News

Update on Lodging Options for February Retreat

Posted on by TCVC Admin

Update on Lodging Options for February Retreat

The TCVC Winter 2025 Retreat from February 16-23 is coming up soon.  We are writing to let you know that the rooms with private bath are now full, with three people on the wait list.  There are still plenty of rooms with shared bath available.  All rooms are single occupancy, including single rooms with private bathrooms ($880) and single rooms with shared bathrooms ($570). Scholarships are available for up to $400 of the retreat fee. 

If you have not yet registered, and were hoping to have a private bath room, you can request to be on the wait list for one in case any become available.  

This will be our second winter retreat at Koronis Ministries near Paynesville, Minnesota. Rebecca Bradshaw and Chas DiCapua will be leading the retreat on the theme of “Down-to-earth Dharma: Awakening the heart through embodiment”. You can register online or mail the paper form in the latest newsletter. 

TCVC is committed to supporting everyone in developing and deepening their meditation practice. In that spirit, ten places in this retreat have been reserved for members of the Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) community. If you would like one of the reserved places, you can check the BIPOC box on the online registration form. If you’re mailing in the paper form, please indicate somewhere on the form that you’re requesting a BIPOC place. If there are any reserved places not spoken for by January 10, the remaining places will be made available to all.

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We encourage you to tell others about TCVC retreats and help them feel more at ease with the idea of attending a retreat.  Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

Wishing you well,
TCVC Board

Newsletter Winter 2025

Posted on by Todd Stitt

TCVC welcomes back Chas DiCapua and Rebecca Bradshaw to Koronis Retreat Center this winter. The retreat begins on Sunday, February 16, 2025 and ends around noon on Sunday, February 23. The theme of the retreat will be “Down-to-earth Dharma: Awakening the heart through embodiment”.

You can read more about the retreat in the newsletter. Register online or by mailing in the registration page found in the newsletter. If you have questions, email the registrar at retreats@tcvc.info.

tcvcwinter2025Download

TCVC Retreats 2025

Posted on by TCVC Admin

Down to Earth Dharma:  Awakening the Heart through Embodiment

Chas DiCapua and Rebecca Bradshaw will lead the annual TCVC Winter Retreat February 16-23, 2025 on the theme of exploring the mind, heart and body to find an integrated and whole connection to ourselves.  Registration opens November 1, 2024.  Look for the link and registration form in the TCVC November newsletter.

Chas DiCapua has been practicing Buddhist meditation for almost 30 years. He has trained with Burmese meditation masters, western monastics of the Thai Forest tradition and senior western vipassana teachers. He has spent over two years in silent, intensive retreat.  Chas has served as IMS’s Resident Teacher at IMS since 2003. Chas is a graduate of the four year joint Insight Meditation Society / Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program. He teaches retreats at IMS and at various centers and sanghas throughout the country.
Listen to Chas DiCapua on Dharmaseed.org.

Rebecca Bradshaw, an IMS Emeritus Guiding Teacher, has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 1983 in the United States and Myanmar (Burma) and teaching since 1993. She completed her dharma teacher training at Insight Meditation Society, where she is part of the three-month retreat teacher team, leads retreats for young adults, and serves as a member of the diversity committee. She also teaches at other locations in the United States and abroad, including Spanish language retreats. Rebecca emphasizes a body-centered approach to meditation, supplemented with large doses of loving kindness. Rebecca has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC).
Listen to Rebecca Bradshaw on Dharmaseed.org.

Koronis Ministries, site of our 2024 retreats, will welcome us back in 2025.  Located in Central Minnesota, near Paynesville, Koronis is located in a quiet setting on the shores of a beautiful lake. TCVC will have near exclusive use of the entire facility, including a new, state-of-the-art meeting space for our meditation hall. There’s plenty of space for indoor and outdoor walking meditation and a dedicated room for mindful movement.

Announcing Teachers for Summer 2025 Retreat

TCVC is excited to welcome Deborah Helzer and Annie Nugent as the teachers of our Summer 2025 retreat.

Deborah Helzer first took up Buddhist meditation 30 years ago to reduce stress while working on her engineering degree.  She began teaching at IMS in 2004, as well as with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, DC, where she lives.  She has studied and practiced with both western and asian teachers, including a year as a nun with the late Sayadaw U Pandita. 

Annie Nugent has studied and practiced in the Theravadan and Tibetan traditions since 1979 under the guidance of a range of teachers including Sayadaw U Pandita, Tulku Akong Rinpoche and various western teachers. Annie was the resident teacher for staff at The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA from 1999-2003.

Upcoming TCVC Retreats

February 16–23, 2025 with Chas DiCapua and Rebecca Bradshaw
Registration opens November 1, 2024.

June 8-15, 2025 with Deborah Helzer and Annie Nugent

February 2026 (dates tbd) with Chas DiCapua and Rebecca Bradshaw

Summer 2026 (dates tbd) with Deborah Helzer and Vance Pryor

Click here for other opportunities for retreat practice in the upper Midwest.

Forward this email to your friends!

We encourage you to tell others about TCVC retreats and help them feel more at ease with the idea of attending a retreat.  Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

Wishing you well,
TCVC Board

September 2024 Update

Posted on by TCVC Admin

Thanks for Supporting the BIPOC Retreats

Many members of the TCVC Community have donated to the BIPOC Retreat Fund over the past couple of years. This spring the accumulated BIPOC donations ($4,542) were offered to Common Ground Meditation Center in support of a week long BIPOC retreat in July. The funds were used to pay for travel expenses and also offered as dana to teacher Tuere Sala. It was a very special retreat for the 17 participants. Click here for their photos and comments.

Tuere will be returning to Common Ground next summer and TCVC intends to offer dana from our community to support this retreat and possibly other BIPOC retreats in the region. Click here and select “BIPOC Retreat Fund” to make a donation on our website.  

Discount on Rebecca Bradshaw’s New Book

Longtime TCVC retreat teacher Rebecca Bradshaw has a new book coming out in November.  Down to Earth Dharma: Insight Meditation to Awaken the Heart weaves together classical Theravada Buddhist teachings and mindfulness practices to explore ways to balance the masculine archetype qualities—action, focus, individualism, achievement, and transcendence—with the often underdeveloped feminine—feeling, embodiment, relaxation, receptivity, and intuition.  TCVC members can get a 30% discount by pre-ordering the book at Shambala Publications.  For the discount, please enter the code DTED30 in the shopping cart.

Upcoming Madison Insight Meditation Retreat

Ayyā Medhānandī and Ayyā Anuruddhā will teach a residential retreat at St. Anthony Spirituality Center, Marathon, WI October 13–19, 2024.  The theme of this retreat will be “Noble Mind, Fearless Heart” and practice will be structured as if visiting a Theravada monastery.  For more information and registration click here.

Future TCVC Retreats

Save the date for future TCVC retreats at Koronis Ministries.

February 16–23, 2025 with Chas DiCapua and Rebecca Bradshaw. 
Registration opens November 1, 2024.

June 8-15, 2025 with Deborah Helzer and Annie Nugent

Click here for other opportunities for retreat practice in the upper Midwest.

Forward this email to your friends!

We encourage you to tell others about TCVC retreats and help them feel more at ease with the idea of attending a retreat.  Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

Wishing you well,
TCVC Board

Getting to the Retreat

Posted on by TCVC Admin

While most of the people that attend TCVC retreats are locals, we welcome people from anywhere and everywhere. While there’s no guarantee, past attendees have been generous in giving people rides to and from the retreat.

Koronis Ministries is about a 2-hour drive from the MSP airports. Please book your flight so that you Arrive no later than 1PM on the opening day of the retreat and
Depart no earlier than 3PM on closing day.

When you register, be sure to select the “I need a ride” box on the registration form.

When your flight is booked, email the registrar with the incoming and outgoing flight details. MSP has two terminals. The larger airlines (Delta, United, American) fly into Terminal 1. Smaller airlines (Sun Country, Allegiant) fly into Terminal 2. In your correspondence with volunteers, be clear on which airline/terminal.

TCVC volunteers will do their best to arrange for your ride from and to the airport (or train or bus station). It’s best that both ends of the arrangements be made ahead of time so that you connect with your returning ride before the retreat begins.

Ultimately, it’s your responsibility to get yourself to and from the retreat. If your flight is late, Uber or Lyft may be a possibility. Groome Transportation could be another option; you could to call to see if they would swing by Paynseville. If you decide to rent a car, Koronis has a free EV Charging station.

Safe travels! We look forward to seeing you at the retreat!

2024 July: Post-Retreat Update

Posted on by TCVC Admin

More to come…

In the past, TCVC has limited our communications to announcing our retreats. Going forward, we’d like to keep in touch a bit more (but no more than monthly), with writing and other work by people from the TCVC community.

Beth Racette, a long-time meditator from Madison, Wisconsin shared two wonderful paintings and this reflection:  I express deep gratitude for many TCVC retreats that I have attended over the past 15 years. These paintings, entitled “Indra’s Net”, are my exploration of the web of interconnection.

We’d love to hear from you!  Please send your submissions to info@tcvc.info.

Highlights of the June Retreat

Sixty three people attended the June retreat with Kamala Masters and Tara Mulay at Koronis Ministries near Paynesville, Minnesota. It was a lovely week. We enjoyed a warm welcome from the Koronis staff, the spacious meditation hall with a view of the lake, and nourishing meals.

We greatly appreciated the compassionate guidance from Kamala and Tara. Their dharma talks have been uploaded to the Dharma Seed website.

For those of you who attended the retreat, below is a writing by Teijitsu, an 18th century abbess of Hakujuan, near Eiheiji, Japan. Tara referred to this text in her talk on the three characteristics of experience to be realized through insight meditation.
 
She saw that all phenomena arose, abided, and fell away. She saw that even knowing this arose, abided, and fell away. Then she knew there was nothing more than this, no ground, nothing to lean on, stronger than the cane she held.  Nothing to lean upon at all, and no one leaning…  And she opened the clenched fist in her mind and let go, and fell, into the midst of everything.
 
Sallie Tisdale, The Women of the Way: Discovering 2,500 years of Buddhist Wisdom

Connecting with our Teachers
 Vipassana Metta at Home

Join Kamala Masters and Steve Armstrong every Wednesday for a guided meditation and short dharma talk and/or question and answer period. Sign up here to receive a weekly Zoom invitation.

Tara Mulay

Tara Mulay will be teaching a number of retreats the last half of this year. Click here for her schedule.

Residential Retreat with Deborah Helzer

Deborah Helzer will be teaching a residential retreat at Common Ground Retreat Center November 12-16.

Save the Dates

Save the date for the TCVC winter retreat: February 16–23, 2025 with Chas DiCapua and Rebecca Bradshaw. The retreat will be held at Koronis Ministries near Paynesville, Minnesota. Details will be published in October and registration opens November 1, 2024. 

Click here for other opportunities for retreat practice in the upper Midwest.


Forward this email to your friends!

We encourage you to tell others about TCVC retreats and help them feel more at ease with the idea of attending a retreat.  Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

Wishing you well,
TCVC Board

2024 June Retreat Schedule

Posted on by TCVC Admin

On Sunday, June 9, the retreat will open with an evening meal and social time at 6PM, with noble silence beginning at 7:30PM when the retreat begins.

On Friday, June 14, the retreats closes with a 10:30AM brunch.

For all other days (Monday through Thursday), the retreat schedule will be as follows:

*            5:45 a.m           Wake-up, Stretch

            ** 6:15              Sit, Chant Refuges & Precepts

               7:00               Breakfast

            ** 8:30              Sit (Instructions, Q&A)

               9:30              Walk

            ** 10:15             Sit

               11:00             Walk

            *  11:30              Lunch, Rest

            *   1:00              Walk

            ** 1:30              Sit   

                 2:15             Walk

            ** 3:15            Sit (Guided)

                 4:00            Walk/Mindful Break

            *   4:30            Light Meal

            ** 6:00           Sit

                 6:40           Walk

            ** 7:00            Dharma Talk

                 8:00             Walk/Mindful Break

            ** 8:30             Sit, Chanting

                 9:00             Rest, Further Practice

              * Bell is rung at this time

              **Bell is rung 10 minutes before this time

Reserved BIPOC seats for June Retreat

Posted on by TCVC Admin

TCVC hopes to diversify who we serve by setting aside ten seats for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) for our June retreat. If not all of the seats are taken by BIPOC participants before May 17, any remaining seats will be released to the general population.

This is a great opportunity for BIPOC people to receive the teachings of the Buddha from two highly respected women of color, Kamala Masters and Tara Mulay. 

We’ve updated our online registration form to indicate whether or not you’re a BIPOC participant. If you’re mailing your registration using the form from our newsletter, please indicate somewhere on the form if you’re BIPOC. Registration opens on April 1.

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Kamala Masters and Tara Mulay

Posted on by TCVC Admin

Kamala Masters

Photo of Kamala Masters

Kamala Masters is one of the founders and teachers of the Vipassana Metta Foundation on Maui. She teaches retreats in the Theravada tradition at venues worldwide, including being a Guiding Teacher at the Insight Meditation Society at Barre, Massachusetts. Practicing since 1975, her teachers have been the late Anagarika Munindra of India and the late Sayadaw U Pandita of Burma, and Sayadaw U Tejaniya of Burma with whom she continues to practice. Kamala has a commitment to carrying and offering the purity of the teachings of the Buddha in a way that touches our common sense and compassion as human beings, and allows the natural inner growth of wisdom. She lives on Maui where she raised four children, and is now blessed with seven grandchildren. Kamala practiced both insight and loving kindness meditations intensively under the guidance and preceptorship of Sayadaw U Pandita, in the USA, Australia and in Burma as a nun and a lay woman.

Tara Mulay

Tara Mulay teaches and mentors Insight Meditation practitioners to refine their mindfulness practice, both on the meditation cushion and in daily life. Her dharma offerings stem from the lineage of Mahasi Sayadaw, and she has gratefully drawn influence from many other teachers within and outside of the Mahasi lineage, including Howard Cohn, Kamala Masters,  Joseph Goldstein, and Sayadaw U Tejaniya.  Tara practiced criminal defense law in California for over 20 years.  She was a leader of Mission Dharma in San Francisco, and in 2016 she co-founded the San Francisco Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Insight Sangha.  In 2021, she was authorized to teach by Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts.

Tara felt initially drawn to dharma practice upon encountering the Buddha’s teachings rejecting caste as a measure of worth and of capacity for awakening. She believes classical Buddhist practices, designed to cultivate compassion, non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion, are uniquely potent vehicles for empowering people in marginalized communities and effecting social change. For more information visit Taramulay.com.