Registration is now open for a daylong mindfulness meditation retreat on Saturday, March 19th with Keri Pederson. A graduate of the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program, she is a meditation teacher at Seattle Insight Meditation Society. The retreat will be held online from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm, using Zoom. The retreat will consist of a mix of seated meditation and walking meditation with instruction and a Dharma talk and will be suitable for beginners and experienced meditators. To register for the retreat, please send an email to Chris Murray. Fee for the retreat will be $10. Please use our online donation form to pay the retreat fee at Donorbox Online, and leave a comment indicating that the donation is for the retreat on March 19th. The fee will be waived for those who can’t afford it. Those who are registered for the retreat will receive an email a day or two before the retreat with the Zoom link for the retreat.
Keri will also lead a meditation and give a Dharma talk with time for discussion the evening before the retreat, on Friday, March 18th, with the same topic. That event will also be online using Zoom, from 7:30 pm until 9:00 pm. No registration will be needed for the Friday evening talk and meditation and there will be no fee to attend.
The Zoom link for that talk will be provided in the newsletter and on the IMMC website a week before the event.
Participants are encouraged to support Keri’s work by providing a donation online using one of the following links: Paypal or Venmo: @Keri-Pederson-1.
Here is a more detailed description of the central topic of the retreat and talk:
Growing a Heart that is Confident, Steadfast, and Firm
The intensity of ongoing uncertainty and unpredictability can have predictable effects on our hearts — we can grow weary and numb, literally ‘sick with worry’, scattered and spinning, or righteous and more stubbornly defended. It is easy to forget the deepest and most healthy capacities of the heart-mind in these times. In the early teachings, the Buddha often refers to the difference between a heart that sinks or stagnates in response to challenge and a heart that grows ‘confident, steadfast, and firm’ as a result of good practice and clear seeing. In Friday night’s talk and a day-long retreat on Saturday, we will explore these specific strengths and characteristics as maturing and deeply beneficial qualities in our practice lives.