Invigorating Our Hearts / Weekend 3 – Mudita

This monthlong retreat period – scheduled around 4 weekend programs – will focus on the practice of the four Brahma Viharas – the Divine Abodes – as taught by the Buddha and in the traditions of the Theravada lineages.

The Brahma Vihara are a series of practices and teachings that encompass the most highly regarded spiritual emotions in our lineage: Metta (loving-kindness), Karuna (compassion), Mudita (appreciative joy) and Upekkha (equanimity). Together they form a comprehensive and perfectly balanced system of mind-cultivation: one that conditions the mind to be imbued with good-will and peace for all beings in the world (including ourselves) and all their range of joy and sorrow without hesitation or restraint. It is a coherent path that has the ability to develop the full range of love and wisdom necessary for the project of awakening.

We will offer a range of approaches to the Brahma Vihara to allow for a range of entry points according to individual conditions. Helping people both into the doorway of pure concentration as well as a more integrated approach that includes the sense-experiences and wisdom-inclined method of our vipassana practice are of the highest priority for our teachers.

This third weekend will focus on the practice of Mudita/Appreciative Joy