Suffering and Liberation in Relationships - An Insight Dialogue Retreat in the Heart of Winter
Teachers
Brent Beresford, Rachel Hammerman, 莊琰珪 Yenkuei Chuang
When
January 28-31, 2025
Where
Villa St-Martin,
Pierrefonds, QC
During winter, animals hibernate and most trees “slow down” and send nutrients downwards to their roots. We humans do the same. We seek shelter and warmth together from the icy, harsh elements, and we look deeply into the truth of what brings us joy, sorrow, and freedom.
This 4-day meditation retreat offers an opportunity to immerse fully in mindfulness, both individually and relationally, through the interpersonal meditation practice of Insight Dialogue. Together we’ll settle into a balanced heartmind, and explore the fundamental teachings of the Four Noble Truths, of suffering and liberation in relationships.
Insight Dialogue allows us to see the hindrances, habitual tendencies and dynamics that arise in our relationships that we may not be able to see in our traditional silent meditation practice. In this way, our relational practice in the retreat container is a bridge to knowing what leads to suffering and the end of suffering in the relationships in our daily lives.
The retreat will be held in silence with sessions of interpersonal meditation practice. It is intended for beginners and experienced practitioners.
A diverse teaching team with a shared lineage in Insight Meditation, Yenkuei, Brent, and Rachel are Insight Dialogue Teachers who have been practicing relational dharma together since 2020.
This retreat will be taught in English, however it will be possible to ask questions and have dialogue practice in French.
Teachers
Brent Beresford’s (they/them) greatest teachers are their children, proving how unreasonable Brent’s expectations are, and encouraging a constant softening and practice of deep relationship. Their main work has been in engaging the power of relationality, accompanying individuals and groups since 2002 as an occupational therapist and psychotherapist. They have endeavoured to transmit teachings of the Dhamma in various forms since 2013, through mindfulness-based approaches and the practice of Insight Dialogue. Since their first retreat in 2002, the practice has carried them through life. A person of mixed racial heritage, they also identify as gender nonconforming.
Brent is inspired to explore the living Dhamma with folks. Working to break down the rigidity often found in colonized and patriarchal values, as well as integrating the ways we understand trauma to impact the nervous system, both individual and collective. Their work as a psychologist, integrating Somatic Experiencing at the forefront, greatly influences these aspirations. Brent has been recognized as an Insight Dialogue teacher, and is a current student of Spirit Rock’s 7th community dharma leader program.
Rachel Hammerman (they/them) teaches in the Insight Meditation lineage for the Community Meditation Center of New York and the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science. A co-founder of the Queer Insight Dialogue Sangha, they facilitate interpersonal meditation practice with the Insight Dialogue Community and at centers including the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and New York Insight Meditation Center. Rachel is a graduate of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science 2-year Contemplative Psychotherapy Certificate Program, the Mindfulness Training Institute's Mindfulness Teacher Training with Mark Coleman and Martin Aylward, and is a member of the Insight Dialogue Teacher Development Cohort. As a career, business development and communications consultant, Rachel helps people integrate mindfulness and heart practices into their livelihoods and relationships to live, work and speak with ease. Rachel lives part-time in Los Angeles with their beloved dog, Blue, when they are not practicing on retreat. For more information: https://www.rachelhammerman.com/
As an immigrant woman of color, 莊琰珪 Yenkuei Chuang (she/her) is keenly interested in finding home and belonging amidst differences. Yenkuei began practicing with Zen Masters Thich Nhat Hanh and Sister Annabelle in 1998. Ordained in TNH’s Order of Interbeing, she has also studied Vipassana and Early Buddhism with Ven. Analayo and Sayadaw U Tejaniya. A member of CDL6 (Community Dharma Leaders at Spirit Rock), CDM (Community Dharma Mentors at Cambridge Insight Meditation Center), and the Insight Dialogue Teacher Development Cohort, Yenkuei also offers culturally and trauma-sensitive psychotherapy from an embodied approach. Thanks to the Dhamma, she has lost most of her ambition despite degrees from M.I.T., Harvard, and Stanford. She loves to cook, dance, and mother her four children. Her writings have been published in Lion's Roar, The Arrow, and the Mindfulness Bell. For more information: https://www.yenkuei.org/
Registration
LOCATION: 21269 Boul Gouin O, Pierrefonds, QC H9K 1C1, Canada.
Villa Saint-Martin is an Ignatian Spirituality Centre that welcomes retreats accomodating the needs of a wide audience, including Dharma organizations. Please note there are Christian symbols on the site.
All of the rooms at Villa St-Martin are single rooms with a sink. Washrooms are shared.
ARRIVAL TIME: 3:30-5 pm, Tuesday, January 28. The retreat will conclude by lunch on Friday, January 31. Everyone is welcome to stay for lunch. The teachers request that you plan to attend the entire retreat – please arrive on time and stay through the closing talk.
COST: TNI is dedicated to offering affordable rates to all. TNI retreat fees are on a sliding scale basis that allows participants to pay according to individual means. Fees do not include compensation for the teachings, and teachers rely on the generosity of retreatants for a sustainable income. There is an opportunity to offer dana (donations) to the teachers at the end of each retreat.
A deposit of 50% of the base rate is required to register to the retreat. The deposit is included in all of our fees.
- Benefactor: $1200
- Sustaining: $780
- Base: $630
- Reduced: $540
- Scholarship: upon request
◆ Deposit : $315
Benefactor
The Benefactor rate provides the opportunity to offer more substantial support for TNI.
Sustaining
The Sustaining rate represents the actual cost to TNI to operate our programs. If you can afford this level or higher, you assist our efforts to offer lower sliding-scale rates and ongoing financial subsidies.
Base
The Base rate covers 82 % of what is needed to run our organization. To balance our budget and to wisely steward our resources, donations must supplement our registration income.
Reduced
Payment at the Reduced rate covers only 71 % of what is needed to run our organization. To balance our budget and to wisely steward our resources, donations must supplement our registration income.
Scholarship
TNI offers scholarships of up to a 50% reduction of the base rate on our sliding scale to those who request it. A limited number of scholarships are available.