Boston Meditation Center

Date: Thursday, Oct 24
Time: 7:15-8:45pm
1120 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA

Weekly drop-in class: no registration required. 

This event is offered in the tradition of dana (Pali for giving or generosity): while there is no set cost of attending, we invite you to consider making a donation to support the teacher and The Boston Meditation Center.

Touching the Earth: Insight & Loving-kindness Meditation Retreat
w/ Chris Crotty
assisted by Matt Owen

Nov 1-3, 2019 (2 nights)

Location: www.jesuitcenter.org

Registration: https://bldg7yoga.com/events/meditation-retreat/

For beginners and experienced students-all are welcome and encouraged. 

Program Description:
2600 years ago the Buddha undertook a period of forest meditation during which he came to understand why humans suffer and how we can become free to enjoy life’s deepest happiness. With the earth as his witness, his confidence in his awakening resolute, he laid out a path of practice that has supported meditators for generations. In this retreat we turn to silence, community, and teacher guidance, while immersing ourselves in the natural world to practice the timeless teachings of the Buddha. 

This retreat will offer instruction in insight (vipassana) and loving-kindness (metta) meditation, and will include alternating periods of sitting and walking. In insight meditation we relax the mind’s reactivity to establish calm and stability, and then we investigate the mind to better understand how to create the conditions for wisdom to grow. In loving-kindness meditation we intentionally cultivate the heart qualities of friendliness & benevolence. This retreat will include instructional talks (Dharma talks), individual interviews, and a discussion period focused on supporting students to integrate retreat experience into daily life. Optional yoga will be offered. 

Guided Meditation, Dharma Talk, Question & Answer Period w/ Chris Crotty

World Wide Insight Sunday, Nov 10 2:00-3:30pm (eastern) 11:00am-12:30pm (pacific) Drop-in online class open to everyone. Log in from wherever you are!

Being Still: Cultivating Insight for Wise Action

Dec 14, 2019
1:00-4:30pm
Registration: Boston Meditation Center
Event location: The Arlington Center (369 Mass Ave, Arlington, MA 02474)

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Stillness does not mean inaction. Rather the stability of mind cultivated through meditation is a foundation for discernment. In this half-day retreat we will practice insight meditation through periods of sitting and walking meditation, first to reduce reactivity, then to investigate our own mind. With a clear mind we can see our own habits, patterns, and tendencies, and this allows insight to mature naturally. As our capacity to “see clearly” develops, wisdom grows and is evidenced in our wise response to all of life.

Beginners and ongoing students welcome and encouraged to attend.

North Shore Center for Mindfulness & Insight Meditation

Date: Wednesday, TBD
Time: 7:00-8:15pm
72 Grapevine Rd, Wenham, MA 01984

Drop-in class: no registration required  

This event is offered in the tradition of dana (Pali for giving or generosity): while there is no set cost of attending, we invite you to consider making a donation to support the teacher and The Center for Mindfulness and Insight Meditation.

Calm, Still, Quiet: Winter Residential Retreat
w/ Chris Crotty
Assisted by Sarah Mitchell

January TBD

Registration options:
Residential: $300
Commuter: $200

Retreat location: Insight Meditation Center Newburyport
Registration: Boston Meditation Center (BMC)

In winter, the stars seem to have rekindled their fires, the moon achieves a fuller triumph, and the heavens wear a look of a more exalted simplicity.  – John Burroughs

Winter is a natural time for turning inward, while retreat provides an opportunity to focus attention on your meditation practice and contemplate the Buddha’s teachings. In this second annual Winter Residential Retreat with Chris, the outer stillness of the natural world supports us in quieting our mind, and directly experiencing the calm and stillness of concentration. With a mind free from distraction, we use mindfulness (insight meditation) to investigate the path to peace taught by the Buddha and perfected during retreat practice for over 2500 years. Combining periods of sitting and walking meditation, with Dharma teachings, the Winter Residential Retreat is held in noble silence. This retreat is suitable for those who have not yet sat retreat, as well as ongoing practitioners who wish to further their practice–meditation instruction and dharma talks will accommodate all experience levels.   

Calm, Still, Quiet: Winter day-long Retreat
w/ Chris Crotty
Assisted by Sarah Mitchell

January TBD
$90

Retreat location: Insight Meditation Center Newburyport
Registration: Boston Meditation Center (BMC)

In winter, the stars seem to have rekindled their fires, the moon achieves a fuller triumph, and the heavens wear a look of a more exalted simplicity.  – John Burroughs

Winter is a natural time for turning inward, while retreat provides an opportunity to focus attention on your meditation practice and contemplate the Buddha’s teachings. In this second annual Winter retreat with Chris, the outer stillness of the natural world supports us in quieting our mind, and directly experiencing the calm and stillness of concentration. With a mind free from distraction, we use mindfulness (insight meditation) to investigate the path to peace taught by the Buddha and perfected during retreat practice for over 2500 years. Combining periods of sitting and walking meditation, with Dharma teachings, the Winter retreat is held in noble silence. This day-long retreat is comprised of the middle day of a three day residential retreat, and is suitable for those who have not yet sat retreat, as well as ongoing practitioners who wish to further their practice–meditation instruction and dharma talks will accommodate all experience levels.   

Cultivating a Heart of Love: Ethics on the Buddhist Path
A residential practice and study retreat

April 2-5, 2020

Registration: Barre Center for Buddhist Studies

Course Description
The Buddha taught a path consisting of wisdom, ethics, and meditation. Though this three-fold sasana is a mutually supportive system, the tendency for ethics to be both pejorative and prescriptive is an issue for many practitioners today; the threat of being confined or something being taken away from us can conflict with our ideas of freedom. Instead, what if ethics was invitatory and developed to fortify our discernment? What if our approach to ethics supported us in using our whole life as a mirror to reinforce our capacity for reflection and establish a greater sense of agency? Building on the premise that the intention of ethics is to cultivate a heart of love and alleviate suffering, this course takes up both the problem and promise of ethics by refuting dogma and notions of restriction, while giving ethical practices a central role in our own self- awareness and liberation. In this way ethics encourages the development of insight, our own greatest potential, and the Buddhist ideal of freedom for all beings.

Learning Intentions
To integrate a study of ethics grounded in the suttas of the Pali cannon with silent meditation, reflection, and discussion; to replace a moralistic rendering of ethics with a personally meaningful ethical inquiry that supports the development of meditation and wisdom; to support students in applying ethical teachings and practices to the world we live in and the particulars of their own lives; to understand the individual and social dimension of ethics.