Upcoming Retreats

There is still space available in our upcoming retreats:

May 23-29, Erasing the Boundaries to Freedom, a residential retreat

with Matthew Flickstein, assisted by Daryl Lynn Ross, Arnprior, ON

August 15-18 or 15-22, Getting Off the Wheel, an insight meditation retreat  for 18-32 year olds, with Daryl Lynn Ross and Pascal Auclair, Arnprior, ON

For more information, please click on Schedule.

True North Insight Meditation Centre

True North Insight Meditation Centre is a registered non-profit charitable organization that was incorporated in 2003. The centre is dedicated to teaching Insight Meditation, a core practice of Theravada Buddhism. Insight Meditation is a means to cultivate wisdom, peace, compassion and awakening. Theravada, a Pali word meaning "The Way of the Elders," is the form of Buddhism that draws its guidance from the Pali Canon, or Tipitaka, and is practiced widely in Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka.

There are currently several Theravada monasteries and meditation centres in the West. A need has been identified for a centre in Canada to focus on the development of Theravada Buddhism and the practice of Insight Meditation.

Vision

The vision of True North Insight Meditation Centre is to teach and support the practice of Insight Meditation (Vipassana) and the Buddhist principles that are designed to foster ethical behaviour, concentration, and wisdom. We undertake to fulfill this vision by establishing a dedicated practice centre in Canada that will offer a protected and quiet space to support individuals in focusing on their inner experience. While True North Insight is rooted in the Theravada teachings, the Centre will be open to all schools of Buddhist teaching and practice.

Guiding Ethics and Principles

True North Insight (TNI) is guided in all endeavours by the ethical guidelines of non-harming expressed in the five precepts, the spirit of loving friendship and compassion, the wisdom of insight, and the Truth of Liberation.

Goals and Objectives

1. True North Insight will provide a rural residential retreat centre for people to practice with experienced monastic and lay teachers.

    

   1. The centre will be located in Ontario between Kingston and Cobourg to respond to the needs of meditators in the surrounding areas of Quebec and Ontario, and also to welcome meditators from the northeastern United States.
   2. For experienced meditators, self-retreat accommodation and support will be available.
   3. A schedule of retreats will be offered by both True North Insight Guiding Teachers and other experienced vipassana teachers.

   4. Retreats of varying lengths will be structured to accommodate both beginners and experienced meditators.

    
2. TNI will respond to the needs of Theravada Buddhist individuals and associations, particularly those located in Ontario and Quebec.

1. TNI will support, to the best of its ability, the retreat and study needs of other Theravada associations in central and eastern Canada.

2. We will support the development of Canadian teachers and Dhamma (Sanskrit - Dharma) leaders, and will endeavour to regularly offer retreats led by Canadian teachers.

3. Mentoring will be available to those who are teaching and leading meditation and study groups in Canada.

4. Ongoing non-residential practice and study opportunities will be offered to people living near the Centre.

 

3. TNI will welcome people of all ages and all backgrounds
   
   
4. All publications of the centre will be provided in both French and English, and some retreats will be held in the French language.
   
   
5. We will work to support the practice of groups and individuals with specific needs.