Patrick Kearney portrait

Patrick Kearney

Patrick Kearney has practised mindfulness meditation (satipaṭṭhāna vipassanā) since 1977. At that time there was little or no Buddhist meditation training available in Australia, so he spent years travelling in Asia and the USA working with teachers from different Buddhist traditions to learn the craft of meditation practice. Most of his training has been in the insight meditation lineage of Mahāsī Sayādaw of Burma, which included several years as a Buddhist monk. His main teachers were Sayādaw U Paṇḍita and John Hale. He has also trained in the Diamond Sangha lineage of Zen where his teachers have been Robert Aitken Rōshi and Paul Maloney Rōshi.

Patrick has been a full-time teacher of mindfulness meditation for a quarter of a century. He conducts residential and online retreats, workshops and seminars. He has studied early Buddhism at post-graduate levels and has a particular interest in the original teachings of the Buddha, before the invention of “Buddhism.” This allows him to bring the radical insights of the Buddha to our contemporary situation. He sees meditation as a physical practice that reconnects us with the felt world of our senses, allowing us to live our lives directly rather than through the cling-wrap of our habitual thinking.

For further details see his website.

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Upcoming Programs by Patrick Kearney

The Middle Way - Two week retreat

Also with Louise Taylor

September 12 - 26, 2026

In his first formal discourse the Buddha introduced the middle way as the central theme of his teaching. How is this to be understood? The middle way is not mere moderation, but the dynamic recognition that there is no fixed position in our experience, no where we can land and cling to. This teaching points […]

Remembering Awareness - Nine-day retreat

Also with Emma Pittaway

November 6 - 15, 2026

Our practice is based on mindfulness, which emerges from the continuity of awareness. How can we maintain continuous awareness? By remembering that we are already aware. We do not need to generate awareness. When we “try” to be aware, our effort is based on our desire to be someone different, to have something different. But if […]

Deep Practice Retreat

Also with Malcolm McClintock

November 19 - December 3, 2026
This retreat is jointly taught by Malcolm McClintock and Patrick Kearney. It is designed for experienced practitioners who are independent in their practice. We will form a community of practice where shared practice will replace the normal structure of workshops, dharma talks and scheduled interviews. Practising together, we will meet each evening to share our daily experiences, just as the students of the Buddha did in the earliest days of the dharma.

Deepening Practice 28-Day Retreat

Also with Emma Pittaway and Robyn Gibson

January 29 - February 26, 2027
This retreat is for experienced practitioners who want to deepen their practice and understanding. The first two weeks will be co-taught with Robyn Gibson and the second two weeks with Emma Pittaway.

The Way of Direct Experience - Two week retreat

Also with Louise Taylor

September 11 - 25, 2027

We are sentient beings, intimately interwoven with the suchness of life, and yet, all too often, we find ourselves living in a world of thought, ideas, and concepts, mistaking them for reality. When the Buddha taught, he did not ask us to believe, but to practice — to cultivate awareness and to know for ourselves. […]

Remembering Awareness - Nine-day retreat

November 5 - 14, 2027

Our practice is based on mindfulness, which emerges from the continuity of awareness. How can we maintain continuous awareness? By remembering that we are already aware. We do not need to generate awareness. When we “try” to be aware, our effort is based on our desire to be someone different, to have something different. But if […]