retreats
For information about specific retreats and classes, please refer to the links in the left-hand column. If you would like to find a specific event, or search for a specifc teacher, you can use the Search feature at the bottom of this page.
What is a Retreat?
Each retreat is different but all retreats are alike in these aspects: a retreat can be residential or non-residential, a day, a weekend, a week, or a number of months long. It could be a vipassana or metta retreat.
Each retreat is different but all retreats are alike in these aspects: a retreat can be residential or non-residential, a day, a weekend, a week, or a number of months long. It could be a vipassana or metta retreat.
Most retreats are held in silence—retreatants do not speak to one another or make eye contact. Writing and reading are also discouraged, so that retreatants can better stay with their own present experience as it unfolds, moment to moment. In this silent and mindful environment, awareness sharpens, the body quiets, the mind clears, and space opens for insight and understanding to develop. You might think this is difficult, but most find it a relief.
The day flows according to a schedule of alternating periods of sitting and walking practice, and there will will be some meditation instruction—and usually a talk by the teacher each day. As well, there may be an opportunity for an individual or group interview with the teacher.
Why Sit a Retreat?
A retreat gives you an opportunity to step out of daily routine and distraction, to come back in touch with yourself: it is a time of physical and spiritual refuge. It provides an opportunity to extend and deepen your experience of practice and allows time for inner transformation.
A retreat gives you an opportunity to step out of daily routine and distraction, to come back in touch with yourself: it is a time of physical and spiritual refuge. It provides an opportunity to extend and deepen your experience of practice and allows time for inner transformation.
The retreat environment provides an opportunity and a caring container for undertaking intensive meditation, like an immersion course in a language. The central practice on retreats is mindfulness, which enables us to see the ways we create difficulties in our lives and to discover a freedom of heart in the midst of all things. The mindfulness practice on retreats is often accompanied and complemented by training in lovingkindness meditation.
Retreats are led by a team of experienced teachers from the BCIMS teachers collective, or by other well-known and beloved visiting teachers from our broader Buddhist community. The teachers offer instructions, dharma talks and regularly scheduled interviews to provide guidance throughout the retreat.
For more retreat information visit Retreat FAQ.
