The Four Beautiful Qualities of Heart: An Online Meditation Retreat
Narayan Helen Liebenson
Register for this 6-Day recorded program, and enjoy unlimited access to each recorded session through our replay library.
Cost is sliding-scale: $240, $390 or $600, your choice.
REGISTER HERE
This retreat will focus on the principles and practices of the Brahmaviharas, or beautiful qualities of heart. These include kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), joy (mudita), and equanimity (upekkha) and are extended both inwardly, towards ourselves, and outwardly, towards others.
We will practice accessing and cultivating these qualities in a systematic way, practicing kindness on the first two days and expanding to compassion, joy, and equanimity one day at a time.
Through inclining the mind towards these qualities in a sustained way, what begins as a fragile seed becomes a stable tree that gives cover when needed. Through understanding the principles of these practices, and practicing with confidence and steadiness, these qualities within our hearts become where we dwell and feel most at home. In this way, we can be a refuge, a home, for one another.
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.
Retreat Sessions:
Click the links below to access individual retreat sessions. The times listed are suggestions. We recommend watching the sessions in order: 1-17. All sessions are listed here.
Day 1:
10 am – 11 am – Guided Meditation & Introduction to Retreat
12 – 12:30 pm – Dharma Talk
3:45 – 4:30 pm – Guided Meditation
Day 2:
10 am – 11 am – Guided Meditation & Instructions
12 – 12:30 – Dharma Talk
3:45 – 4:30 pm – Guided Meditation
Day 3:
10 am – 11 am – Guided Meditation & Instructions
12 – 12:30 – Dharma Talk
3:45 – 4:30 pm – Guided Meditation
Day 4:
10 am – 11 am – Guided Meditation & Instructions
12 – 12:30 – Dharma Talk
3:45 – 4:30 pm – Guided Meditation
Day 5:
10 am – 11 am – Guided Meditation & Instructions
12 – 12:30 – Dharma Talk
3:45 – 4:30 pm – Guided Meditation
Day 6:
10 am – 11 am – Guided Meditation & Instructions
12 – 12:30 – Dharma Talk
REGISTER HERE
Teacher Bios
Narayan Helen Liebenson finds it a joy and a privilege to share the Buddha’s teachings with all who are interested. She serves as an IMS guiding teacher, and has been a guiding teacher of the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center since its inception in 1985.
Her training over the past forty years includes study in the United States and in Asia with meditation masters in the Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan traditions. She was a student of the late Chan master Sheng Yen for over ten years. Asked by Master Sheng Yen to teach, Narayan decided to integrate her understanding of Zen into her already existing Vipassana lineage.
Narayan is the author and illustrator of a small book titled Life as Meditation, and for many years wrote a meditator’s advice column in Buddhadharma magazine. Her latest book, The Magnanimous Heart, was published by Wisdom Publications in January, 2019.
