One metaphor for sati (mindfulness) is water. Like water, sati is transparent. It can take the shape of whatever it is aware of, and allow an intimacy, a deep knowing, of whatever awareness is shining its light on. Sometimes in the suttas, sati is described as limpid, meaning undarkened. The metaphor of seeing clearly runs through this practice. Limpid is used to describe eyes that are unclouded, eyes that are clear. When sati grows in strength, it’s effortless. It just effortlessly knows experience.
Dawn Scott
Residential Retreat Teacher
Dawn Scott has been practicing Insight Meditation since 2008. She is a graduate of the Insight Meditation Society’s teacher training program and is a core teacher of Spirit Rock’s Liberation, Emptiness, and Awareness Practices (LEAP) Program. Dawn has a deep love of long retreat practice and the Buddha's liberative teachings.
Dawn Scott's Upcoming Programs
Retreat | On-Land | Hybrid
December 18 - December 23, 2024 | Wednesday - Monday | 5 nights
Winter Solstice Retreat: Embracing the Dark, Inviting the Light
Join the waitlist. This retreat will focus on centering ourselves during the holidays, quieting our minds, grounding in our bodies, opening our hearts, and using inquiry to energize our practice. Special emphasis will be placed on opening to the darkness, including our difficulties and challenges, and opening to the coming light—to the beauty, joy, wisdom, and love within and around us. The retreat will include sitting and walking meditation, daily lovingkindness and Qigong practice, evening talks, practice discussions, and a Winter Solstice ceremony.
Retreat | Online Non-Residential | Hybrid
December 18 - December 23, 2024 | Wednesday - Monday
Winter Solstice Retreat: Embracing the Dark, Inviting the Light
Spaces Available. This retreat will focus on centering ourselves during the holidays, quieting our minds, grounding in our bodies, opening our hearts, and using inquiry to energize our practice. Special emphasis will be placed on opening to the darkness, including our difficulties and challenges, and opening to the coming light—to the beauty, joy, wisdom, and love within and around us. The retreat will include sitting and walking meditation, daily lovingkindness and Qigong practice, evening talks, practice discussions, and a Winter Solstice ceremony.
Retreat | On-Land
December 27 - January 3, 2025 | Friday - Friday | 7 nights
New Year's Insight Meditation Retreat
Join the waitlist. This is a traditional Insight Meditation (vipassanā) retreat with stillness and moving in silence, as well as regular meetings with teachers. Each day there will be systematic meditation instructions, Dharma talks, and movement practice. We will mark the turning of the year with a late evening meditation and simple ceremony on New Year’s Eve. In celebration of the New Year, our focus will be on cultivating loving awareness and embracing each moment as fresh and new. All are welcome.
Retreat | On-Land
February 1 - March 29, 2025 | Saturday - Saturday | 56 nights
2025 Insight Meditation 2-Month Retreat - Application
Applications Still Being Accepted. An extended period of retreat offers the rare opportunity for sustained, dedicated practice. This retreat emphasizes quieting the mind, opening the heart, and developing profound clarity and depth of Insight practice. Instruction will follow the traditional four foundations of mindfulness combined with training in lovingkindness and compassion, and practice will be structured around a daily schedule of silent sitting, walking, Dharma talks, and practice meetings with teachers.
Dawn Scott
Vance Pryor
Tuere Sala
Brian Lesage
devon hase
JD Doyle
Tara Mulay
Tempel Smith
Devin Berry
Anushka Fernandopulle
Kristina Baré
Rasika Link
Retreat | On-Land
February 1 - March 1, 2025 | Saturday - Saturday | 28 nights
2025 February Insight Meditation 1-Month Retreat - Application
Applications Still Being Accepted. An extended period of retreat offers the rare opportunity for sustained, dedicated practice. This retreat emphasizes quieting the mind, opening the heart, and developing profound clarity and depth of Insight practice. Instruction will follow the traditional four foundations of mindfulness combined with training in lovingkindness and compassion, and practice will be structured around a daily schedule of silent sitting, walking, Dharma talks, and practice meetings with teachers.
Retreat | On-Land
May 17 - May 29, 2025 | Saturday - Thursday | 12 nights
The Nature of Awareness: A Retreat for Experienced Students
Registration Open. In this retreat we will explore the nature of awareness, or consciousness, which is at the heart of sentient life. Awareness is always with us, revealing the phenomena of our experience, yet we may not have learned how to use it as a focus in meditation. As we deepen our connection to this mysterious capacity for knowing, it becomes a powerful pathway to inner freedom and liberation.
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Dawn Scott through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.