Author: Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community

Zeden Lake Insight Meditation Retreat – August 2023 🌲

This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.

Silent Insight Meditation retreat at lovely Zeden Lake, with Jeanne Corrigal

August 28-September 3, 2023

On the eve of his enlightenment the Buddha touched the earth and asked for help to awaken. On this retreat we will touch the beloved earth with our hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits. This immersion in kindness with the community of land, lake, sky, and trees cultivates our sense of care for ourselves and all beings, and supports liberation into the spacious, loving, connected heart and mind. This in turn can be a nourishment we carry back into the world, in all the big and small ways we care for our communities, including the earth itself, in all the challenges and joys of this time.

The retreat includes dharma talks, practice talks with Jeanne, reflective meditation practices, and gentle paddling each day. For more information, please email the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community at contact@saskatooninsight.com.

Two pine trees frame the view of a lake with the opposite shore in the distance. There is blue sky with some grey and white cumulus clouds.
Photo of Zeden Lake, from the St John Bosco Wilderness Camp website.

Retreat requirements

To support the safety and practical aspects of this nature retreat, we ask that participants have:

  • A minimum of one weekend silent meditation retreat.
  • Familiarity with Insight Meditation practice.
  • Good swimming and basic canoe skills.
  • Basic camping experience.

Retreat Etiquette

We will share the happiness of the community work meditations of on-site food preparation and clean up.

This retreat will be held in silence, except for safety and logistical needs, and for practice talks with Jeanne. This supports the whole community.

Please come prepared to participate fully in the retreat schedule:
Day 1: 3:45 pm to 9 pm
Days 2-6: 6 am to 9 pm
Day 7: 6 am to noon

Logistics

  • We will set up our home at the St. John Bosco Wilderness Camp.
    • Please note there is no cell-phone coverage at this location. An emergency number will be provided for you to give to family or friends in case they need to contact you.
  • Base registration fee: $315, plus a food contribution equaling about $80-$100. A provincial park pass is also required.
    • The base fee is for those who plan to camp (bring your own tent, etc.). There are two additional options for accommodation:
      1) A bed in a bunkhouse for an additional $63
      2) A private cabin for an additional $315
    • Some scholarship support is available, if the registration fee is a barrier.
  • Registration fees cover the operational expenses of the retreat (site, equipment, fees, transportation, etc.). They do not cover the teachings, which are offered on a dana basis. Dana is a Pali word meaning generosity. In keeping with Buddhist tradition, teachers do not charge for their services but are sustained by the generosity of their students. Dana allows the teacher and retreat manager to continue their Dharma work. There will be an opportunity to offer dana to Jeanne for her teaching. (Ways to offer dana to Jeanne.)
  • Protocols to safely offer this retreat in light of Covid will be determined closer to the event.

Registration

Registration is now closed.

Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee. She is a long-time canoeist.

Custodians viewing 🏠💻

This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings

Custodians, A Story of Ancient Echoes

Dear Friends,

SIMC is pleased to offer a screening of Custodians, A Story of Ancient Echoes in partnership with the Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre (AEIC) and the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Saskatchewan.

A trailer for the film can be found on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/64h7jTyoSms

This new film from award-winning Rebel Sky Productions (Reserve 107, 2016) explores the work of local landowners, volunteers and municipal government of Herschel, Saskatchewan, in protecting and conserving the many signs of historic Indigenous presence in the region. Tipi rings, sacred circles, even petroglyphs show the importance of this site, and many like it across the prairies. The documentary raises important questions of land-sharing, the conservation of ancient intellectual and spiritual heritage, and respectful Indigenous-settler collaboration.

Article from Canadian Mennonite: https://canadianmennonite.org/aeic

This will be a hybrid event offered free of charge. Please register for the event in advance, indicating your preference for in-person or virtual attendance, so we know how many people to expect.

A zoom link will be provided to registered participants before the screening for those who prefer to participate virtually.

If you are attending in person, please arrive 10 minutes in advance. Masks are optional.

Many thanks to David Neufeld (AEIC) and Randy Klassen (MCC Saskatchewan) for their generosity in supporting the screening.

Summary:

Date and time: Thursday June 8th, 7-9 pm Saskatoon/MDT (other timezones)
Location: MCC Centre, Avenue C and 45th

To register: https://saskatooninsight.com/forms/view.php?id=65615

Inquiries can be directed to Twyla at yobbt@sasktel.net

Guest teachers in May 2023 💻

This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.

Dear friends,

We are delighted that some of our sangha friends are joining us as we go online only for four Wednesdays in May:

  • May 3 Jeanne will be leading online;
  • May 10 our good friend Elvina Charley will be leading us in the Navajo Beauty Way;
  • May 17 Jill Shepherd, founder of Auckland Insight will join us;
  • May 24 Jeanne’s teacher training colleague Walt Opie will dive into Clinging and Non-clinging.

All of these dear hearts are looking forward to spending time with our special sangha, while Jeanne is teaching in BC, and then on personal retreat there. Any dana you offer will be passed on to these beautiful teachers.

Enjoy, dear sangha! What a gift that these teachers from around the world can come to visit us.

To join us online, please register for the Zoom here:

When your register, Zoom will email you a personalized link to join the Wednesday session. The Zoom link will remain the same for the foreseeable future.

With every good wish,
Jeanne and SIMC

May 10: Elvina Charley

Head and shoulders of Elvina Charley, in front of a yellow background.

Elvina Charley, Ed.S. is Diné (Navajo) school psychologist practitioner and integrates mindfulness as a part of serving children and youth. Charley has been practicing mindfulness since 2013, introduced to her by Bonnie Duran, Ph.D. as a way to heal from historical trauma. She found parallels between her Diné philosophy of life – Sa’ah naaghái bik’eh hózhó and Buddhism. Charley continues to cultivate her practice through people of color retreat programs through the Insight Meditation Society and Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center. Charley also received training through Mindful Schools to bring back mindfulness to reservation schools.

May 17: Jill Shepherd

Jill Shepherd began practicing insight meditation in Thailand in 1999, and since that time has lived and worked at several meditation centres and monasteries in the US, Australia, England, and Thailand. She is a graduate of the IMS / Spirit Rock teacher training program in the US, under the guidance of Joseph Goldstein and Gil Fronsdal, and at the founder of Auckland Insight. Currently, she divides her time mostly between the USA, Australia and New Zealand, teaching insight / vipassanā and brahmavihāra retreats and offering ongoing study and practice groups focused on bringing the dharma into daily life. She also leads courses and non-residential workshops exploring the relational practice of Insight Dialogue, as developed by Gregory Kramer and colleagues.
https://jill0shepherd-insightmeditation.com/

May 24: Walt Opie

Walt Opie was introduced to insight meditation in 1993, but didn’t realize its full life-changing potential until sitting his first two residential retreats at Spirit Rock in 2005. He has a strong interest in early Buddhism and serves as a facilitator for online courses based on the work of Bhikkhu Analayo through the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (BCBS). In addition, he teaches retreats and speaks at insight meditation centers around the country. Walt has also led sitting groups for people in recovery for many years and helps facilitate Buddhist services in a California prison. His most influential teachers include Bhikkhu Analayo, Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Joseph Goldstein, Gil Fronsdal, and Guy Armstrong. He is a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS Teacher Training Program. Walt received an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. His writing appears in the book collection Still, In the City: Creating Peace of Mind in the Midst of Urban Chaos edited by Angela Dews (Skyhorse Publishing, 2018). His website is www.waltopie.com.

Retreat: The Factors of Awakening 🏠💻

This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.

The Factors of Awakening
A Process of Liberation

(OR, Jeanne’s secret title: The Factors of Awakening: Otter Teachings)

Picture of an otter on a green background https://pxhere.com/en/photo/960262

An in-person non residential/residential retreat (online option available)
with Jeanne Corrigal

April 21 – 25, 2023
Queen’s House Retreat & Renewal Centre, Saskatoon

This retreat will begin with an exploration of how we can understand awakening, in the Buddhist teachings, and then an understanding of how the seven factors supports this freedom. We will cultivate each factor within our meditation, practicing with them with the intention of cultivating the conditions for this highest happiness. This map is one that can guide us both on and off retreat, to support this peace in the mind and heart.

This retreat will offer dharma talks, practice talks, instructions in the factors, and to close, gentle relational community practice.

There are many ways to participate – in person with full residential; commuter; or online.

With the in person and commuter residential options, we request that you fully commit to participating in the whole retreat, from 7 pm April 21 to 11 am April 25.

If you are a commuter, this means arriving at the center for the first sit and instruction after breakfast, at 9 am, and practicing with the community until 9 pm. A rest area and place for you to eat your meals, if you are bringing your own, will be offered.

If you choose the online option, you can choose whether to participate fully, or if you wish to make the retreat your own, with your own schedule. If you participate fully, we will connect with you about practice talks.

To support our return to the in person residential form, we are subsidizing the cost of the full residential offering by $100 off the cost for the first 25 people registering for this option.
As of February 27, we have 12 of these subsidized seats still available.

This retreat is offered by mutual generosity. When you register, there will be a registration fee to help SIMC cover our costs. During the retreat, we will provide information for those who are able to offer financial support to Jeanne. If cost is a barrier, scholarship support is available.

Registration

To register for the in-person offering, please use this link:
https://saskatooninsight.com/forms/view.php?id=60217

To register for the online offering, please use this link:
https://saskatooninsight.com/forms/view.php?id=62056

Guidelines for caring around COVID

We will review the situation in Saskatoon closer to the event and will publish guidelines at that time.

Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.

Cancelled: Introduction to Mindfulness

Unfortunately we have cancelled this offering due to lack of enrolment.
Please watch our website for future offerings.

SIT in Mindfulness

A drawing of a water drop with rippling rings and a reflection. Source https://radicalcourse.org/mindfulness-symbol/

This Six week Introductory Training (SIT) in Mindfulness will teach you to develop a focused and embodied attention, self awareness, emotional intelligence, and greater sense of ease and well being. You will learn a variety of mindfulness meditations and practical ways to integrate mindfulness into daily activities at work, home and in relationships.

The course will include the following:

  • Training in meditation, developing awareness of breath, body, feelings and thoughts.
  • Managing stress and learning how to shift from reaction to response.
  • Recognizing and letting go of unhelpful habitual thoughts and mind states.
  • Exploring, understanding and working with a range of emotional experience.

The SIT course is designed for beginners to mindfulness or those who would like a refresher in its basic principles and techniques.

Each two-hour class will have a mix of the following components:

  • Guided meditation
  • Talk on weekly themes
  • Practice check-ins
  • Question and Responses
  • Experiential practices or exercises
  • Small group practices (dyads, triads, mindful listening and speaking), or alternative journaling activities
  • Suggested home practices

Dates and times

Thursdays, February 16, 23, March 2, 9, 16, 23, 2023
7-9 pm

Location

This is an in-person program, although we will pivot to online if necessary.
Address will be sent out as part of the registration confirmation.

Course fees

Administration fee:
The administration fee paid at the time of registration helps cover the administrative costs for SIMC.

Teacher dana/donation:
The registration fee does not include teacher support – there will be an opportunity to offer dana to the teacher. See dana information below.

Registration

The course has been cancelled due to lack of enrolment.

Course Teacher

Andrea Grzesina is a MTI Certified Teacher, having completed the Mindfulness Training Institute’s Certified Mindfulness Teacher Training with Mark Coleman and Martin Aylward in July 2021. A life-long learner and lover of the Dharma, Andrea has taken several training programs, including the Intensive Practice Program through the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center and several courses in Social Meditation Facilitation with Vince Fakhoury Horn and the Buddhist Geeks Sangha. She has been practicing meditation and mindfulness since 2014, and contributes to SIMC as a local dharma leader, a member of the planning committee, volunteer, retreat manager, cookie baker, and other duties as required.

Some words about the practice of dana

We often have queries about what might be an appropriate range for any financial dana offering to the teachers, that you might wish to make. Before we consider this, it is really important to know that the teaching of dana is a liberation teaching, because it is an intentional opportunity to practice generosity, which can directly erode the habit in the mind of grasping. The Buddha invites us to tune into the joy of dana, the joy of giving, before, during and after… so please, see this as a joy and liberation practice!

One of the gifts of dana is that it is optional, and if people decide to give in this way, they can give according to their means. And at the same time, asking about a range is a reasonable question… in Asia, folks often have an idea of how much is needed to support a teacher’s “requisites”, but in the west, we don’t have the same kind of guidelines, and folks in the west can be left a little bit out at sea in this area.

Offering guidance can be sensitive, as everyone’s circumstances are different. That said, in order to support the teachings, we offer these guidelines as a place to start, and those who wish to give in this way can move up or down on the scale, according to their means.

One guideline is to give the amount that brings you joy, knowing that your dana is supporting the Dharma to carry on (while being aware of not breaking the bank 🙂). One may also seek guidance by looking at the fees that are charged for similar events of workshops in our culture. Movies now cost $15 or more; yoga classes often $15/hour; in addition, workshop leaders are often compensated in recognition of the time it takes to prepare materials, the presentation, as well as their expertise.

Perhaps a helpful starting point for our sessions would be $25 – $35 per class. (This would be a range of something like $150 – $210 for the course). Please feel free to offer less than this in order to ensure your participation, knowing that your presence and any financial contribution are valued. Please feel free to offer more, if you are able, and it brings you joy to support others and the program in this precious way. Feel free to offer monthly or once or twice during the course – whatever works for you. And, please know that we are very grateful for both the dana of your presence in the program, and your financial dana; both danas contribute to our capacity to continue teaching. You can feel that your support is supporting the Dharma. Thank you.

Details how to offer your generosity to support Andrea and our community will be provided soon.

This course has been developed by the Mindfulness Training Institute.

We aspire always to nurture community and connection. Committed to being truly inclusive, we welcome people of all social identities, including all ethnicities, classes, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, abilities and cultures.

Aging as a Spiritual Journey

This is for a past event. For current events, please visit our Upcoming Events page.

a wilting maple leaf - green fading to yellow, and brown decay on the outer edges - against a blue background
Photograph: ©Cherie Westmoreland – used with permission

A community exploration of aging as an intentional spiritual path that calls our whole being to deep engagement. We will explore through dharma reflections and gentle relational practices.

Lead by Jeanne Corrigal

Saturday, February 11, 9 am – noon, in person in Saskatoon
or
Saturday, February 11, 2 pm – 5 pm CST, online via Zoom
(3-6 EST, 12-3 PST)

Registration

This event is over. Registration is closed.

The practice of dana

This retreat is offered through mutual generosity. During the retreat, we will provide information for those who are able to offer financial support to Jeanne.

See our dana page for more information.

For in-person: Guidelines for caring around COVID

We will review the situation in Saskatoon closer to the event and will publish guidelines at that time.

Teacher

Jeanne Corrigal

Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.

December Daylong

This is for a past event. For current events, please visit our Upcoming Events page.

The Gift of Softening Self Judgment
Deeply Befriending the Self

a close-up of snow flakes in the foreground with shimmering snow in the background source https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1048690

A hybrid daylong retreat
with Jeanne Corrigal

Sunday, December 11, 2022
9:00 am – 4:30 pm Sask/CST
(10:00 am-5:30 pm Eastern, 7:00 am-2:30 pm Pacific, or click for other time zones)
Saskatoon

Self Judgment can be one of the most painful states we face, and also a powerful source of energy for us, as we transform and ease the hold it can have on our hearts and minds. This daylong retreat will explore a path to freedom from self judgment, and wise relationship with it. We will also nurture a transformational care for our deepest selves. The day will include mindfulness, kindness, compassion, gentle relational practices, instruction and dharma reflections.

This retreat is offered through mutual generosity. When you register, there will be an opportunity to pay a registration fee to help SIMC cover our administration costs. During the retreat, we will provide information for those who are able to offer financial support to Jeanne.

Registration

Registration is now closed.

For in-person: Guidelines for caring around COVID

We will review the situation in Saskatoon closer to the event and will publish guidelines at that time.

Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.

Fostering Peace, Inside and Out

This is for a past event. For current events, please visit our Upcoming Events page.

A hybrid in-person/online retreat with Jeanne Corrigal and James Lowe
October 28-30, 2022

How can we cultivate an inner refuge of peace in our own hearts and minds, that also supports the ripple of peace in the world?

This retreat will offer concrete skills and practices that nourish a wise relationship with the joys and sorrows of the world. Jeanne and James will offer dharma reflections, guided meditation, instruction, group practice talks, and gentle relational practice.

This is being offered with options to attend in-person in Saskatoon or online.

DateSask/MountainEasternPacific
Fri Oct 287 pm – 9 pm9 pm – 11 pm6 pm – 8 pm
Sat Oct 299 am – 5 pm11 am – 7 pm8 am – 4 pm
Sun Oct 309 am – 5 pm11 am – 7 pm8 am – 4 pm

This retreat is offered by donation/dana. When you register, there will be an opportunity to pay a registration fee to help SIMC cover our administration costs. During the retreat, we will provide information for those who are able to offer financial support to Jeanne and James.

Registration

To register for the IN-PERSON retreat in Saskatoon:
https://saskatooninsight.com/forms/view.php?id=56096
The in-person retreat is being held in a church hall in the King George neighborhood in Saskatoon. The specific address will be provided upon registration.

To register for the ONLINE retreat on Zoom:
https://saskatooninsight.com/forms/view.php?id=56572

For in-person: guidelines for caring around COVID

Our committee has consulted widely and discerned as best we can, about our COVID protocol. We want you to know that we have a big hall which will definitely allow for physical distancing; within that know that we are leaning toward the cautious side with our first venture here.

We are asking our in person friends to:

  • Test just before coming, if possible.
  • Monitor symptoms, and if you have any, let us know. We will refund your administration fee if you need to cancel due to COVID or suspected COVID.
  • Please wear a mask when moving about indoors; we also encourage masking even while sitting.

James and Jeanne will take their masks off while teaching.

Jeanne Corrigal

Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.

James Lowe has practiced meditation for over 15 years, with Adrianne Ross, Michele McDonald and Steven Smith as his main teachers. James has over 20 years of teaching adults in community agencies and institutions, primarily teaching the Brahma-Viharas to volunteers and healthcare practitioners. As a psychotherapist, he sees life as learning, and thus helps clients learn to use the Dharma in a one on one setting. James is currently interested in exploring different ways to teach the dharma in nature, online, and in smaller groups. He especially likes smaller groups where people get to share their practice with one another. His greatest wish is to make the dharma accessible and personal to all people. To connect with James, visit www.jameslowe.com.

Community Circles

“Good friends, companions, and associates are the whole of the spiritual life. A [practitioner] with good friends, companions, and associates can expect to develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path.“
The Buddha to Ananda, Upaddha Sutta: Half the Spiritual Life, SN 45.2

You are warmly invited to our Community Circles: The Eightfold Path to a Wholehearted Life. Our Community Circle courses are immersions in the dharma, with spiritual friends.

Six colorful icons representing head and shoulders/arms of people make a circle. Inside the circle is a triple spiral. The outer circle represents the community support cultivated by this program, and the inner spirals represent the three themes of the eightfold path - wisdom, harmonious relations, and practice.

This is a time for us to gather as a dedicated cohort, and to engage in small groups to explore the dharma with gentle relational practices.

This year, we will immerse in the foundational teaching of the eightfold path. This teaching shows us how to make our whole life a path of practice. The path includes three spirals of teachings, beginning with panna, the Pali word for wisdom, which includes wise view about where peace and liberation lie, and wise intention, which can guide us in the journey. The second spiral is sila, or harmonious relations, where we bring our wisdom into our speech, action, and livelihood. Then from this foundation, the third teaching on samadhi spirals into wise effort, mindfulness, and concentration, which in turn further deepen our understanding and commitment to wise view. All three spirals influence and deepen each other. As we continue to practice, we spiral deeper in the embodiment of the path.

This 7-month program starts October 2022. It includes monthly meetings, monthly home reflections and readings, weekly check-ins with practice buddies, as well as commitment to your own individual practice. In addition, practice talks with Jeanne can deeply anchor your practice, and we recommend 3-5 twenty-five minute meetings with Jeanne during the program.

We will be offering two options for this program: an in-person series, for people in/near Saskatoon, and an online series.

Dates and times

Monthly meeting dates are as listed below. Each session runs 7-9 pm Saskatchewan time (click links for conversion into other time zones).

In personOnline
October 24October 31
November 21November 28
January 9January 16
February 6February 13
March 6March 13
April 3April 17
May 1May 15

This time of practice in community is suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners.

Course fees

Administration fee:
The administration fee paid at the time of registration helps cover the administrative costs for SIMC.

Teacher dana/donation:
The registration fee does not include teacher support – there will be an opportunity to offer dana to Jeanne. See dana information below.

Registration

This program is now underway. Please email us if you want to be on the waitlist for a future offering.

Course Teacher

Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.

Some words about the practice of dana

We often have queries about what might be an appropriate range for any financial dana offering to the teachers, that you might wish to make. Before we consider this, it is really important to know that the teaching of dana is a liberation teaching, because it is an intentional opportunity to practice generosity, which can directly erode the habit in the mind of grasping. The Buddha invites us to tune into the joy of dana, the joy of giving, before, during and after… so please, see this as a joy and liberation practice!

One of the gifts of dana is that it is optional, and if people decide to give in this way, they can give according to their means. And at the same time, asking about a range is a reasonable question… in Asia, folks often have an idea of how much is needed to support a teacher’s “requisites”, but in the west, we don’t have the same kind of guidelines, and folks in the west can be left a little bit out at sea in this area.

Offering guidance can be sensitive, as everyone’s circumstances are different. That said, in order to support the teachings, we offer these guidelines as a place to start, and those who wish to give in this way can move up or down on the scale, according to their means.

One guideline is to give the amount that brings you joy, knowing that your dana is supporting the Dharma to carry on (while being aware of not breaking the bank 🙂). One may also seek guidance by looking at the fees that are charged for similar events of workshops in our culture. Movies now cost $15 or more; yoga classes often $15/hour; in addition, workshop leaders are often compensated in recognition of the time it takes to prepare materials, the presentation, as well as their expertise.

Perhaps a helpful starting point for our sessions would be $30 – $40 per class. (This would be a range of something like $210 – $280 for the program). For one-on-one practice talks with Jeanne, a range of $35 – $50 per meeting could be a good range to consider.

Please feel free to offer less than this in order to ensure your participation, knowing that your presence and any financial contribution are valued. Please feel free to offer more, if you are able, and it brings you joy to support others and the program in this precious way. Feel free to offer monthly or once or twice during the course – whatever works for you. And, please know that we are very grateful for both the dana of your presence in the program, and your financial dana; both danas contribute to our capacity to continue teaching. You can feel that your support is supporting the Dharma. Thank you.

If you wish to offer your generosity to support Jeanne and our community, please visit our dana page to find details.

Cancelled: Gentle Reflections on Death

I am disappointed to share that we are cancelling our program for this year, as we only have 5 registrants and that just doesn’t feel like enough for a good group – we had hoped for 10, in order to have some good group dynamics.

We want to support your interest in this important reflection, though, and plan to continue to offer this reflection in the sangha. We will hold a half day session of Closer Than We Think at the end of March. Also, if online interests you, Jeanne and Nikki Mirghafori will be offering an online class called Living With The Wisdom of Death through IMS (Insight Meditation Society) on Thursday evenings in February and March. We will share the registration for both of these in our sangha emails and they will be posted on our website.

Perhaps this talk by Jeanne will also be helpful:
https://tricycle.org/dharmatalks/death-buddhism/

A community exploration of how we prepare for, and support each other, in the transition of dying & the moment of death

A gravel path covered with leaves with the silhouettes of two people standing beside each other and waving.

This class is our continued reflection on death awareness, which feels like an important, life giving reflection to continue to deepen. This group will explore different territory from our first rendition last year. It is designed for those who are new to this reflection, and will also offer a deepening for those who took it last year. We see this as an ever evolving and nourishing practice.

This is an in-person program, although we will pivot to online if necessary.

Lead by Jeanne Corrigal, guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community.

Dates and times

6 sessions, including 5 evenings and 1 day long
Mondays 7 pm – 9 pm CST, Oct 17, Nov 14, Dec 12, Feb 27, Mar 27
Daylong, Saturday, January 14, 9 am – 4 pm CST

Course fees

Administration fee:
The administration fee paid at the time of registration helps cover the administrative costs for SIMC.

Teacher dana/donation:
The registration fee does not include teacher support – there will be an opportunity to offer dana to Jeanne. See dana information below.

Location

This is an in-person program, although we will pivot to online if necessary.
Address will be sent out as part of the registration confirmation.

Course Prerequisite

Basic familiarity with Insight Meditation practice, and a commitment to a daily practice, because of the need to steady the mind and heart as we reflect on this material.

Registration

Please register here:
https://saskatooninsight.com/forms/view.php?id=54956

For more information, contact: contact@saskatooninsight.com

Course teacher

Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.

Some words about the practice of dana

We often have queries about what might be an appropriate range for any financial dana offering to the teachers that you might wish to make. Before we consider this, it is really important to know that the teaching of dana is a liberation teaching, because it is an intentional opportunity to practice generosity, which can directly erode the habit in the mind of grasping. The Buddha invites us to tune into the joy of dana, the joy of giving, before, during and after… So please, see this as a joy and liberation practice!

One of the gifts of dana is that it is optional, and if people decide to give in this way, they can give according to their means. And at the same time, asking about a range is a reasonable question… in Asia, folks often have an idea of how much is needed to support a teacher’s “requisites”, but in the west, we don’t have the same kind of guidelines, and folks in the west can be left a little bit out at sea in this area.

Offering guidance can be sensitive, as everyone’s circumstances are different. That said, in order to support the teachings, we offer these guidelines as a place to start, and those who wish to give in this way can move up or down on the scale, according to their means.

One guideline is to give the amount that brings you joy, knowing that your dana is supporting the Dharma to carry on. (while being aware of not breaking the bank 🙂) One may also seek guidance by looking at the fees that are charged for similar events or workshops in our culture. Movies now cost $15 or more; yoga classes often $15/hour; in addition, workshop leaders are often compensated in recognition of the time it takes to prepare materials, the presentation, as well as their expertise.

Perhaps a helpful starting point for our sessions would be $30 – $40 per class, with a greater contribution for the daylong. (This would be a range of something like $240 – $320 for the year). Please feel free to offer less than this in order to ensure your participation, knowing that your presence and any financial contribution are valued. Please feel free to offer more, if you are able and it brings you joy to support others and the program in this precious way. Feel free to offer monthly or once or twice during the program — whatever works for you. And, please know that I am very grateful for both the dana of your presence in the program, and your financial dana; both danas contribute to my capacity to continue teaching. You can feel that your support is supporting the Dharma… Thank you.

Note that your dana is shared with any guest teachers.

If you wish to offer your generosity to support Jeanne and our community, please visit our dana page to find details.