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  • Location Big Bear Retreat Center
  • Experience Levels All
  • Date Starts Tuesday, November 11, 2025
    Ends Tuesday, November 18, 2025

    7 nights

Co-hosted by InsightLA and Big Bear Retreat Center

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 Big Bear Retreat Center: Resting in Metta: Cultivating an Awakened Heart (November 11 – 18, 2025).

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Open to both beginners and experienced practitioners.

Registration for this retreat closes on October 28, 2025 at 11:59pm Pacific Time. If looking to join after this date, please inquire at guestservices@bigbearretreatcenter.org

Join us in the beauty of the San Bernardino mountains as we relax into the four qualities of an awakened heart: Lovingkindness (Metta), Compassion (Karuna), Appreciative Joy (Mudita) and Equanimity (Upekkha).

Allowing ourselves to be held in this beautiful and secluded retreat setting, we will learn to slow down and attune to the fresh simplicity of our present moment experience. Combining the heart qualities with mindfulness, we will ease into stillness and connect with the heart’s inner capacity for healing and freedom. Letting go of distraction, we will cultivate simplicity and contentment, renewing the connection with our own bodies, hearts, and minds. By bringing mindful attention to our moment to moment experience, we can learn to cultivate resilience amidst change and grow in awareness, love, and wisdom.

The structure of this Metta meditation retreat includes guided meditation on each Brahma Vihara with Q&A each day, time for silent sitting and walking meditation periods, rest, mindful eating instruction, Dharma talks, and small group practice discussion meetings with the teachers.


WHAT IS A SILENT MEDITATION RETREAT?

Also known as Vipassana, or Insight, this is a retreat held for several days in the practice of “noble silence” with alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation throughout the day. There are teacher-guided sessions and talks, as well as self-guided periods. There also will be interview opportunities with the teachers to talk about your experience. Silence usually begins after dinner on arrival day and ends after breakfast on departure day. All are asked to hold the practice and silence throughout the entire time and to not leave the retreat early, so as to support the fullness of practice. Read more here on what to expect and sample schedule.


GENEROSITY

Retreat Cost & Fees:
Registration fees for this retreat support the cost of developing and offering BBRC programs, which include lodging, meals, and staff compensation. Teacher compensation is not included in your registration fees, as is the tradition of these retreats (see below). We price fees to make programs as financially accessible as possible.

Is cost a barrier? Nobody is turned away at Big Bear Retreat Center due to finances. We ask that financial assistance be prioritized for those who self-identify as BIPOC, hold marginalized identities, or are in financial need. For more information, please contact us at guestservices@bigbearretreatcenter.org.

Dana (Generosity) for Teachers (not included in registration fees):
The spirit of generosity is a foundational component to the Buddhist path. It supports the development of lovingkindness and compassion, deepens awareness of our interconnectedness and encourages non-attachment. Learn more about the practice of generosity.

As part of this tradition, many meditation teachers (including the teachers of this retreat) offer their teachings without set fees or compensation. BBRC reimburses teachers’ travel costs and provides teachers with meals and accommodations while teaching, but teachers receive no direct compensation from the retreat center. As a practice of generosity from the heart, participants are invited to offer “teacher dana” (donations-generosity) to the teachers at the end of the retreat. When we all take part in the offering and receiving of dana, we join a large circle of generosity. Learn more about this offering and tradition from IMS.

Click here for the Big Bear Retreat Center’s Cancellation Policy.

Is this your first retreat? Read more about retreats at Big Bear Retreat Center.

 

Celeste Young Teacher

Celeste began formal meditation practice in 2002. She was invited to join the very first teacher development cohort at InsightLA under the guidance of founder Trudy Goodman in 2011 and has since taught thousands of students the essentials of mindfulness over the years. Celeste offers several classes a week as a core teacher at ILA,... Read more

Dawn Scott Visiting Teacher

Dawn Scott has been practicing insight meditation since 2008, is a Diamond Heart practitioner, and currently serves as the Family Program Coordinator at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She teaches teen retreats at Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme) and is a Teacher-in-Training in the 2017-2021 IMS Teacher Training Program.

Pricing Options
Single Room, Private Bathroom $2300
Single Room, Shared Bathroom $1690
Double Shared Room, Shared Bathroom $1155
Triple Room, Shared Bath $690

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