Events
NEW! Registration for a planned month-long retreat at BMIMC is now open, as at 29 April. Please see below.
An Online Retreat, Friday 12 to Sunday 21 May 2023
Deepening Mindfulness
The Buddha borrowed the concept of “mindfulness” (Pāli sati; Sanskrit sṃrti) from the Vedic tradition where it referred to the practice of attending to present experience. He then expanded the significance of mindfulness and placed it at the centre of his approach to meditation and the path to liberation. Why did he do this? And what significance does mindfulness have for our practice and our way of life? We will explore these issues during this retreat.
Retreat Fees
The fees cover our expenses and build a fund for future events.
Full time attendance (includes one-on-one interviews with Patrick) $250.
Full time without interviews (for experienced practitioners only and with prior approval) $200.
Weekend only (without interviews) $50.
Attendance at nightly dharma talks is free, with a Zoom link provided to those who register for them.
Dāna
Your fee does not pay for Patrick’s teaching. In Buddhist tradition, the dharma is felt to be of such great value that it cannot be bought or sold: it can be transmitted and received only as gift. This is dāna, which means “giving” or “gift.” In this spirit, Patrick offers his teaching as a gift. His students return his gift in the form of financial support, and Patrick lives on these gifts. Details for giving dāna to Patrick will be provided at the conclusion of the retreat, or can be found on the dāna page of his website.
Registration & Further Information
To register, go to our Retreat Shop.
If you have any questions, contact our Retreat Manager, Alex.
And finally, you can download your schedule here. Select the schedule that fits your time zone. If your time zone is not supported, contact Alex through the link above.
An Online Retreat, Friday 7 to Sunday 16 July 2023
Remembering the Present
“Mindfulness” translates the Pāli word sati, which literally means “memory.” Why is memory so important to the Buddha’s way of practice and realisation? Mindfulness remembers the present rather than the past. When we remember our awareness then we learn to live in the experienced present rather than the past and future of our dreams and nightmares. And it is only here, now, that practice and realisation take place.
This retreat is being organised with the support of the Perth Insight Meditation Group (PIMG). Please be aware that the retreat will be held in in AWST (Australian Western Australian Time), the time zone for WA and SE Asia. People from any time zone are welcome, but the schedule will assume AWST.
Retreat Fees
The fees cover our expenses and build a fund for future events.
Full time attendance (includes one-on-one interviews with Patrick) $250.
Full time without interviews (for experienced practitioners only and with prior approval) $200.
Weekend only (without interviews) $50.
Attendance at nightly dharma talks is free, with a Zoom link provided to those who register for them.
Dāna
Your fee does not pay for Patrick’s teaching. In Buddhist tradition, the dharma is felt to be of such great value that it cannot be bought or sold: it can be transmitted and received only as gift. This is dāna, which means “giving” or “gift.” In this spirit, Patrick offers his teaching as a gift. His students return his gift in the form of financial support, and Patrick lives on these gifts. Details for giving dāna to Patrick will be provided at the conclusion of the retreat, or can be found on the dāna page of his website.
Registration & Further Information
To register, go to our Retreat Shop.
If you have any questions, contact our Retreat Manager, Alex.
And finally, you can download your schedule here. Select the schedule that fits your time zone. If your time zone is not supported, contact Alex through the link above.
A Residential Retreat at Kallara Conference Centre, Strathbogie Ranges, Friday 2 to Friday 16 June 2023
The Winter of Our Content
This retreat is held in the depths of winter in beautiful Australian countryside in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains. The weather is cold; conditions are simple. Ideal circumstances for practice.
The retreat is held for two weeks, allowing time to settle into the present and to discover what is really going on.
Registration & Further Information
This retreat is hosted by Melbourne Insight Meditation. Bookings are now open. Go to the events page of their website.
For further information, email MIM.
A Residential Retreat at Kallara Conference Centre, Strathbogie Ranges, Friday 4 to Sunday 13 August 2023, with Robyn Gibson
Practising Intimacy
This retreat will be taught by Patrick Kearney and Robyn Gibson.
When we practise mindfulness we become intimate with our moment-to-moment experience in ways that are not possible in the chaos of our everyday lives. In this retreat we will explore intimacy and what this intimacy reveals.
Patrick and Robyn will conduct one-on-one interviews together. The interviews give you the opportunity to have an objective, external view on how your practice is developing. This will help you fine-tune your practice.
Kallara Conference Centre lies in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains. It provides ideal conditions for deep practice.
Robyn Gibson has been practising and studying meditation for over 25 years, predominantly in the Mahāsī lineage of Theravāda Buddhism, and with experience in yoga, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna practices. Her principal teachers have been Patrick Kearney and Carol Perry. She has facilitated sitting groups and managed retreats for many years, and was EO of Melbourne Insight Meditation for three years.
Robyn has been teaching since 2016 and leads one-day workshops, women’s circles and multi-day retreats. Her approach brings together the radical teachings of freedom through embodied presence that the Buddha taught, deep ecology and other nature-based practices, and creative expression – allowing for inquiry into what it means to live a full and just human life on this earth, and how to face the challenges of our current times with courage and integrity. Robyn lives on Dja Dja Wurrung country in Castlemaine, Victoria.
Registration & Further Information
This retreat is hosted by Melbourne Insight Meditation. Bookings are now open. Go to the events page of their website.
For further information, email MIM.
NEW! A four-week retreat at Blue Mountains Insight Meditation Centre (BMIMC), 25 August - 22 September 2023
From the BMIMC website …
We’re pleased to announce the addition of this retreat to our 2023 schedule. Due to the especially high demand for this retreat, we have given priority to yogis who were waitlisted and missed out on Patrick’s Jan 2023 or 2022 retreats. Registration will be opened for the remaining spaces at 12 pm this coming Saturday, 29 April. We’ll confirm by email as soon as it opens, so if you’re keen to get a place, keep an eye on your inbox around that time. Please note that preference will be given to people able to sit the full four weeks, so kindly, please only register if this is you intention.
Registration & Further Information
For more information about this retreat, contact BMIMC. For information about the Centre, go to the BMIMC website. Register here.
An Online Retreat, Friday 6 to Sunday 15 October 2023
The Way of Insight
In this retreat we will practise mindfulness and explore its application to the discovery of insight. For the Buddha, “insight” means seeing into the three universal characteristics of impermanence or change (anicca), pain or dis-ease (dukkha) and not-self (anattā). These characteristics reveal a world entirely different from the one we have taken for granted as “real” or “normal.” In this new world we discover what the Buddha calls Dharma, the way life actually flows, and learn to live flourishing lives that benefit both us and those around us.
Retreat Fees
The fees cover our expenses and build a fund for future events.
Full time attendance (includes one-on-one interviews with Patrick) $250.
Full time without interviews (for experienced practitioners only and with prior approval) $200.
Weekend only (without interviews) $50.
Attendance at nightly dharma talks is free, with a Zoom link provided to those who register for them.
Dāna
Your fee does not pay for Patrick’s teaching. In Buddhist tradition, the dharma is felt to be of such great value that it cannot be bought or sold: it can be transmitted and received only as gift. This is dāna, which means “giving” or “gift.” In this spirit, Patrick offers his teaching as a gift. His students return his gift in the form of financial support, and Patrick lives on these gifts. Details for giving dāna to Patrick will be provided at the conclusion of the retreat, or can be found on the dāna page of his website.
Registration & Further Information
To register, go to our Retreat Shop.
If you have any questions, contact our Retreat Manager, Alex.
And finally, you can download your schedule here. Select the schedule that fits your time zone. If your time zone is not supported, contact Alex through the link above.
A Residential Retreat at Jhana Grove Meditation Centre, Friday 10 to Sunday 19 November 2023
Calming Body, Settling Heart
Mindfulness is a physical practice, and our relationship to body lies at its centre. When we are fully present to the six senses, when we accept ourselves as sentient bodies, then our heart settles and insight arises. As the Buddha said, describing his own practice before his awakening, “my body was calm and peaceful; and my heart was settled and unified (MN 4 Bhayabherava Sutta Fear & Dread).” This attainment led to the Bodhi Tree. In this retreat we will practise intimacy with the felt reality of our human condition.
This retreat is held in the Serpentine Hills, southeast of Perth, WA. The centre is spacious, comfortable and very conducive to practice.
Information & booking: The retreat is hosted by the Perth Insight Meditation Group (PIMG). Keep an eye on their website for when registrations open.