Mindfulness & Insight Meditation: The Mahāsi Method
Kamala Masters & Steve Armstrong
Register for this 3-Day recorded program, and enjoy 30 days’ access to each recorded session through our replay library.
Cost is sliding-scale: $110, $180, or $300, your choice.
REGISTER HERE
Select the rate you want to pay for the entire retreat: $110, $180, $300
Participants in this at-home retreat will be guided in the unique method of insight meditation (vipassana) developed by renowned Buddhist monastic scholar and meditation master Mahāsi Sayadaw, and described in his Manual of Insight. The course will be tailored for beginners as well as more experienced meditators. Instruction will be offered over several daily sessions. People of all walks of life are warmly welcome!
Mahāsi Sayadaw’s method includes the use of a primary object and mental noting to help steady attention during each day’s periods of formal sitting, walking and standing meditation. During other activities throughout the day such as eating, bathing, resting, and household chores, we will learn to sustain a relaxed continuity of mindfulness. This gentle yet persevering effort produces an ever-deepening understanding of the universal nature of all of life and gives rise to the insight and wisdom that lead to liberation.
This form of meditation training has been foundational for many IMS teachers, including Kamala Masters and Steve Armstrong, the teachers of this retreat. It has also been taught by other revered insight meditation masters, such as the late Sayadaw U Pandita, Anagarika Munindra and Dipa Ma.
A note on dana (generosity)
Most IMS teachers—like insight teachers around the world—rely on the generosity of students for their livelihood, and receive no compensation from course fees. All IMS online teachers receive a modest dana advance from IMS to guarantee a minimum level of financial support. (Click here to learn more about the dana practice.) There will be an opportunity to offer a contribution to your teachers at the end of this course.
Retreat Sessions:
Day 1:
12 noon – 1:30 pm – Introduction, Dharma Talk, short stretch, Guided Meditation – Kamala & Steve
3 pm – 4 pm – Dharma Talk – Kamala or Steve
5 pm – 6 pm – Guided Meditation, Talk on Understanding the Instructions – Kamala & Steve
8 pm – 9 pm – Instructions, Meditation, Reflections – Kamala & Steve
Day 2:
12 noon – 1 pm – Meditation with Instructions – Kamala & Steve
3 pm – 4 pm – Dharma Talk – Kamala or Steve
5 pm – 6 pm – Q&A – Kamala & Steve
8 pm – 9 pm – Instructions, Meditation, Reflections – Kamala & Steve
Day 3:
12 noon – 1 pm – Meditation with Instructions – Kamala & Steve
3 pm – 4 pm – Dharma Talk – Kamala or Steve
5 pm – 6 pm – Q&A – Kamala & Steve
8 pm – 9 pm – Instructions, Meditation, Reflections – Kamala & Steve
Teacher Bios
Kamala Masters is a co-founder with Steve Armstrong of Vipassana Metta Foundation, and serves as an IMS guiding teacher. A meditator since 1977, she trained intensively in metta (lovingkindness) and vipassana (insight) in the Mahasi tradition with Sayadaw U Pandita and Anagarika Munindra. Continuing her practice with Sayadaw U Tejaniya, she encourages a balanced relaxed awareness that has the clarity of precision as well as kindness. She is a mother of 4 children and grandmother of 7.
Steve Armstrong, a co-founding teacher with Kamala Masters at the Vipassana Metta Foundation‘s dhamma sanctuary on Maui, shares the Buddha’s teachings on human development and liberation of mind. Steve is the Managing Editor of Mahāsi Sayadaw’s Manual of Insight. Out of compassion for future generations, he plants trees on Maui.
