Liberation of Heart and Mind: Online Meditation and Lovingkindness Retreat
Michele McDonald, Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey and Darine Monroy
Register for this recorded program, and participate at your own pace for 30 days!
Cost is sliding-scale: $190, $275, or $500, your choice.
This intensive online retreat is an opportunity to explore the Buddha’s teachings on liberation by touching into the wordless depths of our own heart, with an emphasis on lovingkindness, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity. By practicing with interest, acceptance and kindness, we develop greater understanding and compassion. In this way, we increase our ability to meet life’s changes with ease and serenity.
With guidance and support from the teachers, both new and experienced meditators will be encouraged to deepen their trust in their own practice.
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 teacher at the end of this course.
REGISTER HERE
Select the rate you want to pay for the entire retreat: $190, $275, $500
Retreat Sessions:
Click the links below to access individual retreat sessions. The times listed are suggestions. We recommend watching the sessions in order: 1-16. All sessions are listed here.
Day 1
8-8:45 am: Morning sit with instructions (Darine)
3-3:45 pm: Sit with Instructions (Jesse)
8-9 pm: Dharma talk (Michele)
9-9:45 pm: Metta Chanting and Sit (Jesse)
Day 2
8-8:45 am: Morning sit with instructions (Darine)
3-3:45 pm: Sit with Instructions (Michele)
8-9 pm: Dharma talk (Jesse)
Day 3
8-8:45 am: Morning sit with instructions (Darine)
3-3:45 pm: Sit with Instructions (Jesse)
8-9 pm: Dharma talk (Michele)
Day 4
8-8:45 am: Morning sit with instructions (Darine)
3-3:45 pm: Sit with Instructions (Michele)
8-9 pm: Dharma talk (Jesse)
Day 5
8-8:45 am: Morning sit with instructions (Darine)
3-3:45 pm: Sit with Instructions (Jesse)
8-9 pm: Dharma talk (Michele & Jesse)
Teacher Bios
Michele McDonald co-founded Vipassana Hawai’i in 1984 with Steven Smith. She has taught Insight meditation for thirty two years. Beyond her commitment to the Vipassana Hawai’i Sangha, she teaches extensively throughout the United States, in Canada, Burma, and various locations around the world. Michele has been a quiet pioneer having being the first woman to teach a formal retreat in Burma, side-by-side with a senior monastic figure, Sayadaw U Lakkhana, Abbot of Kyaswa Monastery. Having worked with a wide range of Asian and Western teachers, Michele is most inspired by her practice with Dipa Ma and Sayadaw U Pandita and more recently in Burma with the Mya Taung Sayadaw. She appreciates teaching at many levels of practice and has enjoyed teaching three-month retreats for experienced students as well as developing meditation retreats for youth. Her style of teaching emphasizes helping individuals find entry points into stillness that are natural for them. She encourages an understanding of the path of insight and a gentle strengthening of mindfulness and concentration so that, ultimately, people can access the peaceful depths of their experience in every moment. Michele is thrilled when students begin to love their practice as their own.
Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey is a teacher of Vipassana (insight) meditation within the broader context of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. His teaching aims to inspire the skills, determination, and faith necessary to realize the deepest human freedom. Jesse is a student of Michele McDonald’s and was trained and authorized by her to teach. His approach is rooted in the tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma and encourages an exploration of the relationship between ethics, insight, and action. He is the resident teacher for Vipassana Hawai’i and when off-island teaches mostly in the US and Canada.
Writing, talks, and schedule can be found at: www.dolessforpeace.org
Darine Monroy has been a student of Michele McDonald and Steven Smith since 2011. She has taught for Mindful Schools and has completed the Hakomi Comprehensive Training. Since 2018, has been assisting Michele McDonald, Steven Smith, and Jesse Vega-Frey with their annual retreats in IMS, Vallecitos, Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Center, and Thailand.
