This retreat is hosted by Big Bear Retreat Center, not InsightLA.
For any questions or support for registering or preparing for this retreat, contact guestservices@bigbearretreatcenter.org.
For more details and to register for this retreat, visit the Big Bear Retreat Center’s website: Unfolding the Great Heart: Bhakti, Buddhism, and the Practice of Connection [On Land]
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This event page is the in-person version of a hybrid retreat which will take place both in-person and online. To register for the online version of this event, click here.
Open to both beginning and experienced practitioners.
Registration for this retreat closes on May 26, 2025 at 11:59pm Pacific Time.
This retreat is a sacred invitation to return to the source of your inner strength—the boundless capacity of your heart to love, heal, and transform. Together, we will explore the ‘Great Heart,’ a sanctuary of devotion and wisdom that holds the power to illuminate even the darkest moments of our lives.
Through the intertwined paths of Bhakti and Buddhism, we will dive into heart-centered practices that open us to the healing power of love and connection. Each day will include Metta meditation to cultivate compassion, devotional rituals to deepen our sense of reverence, and sitting and walking meditation on the land to ground us in presence and stillness. In the evenings, we’ll gather for chanting—a practice of surrender and devotion that invites us to rest in the sacred pulse of life.
This retreat is for those yearning to rekindle their faith in love, rediscover hope, or find strength amidst life’s challenges. It is a refuge for anyone seeking solace, clarity, or a deeper connection to themselves and the world. Bhakti’s path of devotion and Buddhist mindfulness will weave together, offering profound tools to help release old burdens, soften the heart, and awaken to life’s inherent beauty.
Step into this journey of devotion and transformation, where the Great Heart unfolds as a source of courage, resilience, and infinite possibility.