1-week Insight Meditation Retreat
May 13 - May 20, 2026
This is a 7-night Insight meditation retreat organized by Insight Retreat Center (IRC).
Applications are now open. Click here to apply online through IRC.
Questions? Contact the Registrar, Niharika, at niharika@insightretreatcenter.org.
Diana Clark, Kim Allen, David Lorey & Ying Chen
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A silent Insight meditation retreat with a daily schedule of alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation, instruction, dharma talks, work meditation, and practice discussions with teachers. Suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners.
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Diana Clark, PhD, is a dedicated meditation teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area, teaching primarily at the Insight Meditation Center and Insight Retreat Center. Her extensive meditation experience includes years of silent retreats at Spirit Rock, IMS, and the Insight Retreat Center, where she received training from esteemed teachers Gil Fronsdal and Andrea Fella. Inspired by the Buddha's teachings on peace and freedom, Diana's teaching approach aims to combine the profound and the practical, with a sincere commitment to cultivating an environment that nurtures both wisdom and compassion. Diana holds a PhD in biochemistry, and much like her scientific training facilitated her comprehension of the human body, her Buddhist practice deepens her insights into the workings of our precious minds and hearts. For more info you can visit dianaclarkdharma.org
Kim Allen began meditating in 2003, seeking both a path out of suffering and the deeper truths of life. She trains mainly under the guidance of Gil Fronsdal at the Insight Meditation Center, and has also practiced in Sri Lanka and, more recently, with a few Mahāyāna teachers. Kim was drawn early on to long retreat practice and has sat cumulative three years of retreat. Engagement with the Pāli Canon, and also texts from other Buddhist traditions, informs her practice and life. A teacher and author, Kim aims to bring classical Dharma to a modern context and to encourage lay practitioners in fully living a life of Dharma. Kim also serves on the board of the Sati Center. Her education includes a PhD in physics and a master’s degree in environmental sustainability, and her website is http://www.uncontrived.org.
David Lorey began meditating as a teenager in the 1970s, in college began an intensive training in transcendental meditation, and then came to practice in the Buddhadharma in the early 2000s. Integrating tranquility and insight practice forms the core of his current path; in addition, he explores the early teachings embedded in the textual tradition of the Pali canon for insights into practicing and living in accord with the Dharma. In sharing the Dharma, David is committed to helping others discover their own unique ways of using meditation and Dharma study to find relief from stress and release from suffering. Gil Fronsdal is David’s guiding teacher; IMC is his home sangha. David holds a PhD in history.
Ying Chen is a first generation Chinese immigrant. She took refuge to become a buddhist with Venerable Ji Ru in 1995 and was exposed to Chinese Mahayana Buddhism first. She has been practicing in Insight Meditation Center since 2005, and Dharma Ground since 2020. She currently facilitates the Insight Meditation Center support group for people living with health challenges and co-leads Asian Dharma Circle. As a wife, mother, and a lay practitioner, Ying is inspired by the possibilities of freedom and wellbeing in everyday life. She teaches in IMC/IRC and Dharma Ground.
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Please reach out to the retreat organizer for information specific to your retreat. Click here to review important information about attending a retreat at Big Springs. Thank you!