Victoria Cary
Residential Retreat Teacher
Victoria Cary is a Dhamma teacher and leader who co-founded the San Francisco Black Indigenous People of Color Insight Sangha and continues to serve as one of its core teachers. She has been practicing and studying Insight meditation for nearly two decades, most recently finding inspiration in the Mahasi/U Pandita lineage with Venerable Sayalay Daw Bhaddamanika and Venerable Sayadaw U Vivekananda, and sitting 3-month silent retreats in Nepal and at Insight Meditation Society.
Victoria loves the Dhamma and is particularly drawn to supporting people in their practice through a focus on the integration of Dhamma into everyday life. As a queer, biracial black woman, Victoria’s approach to teaching seeks to investigate the complexity of our human experience while holding plenty of space for kindness. Her practice has also been informed by 3-years of volunteer work at Zen Hospice and a deep exploration of how developing a relationship with impermanence and death can actually point us to a profound sense of aliveness.
She completed Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders training program in 2016, and Teacher Training in 2020. Victoria is honored to currently serve as one of Spirit Rock’s Staff Dharma Teachers, and a member of the Teacher’s Council for the San Francisco Dharma Center project, in addition to teaching retreats and groups, and mentoring students.
Victoria Cary's Upcoming Programs
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.
Retreat | On-Land
September 19 - September 25, 2024 | Thursday - Wednesday | 6 nights
Spiritual Sanctuary: A Women's Liberation Retreat
Open to all self-identified Women. We welcome all who identify as women, as well as non-binary folks who feel nourished in spaces centering women.
We live in times of increasing pressure, which can be experienced as intensity, stress, limitation, or dissatisfaction. The Four Noble Truths remind us that pressure is an unavoidable part of life, and that freedom is possible within it. This retreat offers a space in which practitioners can choose rest, renewal, and liberation. Together we will practice in silence, integrating movement and stillness, outdoor practice, and Dharma talks that lift up women’s journeys of awakening from a diversity of lineages and traditions.
Upcoming Drop-Ins
Drop-in | Online
Sunday, August 18 | 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
BIPOC Voices: Weekly Sunday Saṅgha
Open to all self-identified BIPOC.
The Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Saṅgha is a weekly gathering of self-identified BIPOC practitioners that provides a safe place to meditate and explore the Dharma in light of our experiences. Beginners and experienced meditators are welcome.
Victoria Cary
Drop-in | Online
Sunday, September 15 | 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
BIPOC Voices: Weekly Sunday Saṅgha
Open to all self-identified BIPOC.
The Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Saṅgha is a weekly gathering of self-identified BIPOC practitioners that provides a safe place to meditate and explore the Dharma in light of our experiences. Beginners and experienced meditators are welcome.
Victoria Cary
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Victoria Cary through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.