Upcoming Events

Look West Galley @ 9pm *** MARCH 8TH - APRIL 17TH

HAKIM TAFARI IS A BUDDHIST PRACTITIONER AND MEDITATION FACILITATOR BLENDING HIS MEDITATIVE PRACTICE WITH THE ART OF ENSŌ PAINTING AS A SYMBOL OF ENLIGHTENMENT, STRENGTH, ELEGANCE, INNER PEACE AND THE BEAUTY OF ALL THINGS

OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY, MARCH 8TH | 6-9PM

VINYL SETS BY HAKIM AND SPECIAL GUESTS

More information at welookwest.com

Join a kind community to practice mindfulness and compassion. Give yourself a break from overstimulation and come home to the simple experience of being alive. In mindfulness meditation, we practice resting, looking deeply, and knowing moment-by-moment what it’s like to be human. Some of us are hesitant to look because we’re concerned about what we’ll find, but our practice shows us that the more deeply we look into experience, the more reason we have to love.

As our attention stabilizes, we begin to sense the poignancy of our wish to be happy. Seeing this, we care about our struggles and cherish our joy in a new way. In turn, this love informs how we engage with the world.

Held primarily in silence, this retreat will offer instructions in mindfulness and lovingkindness practice and include Dharma talks and meetings with teachers to support you in your practice.

Register for this Event Today at www.spirit-rock.secure.retreat.guru/program/young-adult-retreat-246r25-on-land/

This is a retreat for people who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person-of-Color. Both beginning and experienced practitioners are welcome.

Registration for this retreat closes on August 13th, 2025 at 11:59pm Pacific Time. If looking to join after this date, please inquire at guestservices@bigbearretreatcenter.org.

Coming together as a BIPOC community, we create a space of ease and support to meditate and cultivate inner freedom. Held in an environment of silence, this retreat provides an in-depth experience of the Buddha’s teachings on mindful awareness, as well as the cultivation of lovingkindness meditation, illuminating a path toward healing and greater happiness. 

Set in the mountains of Big Bear this retreat offers a get away from the city with extensive time for quiet, meditation and walks in nature. Hakim Tafari will also be offering optional periods of mindful movement. 

Register for this Event Today at https://bigbearretreatcenter.org/retreats/1350/bipoc-community-retreat/

Grounded in the Thai Forest Tradition, this Vipassanā retreat will focus on quieting the mind, opening the heart, and developing clarity and depth of practice. During our time together, traditional meditation instruction will be combined with a spirit of lovingkindness, and the retreat will include silent sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks, and practice meetings with the teachers.

Register for this Event Today at https://spirit-rock.secure.retreat.guru/program/fall-insight-meditation-retreat-272r25-on-land/?lang=en

The Buddha highly valued and taught Mindfulness of Death (maraṇasati) as a preparation for our own death and a doorway to awakening. He encouraged maraṇasati practice as a way to cultivate the qualities needed to live an awakened life, such as appreciation of the preciousness of human birth/life; insight into impermanence and change; freedom from rigidity and clinging; and equanimity with the difficulty of human existence.

This retreat will be grounded in the traditional practices of mindful awareness and compassion. The instructions will be woven together with an understanding and recognition of the impermanence and change that occur naturally in every moment of our lives. We will utilize the skills of awareness and investigation in our sitting practice, with some guided visualization and a period of contemplative inquiry each day.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

Register for this Event Today at https://spirit-rock.secure.retreat.guru/program/maranasati-mindful-of-death-contemplating-life-274r25-on-land/?lang=en

This is a traditional Insight Meditation (vipassanā) retreat with sitting and walking in silence, and 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 sitting 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.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

Register for this Event Today at https://spirit-rock.secure.retreat.guru/program/new-years-insight-meditation-retreat-292r25-on-land/?lang=en

https://www.spiritrock.org/calendar?query=HAKIM%20TAFARI