2019 New Year’s Retreat - Guelph

Teachers

Norman Feldman attended his first Insight Meditation retreat in 1971, while traveling in India. Since then he has practiced and studied with many teachers in the Theravada, Tibetan and Zen traditions of Buddhism, as well as with teachers in the Advaita-Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. He has spent long periods of time without a home, practicing intensively in India, Thailand and Sri Lanka, and in the West. He has also lived in Buddhist communities in England and Canada. Norman began teaching Insight Meditation retreats in 1986, and since then he has taught retreats throughout Canada and the US, as well as in England, in Bodh Gaya, India and in Israel. He has also taught Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programmes. Norman is a co-founder and has been a Guiding Teacher for TNI.

As well as leading formal retreats, Norman has offered forms of practice that facilitate the integration of meditation into daily life. These have included canoe retreats, study classes in the Buddhist texts, non-residential retreats that emphasize the integration of meditative awareness, insight and inquiry into daily life, and pilgrimage to the sacred Buddhist sites of India and Nepal.

Currently, Norman lives in Guelph, Canada. He is reducing his teaching schedule and giving more attention to mentoring and supporting the next generation of dhamma teachers. In previous lives he has been a pharmacist and a shiatsu therapist.

Molly Swan has been engaging in spiritual inquiry and meditation practice since the 1980's in North America, India, and England, primarily with teachers in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. Since 1997 she has been teaching Insight Meditation retreats as well as mentoring individuals and groups. A part of Molly's practice has been supporting others in accessing the precious gift of the Buddhist teachings. She is a co-founder and past Guiding Teacher for True North Insight Meditation Centre, and organized and managed retreats for many years in India, England, and Canada.

Molly's path has been primarily the teachings and practice of the Buddha because they speak with such clarity and possibility of liberation from suffering and struggle that is possible right here, right now - allowing the heart, and life, to truly flower. Other sources of inspiration for Molly have been months of pilgrimage in India, and living 'on the road' where the experience of stepping into the unknown as a daily experience is a powerful teacher.

Although Molly has been teaching and supporting the Dhamma whole-heartedly for years, she is enjoying a much-reduced teaching schedule now, allowing time in semi-retirement for supporting others in the meditation teacher role, for pursuing other interests, and for simply ‘being’.

Registration Information

LOCATION: Loyola House, 5420 Highway 6 North, Guelph, Ontario

ARRIVAL TIME: 1:30-3:30 pm, Sunday, December 29. The retreat formally begins at 4 pm, so please arrive on time! The retreat will conclude by lunch on Wednesday, January 1. Everyone is welcome to stay for lunch.

COST: TNI is dedicated to offering affordable rates to all. TNI retreat fees are on a sliding scale basis that allows participants to pay according to individual means. Fees do not include compensation for the teachings, and teachers rely on the generosity of retreatants for a sustainable income. There is an opportunity to offer dana (donations) to the teachers at the end of each retreat. The deposit is included in all of our fees.