Episode Description

For episode 240, we are continuing the Fireside Chat Series on the Metta Hour with Kamla Masters. This series features intimate conversations with longtime dharma teachers about the early days of their practice and the most impactful moments with their own teachers. Hosted by IMS Online, this is the second episode in this series. Kamala Masters is one of the founders and teachers of the Vipassana Metta Foundation on Maui. She teaches retreats in the Theravada tradition at venues worldwide, including being a Guiding Teacher at the Insight Meditation Society at Barre, Massachusetts. The conversation begins with a five-minute guided meditation from Kamala.

In this conversation, Sharon and Kamala discuss:

• How Kamala and Sharon first met

• Kamala’s primary teachers and influences

• Sharon’s first travel to India

• How Kamala first found meditation

• Munindra teaching Kamala washing dishes meditation

• Munindra’s way of breaking barriers for Sharon

• How Sharon met Dipa Ma

• How Sharon reparented herself with her teachers

• Munindra’s directive to “try harder”

• Distinctions in meditation methods

• How Kamala started teaching

• Sharing what their formal daily practice looks like today

• How they were taught lovingkindness

• Do people need a teacher?

• How to practice the Ten Paramis

• How to use mental noting

• Working with physical ailments and pain

• Perfectionism as a hindrance

Additional Resources

The conversation closes with a short sitting. You can learn more about Kamala’s work via the website for the Vipassana Metta Foundation on Maui right here.

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