Welcome!
Join us at one of our upcoming generosity-based meditation retreats in AL, LA and MS
The Power of Mindfulness in Working with Difficult Emotions
with Michael Grady
Dec 6 - 8, 2019
St. Mary of the Pines in Chatawa, MS
What makes difficult emotions so difficult? Within the framework of insight practice and inquiry, we will explore this question and examine ways to cultivate a more skillful, compassionate attitude towards difficult emotions while abandoning unskillful habitual patterns of relating to these challenging emotions. By understanding and practicing Wise Effort and Wise Mindfulness we can discover greater ease and inner freedom when emotions such as fear, anxiety, self-judgement, anger, or shame arise. This residential, generosity-based retreat will be led by Michael Grady of Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Mass.
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Michael Grady began practicing Insight Meditation with Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg in 1974. He also studied under the late Chan master Sheng Yen who taught the practice of Silent Illumination – a practice which emphasizes relaxing the body and mind while practicing awareness without expectations or an agenda. Michael is a core teacher at IMS in Barre, Massachusetts, and was a Guiding Teacher at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center for more than 20 years.
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Retreat Location:
St Mary of the Pines
3167 Old Hwy 51 S
​Chatawa, MS 39657
Bringing in the New: A Four Day Insight Meditation Retreat
with Mushim Patricia Ikeda
Dec 29 - Jan 1, 2020*
St. Mary of the Pines in Chatawa, MS
The passage between the old and the new year is a particularly beautiful time to affirm our spiritual aspirations through silent meditation retreat in warm and supportive spiritual community. Insight (mindfulness) meditation, loving kindness (metta) meditation, and compassionate dialogue in spiritual community offer powerful tools for experiencing wholeness and healing by acknowledging how the past shows up in the present, and planting seeds of wisdom and compassion for the future.
Mushim Patricia Ikeda is a Buddhist teacher, writer, diversity consultant, author, mentor, and community activist. She teaches meditation retreats for people of color, women, and social justice activists nationally. Mushim has become widely known for her down-to-earth, humorous, and penetrating approach to Dharma and social transformation. Her work is based in values of cultural humility, acknowledging the wisdom that is ever-present in individuals and collectives, and the need for expression, empowerment, and co-creative self-determination in marginalized communities.
Mushim has been featured in the award-winning documentary film Between the Lines: Asian American Women’s Poetry and as one of three subjects in the documentary Acting on Faith: Women’s New Religious Activism in America, distributed by the Pluralism Project at Harvard University. She is based in Oakland, CA and teaches primarily at the East Bay Meditation Center.
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Retreat Location:
St Mary of the Pines
3167 Old Hwy 51 S
​Chatawa, MS 39657
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* Registration for this four-day retreat is $75.
