BCIMS Residential Retreat May 18 - June 1, 2025 [May18beth]

Two Wings of Awakening: Mettā and Insight Retreat

In this two-week retreat we will cultivate universal friendliness (mettā) aimed at purifying our hearts and developing concentration (samādhi), as well as insight into our human body and mind, allowing us to deeply see into the nature of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and not-self.

Mettā meditation supports inner peace and aids us to powerfully engage with the world. Insight meditation helps uproot the ignorance that keeps us trapped in cycles of suffering. The combination of these two practices offer a unique opportunity to blend the two wings of Buddhist wisdom based in love and emptiness.

This retreat is appropriate for experienced meditators. Please see 'Prerequisites' below for more information. The retreat will be held in noble silence from the first evening until the last day, including a requirement to turn off and put away all electronic devices. We welcome all people from widely diverse communities and backgrounds, and our center support those with ability access requirements.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE REGISTERING.

Registration: This retreat will go on sale January 17, 2025 at 10am PST. We anticipate tickets will sell quickly. We recommend you register as soon as possible once the tickets go on sale. Pease note that the deadline for for financial assistance is January 3 - see Financial Assistance/DEI Financial Assistance section below for details.

Prerequisites: BEFORE applying, you must completed at least 2 retreats of 7-nights or longer. These retreats should have been led by Spirit Rock, IMS, or IRC teachers, or other recognized Insight Meditation teachers. To qualify, these previous retreats must have a similar format to this retreat, with instructions, practices and talks focused on Insight Meditation.

While registering, you will be asked to share your retreat experience in the Order Form, including providing teachers’ names, dates, location, length (# of nights), and style of the retreats. Please note that teachers will review the Order Forms, and the BCIMS Registrar will reach out those who do not yet have the experience level to attend this retreat to cancel their order and offer a full refund.

If you have questions about whether your experience meets the prerequisites, please email [email protected] BEFORE tickets go on sale so that we may confirm whether your experience meets the teacher's prerequisites.

COVID-19: It is anticipated that small gatherings will be allowed by the BC Provincial Health Authority at this time. All health guidelines in place at the time of the retreat for small gatherings will be followed and communicated to attendees.

Vaccinations: Attendees are strongly encouraged to be fully vaccinated, including the boosters, though we will not be requiring proof during check in.

Masking: Masks are optional and encouraged in shared indoor spaces. If a yogi has or develops a cough/runny nose/cold symptoms, they will be asked to take a COVID test and mask while in shared indoor spaces.

COVID Testing: ALL yogis will be asked to take a home-COVID test sometime 24 hours BEFORE arriving at the retreat and indicate they have tested negative at check in. All yogis will also be asked to take a COVID test on day 3 of retreat. Commuters will be asked to take a COVID test daily.

Room Rates/Fees:

Private Room - $3,400

Shared Room - $2,900

Commuter (includes meals) - $2,200

If you are in the position to offer a Benefactor Rate, please consider a donation to (Canada Helps). We are deeply grateful for any amount you are able to contribute to support BCIMS and the sangha, as donations help us to honour requests for financial assistance. Donations via the link above will receive an automatic tax receipt from Canada Helps.

If you select the Shared Room option, please indicate your room-sharing preferences in the order form (ie: wish to share with a partner or friend also registered for this retreat, gender preference, etc.)

Fees do NOT include a financial offering (dana) to the teachers. There will be an opportunity to offer dana to the teachers once you are at the retreat.

Financial Assistance: We are gladdened to offer Financial Assistance for this retreat. You may apply by filling out this , or by emailing [email protected]. For this retreat, we are offering financial assistance any amount up to 50% of the retreat fee. If you require additional assistance, please share your request on the form. DEI Financial Assistance: We also offer financial assistance from our DEI fund (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). This is intended to offer support to folks from underrepresented and systemically marginalized communities to attend residential retreats. For this retreat, we are offering DEI financial assistance of any amount up to 50% of the retreat fee. If you require additional assistance, please share your request on the form. We encourage folks who identify as BIPOC (black, Indigenous, and/or people of colour), 2SLGBTQIA+, have a visible or invisible disability, or are from other underrepresented and systemically marginalized communities, to apply by filling out this , or by emailing [email protected]. Please specify in your email that you are interested in applying for the DEI fund.

The deadline for all financial assistance applications is January 3, 2025.

BCIMS Cancellation Policy:

Up to April 17 - refund offered, less a $200 cancellation fee.

From April 18 to May 7, 2024 - 50% refund offered.

On and after May 8, 2025 - no refund guaranteed.

Please note, our BCIMS Cancellation Policy applies to all ticket holders, including those with discounted tickets.

Accessibility Needs: There will be an opportunity on the Registration Order Form to specify any special needs or accommodations, including any needs or requests on washrooms, dietary, and access needs.

We may not be able to meet everyone’s preferences but we will do our best to accommodate needs and make the retreat as safe and accessible as possible. We encourage you to please reflect on the difference between needs and preferences for your stay as you fill out the Form, as this allows us to more easefully accommodate all retreatants.

Ridesharing: The information collected during registration regarding ridesharing will be distributed by email to all interested retreatants about four weeks prior to the retreat. Each individual is then responsible for directly making any ridesharing arrangement.

Dana: Registration fees cover retreat organizing costs, accommodations, and meals only. Voluntary donations (dana) for the teachings may be offered to the teachers at the retreat. More information will be shared with registrants.

Kristina Baré is an insight meditation teacher, therapist, and Somatic Experiencing practitioner. She has trained primarily in the Burmese lineages of Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw and Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw.

She enjoys supporting students in deepening samadhi, loving-kindness and insight. Opening the door to an expansion of the heart and to liberating wisdom. In support of the Buddha’s teachings, Kristina also draws on knowledge from western psychology and Somatic Experiencing. She invites a kind, patient, and embodied approach as a base for samadhi and insight meditation practices.

Kristina graduated from a four year Dharma Teacher training program mentored by Marcia Rose, Sally and Guy Armstrong. She teaches insight meditation retreats in Canada, Spirit Rock CA and Insight Meditation Society MA. She lives in Victoria, BC from where she offers dharma support to students via zoom in North America and Europe.

Tempel Smith teaches Mindfulness, Insight and Metta meditation with an emphasis on Buddhist psychology and mind-body awareness. He spent a year as a monk in Burma with Sayadaw U Pandita and Pa Auk Sayadaw. Tempel serves on the Spirit Rock Governing Teachers Council, organizes the Dedicated Practitioners Program (DPP), Concentration, and Month Long retreats for Spirit Rock, and teaches classes online for experienced students.

Tara Mulay teaches and mentors dharma practitioners to refine their mindfulness practice in meditation and in daily life. Trained and authorized by the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, Tara serves as a Guiding Teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. Tara's journey into dharma practice began during her 20-year career as a criminal defense attorney. Her teachings are rooted in the Mahasi Sayadaw lineage, enriched by influences from other Theravadan and Early Buddhist traditions.
Of South Asian heritage, Tara was initially drawn to dharma practice by the Buddha’s teachings rejecting caste as a measure of worth and capacity for awakening. She believes that classical Buddhist practices—fostering compassion, non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion—are powerful tools for empowering people in marginalized communities.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Bethlehem Centre, 2371 Arbot Road, Nanaimo, Canada