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Community Resources for Meditation and Group Practice

Buddhist Dharma Center of Victoria –3371 Maplewood 250-385-4828 http://www.victoriabuddhistdharmasociety.org

Bodhichitta Buddhist Center – regular drop in classes. 2020 Douglas St. 250-592-7164 http://www.meditatevancouverisland.org

Transcendental Meditation Centre – http://ca.tm.org/web/victoria Meditation based on the work of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. 202-1842 Oak Bay Ave. 250-383-9822

Victoria Zen Centre – 4970 Nagle Rd. Rm#6 Sooke, 250-642-7946. Also meditation at U.Vic. http://www.zenwest.ca

Victoria Shambala Centre – https://victoria.shambhala.org – 2033 Belmont Av. 250-383-9108

Vipassana Meditation Centre of BC – Merritt BC (new location soon in Sooke) 10-day meditation retreats. By donation https://surabhi.dhamma.org/

Victoria Insight Meditation – https://victoriaims.org/  #202 – 1600 Bay St.

Zen Meditation –http://victoriawest.ca  Vic West Community Centre 521 Craigflower Rd Call 250-598-9945

Retreat Opportunities

A retreat can offer the valuable experience of doing sitting and walking meditation for longer periods of time, in silence, and with others. This can have the effect of deepening your practice. Retreats listed here are from a half day, to one or two days and up to 10 days or more. Retreats usually offer talks by teachers, break times, and meal and work periods, along with sitting and walking meditation. Check the following organizations and web sites to find which retreat might suit your needs.

Victoria and British Columbia

• Victoria Shambhala Meditation Centre, Victoria, BC.   https://victoria.shambhala.org Offers weekly sitting and walking meditation sessions free (or by donation) to anyone who wants to attend.  They also offer longer retreats at practice centers throughout North America

• Victoria Insight Meditation Society, Victoria, BC.   www.victoriaIMS.org  Offers regular non-residential meditation retreats in Victoria, which are led by various visiting Buddhist teachers from different parts of North America.

• Vipassana Meditation Centre of BC.  https://www.surabhi.dhamma.org   Offers  meditation retreats in Merritt, BC

• Bodhichitta Buddhist Centre, Victoria, BC  www.meditatevancouverisland.org   Offers weekend or longer Buddhist  meditation retreats in Victoria, BC and Metchosin BC

• Victoria Zen Centre, Sooke, BC  www.zenwest.ca   Offers weekend  meditation retreats in Sooke, BC  (Members only)

• Vancouver Island Zen Sangha, Victoria, BC  www.vizs.org    Offers information about Zen retreats in Washington and California in the Soto Zen tradition of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives.

• Salt Spring Island Vipassana Community   www.ssivipassana.org  Offers meditation retreats on Salt Spring Island.

• The Hermitage on Denman Island  www.dharmafellowship.org    Offers meditation retreats in the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu tradition.

• Bethlehem Centre, Nanaimo, BC https://bethlehemcentre.com/ Offers and hosts individual and group retreats. The Centre is an inter-spiritual Centre welcoming all faith communities and spiritual seekers.

• Hollyhock, Cortes Island, BC https://hollyhock.ca/ Offers various meditation and self-care courses

• Yasodhara Ashram, Kootenay Bay, BC  https://www.yasodhara.org/ Offers a “Stilling The Mind Retreat” several times per year for  two to seven days.

• Mountain Waters, Nelson, BC   https://www.mountainwatersretreats.ca   Offers Mindfulness Meditation retreat each year.

• Johnson’s Landing Retreat Centre, Kaslo, BC  https://www.johnsonslandingretreat.bc.ca/ Offers mindfulness meditation retreats.

• Sea-To-Sky Retreat Centre, Whistler, BC   www.siddharthasintent.org    Offers summer meditation programs.  The centre is under the direction of Tibetan Meditation teacher, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.

International

• Spirit Rock Meditation Centre, Woodacre, California.  https://www.spiritrock.org/ Offers retreats in the Vipassana (Insight Meditation) tradition.
• Deer Park Monastery, Escondido, California   https://deerparkmonastery.org/   Offers retreats in the Zen tradition of Thich  Nhat Hanh.
• Gampo Abbey, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia  https://gampoabbey.org/ Offers retreats and study in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
• Contemplative Outreach, Butler, NJ, USA   https://contemplativeoutreach.org    Offers programs in the Christian tradition (Contemplative or Centering Prayer)
• Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Centre, Falls Village CT, USA  https://hazon.org/isabella-freedman/

Also check the following websites for general information about retreats worldwide.   www.freemeditationinfo.com  and www.buddhanet.info/wbd