BCIMS Residential Retreat Sep 22 - Oct 6, 2024 [2024sep22beth]

This retreat is a two-week silent vipassana retreat for experienced students. Please look here for more information to come.

We welcome people from all backgrounds, communities, and life experiences.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE REGISTERING.

Registration: This retreat will go on sale May 22, 2024 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 May 8 - see Financial Assistance/DEI Financial Assistance section below for details

Prerequisites: BEFORE applying, you must have a minimum of 5 years of meditation practice, and 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.

Room Rates/Fees:

Base Rate - Private Room - $3,400

Benefactor Rate - Private Room - $4,300

Shared Room - $2,900

Commuter (includes meals) - $2,220

Folks who select the Benefactor Rate will receive a tax receipt for the $900 tax-deductible donation above the base rate. Both the Base Rate and Benefactor Rate tickets are for single-occupancy rooms.

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.)

We have a number of Commuter Spots available to folks who live locally or who are able to arrange local accommodation.

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 with a pay-what-you-can model. You may apply by filling out this , or by emailing [email protected].

DEI Financial Assistance: We also offer financial assistance from our DEI fund (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) with a pay-what-you-can model. This is intended to offer support to folks from underrepresented and systemically marginalized communities to attend residential retreats. 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 February 21, 2024.

BCIMS Cancellation Policy:

Up to Aug 16 - refund offered, less a $200 cancellation fee.

Aug 17 to Sep 14, 2024 - 50% refund offered.

On and after Sep 15, 2024 - 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.

Adrianne Ross, a retired family physician, has been involved in meditation and healing since 1976. She has been practising Buddhist meditation since 1984 and began teaching in 1995. She is influenced by both Thai and Burmese streams of the Theravadan tradition, as well as Tibetan (Mahamudra and Dzogchen) practice. She teaches classes, weekend and residential retreats in Canada and the US. She has been involved in teaching and mentoring students in the Dedicated Practitioner and Advanced Practitioner Programs through Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. She co-founded BCIMS with the late Joanne Broatch over 20 years ago.

Carol Wilson first began practicing Vipassana or Insight meditation in 1971, with S.N. Goenka, in Bodh Gaya, India. Since then she has studied and practiced with a number of Theravada teachers, both Asian and Western. She has been particularly influenced by the teachings and practice styles of Sayadaw U Pandita, and in the past ten years, of Ashin U Tejaniya. In the 1980’s she spent a year in Thailand as a Buddhist nun, which she continues to appreciate as an immensely valuable and inspiring experience.

Carol has been sharing vipassana and metta retreat teachings since 1986, both in the United States and abroad. She feels a strong commitment to supporting the conditions for long intensive retreats to take place, and for many years she has been teaching the three month retreat at Insight Meditation Society as well as a month long retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She is currently a guiding teacher of IMS.

Greg Scharf has practiced with both Asian and Western teachers in the Theravada tradition since 1992, including training as a monk in Burma at Panditarama and Chanmyay Yeiktha Meditation Centers. Greg has been teaching residential retreats in the USA and abroad since 2007, including the annual 3 month retreat at the Insight Meditation Society where he serves as a guiding teacher. His teaching emphasizes the natural unfolding of love and wisdom through the cultivation of mindful awareness.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Bethlehem Centre, 2371 Arbot Road, Nanaimo, Canada