Everything about this sacred life is embodied in spiritual friendship. In this short retreat, we will offer the practice of mindful dialogue as a gateway to exploring the deep relational nature of the Dharma teachings. If you would like to deepen your silent practice, but also to further integrate Dharma into your daily life, please join us for a brief introduction to the Supports of Mindful Dialogue on Friday evening and a full day on Saturday to put these supports into practice.
Whether you’ve recently taken up the practice of meditation or have spent your life there, you might find both the challenge of newness and the joy of sharing it with someone.
Mindful Dialogue is an interpersonal meditation practice that brings together three basic elements, each exerting its own influence: meditative qualities, the wisdom of Buddhist teachings, and human interconnectedness. Conscious dialogue has the same intention and the same traditional roots as silent meditation: to develop attentive presence, compassion and liberating insights.
All of us as relational beings can benefit from bringing relational experience to the forefront of our practice. However, participants working in relational professions – teachers, therapists, graduates of UQÀM’s attentive presence program, etc. – might be particularly interested in this practice and the possible integration into their work.
This retreat is taught in French. The teachings that will be offered by Dave will be translated from English by the other teachers.
Although this is a fundraiser, no tax receipt will be issued. Thank you for your understanding.
Where: UQÀM, downtown campus, location to be confirmed.
Cost: We ask you to offer what you can, no one will be refused . Fees are calculated on a sliding scale that allows participants to pay according to their means. Voie boréale strives to offer affordable fares to everyone. Please contact info@voieboreale.org. Thank you for supporting the longevity of Voie boreale!
Dana: The money you donate for this event will be raised to support the operation of Voie boreale, a non-profit organization. No funds raised will be given to teachers. In keeping with the 2,600-year-old Buddhist tradition, the teachings are considered invaluable. At the end of the retreat, you will be asked to offer dana, or donations, to the teachers.
Cancellation Charges: Please let us know as soon as possible if you need to cancel. Refunds are possible if you cancel more than 24 hours before the start of the retreat.
We ask that you arrive before the start of the retreat.
Information: info@voieboreale.org
The teachers
Dave Leggatt has practiced in the Vipassana tradition for many years. He was introduced to Insight Dialogue in 2011 and joined the Insight Dialogue Facilitator Program in 2016. Since then Dave has facilitated and taught in-person workshops, retreats and online offerings. Aware of the importance of spiritual friendship and the power of Dialogue Insight practiced in daily life, he enjoys expanding the boundaries of practice for himself and others. He founded the annual Kalyanamittata retreat and offers practices within the Insight Dialogue global community. He is active in a number of community teams. He is also a long-time volunteer at Voie boréale. Dave lives in Toronto, Canada.
Cindy Lafontaine Dharma is the lens through which Cindy Lafontaine sees the world. Conscious dialogue was a revelation for her. She realized that this path should not be a lonely and isolated endeavor. As the Buddha said, “Friendship is not half of the sacred life, but the whole of it. She is currently participating in The Heart of Freedom 16-month study program offered through the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Her work as a somatic practitioner and body worker allows her to accompany people to reconnect with their true essence and thus have a taste of freedom.
Jean Turcotte began to meditate daily as an autodidact in the year 2000. From 2009 he began to receive teachings, mainly from various visiting professors at the Insight Meditation Society, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and at Voie Boréale. In 2016, he obtained from the Center for Mindfulness of the University of Massachusetts the status of “qualified teacher” of MBSR, which he facilitates mainly in the field of education. Since 2017, he practices, facilitates and studies with the teachers of the Insight Dialogue Community and also practices and facilitates this meditation approach with a French-speaking group.
Stéphane Benoist has been practicing mindfulness meditation since 2015 and mindful dialogue since 2018; he has been offering this practice since 2020. As a conscious dialogue facilitator, Stéphane is currently part of the NorthEast ID training cohort under the mentorship of Jan Surrey and regularly offers practice in a Francophone sangha. He is a student of teacher Soto Zen Rev. Tenku Ruff, and is marked by the teachings of Michele McDonald. Stéphane currently lives in New York City.
Brent Beresford’s greatest teachers are his children, who very often show him how unreasonable his expectations for them are. This encourages him to invest himself in the practice in relation and in community. His work is grounded in the power of relationship, and he has accompanied individuals and groups in transformational processes since 2002. He has been trying to convey Dhamma teachings in various forms since 2015; through approaches based on attentive presence (he is a teacher in the attentive presence program at UQÀM) and the teaching of the practice of conscious dialogue (insight dialogue). Brent strives to explore how to find in the darkness of our lives a shine and an enchanting melody (inspired by Wendell Berry). His origins are of mixed races,
