Summer Insight Meditation Retreat

This nine-night silent meditation retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, offers an immersion in Insight meditation (vipassana) within the Theravada Buddhist tradition. It is intended for experienced practitioners, and it is led by Tempel Smith, Bonnie Duran, Anushka Fernandopulle, bruni dávila and Pawan Bareja, with Marcy Reynolds teaching movement.

The Buddha's Insight techniques open a direct experience of the mind and body, so that impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self can be seen firsthand. Seeing this way loosens the ignorance that keeps us caught in repetitive cycles of suffering.

What to Expect

Practice is silent, apart from small group meetings with the teachers. The first day is for arrival: check-in runs from 2:30 to 4:30 PM, followed by orientation to the retreat guidelines and schedule, a first meditation session and an introduction to the teachers. Days two through eight are the core of the retreat. They bring daily sitting in the Upper Meditation Hall, small group meetings for guidance and questions, qigong-based movement practice, and meals taken in silence. On the final day there are closing meditation sessions and a closing circle, and departure is at 11:00 AM.

This retreat follows a nine-night lovingkindness retreat, and the two can be taken together as one continuous eighteen-night retreat. The teachers see the pairing as a natural progression: lovingkindness (mettā), the brahmavihāras and concentration first, then insight practice grounded in that settled, compassionate presence. Either retreat can also be attended on its own. For the eighteen-night option, the prerequisite is at least one silent residential insight retreat of nine nights or more.

The Teachers

Tempel Smith teaches mindfulness, insight and mettā meditation, with an emphasis on Buddhist psychology, neuroscience and mind-body awareness. He spent a year as a monk in Myanmar with Sayadaw U Pandita and Pa Auk Sayadaw. He serves on the Spirit Rock Guiding Teachers Committee, has led the Dedicated Practitioners Program, and has led pilgrimages to India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. He has also trained in Somatic Experiencing, Dynamic Neural Retraining System and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.

Bonnie Duran, DrPH, met the Dharma in 1982 and has received teachings from many Western, Thai, Burmese and Tibetan teachers. A graduate of the IMS/SRMC retreat teacher-training program, she sits on the SRMC Guiding Teachers Council and is a professor emeritus at the University of Washington.

Anushka Fernandopulle has trained for over 35 years in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. Her teaching is informed by nature, the arts, political engagement and modern urban life. She also works as a leadership coach and organizational consultant, bringing mindfulness to the workplace, and holds a BA in anthropology and religion from Harvard and an MBA from Yale.

bruni dávila has practiced Insight Meditation and Zen since 1995 and teaches mettā and vipassanā retreats in English and Spanish. She was trained and empowered to teach by the Insight Meditation Society and IMC, and is drawn to long retreat practice and Dharma in daily life.

Pawan Bareja, PhD, has practiced vipassanā since 2001 and is a Spirit Rock trained teacher. She is interested in giving students mindfulness practices for working with stress and trauma, drawing on Buddhist psychology and neuroscience, and is the author of Reignite Your Power: Resolving Trauma Using Mindfulness.

Marcy Reynolds leads the movement practice. She began studying vipassanā in 1994 and has facilitated classes and retreats since 2003. She has taught Qigong since 1997, with an emphasis on Dr. Bingkun Hu's teachings and Wild Goose (Dayan) Qigong.

The Setting

The retreat takes place at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, with sitting in the Upper Meditation Hall. Accommodation is residential: 16 of the 80 rooms are single, and the other 64 are shared double rooms. Guaranteed single rooms come with the higher sliding scale rates, and the remaining singles are prioritized for people with serious medical needs. All meals are provided. The group is up to 80 people.

Before You Go

This retreat is for intermediate to advanced practitioners. Participants should have completed at least one silent residential retreat of nine nights or more in Insight meditation; online retreats do not count. Those new to silent retreat are encouraged to start with two or three daylong programs and a four- to five-night retreat. Commuters must have attended at least one weeklong silent residential vipassana retreat.

Teaching is offered in English and Spanish. The fee covers lodging, meals, meditation instruction, small group meetings, movement sessions and use of the retreat facilities. It does not include travel, personal supplies or medications, or dana for the teachers and Spirit Rock, which is offered voluntarily at the close of the retreat. Spirit Rock offers sliding scale pricing, scholarships and payment plans.