Love in Turbulent Times: Compassion, Grief, Helplessness & Equanimity
Saturday and Sunday
July 12 and 13, 2025
9:30 am – 4:00 pm
UCSB Campus
Information for Participants
Location Information
Suggested Donation $40
| This Retreat is offered on a Dana (Donation) basis both for the teacher and for the Open Door Sangha. Please consider making a donation to the Sangha to help cover the costs of holding the retreat. Donations to the teacher can be made at the retreat. Description The ascendancy of greed, hatred and delusion in our public life can overwhelm our heart. We have a lot of love to give but it’s not always clear how to spend it. In compassion, our heart trembles in the face of suffering. When our love feels insufficient, we recognize grief as an irreducible aspect of a committed life. At some point, our heart must rest. Compassion is counterbalanced by equanimity: we cease bartering with samsara and recognize the ungovernability of suffering. We cultivate love in the face of helplessness. During this weekend, we’ll explore different aspects of love: compassion, equanimity and grief. Ajahn Sucitto says, “real love is not about deserving it, or being perfect, or even being in agreement with another. It’s just that if the heart stops grabbing, or being seized by, images of self and others, of what it wants and rejects, it opens into a fluent warmth. It’s about respect for another as another. Then love is a natural energy – if we linger, recognize and deeply connect.” The weekend will include sitting and walking meditation, guided practice, dharma talks and time for dialogue. All are welcome! Matthew Brensilver, MSW, PhD, teaches at the Insight Retreat Center, Spirit Rock Meditation Center and other Buddhist centers. He was previously Program Director for Mindful Schools and for more than a decade was a core teacher at Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. Before committing to teach meditation full-time, he worked for years as a clinical social worker, serving severely and persistently mentally ill adults and adolescents. He spent years doing research on addiction pharmacotherapy at the UCLA Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine, and continues to be interested in the unfolding dialog between dharma and science. He is the co-author of two books about meditation during adolescence. Matthew’s teaching is full of warmth and wisdom, and we’re very fortunate to have him here with us again this summer. For more information, email alldredge@lifesci.ucsb.edu or call 805-685-2836 and leave a message, and Alice will return your call. |