Wednesday Night Talks - Livestream

In the 28-day retreat currently on at BMIMC we have three teachers who each bring their own perspective to the practice of vipassana, insight meditation . Robyn Gibson’s teaching emphasises the role of ānāpānasati, mindfulness with breathing, in establishing a foundation of serenity sufficient to enable insight practice. Emma Pittaway’s teaching emphasises the role of natural awareness in cultivating insight, an approach that centres on the role of cittanupassanā, awareness of heart/mind and of awareness itself, in any posture. Patrick Kearney will be exploring how the framework provided by Mahāsi Sayādaw applies to our practice today.

The talks will be recorded and made available at the end of each week.

A synopsis of each talk will be sent out at the start of each week.

There is no charge to register but donations are greatly appreciated

Talk 01: The Optimism of Mahasi Sayadaw (Wednesday 21 January) 

Mahāsi Sayādaw developed an approach to suddha vipassanā, pure insight, which bypasses any preliminary cultivation of samatha, serenity, to prepare for insight. Rather, the practitioner embarks directly on insight itself. But does this approach work for mid-21st century Australian practitioners the same way it did for mid-20th century Myanmar practitioners? This talk looks at Mahāsi Sayādaw’s life and teaching to explore this issue and examine its implication for contemporary insight practice.