Whether we seek spiritual insight, inner peace, or simply a break from the weight of the world, this gathering offers a space to breathe, to heal, and to remember the deep freedom that is always within reach.
This remote retreat is a unique opportunity for anyone interested in bhakti (Hindu devotion) and Buddhist traditions. The confluence of these two Eastern modalities offers a practical path we can walk in order to become free in this lifetime. Hope to see you there!
Sharon Salzbergvirtually joins Krishna Das, Acharya Shunya, David Nichtern, Nina Rao, Raghu Markus, John Pattern, and friends. The event runs from 8:00 pm, Thursday, August 27, 2026, to 9:00 pm, Monday, August 31, 2026.
Is vipassana really Buddhist? The truth about the world's most popular meditation
(Buddha's Wisdom) 🔍 IS VIPASSANA REALLY BUDDHIST? THE HIDDEN STORY BEHIND THE WORLD'S MOST PRACTICED KIND OF INSIGHT MEDITATION
Millions of people have practiced Buddhist vipassana meditation, but very few know what the word vipassanā originally meant, or how the modern movement transformed one of Buddhism's oldest insights into a global meditation phenomenon.
What is insight (vipassana) meditation actually for? This word doesn't mean "meditation" at all. And the practice millions know from Goenka's free 10-day silent retreats was born not in the Buddha's proto-India, but in [George Orwell's] colonial Burma, the day an empire stopped protecting the Theravada Dhamma.
This is the true story of insight meditation: what vipassanā really means, how it nearly vanished, and how a monk, a farmer, an accountant, and a businessman carried it to the modern world.
📿 DISCOVER:
The original meaning of vipassanā and why it never simply meant "meditation"
How the fall of the Burmese kingdom sparked the modern Vipassana Movement
Why meditation was rare even among Buddhist monastics for nearly 1,000 years
Why many Buddhist teachers say today's vipassana is both ancient and surprisingly modern
The unlikely relay that saved insight practice: from Buddhist monk Ledi Sayadaw to a rice farmer to S.N. Goenka's flight home in 1969
What today's vipassana retreats, the mindfulness movement, and scientific research gained... and what may have been left behind.
🙏 If this changed what viewers thought meditation was, subscribe. The next episode uncovers the other half the world forgot: the deep stillness of jhana ("meditative absorption" as samma-samadhior "right stillness," "coherent unification of mind") the Buddha paired with insight.
(Perfect Teacher) Vipassana (Buddhist "insight meditation") is not what you think, explains Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.
Who is this teacher?
What makes you not a Buddhist?
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche (Tibetan རྫོང་གསར་འཇམ་དབྱངས་མཁྱེན་བརྩེ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ།, born June 18, 1961) [1] is also known as Khyentse Norbu. He is a Tibetan Vajrayana lama, filmmaker, and writer who was born in Bhutan, high in the Himalayas.
His five major films are The Cup(1999), Travellers and Magicians (2003), Vara: A Blessing (2013), Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait (2017), and Looking for a Lady with Fangs and a Moustache (2019).
He is the author of several published books such as What Makes You Not a Buddhist (2007), Not For Happiness: A Guide to the So-Called Preliminary Practices (2012), The Guru Drinks Bourbon? (2016), Living is Dying (2020), and several non-fiction works on Tibetan Buddhism for free distribution such as
Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti’s Madhyamaka with Commentary (2003) [2] and
Buddha Nature: Mahayana-Uttaratantra-Shastra with Commentary (2007) [3].
He has also written an autobiography in process entitled Mugwort Born. Many of his teachings are available on the Siddhartha's Intent YouTube channel [4].
He is the eldest son of Thinley Norbu and therefore the grandson of Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje.
Khyentse Rinpoche has teachers from all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism and is a follower and champion of the Rimé (non-sectarian) movement.
He considers Dilgo Khyentse as his main guru. He is also the primary custodian of the teachings of Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. More
Thanks to a shepherdess (Sujatha) offering him rice porridge, the wandering ascetic Siddhartha regained enough strength to focus on his cultivation, developing the absorptions then insight, purifying calm followed by contemplation (of Dependent Origination). That is how he became the Buddha, the "Awakened One," the supremely "Enlightened One."
Ever since then, Buddhists have celebrated the Buddha's Enlightenment Day by offering laba porridge to all.
The Dharma (the Teachings of the Buddha) are one facet of the Three Gems (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha), a core aspect of Buddhism. Through this Dharma Day event, we celebrate the Buddha’s Teachings and their impact on our lives.
This day also commemorates the awakening of an Shakyian [Scythian] prince who renounced the world and what transformed him into the Buddha, "the Awakened One" (Shakyamuni, the "Sage of the Shakyas" [or Sakas, Indo-Scythians]).
Cosmic Buddha worshiped in Mahayana
Please join Hsi Lai ("Going West"), the largest Buddhist temple in the Western hemisphere, for a celebration of Buddhist wisdom taught by Buddhism's original teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha, and the other teachers who followed after being inspired by him.
Enjoy special presentations, lectures, and theatrical performances, focusing on new understandings, real-world applications, and deeper explorations of the Buddha's teachings of compassion, service to others, and spiritual practice that have blossomed in the world.
Students of Hsi Lai's Buddhism classes are encouraged to apply for time to present what they have learned and gained from following Buddhist teachings: Hsi Lai Temple
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE RETREAT? Fifty to 60 participants gathered at 8:30 am, registered, offered dana, received instructions, and began to sit.
Hsi Lai Temple One-Day Meditation Retreat, January 24, 2026
Let us cultivate together. Open to all.
The One-day Buddhist Meditation Retreat is intended to be a retreat for those who have at least a basic experience of meditation. This retreat features a regimented schedule of sitting, standing, and walking meditation with instructions and Dharma talks.
Please note that sitting sessions are 40 minutes long. It is recommended that applicants start working on lower body flexibility, especially the hips.
Vegetarian/vegan monastic cuisine served in cafeteria (Hsi Lai Temple)
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RETREAT DETAILS:
◎ Date: Saturday, January 24, 2026. ◎ Check-in: 8:45 am-9:25 am. (Please be punctual. Orientation begins promptly at 10:00 am)
◎ Time: 9:30 am-5:30 pm PT
◎ Ages: 16 years and older. ◎ Location: Hsi LaiTemple (MAP)
COST? ◎ OPEN DONATION: We welcome kind donations to cover meal, snacks, facility use, uniform cleaning, and general overhead. Kindly bring donation to check-in on Jan. 24, 2026.
◎ Spots are limited to 50 participants. ◎ This is an in-person retreat: hsilai.us/events/dharma-services/saturday-english-dharma-service
"We don't need to look outside of the present moment to find inner peace and contentment; when experienced with awareness, everything becomes a source of joy." — Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
At the heart of the Tergar meditation tradition lies the retreat experience, which embodies an immersive, experiential approach to learning.
This Joy of Living retreat offers a unique opportunity to create a dedicated personal practice container, while also connecting you with a global community of meditators.
WHY SHOULD I ATTEND?
My bot is training me on how to feel emotions
Gain practical tools to befriend difficult emotions, leading to greater inner peace and compassion for self and others. Participating in these retreats is essential for completing the necessary homework and progressing through the levels of the Joy of Living program. By fully engaging in the retreat experience, one can deepen one's understanding and one's meditation practice in ways that simply can't be achieved through intellectual study alone.
learn about the core principles of doing a retreat
receive live teachings from Tergar Guides on awareness, compassion, and wisdom
get familiar with meditation techniques to help recognize innate awareness, love and compassion, and wisdom
learn how to integrate the teachings in daily life
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS PROGRAM?
Live teachings with Tergar guides
Group meditation practice
Self-guided practice
Gentle movement practice
Q&A with Tergar guides
REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION:
This program is open to everyone.
Optional Personal Retreat Format:
Can I let my ChatGPT bot sit and feel for me?
Some participants may wish to use this retreat as part of a self-guided personal retreat, with a focus on extended daily meditation. For those aiming to complete six or more hours of sitting practice per day, the guided sessions will form part of this total, and one will add one's own independent sitting practice between, before, or after sessions to meet retreat hour goals. During these self-guided periods, one will be on one's own and responsible for structuring practice time.
Can I get access to a recording of this event?
Recordings of teaching sessions will be posted within one week after the end of the last session and will be available for two months.
IMPORTANT DETAILS
Date/Time: October 25-26, 2025.
Please note that this retreat will start an hour earlier than usual. Please see full schedule.
View local times
Registration will close one hour before the event. Full refunds will be given for cancellation requests up to one hour in advance of the event.
Who can attend this event?
This program is open to everyone [who has completed the Joy of Living Level 1].
Translation from English will be offered into Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, and Russian.
American meditation master Leigh Brasington (LeighB.com, a successful lay student of German Jewish Theravada Buddhist nun Ayya Khema) and the famous Thai Theravada Buddhist monk Ven. Buddhadasa (meditation center: suanmokkh.org). He has been practicing meditation for decades and is one of the most prominent American teachers of the jhanas (meditative absorptions).
The jhanas are a set of altered states of consciousness associated with profound amounts of bliss, glee, joy (piti), happiness (sukha), and ecstasy (rapture).
Entering jhana is done through meditating with intense "concentration" (stillness, focus, sustained attention, singlemindedness), and it's considered a controversial topic by some [misguided thinkers] in the Buddhist world.
Can regular people access the jhanas? Are they even real?
I was really happy then the mind paid attention.
ABOUT: Learn more about Ten Percent Happier podcast at tenpercent.com/podcast.
Check out guided meditations alongside practical teachings in the Ten Percent Happier app. Click here [10percenthappier.app.link/ins...] to get started.
We arrive at 8:00 am dressed all in white to take the Eight Precepts with a monk, chanting (call and response) repeating an ancient formula in the language of the Buddha, Pali (Magadhi, the easier lingua franca version of Sanskrit). Then we are served breakfast, traditional island fare.
The Buddha mostly taught lay practitioners.
Taking our seats on the folding backrests provided for meditation, the monks chanted and gave sermons, with everyone smiling and encouraging everyone else.
Half of what is going on is in the ancient Buddhist island Sinhalese language of Sri Lanka. Before long, it's time for lunch, but before we eat the donor family receives a special blessing. They are offering it to benefit their dearly departed mother, so a special "transfer of merit" ceremony is conducted, where they gather in a circle up front and pour clear water into a cup until it is overflowing, as monks chant that what is given here benefit the grateful dead. If the departed should rejoice at this act of merit -- giving to feed practitioners of the Eight Precepts -- that will be excellent mental karma for those departed beings on the other side of the veil. They will therefore, in a place with very few opportunities to perform any skillful karma, gain that opportunity. Then we eat. Soon we will practice mindfulness walking meditation as a group, but that is always available to practice individually, inside or outside in the warm sun.
Although mostly silent and very respectful, people love to chat, mingle, and socialize. We sit apart from the crowd in the large outdoor patio near the temple's giant bodhi tree. The monastery looks like a high school with many rooms, offices, monks' quarters, a giant lawn, bell tower, parking lot, bathrooms, reading room, gym floor, stage, and lots of pews. It was originally built as a Protestant church in the valley with a great view of the San Gabriel Mountains on a very quiet street in the middle of Suburbia.
In the other direction, on a distant hill is Going West (Hsi Lai) Mahayana Buddhist Monastery, one of the largest Buddhist complexes in the U.S. Another talk is followed by a guided meditation with a singing bowl gong and very soothing words. Tea is offered to us individually. We meditate and about 5:00 pm, as the retreat is ending, the ordinary Sunday Rains Retreat services are just beginning. What had been about 50 participants balloons up to more than 100, also all dressed in white, arriving to hear a sutra or sermon.
We are in a side classroom, near the special golden cetiya shrine room, with the Nepalese monk Ven. Suwan, and the pews are filled with everyone else listening to the Dhamma in Sinhalese. The English class addressed the deeper meaning of the Four Noble Truths:
It is called "noble" (Aryan) because these four truths are "ennobling," this is, leading towards enlightenment for the practitioner who realizes their deeper significance.
The historical Buddha did not teach them for people to memorize or "believe," but rather to realize that these universal are always true and guide living beings toward liberation from all suffering all the way to the realization of nirvana. That could take lifetimes or be accomplished in this very life.
There's no time to waste and no telling we'll ever get an opportunity like this for eons, so precious is a human rebirth and all the more rare to ever meet the Dhamma, the Buddha's Teachings with a body and mind about to put his instructions into practice. Then dinner is served, a great assortment of island fare, mostly vegetarian/vegan and lots of conversation and mingling. It was a blessed time and repeats every month with the dates noted on this poster:
Event details
Monthly Day Retreat Calendar
It's that time of year again, "Buddhist Lent," the Rains Retreat (Vassa), for intensive practice.
There is the weekly observance in accordance with the phases of the moon, but generally the full moon is thought to be the most important and it is usually the one observed the uposathawith the Eight Precepts and intensive meditation and hearing the Dhamma (Dharma).
The Theravada/Pali language tradition of Southeast Asia (Sri Lankan, Burmese, Thai, Cambodian, Laotian, and to a lesser degree in Vietnam and the United States) observe it in this way, particularly in the large diaspora communities of the United States. In the greater Los Angeles area, where all of these ethnic and cultural communities are represented, temples hold special events.
The Los Angeles Buddhist Vihara (now the MindfulnessMeditationCenter.org) deep in the suburbs of the San Gabriel Valley city of Covina, is having a daylong Full Moon Observance Meditation retreat on Sunday, August 10, 2025, from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.
This service is FREE or by donation (dana) and includes breakfast and lunch. It is conducted in Sinhalese and English. And there is an opportunity for any questions and requests for clarification. WEAR ALL WHITE as is the ancient custom from the time of the Buddha. (It is not an enforced rule but really does help and will certainly make one more comfortable and show respect among the locals from the East).
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