We’re pleased to announce that the 2021 schedule of teachers at IMS’s Forest Refuge is now available. We are currently accepting applications for a personal retreat next year at this tranquil center for longer-term practice.
2021 teaching sessions include:
- During the first week of January, Annie Nugent and Winnie Nazarko will guide yogis’ meditation practice.
- The Adventure of Awakening: From January 8-31, Jaya Rudgard and Susie Harrington will lead retreatants in a three-week journey through the practices of concentration, insight and awareness. A minimum stay for the three weeks of the retreat is required.
- During February, Sayadaw U Jagara and Beth Upton will support retreatants in investigating The Four Nutriments of Life (food, contact, volition, and consciousness) in relation to other aspects of Right View, such as Dependent Origination and the Four Noble Truths. Priority will be given to anyone applying for the full month of February or longer.
- Throughout June, Carol Wilson and Andrea Fella will offer an Awareness and Wisdom Retreat. The teachings during this month will explore the four foundations of mindfulness with open awareness and receptive attention, with an emphasis on recognizing the attitude of mind and cultivating the perspective of wise view. The teachings are influenced by both teachers’ practice with Sayadaw U Tejaniya. We request that you agree to work with the instructions that we offer during the retreat. A minimum stay for the full month is required.
- August Teaching Period – Later in the summer, Bhante Buddharakkhita will join Teacher-in-Residence Caroline Jones to support meditators’ practice during the month of August.
- During October Bhikkhu Anālayo, with Jill Shepherd, will offer teachings on Early Buddhist Meditation. This month-long retreat offers an opportunity for highly experienced meditators to explore early Buddhist meditation through Bhikkhu Anālayo’s step by step approach to satipatthāna, mindfulness of breathing, the divine abodes, and emptiness meditation. Note the prerequisites posted online. A minimum stay for the full month is required. A lottery will be conducted for this course; applications are due by September 14, 2020.
- Check the complete schedule to find out who else will be teaching at the Forest Refuge next year.
The Forest Refuge is a practice community where stays can range from seven nights to a year or more. With teacher guidance and support, experienced insight meditators can settle into greater depths of practice, strengthening meditative faith and self-reliance.
Financial assistance options are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
As part of our efforts toward greater diversity and inclusion, IMS now reserves a portion of all spaces for people of color. Read details here. In addition, thanks to generous donations, funding is again available to support a number of experienced people of color meditators who wish to sit at the Forest Refuge in 2020.
See our website for the full schedule of Forest Refuge teachers, retreat guidelines and information about the application process.
