We're meant to live with an open heart—to live and abide in love even with the difficulties we face in practice and in our daily lives. As the heart opens, we find we can be more directly intimate with our experience just as it is and we have a sense of the heart being unguarded.
John Martin
Residential Retreat Teacher
John Martin has been devoted to dharma practice since 2001, and has been teaching since 2014. He serves as the Co-Chair of the Spirit Rock Guiding Teachers Council. John teaches Vipassana, Metta and LGBTQI-themed meditation retreats. He is on the teaching team leading the four year Spirit Rock/Insight Meditation Society teacher training program. John’s spiritual path has included volunteer service work, including over 12 years as a hospice volunteer.
John Martin's Upcoming Programs
Retreat | On-Land
July 8 - July 17, 2026 | Wednesday - Friday | 9 nights
Summer Lovingkindness Retreat
Spaces Still Available! The Buddha’s teachings on the four divine sanctuaries (brahmavihāras) include meditations on universal friendliness (mettā), compassion (karuṇā), altruistic joy (muditā), and equanimity (upekkhā). Aimed at purifying our hearts and developing concentration, these divine sanctuaries help us find inner peace and powerfully engage with the world. This retreat will deepen our understanding of selfless love and its role in ending suffering. Practitioners are encouraged to combine this retreat with the Insight Meditation retreat to further develop concentration and purify the heart.
Tempel Smith
John Martin
Anushka Fernandopulle
Devin Berry
bruni dávila
Kristina Baré
Rasika Link
Retreat | Online | Hybrid
October 26 - October 31, 2026 | Monday - Saturday
Befriending Mortality: Living an Awakened Life through Mindfulness of Death (Maraṇasati)
Spaces Still Available! We all “know” we will die, yet we tend to ignore this fact and put our collective head in the sand. Rather than running away from our mortality, we can harness its power to stay aligned with our deepest values and to live and love more fully. Fully embracing life’s impermanence can engender a deep freedom and letting go. Through mindfulness of death maraṇasati practice, we become more present for this miraculous, passing show called life with gladness and gratitude.
Retreat | On-Land | Hybrid
October 26 - October 31, 2026 | Monday - Saturday | 5 nights
Befriending Mortality: Living an Awakened Life Through Mindfulness of Death (Maraṇasati)
Spaces Still Available! We all “know” we will die, yet we tend to ignore this fact and put our collective head in the sand. Rather than running away from our mortality, we can harness its power to stay aligned with our deepest values and to live and love more fully. Fully embracing life’s impermanence can engender a deep freedom and letting go. Through mindfulness of death maraṇasati practice, we become more present for this miraculous, passing show called life with gladness and gratitude.
Retreat | On-Land
November 1 - November 6, 2026 | Sunday - Friday | 5 nights
Finding True Refuge: A Retreat for the LGBTQIA+ and GNC Community
For those who identify as LGBTQIA+. Spaces Still Available! Explore Buddhist practices and teachings of liberation in our LGBTQIA+ and GNC (Gender Non-Conforming) community. Together, we will practice mindfulness and heart-fulness, embracing all of our experience with loving awareness and deep acceptance. There will be an emphasis on cultivating a continuity of awareness in all activities (sitting, stillness, standing, walking, movement, eating) with a relaxed and gentle presence. Through these practices, we will explore what true refuge means for us individually and for our community.
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with John Martin through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.