A Deep Dive into the Heart of the Path
Friends, we are delighted to announce that our next 7-month deep dive dharma program opens soon for registration. Living the Dharma in Community (LDC) supports participants to deepen their formal practice and to integrate the dharma into their daily life through study, reflection, and community practice.
Our theme this year will be
The Beautiful Qualities of Heart and Mind.
What gives life meaning and direction? What supports freedom – for ourselves and for others?
In the Buddhist tradition, many of the qualities that lead to freedom are known as the paramis (ten qualities of heart and mind) and the brahma viharas (the four sublime states). These qualities – such as generosity, patience, truthfulness, and loving-kindness – can be cultivated in everyday life and gradually woven into how we live, relate, and respond to the world. They can become a home we abide in, in the heart.
This year, we will explore these beautiful qualities together – reflecting on them, practicing with them, and supporting one another in bringing them into daily life. Each quality can become a doorway to greater ease, clarity, purpose in life, and freedom in heart and mind.
Practicing in community strengthens and nourishes these qualities. Together, we create the conditions for growth, encouragement, and shared discovery on the path.
Living the Dharma in Community combines the wisdom of study, reflection, and practice together. The course includes:
- 7 two-hour monthly-ish sessions (in-person or online) combining dharma talks, small group reflections, and relational practice. Participants have shared that one of the highlights of this course is the relational practice, which truly supports dharma friendship.
- Monthly home reflections, including sutta study, reading, audio resources, practice suggestions and reflection questions following each session.
- Connecting with dharma buddies.
- Optional practice talks with Jeanne Corrigal.
More information about the LDC
This program supports a shift from seeing the dharma as something we fit into our lives, to seeing our life through the lens of the dharma: the movement from having a spiritual practice to having a spiritual life.
This is a deep dive and exploration of the heart of the Buddhist teaching. The course is designed in a 6 year rotation through the core teachings. You can join in any year, and deepen through more than one 6 year cycle, coming to the first themes again with lived understanding. This can be a way of really seeing the deepening of our practice, over time. There are in-person and online options.
Is This Program Right for You?
This program is best suited for practitioners with a minimum of two years of Insight Meditation practice. The teachings will build on foundational meditation skills, such as mindfulness and concentration, and explore deeper insights into the nature of reality.
If you have less experience, or if your practice background is primarily rooted in another tradition, we warmly invite you to have a preliminary discussion with a teacher. This conversation will help determine whether the program aligns with your current practice and aspirations.
Dates and times
For online folks, click links for conversion into other time zones. February 18, March 11, April 29
| In person (Thursdays, and two Tuesdays) 7-9 pm Saskatoon Unitarian Centre | Online (Thursdays) 7-9 pm Sask time (links other time zones) |
|---|---|
| Thu Sep 17 | Thu Oct 1 (6-8 PDT/9-11 EDT) |
| Tue Oct 20 | Thu Nov 5 (5-7 PST/8-10 EST) |
| Thu Nov 26 | Thu Dec 3 (5-7 PST/8-10 EST) |
| Tue Jan 5 | Thu Jan 14 (5-7 PST/8-10 EST) |
| Thu Feb 11 | Thu Feb 18 (5-7 PST/8-10 EST) |
| Thu Mar 4 | Thu Mar 11 (6-8 PDT/9-11 EDT) |
| Thu Apr 15 (special hybrid session) | Thu Apr 15 (6-8 PDT/9-11 EDT) (special hybrid session) |
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 our teacher Jeanne Corrigal. Jeanne will also share your generosity with our supporting dharma leader, Andrea Grzesina. See dana information below.
Registration
To register for the IN-PERSON offering, click here:
coming soon
To register for the ONLINE offering, click here:
coming soon
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 has trained primarily in the Burmese lineage of Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, with a great affinity for the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Buddhadasa and for the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. She is a certified MBSR teacher, is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She has taught with Mindfulness Magazine, Lion’s Roar and Tricycle’s online programs, and teaches across North America. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.
Local Dharma Leader
Andrea Grzesina is a certified mindfulness teacher with the Mindfulness Training Institute, having trained under Mark Coleman and Martin Aylward in 2021. Jeanne Corrigal has been her teacher and mentor for many years. She was invited into the 2024-25 Buddhist Geeks Teacher Training with Vince Fakhoury Horn and Emily West Horn. Andrea’s passion for the Dharma and continuous learning led her to complete the Intensive Practice Program at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, various Social Meditation Facilitation courses, along with many dharma study programs. She has been a dedicated practitioner since 2014, and contributes to SIMC as a community dharma teacher, planning committee member, volunteer, retreat manager, and occasional cookie baker.
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 $20/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 $35 – $65 per class. (This would be a range of something like $250 – $450 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.