News

Reserved BIPOC seats for June Retreat

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

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.

Newsletter Summer 2024

TCVC welcomes Kamala Masters and Tara Mulay to Koronis Retreat Center this summer. The retreat begins on Sunday, June 9 and ends around noon on Friday, June 14. The theme of the retreat will be “The Sure Heart’s Release”.

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.

Summer 2024 Newsletter

Other practice opportunities in the upper midwest

TCVC is one of many organizations sponsoring insight meditation retreats in the Upper Midwest. Here are some other practice opportunities you may be interested in.

Common Ground Meditation Center

Located in Minneapolis, MN, Common Ground Meditation Center hosts a variety of retreats. Check their website for half-day and daylong retreats.

There are usually two residential practice periods each month at the Praire Farm Retreat Center.

Madison Insight Meditation

April 19-21, 2024 ANUSHKA FERNANDOPULLE at Holy Wisdom Monastery

June 28-30, 2024 CHAS DICAPUA at Holy Wisdom Monastery

October 13-19, 2024 AYYĀS at St. Anthony Spirituality Center

May 5-13, 2025 AJAHN SUCITTO at St. Anthony Spirituality Center

Minneapolis Insight Meditation Community

Weekly meditation and discussion sessions are offered via Zoom. People of all levels of meditation experience are welcome.

Rochester Meditation Center

Weekly meditation sessions in person and via Zoom. Retreats are also offered periodically.

Koronis Ministries

Koronis Ministries is a large facility that hosts a variety of groups, both spiritual and secular. The center is located in Central Minnesota, near Paynesville, on the shores of Lake Koronis.

Koronis reminds of Koinonia Retreat Center, which closed shortly after our last retreat before the pandemic in February, 2020. Like Koinonia, Koronis is located in a quiet setting on the shores of a beautiful lake with lots of hiking trails. 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 walking meditation and a dedicated room for mindful movement.

Koronis has a variety of accomodations. There are hotel-style rooms with private bathrooms along with dorm-style rooms where the bathroom and shower facilities are shared. All rooms are single-occupancy.

Koronis is located some 90 miles west of the Twin Cities, about a 2-hour drive. TCVC will do our best to connect participants with others who would like to carpool to the retreat center, including those flying in from out of state.

Koronis Ministries lakefront

Listening to life: meditation from the receptive heart

This will be the theme for the TCVC retreat February 18–25 with Chas DiCapua and Rebecca Bradshaw

In meditation we receive our embodied experience, letting it teach us the way life is and how to hold the vast range of joy and sorrow that comes with being human. This retreat will focus on listening to our life moment by moment, letting go of demands of how it should be and resting fully in how it is. This receptive meditation takes us deeper into the truth of things, helping our heart orient towards wisdom and compassion. Our daily schedule will include guided insight and loving kindness meditation instructions, talks on the teachings, and meeting time with teachers. Optional qi gong will also be offered.

The retreat will be held at Koronis Retreat Center in central Minnesota, near Paynesville.

Participants will check in from 3–6 PM on Sunday, February 18 and reconnect with friends during an evening meal at 6 PM. The retreat begins at 7:30 PM.

The retreat will end the following Sunday, February 25 following a 10:30 AM brunch.

To support the integrity of the retreat, participants will be expected to commit to the entire retreat.

You can register online or by fill out the registration form within our newsletter.

We hope you’ll join us for this precious time, guided by wise and skillful teachers, in a beautiful and supportive setting.

Newsletter Winter 2024

TCVC is happy to announce that Chad DiCapua and Rebecca Bradshaw will be leading our 2024 winter retreat. The retreat begins on Sunday, February 18 and ends around noon on Sunday, February 25.

The retreat will be held at a new location – Koronis Ministries Retreat Center near Paynesville Minnesota.

The theme of the retreat is: Listening to life: meditation from the receptive heart.

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.

Winter 2024 Newsletter

Newsletter Summer 2023

TCVC welcomes Deborah Helzer and Vance Pryor to St. Anthony Spirituality Center to teach our second in-person retreat since the pandemic. The retreat begins on Saturday, June 17 and ends around noon on Saturday, June 24.

The themes of this retreat will be continuity, clarity and care.

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.

Summer 2023 Newsletter

Newsletter Winter 2023

TCVC is thrilled to welcome back Chas DiCapua and Rebecca Bradshaw for our first IN-PERSON retreat since the pandemic. Check in begins at 3PM on Friday, February 17 at St. Anthony Spirituality Center; the retreat ends on the following Friday, February 24 after a 10:30AM brunch. The theme of the retreat is “Spacious mind, tender heart: a winter Vipassana retreat”.

Read more about the retreat in the winter newsletter. If you have any questions about the upcoming retreat, feel free to reach out to retreats@tcvc.info.

Winter 2023 Newsletter

Summer Newsletter 2022 updated

We have made a change to the length of the retreat, shortening it to just the weekend. The retreat will still begin at 6PM on June 17, but will end on Sunday, June 19th at 5PM.

Kamala Masters and Steve Armstrong will lead this online retreat. The theme of the retreat is Well Being and Balance – Within Ourselves and Within the World.

Please read more about the retreat in the newsletter. If you have any questions about the upcoming retreat, feel free to reach out to retreats@tcvc.info.

Summer 2022 Newsletter