Standing in Integrity:
A Daylong Retreat with Aishah Shahidah Simmons & devon hase
Saturday, February 8th
10 am to 4 pm pacific time
The world is spinning, tumbling, toppling. Sometimes it's tough to know where you stand, or how to stand at all.
This is where sila parami (integrity) comes in. Sila starts with five principles to live by. From there it deepens into a living sensitivity, a momentary knowing of what benefits you, others, and everyone.
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In this one-day online retreat, Aishah and devon will delve into sila ("integrity" or "ethics") as the foundation from which all other happy states of the heart arise, with a special emphasis on the experience of sila, the feel of it, and its nuts and bolts development in a world that often feels at odds with the goodness we seek.
The day will begin with an hour of conversation and an opening talk around the theme. We’ll then sit and walk for four hours in lightly guided practice, before reconvening for a closing talk and further dialogue.
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This daylong is the second in our 2025 series of ten online daylong retreats on the paramis hosted by Refuge of Belonging, a collective founded by nico hase & Devin Berry that is dedicated to sustaining the relationships and the deepening the dharma that people experience in insight meditation retreats.
The ten paramis (“furtherances” or “completions”) are foundational to the Buddhist path of awakening. Spanning states of the heart from kindness and equanimity to resolve and renunciation, they offer us a time tested way forward, a manner of cultivating what most truly benefits ourselves and others, both right now, in this moment, and as a stepping stone to final liberation.
Registration & Payment
Please use the button below to register. We offer these daylong retreats on a dana model. The suggested donation is $50 to $150 per session. We gratefully accept contributions of greater or lesser amounts, based on your resources.
After registration, you will receive a confirmation email from Rachael Tanner-Smith, our retreat manager, that includes the daylong schedule and the zoom link. A day before the event, you will receive a reminder email with the zoom link again.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
Aishah Shahidah Simmons (she/her) is a Black feminist lesbian survivor-healer, and a trauma-informed, certified Mindfulness meditation teacher. She's been practicing Vipassana meditation since 2002 and has more than one year of cumulative silent retreat practice in the U.S. and India. Aishah is also an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, author, and lecturer whose work, NO! The Rape Documentary and love WITH accountability, breaks silence about sexual violence, provides healing paths for trauma and advocates for humane responses to inhumane actions. Since June 1995, Aishah has screened her work, guest lectured, and facilitated over 400 workshops and dialogues across the United States, and internationally.
devon hase began meditation training in 2000. She has practiced intensively in the Insight and Vajrayana traditions and currently teaches at the Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, and other centers. Along with her life partner nico, she is the co-author of How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Survival Guide for Modern Life.