Classes & Retreats
Love & Equanimity
A Daylong Retreat with Alexa Redner
Saturday, March 8, 2025
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
$75 Suggested Donation
No one turned away for lack of funds
HELD IN PERSON AND ONLINE VIA ZOOM
​​
​Equanimity is the quality of heart and mind that experiences a sense of warm, steady, groundedness in the face of whatever is happening in the present moment. Equanimity is like the great trunk of the Redwood tree resistant to wildfire, the power of the mountain that stands amidst avalanches and mudslides. It is the vast sky that remains spacious amidst the wildness of passing storms.
Equanimity can be a warm voice, with a hand on the heart, whispering, “This moment is like this. May I feel a sense of balance and okay-ness.”
There can be the wrong understanding that the strength of equanimity is somehow detached or cold. True equanimity is infused with the power of love. The Buddha called love, or metta, one of the “4 immeasurables.” In that sea of immeasurable and boundless love, we can find tender love, kind and friendly love, next to love that can be courageous, strong, and even fierce.
There is so much in the world that is beautiful and good. In this emerging moment of time on our planet there is also darkness. The roots of suffering - greed, hatred and delusion are motivating so many actions in our communities, the nation and the world, and in our own hearts, as well. With so much changing so quickly, on top of a life that is already uncertain, it is natural to experience fear, anger, despair, or the impulse to check out completely.
And we have the medicine. We can have two outstretched hands that are able to hold both the “10,000 joys and the 10,000 sorrows.” Life is inviting us to cultivate these transformative powers of the heart - the tender and courageous qualities of love and the steady, grounded quality of equanimity. By deepening these qualities, our hearts will be more open and able to receive the wisdom that can discern the most helpful ways to show up for ourselves, our communities and the world.
During this daylong we will explore the teachings on love and equanimity through Dharma reflection, meditation practices, mindful movement and group sharing.​
​​
The Heart of Who We Are
A Half-Day Retreat with Caverly Morgan
Saturday, April 5, 2025
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
$70 Suggested Donation
No one turned away for lack of funds
.jpg)
HELD IN PERSON AND ONLINE VIA ZOOM
​​
Join us for The Heart of Who We Are, a retreat with Caverly Morgan exploring transformation, the power of community, and the remembrance of our true nature.
Drawing from her book* of the same name, Caverly will guide us through powerful reflections that support moving beyond the witness in our meditation practice. This movement further enhances our capacity to navigate loss, be resourced for the times we are in, and act in the world on behalf of who we truly are.
*Copies of Caverly's book will be available for purchase on Saturday and Sunday.
More details about the theme of our time together—an excerpt from The Heart of Who We Are:
“For many of us on a journey of liberation, we get stuck at the point in practice where we feel ourselves to be a witness observing objects, separate from them.
​
When stuck in such a place, it can be easy to fall for negative self-talk, like “I am seeing all these thoughts arise in meditation. If only I could clear my mind, I would be at peace. I must keep practicing.” We become identified with seeing ourselves as the witness, the subject, with thoughts as the object, and in this process, we become the “I” who strives in practice.
​
Most of us spend our whole day moving through the world experiencing life through the lens of I, me, mine in relation to what is “out there.” Subject-object. In spiritual practice, this process of othering internally often simply becomes a more subtle subject-object relationship. (How you do anything is how you do everything.) “I” notice these thoughts. “I” try to clear the mind. “I” had a bad meditation today because the mind was busy. “I” long for enlightenment.
​
Within this phase of practice, we are not truly free. We might be better at responding versus reacting, we might have less suffering in our lives than we used to, we might have increased our concentration skills, but we are not truly free.
It is ego’s ultimate disappointment that there is no such thing as enlightened ego.
In this created story of separation, we also are prone to hover above our experience, witnessing it rather than fully embodying it. We step outside experience, albeit in a subtle way. (More on the problematic nature of this kind of disembodiment in the next chapter.)
​
From this perspective, even focusing on the breath can create a subtle subject-object relationship. The witness, the subject, “I” am focusing on the breath, or sounds, or sensation (objects). This lens maintains relationship.
Truth is revealed in the collapse of all relationship.
It is the shining of the unity of oneness.
Liberation is not only the recognition of this oneness—
it is the realization that we are this.”
During our day of practice, the exploration of this theme will happen within the transformative container of Relational Dharma. (More about Relational Dharma can be found here: What is Relational Dharma? — Caverly Morgan).
​
Join us for a day of being nourished by community, nourished by practice, and nourished by the heart of who we are.
​
All welcome. No prior experience required.
​​
Qigong and Mindful Movement
with Jim Dalton
Six Mondays
3/3, 3/10, 3/24, 3/31, 4/7, 4/14 [No Class March 17]
10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Held In-Person at PIMC
Drop-ins also welcome!​
$150 Suggested Donation
No one turned away for lack of funds
HELD IN PERSON at PIMC​
Portland Insight Meditation Center 6536 SE Duke Street Portland, OR 97206
​
This 6 class series by Jim Dalton will focus on QiGong as an intricate network of energy pathways, exploring more of the Taoist traditions of Shibashi, 8 pieces of brocade and the Five Elements.
Given the pace of change in our city, our nation, and the world, the need for healing and reconnecting with friends is greater than ever. Practicing QiGong as a group is an effective medicine for our modern planetary crisis. No previous experience is required, and the benefits are many-layered. Register for the class today.
​​
​
​