Can the qualities of friendliness, care, courage, joy and balance create the right conditions for the deepening of wisdom? Or are they simply beautiful expressions of it? Or both? While silently sitting and walking with meditative presence, and with guidance from the teachers, we can open more fully to the life both around us and inside of us. Through the quality of this connection, we can discover for ourselves how living with a sense of fullness and engagement might be possible. This retreat is open to all.

The practice of metta is a journey to the center of the heart. Whether cultivating metta in daily life or in retreat, metta offers protection from being caught in an adversarial view of life. Likened to a soft rain, it relaxes the painful grip of fear and ill will. As a result, metta engenders greater trust in ourselves and others, increasing our ability to support the greater good that exists in each moment. The Buddha taught metta or lovingkindness as a complimentary practice to Insight Meditation (Vipassana).  Working together, they serve to awaken powerful healing energies that brighten and lift the…

May 8 – 18, 2020 Trout Lake Abbey Trout Lake, Washington Join us for a 5- or 10-day intensive retreat to deepen in the practices of Metta (Lovingkindness) and Vipassana (Insight) meditation in the beautiful and serene surrounds of Trout Lake Abbey and Mt Adams Zen Buddhist Temple. Metta practice is a way of working with fear and anger, developing inner tranquility, and understanding inter-connectedness. Through this practice, we come to know the heart’s boundless nature and increasingly recognize our essential wholeness and capacities to love and embody kindness. Metta softens our hearts and is a valuable base for vipassana…