Selfless Practice

This retreat, led by Vipassana teacher Rodney Smith, offers nothing less than a new way to live. In order to align ourselves with the deepest truths of Buddhism, we must move from the paradigm of self and self-centeredness into selflessness. When we step out of the narrow and limiting confines of the self, we find freedom in a vast and expansive world.

Rodney Smith spent eight years in Buddhist monastic settings, both at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Massachusetts and during several years as a Buddhist monk in Asia. He ordained with Mahasi Sayadaw in Burma, then practiced for three years with Ajahn Buddhadasa in Thailand. He disrobed as a monk in 1983 and, after returning to the West, started working in hospice care and teaching Vipassana throughout the United States.

Rodney has devoted much of his energy to serving the dying—both in direct service positions and, until 2000, within hospice management. Since then Rodney has been a full-time dharma teacher conducting meditation classes and retreats and offering spiritual consultations. He serves as a guiding teacher for IMS and is the founding and guiding teacher for the Seattle Insight Meditation Society. He is author of the books Lessons from the Dying and Stepping Out of Self-Deception. His teaching emphasis is on awakening within the forms of daily lives.