Category Archives: VictoriaIMS Retreats

We offer one-day and two-day non-residential retreats. Retreats are held at Goward House, 2495 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC. unless otherwise noted.

1 VictoriaIMS Retreats

2024 Victoria IMS Retreat Schedule
We are pleased to announce our 2024 non-residential retreats.
These in-person retreats will be at Goward House  in Victoria, BC, unless otherwise noted.
The August and October retreats will also be available online via Zoom.


September 14/15 Kate Davies
Registration Open.  REGISTER

October 19/20 Howie Cohn 
In-person and online
Registration Opens: Sept 23 2024

All retreats are offered with no registration fees.
Victoria IMS and our teachers follow the Buddhist practice of giving, called dana.
Victoria IMS and the teachers continue to offer programs as a result of the collective generosity offered to sustain organizational costs and teachers’ livelihoods.
We thank you for keeping the Buddhist teachings alive and well in Victoria, BC.

For information about the retreat teachers:
https://victoriaims.org/?page_id=24

2024/09/14 Kate Davies Weekend Retreat

Hope, Faith and Love on the Dhamma Path

September 14 and 15, 2024 at Goward House in Victoria. 2495 Arbutus Road.
This retreat will be in-person only. 9:00am to 4:00pm Saturday and Sunday.
Registration open.    REGISTER

Hope, faith and love are regarded as important qualities in some religious traditions, but what is their significance in Buddhism? Given that the Buddha taught 2600 years ago, what is their relevance to us today? And how could using them as ways of seeing reduce our suffering, the suffering of others and the suffering of the world, and support us on the path to awakening?This weekend retreat will explore these and related questions. By inquiring into our own experience, we will explore hope, faith and love from a uniquely Buddhist perspective. The schedule will include talks, guided practices, sitting and walking meditation, and contemplative inquiries. There will also be time for participants’ reflections, comments and questions. Refuges and precepts will be offered.
Kate Davies D.Phil. founded and leads the Whidbey Island Insight Meditation Group, in Washington State. She is a regular teacher at the Bellingham Insight Meditation Society, and an occasional teacher at the Cloud Mountain Retreat Center and other Sanghas. She also teaches in two online programs, the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and the Power of Awareness, both offered by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach.
Kate has been a student of the Dhamma for more than twenty years. Initially, she studied and practiced in the Tibetan tradition but subsequently she was drawn to Insight meditation and the Theravada tradition.  She considers herself a lifelong explorer of the mind – an intentional wanderer/wonderer – who is passionate about meditating, contemplating and dancing with life’s magic and mystery, and she loves to accompany and support students on their own unique paths.
Kate spent her career working on environmental policy and social and personal change. She is Professor Emerita at Antioch University and Senior Fellow at the Whidbey Institute. She is also the author of two award-winning books – “The Rise of the US Environmental Health Movement” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013) and “Intrinsic Hope: Living Courageously in Troubled Times” (New Society Publishers, 2018).

2024/10/19 Howie Cohn Weekend Retreat

WHAT WE NEED IS HERE

October 19 and 20, 2024 at Goward House in Victoria. 2495 Arbutus Road.
This retreat will be both in-person and online.
9:00am to 4:00pm Saturday and Sunday.
Registration opens September 23rd.

In his poem, “Wild Geese”, Wendell Berry says that we don’t pray for new earth or heaven “but
to be quiet in heart and in eyes clear, what we need is here.” He reminds us that everything we need to clear our minds and quiet our hearts is here in the present moment. This weekend retreat is  an opportunity to untangle and free our complicated minds, relax our bodies and live in silence together, supporting each other to recover the natural peace and clarity that are our true home. Insight Meditation instructions and opportunities for discussing your practice will be offered. The retreat is open to all levels of experience.

Howard Cohn has practiced meditation since 1972 and had led vipassana retreats since 1985. He leads a weekly ongoing class in San Francisco. Howard has studied with many Asian and western teachers of several traditions, including Theravada, Zen, Dzogchen and Advaita Vedanta and has been strongly influenced by contact with the Indian master H. W. L. Poonja. He has done postgraduate work in East/West Psychology and has a private counseling practice.