Jessica Morey

During this regular bi-monthly meditation group (2nd + 4th Mondays of the month), we will continue to explore the cultivation of compassion and awareness rooted in the Sustainable Compassion Training practices of John Makransky. Each meeting will include a guided meditation and discussion – with an emphasis on integrating practice into daily life. Each month, we’ll dedicate time to a specific theme or practice.

To begin we will be diving into John Makransky + Paul Condon’s new book How Compassion Works – much more slowly than than we did during the summer book group. So expect to have more time to explore each of the practices presented in the book.

I will also incorporate relevant practices and teachings from my practice and training in other lineages/teachers, including somatic meditation, Vajrayana Buddhism and Insight Meditation.

During these sessions, please also come with any other questions about your meditation practice or how to apply it in your life – we’ll make time for questions and discussion.

You are welcome to drop in when you can make it – and you are encouraged to come regularly so that we can all get to know each other – I can get to know your practice and be able to better support you that way.

To register and get the zoom link click Register below.

The Infinite Secure Base

Receiving Love as a Path to Awakening

What if awakening is not a leap into the unknown, but a resting into what has always been holding us?

In this evening offering, we’ll explore how receiving love builds the trust necessary to let go of what binds us to suffering — clinging to a separate self, attempting to control what is impermanent, trying to perfect what is inherently imperfect.

The guided meditation, informed by John Makransky’s Sustainable Compassion Training, will focus on receiving love as a way of cultivating the inner safety that allows us to let go. From this foundation, awareness can reveal itself as a vast, secure base — capable of holding the ever-changing, uncontrollable, selfless experience of being alive, with greater freedom and joy.

Jess will offer a Dharma talk preceded by a meditation sit. You are welcome to attend just the sit, just the talk, or both.

All are welcome to attend; no registration needed. We invite attendees to offer financial support for our visiting teachers through the practice of dana (generosity).

Schedule:

• 6:30 – 7:15 PM ET: Meditation (led by the teacher)
• 7:30 – 8:45 PM ET: Dharma talk and discussion

Relevant links:

• Join the program over Zoom (meeting ID: 960 7085 2464; passcode: cimc).
• Make a donation to CIMC to support this program.
• Make a donation to a teacher.

During this regular bi-monthly meditation group (2nd + 4th Mondays of the month), we will continue to explore the cultivation of compassion and awareness rooted in the Sustainable Compassion Training practices of John Makransky. Each meeting will include a guided meditation and discussion – with an emphasis on integrating practice into daily life. Each month, we’ll dedicate time to a specific theme or practice.

To begin we will be diving into John Makransky + Paul Condon’s new book How Compassion Works – much more slowly than than we did during the summer book group. So expect to have more time to explore each of the practices presented in the book.

I will also incorporate relevant practices and teachings from my practice and training in other lineages/teachers, including somatic meditation, Vajrayana Buddhism and Insight Meditation.

During these sessions, please also come with any other questions about your meditation practice or how to apply it in your life – we’ll make time for questions and discussion.

You are welcome to drop in when you can make it – and you are encouraged to come regularly so that we can all get to know each other – I can get to know your practice and be able to better support you that way.

To register and get the zoom link click Register below.

How does compassion open the door to inner freedom?

In this daylong retreat, participants will be guided through meditation practices drawn from the Tibetan tradition that cultivate self-compassion, emotional resilience, and trust in life. From this foundation, we’ll explore awareness practices that reveal the mind’s naturally spacious, open nature.

Through guided meditation, teaching, and reflection, you’ll gain tools to work with difficult emotions and access deeper states of well-being.

Participants will leave with:

• Practices to cultivate sustainable self-compassion
• Tools for working with difficult emotions
• A felt sense of inner safety and support
• An introduction to awareness practices that open into spaciousness and ease
• Resources for continuing practice after the retreat

Together, Radhule Weininger and Jessica Morey bring over 70 years of combined meditation practice and decades of teaching experience, offering these methods in ways that are accessible, grounded, and deeply transformative.

Open to all levels. No prior Buddhist experience required.

Location (In-Person): Lotus Theater @ Santa Barbara Middle School, 1321 Alameda Padre Serra. Follow the signs to access the theater.

Location (Online): Special Events/ Retreats Zoom link

Suggestion donation: $30

Register here

During this regular bi-monthly meditation group (2nd + 4th Mondays of the month), we will continue to explore the cultivation of compassion and awareness rooted in the Sustainable Compassion Training practices of John Makransky. Each meeting will include a guided meditation and discussion – with an emphasis on integrating practice into daily life. Each month, we’ll dedicate time to a specific theme or practice.

To begin we will be diving into John Makransky + Paul Condon’s new book How Compassion Works – much more slowly than than we did during the summer book group. So expect to have more time to explore each of the practices presented in the book.

I will also incorporate relevant practices and teachings from my practice and training in other lineages/teachers, including somatic meditation, Vajrayana Buddhism and Insight Meditation.

During these sessions, please also come with any other questions about your meditation practice or how to apply it in your life – we’ll make time for questions and discussion.

You are welcome to drop in when you can make it – and you are encouraged to come regularly so that we can all get to know each other – I can get to know your practice and be able to better support you that way.

To register and get the zoom link click Register below.

How do patterns of attachment shape our relationships, and how might Buddhist practice help transform them?

In this daylong retreat, we’ll explore the meeting point of contemporary Attachment Theory and Buddhist wisdom. Drawing on attachment research, we’ll examine common insecure mindstates—dismissing, preoccupied, and disorganized—and how these habitual relational “views” can generate suffering in close relationships, including parenting and caregiving.

Through guided meditation, visualization, and reflective inquiry, we’ll explore what secure attachment feels like from the inside and how it resonates with core dharma teachings. Participants will be introduced to the Ideal Parent practice, a contemplative method for cultivating an inner experience of reliable, attuned, and benevolent care. These practices are relevant both for our own attachment healing and for how we show up as attachment figures for others.

Together, we’ll investigate how attachment patterns are not fixed traits but conditioned and trainable mindstates—and how healing attachment and deepening insight can mutually support one another, from everyday relational challenges to profound awakening.

Saturday, April 18th

10:00am – 1:00pm

2:30pm – 5:30pm ET

This retreat will be co-taught with Oren Jay Sofer and Dawn Scott.

Metta means goodwill or lovingkindness in the ancient Buddhist Pali language. Metta meditation cultivates our innate capacity for an open and loving heart. Said to have been taught by the Buddha himself, this practice develops concentration, fearlessness, a sense of belonging, happiness, and a greater ability to love. When well cultivated, metta practice also provides a secure foundation for resilience and wise engagement amidst uncertainty and pain.

This is a silent, intensive meditation retreat focusing on the development of lovingkindness, open to both new and experienced meditators.

Teachers will provide formal instructions in the classical method of metta meditation, using the silent repetition of phrases along with additional methods for the development of this powerful quality. Our time will include instructions for sitting and walking meditation practice, Q&A, talks about the teachings, and meetings with the teachers.

Some experience with mindfulness meditation is recommended but not required. All are welcome!

An optional daily period of mindful movement will be offered by Sabra Saperstein.

IMS is also offering an online version of this retreat that will include a livestream of the entire program, including all talks and sits, from the meditation hall. (Note that there is no direct interaction with the teachers.) Please click here for more information and to register. If you have questions about the online option, email IMS Online at imsonline@dharma.org.

During this regular bi-monthly meditation group (2nd + 4th Mondays of the month), we will continue to explore the cultivation of compassion and awareness rooted in the Sustainable Compassion Training practices of John Makransky. Each meeting will include a guided meditation and discussion – with an emphasis on integrating practice into daily life. Each month, we’ll dedicate time to a specific theme or practice.

To begin we will be diving into John Makransky + Paul Condon’s new book How Compassion Works – much more slowly than than we did during the summer book group. So expect to have more time to explore each of the practices presented in the book.

I will also incorporate relevant practices and teachings from my practice and training in other lineages/teachers, including somatic meditation, Vajrayana Buddhism and Insight Meditation.

During these sessions, please also come with any other questions about your meditation practice or how to apply it in your life – we’ll make time for questions and discussion.

You are welcome to drop in when you can make it – and you are encouraged to come regularly so that we can all get to know each other – I can get to know your practice and be able to better support you that way.

To register and get the zoom link click Register below.

During this long weekend retreat, we’ll explore a framework of self-development synthesized by the late Dr. Dan Brown—psychologist, scholar, and Tibetan meditation teacher.

Drawing from both Western psychology and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, Dan articulated three essential stages of healthy self-development. The first is self-definition: knowing who you are, being familiar with your core values, and recognizing your unique strengths. The second is self-agency: the confidence that you can act effectively in the world, shape your relationships, set goals, and move toward what matters to you. The third is self-esteem: a stable, positive relationship with yourself, where the arising of self is accompanied by warmth and happiness.

At the same time, Dan was devoted to teaching the Buddhist path of awakening and the direct realization of no-self—the experiential insight into the emptiness of a solid, independently existing identity.

In this approach, the development of self and the realization of no-self are not opposing or contradictory paths. Rather, they are mutually supportive. As Dan taught—and as many Tibetan masters have emphasized—a strong, healthy sense of self is not an obstacle to deep Dharma practice, but a crucial foundation for it.

Over the course of the weekend, Jessica will introduce both the psychological and Buddhist frameworks underlying these teachings, and offer guided practices that support healthy self-development and open into the liberating, joyful relief of directly experiencing the emptiness of self.

Participants will receive practical tools, guided meditations, and a clear path of practice that can be continued and deepened over time—bringing greater well-being, emotional resilience, and freedom into daily life, and supporting the path towards full awakening.

The retreat will include Dharma talks, guided meditation, large- and small-group discussion, and periods of silent practice.

This retreat is suitable for dedicated meditators, psychologically minded practitioners, and anyone interested in integrating inner development with deep contemplative insight.

Retreat Fees
– Single $575
– Double $450
– Dorm (3-6 people) = $350
– Camping or Commuting = $250

Teacher dana

Please note that the retreat fees do not include payment for the teaching. Jess will not be paid for her teachings through the registration fees. Instead, in the long Buddhist tradition and practice of dana (Pali word for generosity), she will be offering the teachings freely.

Arrival: Friday, May 22, 2026, 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Departure: Monday, May 25, 2026, 1:00 pm

For more info about camping/commuting, visit https://naturaldharma.org/wonderwell-mountain-refuge/

Linens, including pillowcases and towels, are available to rent from Wonderwell for $15 and can be added within the registration.

(We aim to provide scholarships for this retreat, but it is not guaranteed at this time. )