The Clear Light of Awareness - Uncovering Wisdom and Balancing Effort: A Weekend Retreat for the Victoria Insight Meditation Society
This non-residential, in-person retreat takes place on beautiful grounds of Goward House, not far from the University of Victoria on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. Hosted by the Victoria Insight Meditation Society, the retreat is offered freely, with no registration fee. To receive an e-mail reminder when registration opens, please visit victoriaims.org. The weekend will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, group interviews and a Dharma talk each day.
Dharma Talk for Victoria Insight Meditation Society
Guided meditation and talk for the Sunday night sitting group. Everyone welcome.
Launch Your Writing Project
Have you got a story idea that’s been waiting in the wings? Join author Jeanette Taylor and storyteller Margo McLoughlin for this six-part online series, designed to help you launch your writing project, whether you are working on a memoir, a work of fiction, or a children’s book. Visit mcloughlingardens.org to find out more.
Dates: Saturday afternoons, 1 - 3:30 p.m., February 3 - March 9
Registration fee: $295 + GST
“Life-Stories as Riddles: A Dharma Talk for Satipañña Insight Toronto”
Guided meditation and Dharma talk for Satipañña Insight Toronto.
Against all odds, the early Buddhist nuns managed to find a spiritual home and devote themselves to their practice, under the Buddha’s guidance. Their life stories, as described in the commentary to the Therigatha (poems of enlightenment of the Elder Nuns), present the challenges they faced to become students and teachers of the Dharma. Margo will share two stories and comment on the teachings they offer us, as students of Buddhist thought and practice, living as we are in the 21st century.
Find the Zoom link here: Tuesday evenings at Satipañña
Storytelling at the Heriot Bay Inn
Join us for an afternoon of storytelling on Sunday January 21 at the Heriot Bay Inn on Quadra Island. Get swept away to other times, lands and dimensions by the illustrious storytellers Laurie North, Jeanette Taylor, and Margo McLoughlin. Door prizes, as well as a free book for every school-age person. Limited seating - no reservations. For additional information, please email quadraliteracynetwork@gmail.com
Under the Tree of Awe: Awakening Wonder and Caring for the World
Info This two-day retreat is hosted by the Victoria Insight Meditation Society. Visit victoriaims.org to sign up for the newsletter.
Directions The retreat will be held at Goward House, 2495 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC.
Link to payment: The suggest retreat fee is $20 or $25 per day. The teachings are given freely. Dana may be offered at any time during the weekend.
Bringing Stories to Life!
Six Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. to 12: 30 p.m.
February 11 and 25, March 11 and 25, April 8 and 29
This series will suit fiction and nonfiction writers with a manuscript well underway—and in need of a kickstart through topical discussion, exercises, collegial input and a structured schedule. There will be readings to spark discussion, and participants must submit 1200 words from their current project and details about their writing challenges.
The overarching workshop goal is for you to generate new material bi-weekly; and share writing and skill development with peers. The instructors will build a file of your new writing, as you strive to add several new chapters to an in-process draft.
The six sessions will alternate between facilitated peer critique and instruction, covering topics such as: the shapely story, live-wire characters, self-editing and revisions, satisfying beginnings, middles and ends, and publishing options. Instructors will provide detailed feedback for at least one of your writing submissions.
Please pre-order Imaginative Writing, The Elements of Craft, Janet Burroway. Used copies are available online through ABE Books.
Visit Bringing Stories to Life to register.
Pali Words as Windows
Three Sundays, September 12, 19, and 26, 4 - 5:30 p.m. Pacific
In this series, we will look at the etymology of familiar Pali terms, as well as less familiar expressions. By investigating the multi-layered meaning of words like Buddha, dhamma, and sangha, or kamma and dukkha, we enrich our understanding of these terms and open new ways of seeing our practice and its unfolding. At the same time, we will explore some of the different contexts in which these terms appear in the Pali canon, and in doing so, invite them to be a starting point for reflecting on our own life experience. For more information or to register, visit this page.
Together around the Fire: Workshop No. 2, Healing and the Creative Journey
In this workshop, participants have a structured space in which to devote themselves to launching or rediscovering a creative practice.
We will:
prepare the inner landscape for creative engagement
set a clear intention for two separate periods of creative play
sit together in the virtual space
launch ourselves into art making, together and separately
come together to share discoveries and ideas
Tending the Spark: Mindfulness and the Creative Life
Now is the time to discover your unique perspective on life.
How does a practice of mindfulness support the flowering of a creative life?
Each class in this six-week series will include opportunities for mindfulness practice as well as short exercises and discussions designed to spark creative thinking. Please bring a journal to write in or a sketchbook. If there is a creative project you are engaged in, this class offers the opportunity to honour your intention, clarify your vision, and support the daily efforts needed to take it forward. If your creative project is simply the life you are living, this class is also for you. By making space in our lives to sit quietly and connect with our own hearts and minds, we uncover the rich potential we each have to transform our vision of what this life is all about.