Finding Freedom Together

A BCBS Insight Dialogue Path Program

Nicola Redfern and Bart van Melik

Finding Freedom Together

Nicola Redfern and Bart van Melik

Program Dates: February 28, 2025 - April 19, 2026
Rolling Admissions: Spaces fill quickly... Apply now!

In this program, we will draw upon the practice of Insight Dialogue to explore the liberating potential of the Four Noble Truths in an immediate and relational way.

The Buddha’s teaching invites us to understand the roots of stress and discover pathways to freedom and release. It can be challenging to fully integrate this teaching into our lives, to bring it out of the conceptual realm to meet the complexity of our experience.

Insight Dialogue supports this bridging process, inviting us to explore Dharma themes in meditation together. Emphasizing kind awareness, we will investigate the myriad ways we become entangled and find the liberating promise of the Dharma in our lives.

Program Overview

Application Timeframe

Rolling Admissions:
Spaces fill quickly... Apply now!

Prerequisites

None

Experience Level

This program is suitable for beginning and experienced practitioners.

In-Person Program Dates

Retreat I: February 28 - March 5, 2025
Retreat II: October 3 - 8, 2025
Retreat III: April 13-19, 2026

Zoom Gatherings

Second Tuesday of Each Month
6:30-8:00 PM ET (3:30-5:00 PM PT)

Peer Triad Gatherings

Participants will meet in monthly, peer-led triads at convenient time for group members.

Program Information

Insight Dialogue

Insight Dialogue (ID) is a relational meditation practice for developing awareness and wisdom. It is designed to help us awaken together and integrate our understanding of Dharma teachings in a direct and immediate way. Supported by six Insight Dialogue guidelines, we bring kind awareness right into the heart of speaking and listening, often in pairs. Establishing these guidelines helps us to deepen our meditation while contemplating the Dharma together, allowing for experiential insight into the teachings. ID also supports the weaving of a vibrant community of Dharma friendship as we collaborate in the awakening process together.

Learn More

Program Format

This program includes three residential retreats at BCBS. Between these retreats, participants will engage in ongoing ID practice with monthly teacher facilitated Zoom meetings in small groups, as well as meeting with buddies online at least once a month to practice ID in groups of three. The curriculum is structured to cultivate an embodied understanding of Insight Dialogue as we investigate and integrate the Dharma together. This course provides an opportunity for continuity with the same small cohort and the same teachers, allowing us to deepen into the support and joy of community together.

Community Building

As teachers, Bart and Nic value the co-creation of a community with a deep sense of belonging, mutual respect, and care. It’s important to us to support diverse cultural experiences as well as different learning styles. We encourage a spirit of “befriending,” bringing kind awareness to ourselves and one another, and to whatever our experience is at any given moment.

Time Commitment

Time Commitment Outside of Program: Participants are encouraged to develop/sustain an ongoing silent meditation practice along with biweekly Insight Dialogue practice. There will be monthly teacher-led Insight Dialogue sessions on the second Tuesday of each month (6:30 – 8 PM ET). There will also be at least one peer zoom meeting per month with rotating assigned buddies in triads (instruction provided.) A small amount of optional audio and reading materials will be suggested for those who wish to supplement their learning.

Retreat Format

The three retreats will be held in noble silence, except when participants are engaging in facilitated ID practice. We will be grounding in silent sitting and walking meditation (with instruction) in the mornings and bringing this settled awareness into Insight Dialogue practice in the afternoons, with guided contemplations in pairs and small groups. There will be plenty of time for walking in nature. Evenings will sometimes include relational practice, interspersed with silence and chanting. There will be opportunities to meet with the teachers.

Participation Intention

This program is for those who wish to:

1) Integrate the wisdom of the Four Noble Truths in an immediate and embodied way.
2) Learn/deepen Insight Dialogue skills and silent meditation practice.
3) Bring meditative awareness into the fullness of life.
4) Deepen self-compassion and the capacity to befriend our experience.
5) Co-create a learning community incorporating Dharma friendship, authentic connection, and mutual support.

Program Schedule

February 28 - March 5, 2025

In-Person Program

Retreat I: Finding Freedom in Deep Contentment and Letting Go

In our first retreat, we will be practicing with the six Insight Dialogue guidelines as we bring kind awareness to the exploration of where true contentment lies. When we meet our habitual patterns of clinging with clarity and compassion, we begin to taste the ease and freedom that is available when we let go. This allows for a deeper contentment to emerge as we come to depend less on external conditions for our wellbeing. As a result, we cultivate the capacity to live in closer accordance with the way things are.

Zoom Group Sessions

Tuesday, March 11, 2025 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, April 8, 2025 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, June 10, 2025 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, July 8, 2025 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, August 12, 2025 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)

October 3-8, 2025

In-Person Program

Retreat II: Finding Freedom in Wise View

In our second retreat, we will be deepening the understanding and integration of the Insight Dialogue guidelines as we investigate how views shape our understanding of ourselves and the world. The particular way we hold views is key because it is one of the primary obscurations of freedom and clear-seeing. As our way of seeing becomes less entangled and more fluid, we naturally develop more openness, ease, and freedom.

Zoom Group Sessions

Tuesday, October 14, 2025 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, December 9, 2025 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, January 13, 2026 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, February 10, 2026 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, March 10, 2026 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 (6:30-8:00 PM ET)

April 13-19, 2026

In-Person Program

Retreat III: Finding Freedom in Relaxing the “Self”

A significant source of our stress comes from misperceiving the true nature of ourselves and reality. In our final retreat together, we will draw upon Insight Dialogue skills to become intimately familiar with the process of the so-called “self” as it comes into being and fades. This recognition brings freedom from the suffering of identification with a solid separate sense of self. When we loosen this identification, we enhance our capacity to be with things as they are. This brings a greater sense of freedom and joy in our lives, as well as a deepening of compassion and care for ourselves, each other, and the whole of life.

Application Information

Residential Pricing:

Includes lodging and meals at BCBS during the in-person programs. Click the Pricing Notes tab to learn about Tier Pricing and Financial Assistance.

Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Benefactor
$3,584	$2,944	$2,304	$4,864

Commuter Pricing:

Includes meals without lodging during the in-person programs.

Standard

$1,520

Program Fees: Program fees include both residential and online components of the program. The first half is due upon registration, and the second half is due three weeks before the first retreat.

Accessibility: BCBS keeps prices as affordable as possible and offers Tier Pricing and Financial Assistance options to keep programs accessible:

Tier Pricing: You may choose a tier and pay according to your means. Tier 1 covers the actual cost of the program. Tiers 2 and 3 are subsidized rates made possible through the generosity of donors. The Benefactor rate enables you to offer additional, tax-deductible support to BCBS and fellow program participants. Please select the highest tier that fits your budget to help keep BCBS programs accessible.

Financial Assistance: If needed, you may request additional financial assistance on the registration page.

Teacher Dāna/Generosity: Program fees do not include payments to teachers. Please consider supporting Nic and Bart with dāna (generosity) during your program.

Cancellation Policy: We understand that personal circumstances may require you to cancel your registration. In these cases, please contact us right away. If you cancel more than eight weeks before the program starts, you are eligible for a full refund minus a $100 administrative fee. If you cancel between three and eight weeks before the program starts, you are eligible for a 50% refund of the deposit. Registration fees are nonrefundable less than three weeks before the program starts.

Applications Open: Currently Open

Applications Close: Rolling Admissions: Spaces fill quickly… Apply now!

Initial Accepted Applicants Notified: December 9, 2024

Payment Due: First half of the course fee is due within two weeks of the date of acceptance. The second half is due three weeks before the first retreat.

Program Starts: February 28, 2025

Guiding Teachers

Nicola Redfern

Nicola Redfern is an Insight Dialogue Retreat Teacher with an extensive background in both Zen and Vipassana meditation. With a strong belief that awakening is not simply a solo endeavor, Nic is particularly interested in getting meditation off the cushion and fully integrated into life, work, and relationships. She has taught multiple courses on the climate emergency, unlearning racism, and Nonviolent Communication, as well as programs for LGBTQIA+. Nicola is originally from the UK and now lives near Santa Fe, NM.

See Full Bio

Bart van Melik

Bart van Melik has been teaching Insight meditation and Insight Dialogue meditation since 2009, with a special focus on diverse communities. He brings the practice to juvenile detention centers, homeless shelters and NYC public schools, and is passionate about supporting people in finding new ways to relate to life’s stresses. Bart is the Guiding Teacher of the Community Meditation Center in New York City.

See Full Bio

Deepening Practice,
Building Community.

Want to stay informed about news, resources, and upcoming programs at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies?

Located in Central Massachusetts