Is the meditation bell still heard? Are the vibrations still felt by the body?

Pause.

Relax.

Open.

Trust Emergence.

Listen Deeply and Speak the Truth.

Reflect on the benefits that you gained from your retreat. What were these gifts? What was learned, reinforced, clarified, understood? Is there a felt sense in your body of these benefits? What is that sense?

Then reflect on how these gifts have moved into and through your life. Does it support awakening in the everyday? Is remembering easier, more accessible? How does it affect you now?

We invite you to write down what arises for you, and if you are so moved, e-mail us what you wrote and allow us to share it with our larger community via Metta’s quarterly newsletter or FaceBook page. Your testimonial is an invaluable service to others.

There are a few more spots still available in this summer’s Introduction to Online Insight Dialogue:

With Gary Steinberg, Mary Burns, and Antonella Commellato
June 5 – July 24, 2013

The Introduction to Online Insight Dialogue is an eight-week offering which covers the Insight Dialogue guidelines using the Four Noble Truths as a contemplative frame. The program focuses on the core elements of Relational Dhamma practiced in an online framework, and serves as a gateway for students to later enter the Whole Life Program, Metta … Continue reading →

The latest edition of our e-newsletter is now Available Here.

In this issue:

• Living the Teachings, by Gregory Kramer
• Partnering With Practice Groups
• Listening to Dhamma
• Video: Get Started in Metta’s Online Community
• Audio: Intimacy with Suffering and Joy
• Online Drop-in Sessions
• Retreats and Events Listing
• Poem: The Essential Nature of Mind, by Dudjom Rinpoch
• Contributors

To receive future e-newsletters in your email inbox, please use the sign-up in the lower right column of this page.

METTA SUPPORTS GROUPS DEDICATED TO A PATH OF WISDOM AND COMPASSION

Practicing Insight Dialogue in groups connects us and offers a community of spiritual friendship dedicated to a path of wisdom and compassion. Practicing together reminds us that we awaken, together. Together we gain practice toward integrating Insight Dialogue principles into our lives off the cushion, cultivating a Whole Life path.

Group practice of Insight Dialogue is straightforward and accessible: a practice group may be formed anywhere, in someone’s home or by meeting online. Insight Dialogue groups offer practice opportunities between retreats, reminding us of what is possible in relational awareness and in bringing the Dhamma into shared inquiry. Group practice may also serve as an entry portal for those who have not yet experienced Insight Dialogue.

Metta Programs can be a vital resource for practice communities, helping link them to Insight Dialogue teachers and practice materials. We seek to solidify our relationships with known groups and to invite unidentified or emerging communities of practice to join in this partnership. Acquiring a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of how diverse groups conduct their practice, how they are organized and what support they wish for their community, allows us to more effectively support all communities in their investigation. In the coming weeks, Metta will be reaching out to solicit feedback on exactly these questions. If you are a member of a practice group and feel moved to offer your ideas, please contact Rachel.

If you would like to join an existing group, please visit our groups page to see if there is a group listed in your region, or consider dropping into one of our online sessions.

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet. – Franz Kafka

Insight Dialogue and relational dhamma audio teachings are shared by Metta through our website, newsfeeds and Facebook. Currently we have over 1,000 audio recordings from Insight Dialogue retreats all over the world from 2005 to present time, a small amount of these available to the public through our Teachings Library. In addition, Metta has forged a unique partnership with Dharmaseed, a website dedicated to preserving and sharing the spoken teachings of Theravada Buddhism, to support us with general warehousing of our audio materials.

To help us sort through this treasure chest and enhance our Teachings Library with these gems, Metta is pleased to announce the launch of its new Audio Project, spearheaded by Kyle Raub, Metta’s volunteer Audio Manager. Kyle shares a commitment to the Buddha’s path and has a rich background in Creative Development and Auditory Design. With Kyle’s leadership, Metta is developing a system to optimize the quality and accessibility of audio recordings.

The Audio Project has four distinct phases:

1. Develop a database
2. Evaluate recoded content and use
3. Edit recordings for optimal quality and upload into the database
4. Develop systems and middleware (computer software that connects the database with our website) to facilitate the delivery and increase accessibly of the teachings

So far, we have a new database that allows us to organize and archive recordings for specific audiences and uses. During these next two phases, Metta seeks volunteer support in two different categories:

Audio Evaluators: people to listen to recordings for quality and content
Audio Editors: people with a good ear and technical know-how

If you are interested and qualified, this is great project to immerse yourself in the dhamma while giving generously to the Metta community. In the near future, Metta will also be looking for support to help build its middleware, which will allow us to enhance search and download capabilities.

Stay tuned for more exciting developments in this project.

A program announcement from our friends at Spirit Rock

Heavenly Messengers
Awakening Through Illness, Aging and Death

A two-year program drawing on the practice and study of classical teachings and contemporary approaches to illness, aging, death and the potentialities of awakening, and in mindful and compassionate companionship to others facing these experiences.

Fall 2013 – Fall 2015
Applications due May 1, 2013
Visit the Spirit Rock website for further information.

Nestled in between the mountains and the water in beautiful British Columbia, a small but spirited group meets monthly to practice Insight Dialogue. The Vancouver sangha formed in 2010 following Gregory Kramer’s retreat in Whistler, BC.

Subsequently, this sangha, largely supported by the efforts of Lucy Leu, initiated the first Cascadia Retreat. This year will see the third annual event in May, beginning with a six-day Insight Dialogue retreat with Gregory Kramer and Mary Burns, followed by a unique three-day session to deepen the practice and build skills for taking the practice home with us, into our “real world.”

To find out more about this group, or other groups around the world, visit our Local Practice Groups page.

In this special edition of our e-newsletter Sharon Beckman-Brindley, Senior Insight Dialogue Teacher, highlights the connection between presence and the release of suffering, especially as it relates to the healing professions.

You will also find a list of Metta’s upcoming events, including a retreat for psychotherapists and healthcare professionals, October 3 – 8, 2013.

Link to the full offering here.

To receive future e-newsletters in your email inbox, please use the sign-up in the lower right column of this page.

By Phyllis Hicks

Whatever your spiritual path or tradition, there is one thing that reliably rings true: embodied love and wisdom set the heart free.

A babe born in a lowly manager, shepherds following a star’s bright light: all stories told at Christmas of love taking form and the heart welcoming peace. Letting go of greed, letting go of hatred, letting go of delusion, the viel lifts, and the limitless nature of love is clearly seen.

Through the gift of our body, touching and being touched, our vulnerability is the condition for our awakening. With eyes to see and ears to hear, with all our sense gates open, we receive the truth of being human, the inevitability of pain, and the freedom of release. Moment by moment, contracting, releasing, we discover our innate capacity for boundless compassion, joy and equanimity in the moment of unpleasant, pleasant, and neutral contact. Listening deeply, the peace that passes all understanding is realized.

Love is born in human form.

Explore this for yourself this holiday season with family, friends, store clerks, and all your contacts. When you let go of greed, hatred and delusion, or said another way…….wanting something different from what is already here…….and you open your awareness to the the truth of the moment,…….the truth of being human,……. the inevitability of pain, and the possibility of release,…… what do you notice? Starting with your direct experience,….. pausing, letting go of judgment and grasping,….. meeting your experience with love and compassion,….. is the heart set free…..does a path of wise action emerge?

May the light of love shine brightly, step by step, breath by breath, illuminating your way.

May you fill from within with self-blessing, be a blessing to all you meet and freely accept the blessings of all. In this stream of love together, we are the means to each other’s awakening.

Merry Christmas!