Determination, Your Gateway to Freedom:
A Daylong Retreat with Devin Berry & nico hase
Saturday, August 9th
10 am to 4 pm pacific time
Is genuine awakening possible? For you? For me? In these times? In this life?
Twenty-six hundred years ago, in a time just as challenging as the one we live in today, the Buddha had a simple answer: yes, if we apply ourselves.
But that takes hutzpah, otherwise known as adhiṭṭhāna parami ("determination"), and there are ten thousand cultural forces hellbent on weakening our resolve, dispersing our attention, and convincing us that enlightenment isn't even a thing.
We have to push back. Like the Buddha did, when he put his hand on the earth, and decided he wasn't going to take Mara's shit anymore.
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In this one-day online retreat, Devin & nico will delve into adhitthana parami ("determination"), that quality of the heart that simply doesn’t give up.
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 eighth 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.
Devin Berry has been meditating for over 20 years. His practice is primarily informed by the classical teachings of early Buddhism and the Insight Meditation tradition. He has undertaken many periods of silent long-term retreat practice. Devin completed the Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training Program. He is passionate about the power of witnessing and storytelling as a liberation tool. He is deeply committed to the personal and collective liberation of marginalized communities knowing that through the integration of reflection and insight, clarity and wisdom give rise to wise action. To find out more visit devinberry.org.
nico hase lived in a monastery for six years before earning a PhD in counseling psychology and becoming an Insight Meditation teacher full time. He currently mentors mindfulness teachers, teaches online and in-person retreats, and speaks with students in one-on-one sessions. He and his beloved life partner devon are the authors of How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Buddhist Survival Guide for Modern Life.
