Calm and Contented Heart – a Path of Cultivating Samadhi

Samadhi, the meditative calm, or collectedness of mind is a valuable skill that can be cultivated in meditation practice. Samadhi allows us to experience joy, happiness and calm that are not conditioned by outside sources but born out of meditation. These qualities nourish deeply the heart and mind and are important resources in life. Samadhi practice also supports insight in many ways, and when followed wholeheartedly with commitment, can lead to jhanas (states of meditative absorption).

During this online retreat we explore meditation practices that develop and encourage samadhi, and attitudes and ways of working in meditation that support the deepening of samadhi. Traditionally samadhi and jhanas have been practiced through diligent concentration. During this weekend we are following and honoring Rob Burbea's beautiful approach to samadhi practice, which emphasizes sensitivity, responsiveness and turning toward wellbeing so that the whole path of cultivating samadhi can be nourishing, and teach us lots of meditative skills. We will learn a method that can be followed all the way to developing jhanas.

We will also explore how the practice of samadhi can support wisdom, and teach experientially about emptiness and dependent origination, which is very much in the core of the Buddhist practice.