Talks, Classes, and Retreats 2025
Rebecca teaches regularly at the Insight Meditation Society, Forest Refuge, Insight Meditation Community of Western Massachusetts, and other Dharma Centers.
Events are scheduled both in person and online. All times listed are Eastern.
New Year’s Day Reading and Book Signing: Down to Earth Dharma at IWM
Join us in person or online for an evening of meditation exploring Rebecca’s book, Down to Earth Dharma, to be released by Shambhala Publications on November 26, 2024. The evening will end with book signing. For more info, contact Insight Meditation Community of Western Massachusetts
Down to Earth Dharma: Online Weekend Retreat
Please join us at IMS Online for a weekend retreat exploring Rebecca’s book Down to Earth Dharma. Together we will explore the Buddha Dharma from the paradigm of receptivity, allowing ourselves to be touched by life and recognizing our deep belonging in this world. By practicing dropping out of our usual mind-oriented relationship with the world and down into the body, we will nourish awakening from the heart. We will play with protection and openness, boundaries and boundlessness, vulnerability and invulnerability.
More information to come.
Smith College Book Talk
Join Rebecca at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts as she talks about how her need for a softer dharma prompted her to write Down to Earth Dharma: Insight Meditation to Awaken the Heart. More info to come.
Vermont Insight Half Day Retreat and Book Reading
Join us in person or online at Vermont Insight in Brattleboro Vermont, for “receptive’ meditation, a book reading, and an interactive discussion about Down to Earth Dharma: Insight Meditation to Awaken the Heart. more information can be found at Vermont Insight Meditation Center-Brattleboro-Buddhist Retreats-Groups-Courses.
Down to Earth Dharma Online Book Group
IMS Online will be hosting this Tuesday night eight session bi-weekly book group exploring the meditation techniques and themes presented in Down to Earth Dharma: Insight Meditation to Awaken the Heart. Each session we will practice together and share our experiences related to cultivating a more receptive, heartfelt, intuitive and embodied dharma. more info to come at IMS Online.
Common Ground Meditation Center Book Reading
Join us in person or online (time is central time zone) at the Common Ground Meditation Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for meditation and a book reading and discussion from Down to Earth Dharma: Insight Meditation to Awaken the Heart. More information at Common Ground Meditation Center | Calendar & Registration
Twin Cities Vipassana Collective Annual Winter Retreat
Join Chas and Rebecca on the shore of Lake Koronis at Koronis Ministries in Paynesville, Minnesota, for our annual vipassana and loving kindness retreat. In the stillness and silence of winter we will explore the depth and vastness of our hearts and minds, discovering for ourselves the keys to deeper peace and compassion. more information at Twin Cities Vipassana Collective | Mindful living in the greater Twin Cities area (tcvc.info)
Practice at the Forest Refuge
Join Rebecca and Devon Hase in an atmosphere of quiet and kindness for a practice period of one week up to the whole month. Practice support will be offered for both Vipassana meditation and metta jhanas. More information at Forest Refuge Schedule 2025 – Insight Meditation Society (dharma.org)
Cambridge Insight Meditation Book Reading
Join us in person or online at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a book reading and lively interactive discussion. More information at Wednesday Evening Dharma (cambridgeinsight.org)
Vipassana and Loving Kindness Weekend Retreat
A weekend retreat is a perfect opportunity to initiate a meditation practice, jump-start a practice that has lost steam, or enjoy two days of settling into the simplicity of presence. Exploring the Buddhist teachings of mindfulness infused with lovingkindness, this weekend silent meditation retreat, open to all, will cultivate our connection to ourselves and to life itself through body-centered awareness. Developing down-to-earth intimacy with our life as it unfolds, we will increase our ability to open our hearts to this vibrant wild world we live in.
A great retreat for beginners, for experienced students who want to refresh their practice, or in combination with the seven day retreat that follows.
The course will be supported by insight and lovingkindness meditation instructions, talks about the teachings and Q & A sessions with the teacher. There will also be the opportunity to practice walking meditation outdoors on IMS's beautiful grounds.
Join Rebecca at the Insight Meditation Society in the lively energy of springtime. More info and registration is avali8able at Retreat Center 2025 (dharma.org)
Vipassana and Loving Kindness Weeklong Retreat
Join Rebecca, Dawn Scott, and Roxanne Dault for a week-long retreat at the Insight Meditation Society. Exploring deeply the Buddhist teachings of mindfulness infused with lovingkindness, this silent meditation retreat, open to all, will cultivate our connection to ourselves and to life itself through body-centered awareness. Developing intimacy with our physical, energetic, and emotional bodies, we will touch essential truths about life and gain the stability of heart that helps us move through this world with greater wisdom and compassion.
The course will be supported by insight and lovingkindness meditation instructions, talks about the teachings and Q & A sessions with the teachers. An optional daily period of gentle mindful movement (yoga and qigong) will be offered by Lissa Edmond to support body, heart, mind awareness and care. There will also be the opportunity to practice walking meditation outdoors on IMS's beautiful grounds.
More info and registration at Retreat Center 2025 (dharma.org).
Insight and Loving Kindness Weekend and Weeklong Retreat in Milford Ohio
Join Rebecca, Candace Cassin, and Robert Pryor for either a weekend, weeklong, or nine day retreat at the Jesuit Center in Milford, Ohio. More info to come.
Down to Earth Dharma: Healing Our Relationship with Ourselves and the Earth, A Three-Day Weekend Retreat
With support and inspiration from the beauty of nature surrounding us, we will explore the Buddha Dharma from the paradigm of receptivity, allowing ourselves to be touched by life and recognizing our deep belonging in this world. By practicing dropping out of our usual mind-oriented relationship with the world and down into the body, we will establish a relationship of heartfelt intimacy and respect both with our own experience and in connection with the natural world around us. This retreat will include sitting meditation, qi gong and walking meditation practice, guided and solitary outdoor practice, talks explaining the teachings, and question and response inquiry sessions.
This retreat will be held at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge (WMR) in Springfield, New Hampshire.
More details to come.
Nine-day Loving Kindness and Nine-day Vipassana Retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Join Rebecca and other East and West Coast teachers for a nine day loving kindness retreat or a nine day vipassana retreat, or, for a more in-depth retreat, why not do both? In the beautiful hills of Spirit Rock, we will deepen concentration through the beautiful quality of metta and explore depths of understanding life and our own hearts through vipassana. More info and registration at Homepage | Spirit Rock.
IMS Three Month Retreat Part Two: a Six Week Retreat
For those wishing to enter more deeply into the silence and depth of heart and mind, a six week retreat is a wonderful opportunity for immersion. Not for the faint-hearted, this retreat provides structure and guidance to lead us into ever deeper contact with reality in the here and now. This presence then teaches us to develop greater insight and compassion. For more information, contact Retreat Center 2025 (dharma.org)
New York Insight Half Day Retreat - Down to Earth Dharma
Let’s settle in together for some quiet time at New York Insight with a half day retreat exploring the practice of receptive mindfulness, allowing ourselves to be touched by life and recognizing our deep belonging in this world. By practicing dropping out of our usual mind-oriented relationship with the world and down into the body, we will nourish awakening from the heart. Rebecca will be teaching from her new book, Down to Earth Dharma, Insight Meditation to Awaken the Heart, to be released by Shambhala Publications on November 26, 2024. (Available for pre-order now!) The morning will end with book signing for those who wish. Find more information at New York Insight Meditation Center | Where Hearts & Minds Awaken (nyimc.org)
IMS Book Club: Down to Earth Dharma
Come explore Rebecca’s new book, Down to Earth Dharma, Insight Meditation to Awaken the Heart, with IMS’s book club. More information to come.
Retreat for 18-32 Year Olds
Join us at the Insight Meditation Society for this vibrant annual retreat specifically geared towards younger adults. For more information, contact IMS at www.dharma.org.
Wednesday Evening Dharma Talk: Transforming Delusion to Truth at IWM
Join us in person or online for an evening of meditation, a dharma talk, and discussion. For more info, contact Insight Meditation Community of Western Massachusetts
One Day Retreat on the Cape: Receptive Mindfulness
Join us for a one day retreat focused on receptive mindfulness, letting ourselves touch and be touched by life. For more info, contact Insight Meditation Community of Cape Cod
Wednesday Evening Dharma Talk: Transforming Aversion to No Complaints at IWM
Join us in person or online for an evening of meditation, a dharma talk, and discussion. For more info, contact Insight Meditation Community of Western Massachusetts
Yellow Springs Annual Weekend and Weeklong Meditation Retreats: Listening to Life: Meditation from the Receptive Heart
Join Rebecca and her assistants Candace Cassin and Robert Pryor for either a weekend or weeklong Insight Meditation retreat at the lovely Jesuit Center in Milford, Ohio. With meditation we receive our embodied experience, letting it teach us the way life is and how to hold the vast range of joy and sorrow that comes with being human. This retreat will focus on listening to our life moment by moment, letting go of demands of how it should be and resting fully in how it is. This receptive meditation takes us deeper into the truth of things, helping our heart orient towards wisdom and compassion. Our daily schedule will include guided insight and loving kindness meditation instructions, talks on the teachings, meeting time with teachers, and optional qi gong. For more information, contact Yellow Springs Dharma Center
Vipassana and Loving Kindness Retreat at IMS
Join Rebecca, Roxanne Dault, and Greg Scharf for a week of meditation practice in the vibrant energy of springtime. Talks and instructions will focus on body and heart oriented practice. For more information contact Insight Meditation Society
An Afternoon with Insight San Diego: Active and Receptive Mindfulness
Join us in person or online for sitting meditation, a dharma talk, and discussion. For more information, contact Insight San Diego. The zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84387910779?pwd=YkxJQmoyVzNvQnBseHN2dHoyY3g0Zz09
Wednesday Evening Dharma Talk at IWM: Grasping and Freedom
Join us for an evening o meditation, a dharma talk, and discussion. Hybrid or online. For more info, contact Insight Meditation Community of Western Massachusetts
Wednesday Evening Online Dharma Talk for Cambridge Insight
Join us for an exploration of the Buddha’s teachings. More information at www.cambridgeinsight.org.
Forest Refuge One Month Practice Period
Join Rebecca and Devon Hase at the Forest Refuge at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, for one week or longer, to fit your schedule. Instructions and talks will center on body and heart oriented practice. For more information, contact Insight Meditation Society
Twin Cities Vipassana Collective Winter Retreat: Listening to Life: Meditation from the Receptive Heart
Join Rebecca and Chas DiCapua for our annual one week Vipassana and Lovingkindness meditation retreat held in Minnesota. With meditation we receive our embodied experience, letting it teach us the way life is and how to hold the vast range of joy and sorrow that comes with being human. This retreat will focus on listening to our life moment by moment, letting go of demands of how it should be and resting fully in how it is. This receptive meditation takes us deeper into the truth of things, helping our heart orient towards wisdom and compassion. Our daily schedule will include guided insight and loving kindness meditation instructions, talks on the teachings, meeting time with teachers, and optional qi gong.
For more information or to register, contact Twin Cities Vipassana Collective
Insight Western Massachusetts Winter Non-Residential Weekend Retreat
Join Rebecca and Jean Esther for this quiet lovely annual retreat at Pioneer Valley Cohousing in Amherst, Massachusetts. For more information or to register, contact Insight Meditation Community of Western Massachusetts
Sharing Our Lineages Evening Online Program
Five sanghas from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta partnering with IMS Online have come together to create a special lineage story series. We offer a warm prairie welcome to all practitioners!
Our vision is to have our teachers share stories about their teachers, to honour our gratitude to the Asian roots of the practice; to give a sense of these teachings being handed down, generation to generation; and to give current practitioners a sense of carrying this precious gift forward.
On this evening Rebecca Bradshaw, devon hase, and Jessica Morey will share memories of their teachers, and also explore the connections between Theravada and Tibetan practices.
For more information, please contact Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community
Insight Western Massachusetts New Year's Online Retreat
We will gather as a sangha to celebrate community and plant wise intentions for the year to come. The afternoon will include sitting and walking meditation, optional qi gong,a short dharma talk, and time to connect. Everyone is welcome, including family and friends who are new to meditation. For more information, contact Insight Western Massachusetts
IMS Three Month Retreat - Part Two
This three-month course, including its six-week partials, is a special time for practice. Because of its extended length and ongoing guidance, it is an opportunity for students to deepen the powers of concentration, wisdom and compassion. Based on the meditation instructions of Mahāsi Sayadaw and supplemented by a range of skillful means, this silent retreat will encourage a balanced attitude of relaxation and alertness, and the continuity of practice based on the Buddha’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
For more information, contact Insight Meditation Society
Spirit Rock Summer Insight Meditation Retreat
The emphasis in this retreat will be on continuity of awareness in all activities, stabilizing the mind, and cultivating insight. Combining relaxation with clarity, we will explore the liberating teachings of the Buddha, including the foundations of mindfulness, the radical nature of impermanence, and the cessation of craving.
Practitioners are encouraged to combine the Summer Insight Retreat with the Summer Lovingkindness (mettā) Retreat, although this is not required. For those attending both retreats, the teachers will guide and integrate the retreats as one offering. Those who attend the mettā retreat will have the option to continue with formal mettā as their primary practice through the second retreat. This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.
For more information, contact Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Spirit Rock Summer Lovingkindness Retreat
The Buddha’s liberating teachings on the four divine sanctuaries (brahmavihāra) include meditations on universal friendliness (mettā), compassion (karuṇā), altruistic joy (muditā), and equanimity (upekkhā). Aimed at purifying our hearts and developing concentration (samādhi), these divine sanctuaries aid our ability to both find inner peace and powerfully engage with the world. This silent retreat will deepen our understanding of selfless love and its role in ending suffering. This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.
Retreatants are encouraged to combine this 8-night lovingkindness retreat with the following 8-night Insight Meditation retreat, to further develop concentration, purify the heart, and learn to combine these two forms of Buddhist meditation. The combination of these two retreats give a unique opportunity to blend the two wings of Buddhist wisdom based in love and emptiness.
For more information, contact Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Insight Meditation Society: Retreat for 18-32 Year Olds
In this retreat dedicated to supporting the health and well-being of young adults in these difficult times, we will co-create a refuge from all forms of oppression, a nourishing refuge of rest and rejuvenation. With the Buddhist teachings of wisdom and compassion as our guide, we will cultivate a wholehearted attention to the present moment, waking up from worldly delusion and developing embodied ease, clarity and kindness.
The retreat format includes daily meditation instruction, group and individual meetings with teachers, and opportunities for questions and discussion. An optional daily period of mindful movement will be offered by Lissa Edmond.
The course will end with a day of optional activities centered on building relationships, supporting community, and integrating the practice into our everyday lives.
All are welcome to attend – this silent retreat is open to both beginning and experienced meditators. For more information, please contact Insight Meditation Society
Wednesday Evening Dharma Talk: Receptive Mindfulness
Join us on Zoom for an evening dharma talk exploring how receptive mindfulness opens us to the mystery and truths of life. Sponsored by Cambridge Insight. For more information, contact Cambridge Insight Meditation Center
Effort From the Heart: Online Weekend Retreat
Join us to practice orienting our meditation from the heart rather than the head. For more information, contact IM Online
Wednesday Evening Dharma Talk: Ending Division Through Metta
Join us in person or on zoom at Insight Western Massachusetts to explore the Buddhist teachings together. For more information, contact Insight Meditation Community of Western Massachusetts
Spacious Mind, Tender Heart: Insight and Loving Kindness Retreat: Weekend or Weeklong
Join us at the beautiful Jesuit Center in Milford, Ohio, for a weekend (May 5-7) or weeklong (May 7-14) retreat. In the enlivening energy of springtime, we will wake up heart body and mind to be more fully present and live with a more spacious mind and more caring heart. Rebecca will be assisted by Robert Pryor and Candace Cassin, who will offer daily qi gong practice. For more information , contact Yellow Springs Dharma Center
Wednesday Evening Dharma Talk
Join us at Insight Western Massachusetts to enjoy exploring the Buddhist teachings together. For more information, contact Insight Meditation Community of Western Massachusetts
Embodying Kindness and Wisdom: Insight and Loving Kindness Retreat with Greg Scharf and Tara Mulay
Exploring deeply the Buddhist teachings of mindfulness infused with lovingkindness, this silent meditation retreat in Barre, Massachusetts, open to all, will cultivate our connection to ourselves and to life itself through body-centered awareness. Developing intimacy with our physical, energetic and emotional bodies, we will touch essential truths about life and gain the stability of heart that helps us move through this world with greater wisdom and compassion.
The course will be supported by daily insight and lovingkindness meditation instructions, talks about the teachings and meetings with the teachers. There will also be the opportunity to practice walking meditation outdoors on IMS's beautiful grounds, and an optional period of mindful movement will be offered each afternoon.
Teacher Greg Scharf will offer an optional daily session of qigong.
For more information, please contact Insight Meditation Society
Month-long Metta Concentration Retreat at the Forest Refuge
Looking ahead to March 2023 - Rebecca Bradshaw & Devin Berry
Metta Concentration Retreat
Join us in the beauty and quiet of the Forest Refuge for a month-long retreat focused on developing concentration through cultivating metta (loving kindness). By gathering our attention around the quality of kind friendliness, we develop samadhi (concentration) to increasing depth and unify our minds and hearts in gentleness, flexibility, and strength.
Registration opens in the spring 2022. For more info, contact the Insight Meditation Society
Spacious Mind, Tender Heart: a Winter Vipassana and LovingKindness Retreat
This retreat, taught with Chas DiCapua, will take place in the beautiful snowy hills of Wisconsion. In this retreat we will explore the two wings of Buddhism, emptiness and love. In our own practice we will develop the spaciousness of the uncontracted mind infused with the warmth of the tender heart. We will examine both aspects of the absolute truth; impermanence which leads to non-clinging, and interdependence which leads to a heart connection to the relative reality of our daily lives. Appropriate for both beginners and experienced students, this retreat will take place in the stillness of winter which will support deep inquiry into these liberating truths. It will include instructions in both Vipassana and loving kindness practice, daily teachings, and group and individual meetings with teachers.
For more information, please contact Twin Cities Vipassana Collective
Active and Receptive Mindfulness: Thursday Evening Talk
In this talk and discussion, we will explore our different ways to orient mindfulness, our cultural tendencies, and how to align more with receptivity.
Please note: On Friday, Rebecca will begin teaching the winter retreat with TCVC. Therefore, for maximum Covid caution to protect the participants of the retreat, she requests that attendees wear a mask. There will be a reserved section for those who, for whatever reason, are unable to do so.
This talk will take place in person at the Common Ground Meditation Center in Minneapolis and online, 7:30-9 PM Central Time.
For more information, contact Common Ground Meditation Center
Non-Residential Winter Weekend Retreat: Coming Home to the Refuge of the Dharma
We are delighted to return to our annual non residential retreat IN PERSON (conditions permitting) at the co-housing community in North Amherst, Massachusetts.
Please join us in the quiet of winter in the company of beloved Sangha as we open to whatever is in our hearts and touch into the innate wisdom and compassion that is our true home. We will sit and walk in meditation together, listen to and contemplate the wisdom of the dharma, and share together in large and small groups.
There will be a potluck meal on Saturday evening and a prepared lunch offered on Sunday. To support the container of our retreat please plan to attend the full retreat from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. Covid protocols will be followed, including requiring vaccination, limiting the number of participants, rapid testing upon arrival, and possible masking depending on conditions.
For more information, please contact Insight Meditation Community of Western Massachusetts