she/they) has practiced Insight/Zen meditation since 1995. A graduate from the 2017-2021 IMS Teacher Training Program, she has been guided and supported by various wonderful teachers/sanghas, and her ancestors of Puerto Rican heritage. bruni's practice is grounded in the teachings of Mahasi Sayadaw and Sayadaw U Tejaniya.

Richelle Evelyn Donigan

Richelle Evelyn Donigan

Teacher

Richelle Evelyn Donigan is a masterful Transformation Guide, Life Coach, Author, Yoga Instructor, and Speaker. She has been in the work and study of transformation for more than 40 years. Richelle has an extraordinary gift for creating safe and empowering spaces for all people.

You Might Also Like

Retreat On-Land

Sunday, July 28 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Mindfulness, Awareness, and Non-Duality

Awareness is a natural quality of the mind that allows you to be present with clarity, insight and freedom. In this silent meditation retreat we explore this quality of awareness: what it is, and how to recognize, cultivate, and abide in it. We inquire into what interferes with stabilizing in awareness both in meditation and in daily activity. As mindfulness grows, we find an effortless, clear, and radiant awareness in every moment, leading to insight, wellbeing, and peace.

Mark Coleman

Mark Coleman

Retreat On-Land

July 29 - August 4, 2024 Monday - Sunday | 6 nights

The Spirit of Insight, Dharma & Awakening

The essence of Buddhist practice is embodying the Dharma experientially. In this retreat we will use mindfulness meditation to study our experiential reality within all our activities, including meditation, movement, eating, resting, and listening. When we are present and investigate our experiential reality moment by moment, insight arises, and the Dharma reveals itself within our body, heart, and mind. As the living, embodied truth unfolds, we awaken to the Buddha within and discover the depth and breadth of our own human potential.

John Martin

John Martin

Anushka Fernandopulle

Anushka Fernandopulle

Eugene Cash

Eugene Cash

Howard Cohn

Howard Cohn

Victoria Cary

Victoria Cary

Retreat On-Land Hybrid

Saturday, August 3 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

How to be a Bodhisattva: Zen Insights on the Way of Compassion 

In this daylong retreat, we’ll explore teachings about the Bodhisattva path—the way of friendliness and compassion—and we’ll study a short text of Dogen, the 13th Century founder of Soto Zen, called “The Bodhisattva’s Four Methods of Guidance.” This poetic text offers four practices designed to awaken the bodhisattva spirit: generosity, kind speech, beneficial action, and identity action. Together, we’ll spend time experiencing Dogen’s words through meditation and writing.

Norman Fischer

Norman Fischer