General Information ~ News
Pa Auk Sayadaw Returns
The Forest Refuge is honored to welcome back eminent Burmese meditation master Pa Auk Sayadaw, who will offer the dharma for four months, July - October, 2008. Sayadaw's teachings will focus on the development of the jhānas (states of strong concentration) that become a foundation for insight meditation practice.
We are now accepting applications for this structured retreat. The minimum length of stay while Pa Auk Sayadaw teaches is one month.
Apply now
'You Choose' Fee Program to Continue
Since July of last year, IMS has piloted a ‘You Choose’ fee program at the Forest Refuge. It has allowed many retreatants – who could not otherwise afford the cost – the chance to practice there. With the pilot coming to an end in October, IMS is pleased to announce it will continue offering a number of ‘You Choose’ fee spaces for the foreseeable future. This is part of our commitment to make the Buddha’s teachings accessible to all, regardless of means.
For stays of fourteen nights or longer, applicants can select their own fee amount based on what they can afford (a minimum of $10 per night is required). Spaces are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
To find out more, visit our website, email fr@dharma.org or call (978) 355-2063.
Sayadaw U Tejaniya's Forest Refuge Retreat
May 24 - June 14, 2009
IMS is honored to host Sayadaw U Tejaniya at the Forest Refuge, May 24 – June 14, 2009. Due to the large amount of interest we anticipate in this retreat, a lottery will be held to allocate spaces. If you would like to participate, please complete a Forest Refuge application and make sure it reaches us by September 30, 2008.
We request that you stay for the entire duration of the course; no partial retreats are available. Each participant is expected to practice in the style that Sayadaw U Tejaniya offers; this is a chance for many to explore practice in a new way.
Sayadaw will give instructions once only—on May 25. Question and answer sessions with him will take place each week in the meditation hall; he will not offer any dharma talks. He will meet with smaller interview groups at least twice each week, and each yogi will have an opportunity for an individual meeting at some point during the retreat. Please note that silence may not be held as strictly as usual.
Sayadaw U Tejaniya began his Buddhist training as a young teenager in Burma under the late Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw (1913–2002). Twelve years ago, following life as a householder with a business career, he ordained as a monk. He teaches meditation at Shwe Oo Min Dhammasukha Tawya in Rangoon, Burma.
Sayadaw's relaxed demeanor and easy sense of humor can belie a commitment to awareness that he encourages his students to apply in every aspect of their lives. His earlier householder experience gives him a rare insight into the challenges faced by lay practitioners. His book, "Don't Look Down on the Defilements, They Will Laugh at You," aptly characterizes his teaching style—accessible and true to the traditional teachings of the Buddha.
If you are placed on the wait list, you might like to consider a Forest Refuge retreat during the month of July, 2009 instead. We are honored to host senior Vietnamese teacher and monk Bhante Khippapanno at this time. A student of the late Shwe Oo Min Saydaw as well, his teaching focus is very similar to that of Sayadaw U Tejaniya.
Bhante Khippapanno's Forest Refuge Retreat
July 1 - 31, 2009
Bhante Khippapanno, ordained a Buddhist monk in 1949, has practiced vipassana in India and Burma since 1967 and was mentored by the late Burmese meditation master Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw. Bhante founded Jetavana Vihara, Washington, DC, 1982, and Sakyamuni Meditation Center, CA, 1988. He also helped establish Phuoc Son Meditation Center, Vietnam, 1994.
IMS is honored to host senior Vietnamese teacher and monk Bhante Khippapanno at the Forest Refuge, July 1-31, 2009. His teaching will place special emphasis on Citta (Mind), the third of the Buddha’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthāna in Pali).
Bhante Khippapanno’s dharma talks may cover other areas of the Sutta Pitaka (teachings delivered by the Buddha and his close disciples), as well as the Abhidhamma (Buddhist Psychology). These are considered helpful to Satipatthāna practice.
Apply now
Full Scholarship Opportunity
Over $100,000 has been donated to the Forest Refuge Fund in Support of Community Development Work. This fund provides full scholarships to reward and rejuvenate individuals who have been working in the US or overseas to help transform the lives of economically disadvantaged people.
Examples of this kind of work include curing blindness by providing cataract operations, developing projects to assist those on low incomes, counseling former prisoners, or teaching inner city children.
If you have done such work, please mention this fund when you apply for a Forest Refuge retreat.
One-Week Stays
A number of places at the Forest Refuge are open for stays of just one week. This gives those with family and work commitments, for whom extended practice time is rare, the opportunity to experience the benefits of a personal retreat in an environment conducive to developing concentration and stillness.
What are these benefits? A personal retreat strengthens confidence in one’s practice and deepens our capacity for wisdom and compassion. As support for practice, two dharma talks and two scheduled interviews take place each week with the teachers in residence.
If you would like to consider this one-week option, please complete the application process. At the minimum, applicants must have participated in either six one-week retreats or one six-week course, or have an established and long-term commitment to insight meditation practice.
For further information, email fr@dharma.org or call (978) 355-2063. One-week stay participants are encouraged to arrive on Sundays.
You can also read an interview with Joseph Goldstein and Myoshin Kelley, titled Why Sit a Personal Retreat?
We look forward to having you practice with us. |
