When the late Burmese master Mingun Sayādaw (U Nārada) was a young monk looking for a true teacher, he was told of a mountain hermit who was reported to be fully enlightened. When he asked this monk how he should practice, the monk replied, “Why are you searching outside of the Master’s word?” He went on to say that the direct path—the foundations of mindfulness—was given by the Buddha for those seeking liberation. Mingun Sayādaw followed these instructions with great faith and diligence and realized for himself the path and its fruit.
Mindfulness based in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (“The Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness”) is the heart of Insight Meditation practice. In this retreat we will follow the “words of the master” and the example of the great teachers of our tradition in practicing the way of mindfulness, which is always here and now and offers each of us a direct path to liberation. | 
