Retreat 7/2010

Silent Insight Meditation Retreat, July 9-16, 2010 in Isnäs, Finland

Insight meditation (also known as vipassana) is a part of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. With insight meditation, we can practise ways of seeing that free the mind and heal the heart.

On the retreat we will cultivate kindness, calmness and the three skilful perceptions of dukkha (unsatisfactoriness), anicca (impermanence), and anatta (non-self). By reflecting on and repeatedly inquiring into these realities in our moment-to-moment experience, we clear the way for peace, happiness and freedom.

Through silence, a commitment to ethical conduct, sitting and walking meditation, dharma talks, group and individual interviews and a daily work period, we will support each other in deepening our understanding and clarifying our practice.

The retreat is suitable for both beginners and advanced meditators. The teaching is in English, but the retreat organisers speak also Finnish. Breakfast, lunch, and a light dinner are served during the retreat. The accommodation is mostly in two-person rooms.

The price of the retreat is 190 euros. For those who send their application after June 26th, the price is 210 euros. The retreat cost covers the traveling expenses of the teachers, the rent of the retreat facility, and the food expenses. The salary of the teacers is not included in the cost; instead, the retreatants support the teachers by donations. This principle of generosity is a central part of Buddhist teachings. Because of it, we are able to learn insight meditation today, 2500 years after Buddha’s time.

The teachers of the retreat are Caroline Jones and Kirsten Kratz. Caroline Jones has been practising meditation since 1989. She is part of a group being mentored to teach by Christina Feldman. She began to teach in 2006. Kirsten Kratz has practised Buddhist meditation in Asia and the West since 1993, and began assisting in teaching retreats at Gaia House in 2008. In recent years Kirsten has facilitated retreats combining Dharma practice and service in the UK and abroad with Sanghaseva. Kirsten is also a student of the Diamond Approach and is working with the Mandala Trust.

Please send your registrations / inquiries to us at nirodha.ry@gmail.com. We will send the registration form and more detailed information to those who have expressed their interest.

Please check our website https://nirodha.fi/ for information on our weekly sittings and other upcoming retreats.