Start Your Week Well – Monday Morning Online Sitting
Open Dates
Start your week well by joining BMIMC for a regular Monday morning Zoom sitting hosted by Jill Shepherd and others from the BMIMC community. Mondays 7:30-8:00 am AEST
Dhamma Talk – A Genealogy of Insight (Online)
with Patrick Kearney
September 6, 2023
The practice of insight meditation (vipassana bhavana) is something many meditators in the west take for granted. It is easy to forget or overlook just how revolutionary the modern form of practice developed by the late Mahasi Sayadaw has been, and the importance of the Mahasi lineage in the propagation of Insight practice among lay people. In this live Dhamma Talk, Patrick will explore the history of Insight in the Mahasi lineage, from its early origins in the 19th century to the current day. There is no charge to join, but any donations to Patrick are greatly appreciated.
Dhamma Talk – Contemporary Theravāda (Live Stream)
with Patrick Kearney
September 13, 2023
Online
In the modern Burmese insight movement students are trained in classical insight meditation (vipassanā bhāvanā). They attain a level of understanding (ñāṇa) and return to their normal lives. If the students are Burmese Buddhists, they enter the meditation centre from a deep intuitive understanding of their own tradition and return to this tradition, where they can now make sense of what happened to them inside the centre. But what about students from outside the world of Theravāda Buddhism?...
Dhamma Talk – Who is Buddha? (Live Stream)
with Patrick Kearney
September 20, 2023
Online
As practitioners of Buddha Dharma we are faced with two Buddhas – the Buddha of history and the Buddha of faith, of saddhā. The Buddha of history is the man who wandered the Ganges valley over two millennia ago and founded what we now call “Buddhism.” Who is the Buddha of faith? One obvious difference between them is that the Buddha of history is dead, while the Buddha of faith is alive...
October Long Weekend Retreat
with Tara Frances
September 29 - October 2, 2023
Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre
The weekend comprises instruction and formal practice sessions in both metta (lovingkindness) and mindfulness meditation, as well as an engaged attention to everyday activities. These will be presented within the context of the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path.
Metta – the Way of Kindness – 9 Day Retreat
with Venerable Virañani
October 13 - 22, 2023
Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre
In this special retreat, yogis will have the unique opportunity to learn the practice of mettā meditation from Ayya Virañani who has shared these teachings for many years in Burma and in the west.
7-Day Retreat – Practice Directed and Undirected
with Patrick Kearney and Emma Pittaway
December 3 - 10, 2023
Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre
The Buddha taught directed and undirected practice as twin aspects of satipatthana, establishing mindfulness. In directed practice we aim mind at an object and hold it there. In undirected practice we pull back, so mind is neither aimed nor held. When this happens, the Buddha says the practitioner is happy and their mind is unconstricted, freed (SN 47.10 The bhikkhunis’ quarters). In this retreat we will explore both directed and undirected practice, as essential aspects of the craft of meditation.