Upcoming Teachings
Guiding Teacher Kim Allen teaches at Insight Meditation Center and other Bay Area Dharma groups, as well as farther afield and online, offering Dharma talks, retreats, and classes.
Regular teachings:
Friday sutta contemplation class: "In This Very Life" -- listed on the Sutta Classes page.
Quarterly "Uncontrived Half-Day" practice session (Sat or Sun) -- listed below under Talks and Classes. We aim for Jan/ Apr/ Jul/ Oct.
Another way to keep up: Kim sends a newsletter (about 8x/year) with a Dharma teaching essay and updates on new teachings.
Talks, Classes and Daylongs
February 2026
Hybrid Dhamma Talk
Feb 23, 7:15-8:30pm (Mon)
Insight Meditation Center and on IMC's YouTube channel
March 2026
Online class: Foundations of Samadhi
Mar 1, 8, and 15 (three Sundays), 8:30-11:30am
Plus group practice discussions on Mar 7 (Sat, 8:00-9:00am) and Mar 9 (Mon, 6:00-7:00pm)
Uncontrived
Join the Uncontrived community in an in-depth practice period. Includes group practice discussion for more tailored guidance.
This focused program offers foundational instructions and daily-life practices that support the development of samādhi – a stable, gathered, and pleasant mindstate. Such mindstates are accessible through putting in place certain qualities and conditions named in the Buddha’s teachings. The class focuses first on these conditions; specific samādhi instructions will come near the end of the class. Registration required.
Learn more and register
Online class: See for yourself
Feb 25, Mar 4, 11, and 18 (four Wednesdays), 7:00-8:30pm
A Sati Center class
Buddhist teachings name wisdom, paññā, as a faculty that all humans possess, but may not have developed deeply. Wisdom is essential for liberating the heart from suffering, and is naturally developed through Dharma practice. This class aims to help participants recognize and deepen the Dharma wisdom already present in their life so that it can be applied to benefit themselves and others. The world dearly needs more wisdom, both as basic clarity and discernment and because it is intimately connected to compassion.
In this class, we will explore different facets of wisdom within the early Buddhist teachings, applying them in each session to our lives today. It will include readings from the suttas and more contemporary sources, meditation, teachings, and small- and large-group discussion.
Learn more and Register.
Online daylong: Living Wisdom
Feb 21, 9:00am-4:00pm (Sat)
Offered through Insight Retreat Center
This online Insight retreat will explore wisdom as a lived experience unfolding both on and off the cushion. We'll take up some aspect of the powerful domain called paññā (wisdom) by the Buddha, sensing into it through the body, heart, and mind. The instructions will center around mindfulness of breathing and of the body. Our day together will include sitting and walking meditation, instructions, a dharma talk, and an opportunity to ask questions of the teacher.
Registration is open: Register here. (Scroll down to Feb 21)
In-person daylong: Natural Intelligence
Insight Meditation Center (Redwood City, CA)
Mar 28, 9:30am-4:00pm (Sat)
In a world of virtual interaction, AI, and continual information flow, it is easy to lose touch with what is reliable and what is spiritually nourishing. Meditation can help us attune to a natural intelligence that resides within and includes both wisdom and heart qualities. This day of practice will support cultivating this Dharma intelligence. Learning to trust it supports our engagement with both the inner and outer worlds.
This daylong retreat will include alternating periods of sitting and walking, guided meditations, dharma talks, and contemplation. This day of practice is an opportunity to strengthen mindfulness, develop wisdom, practice with the IMC community, and ask a teacher questions. Appropriate for meditators who are already familiar with basic mindfulness instructions. Bring lunch. No registration needed.
Multi-Day Retreats
February 2026
In-person non-residential retreat: Los Altos Community Center (Los Altos, CA)
Feb 4, 5, 6 (Wed-Thu-Fri), 8:00am-4:30pm each day
Co-taught with Diana Clark, David Lorey, and Ying Chen
This retreat, open to all experience levels, offers an intensive retreat experience in a non-residential retreat format. Scheduled from 8 am Wednesday, February 4, to 5 pm on Friday, February 6, in Los Altos, CA, the retreat will include alternate sitting and walking meditation periods, morning instruction, Dharma talks, and short work periods for setting up and cleaning up. Teachings will focus on classical Insight instructions, and will emphasize integrating formal and daily-life practice. Full participation (for the whole day, on all three days) is required. Retreatants are requested to bring lunch each day. Tea and light snacks will be available. Like all IRC retreats, this retreat is offered on a dana-basis.
Registration is open! Register here.
Online teacher for hybrid retreat: Insight Retreat
Jan 25-Feb 1 (Sun-Sun, 7 nights)
Offered through Insight Retreat Center
Teachers: Gil Fronsdal and Ines Freedman, with online practice discussions with Kim Allen
Registration is open at https://www.insightretreatcenter.org/online-retreats/online-retreat-schedule/.
March 2026
Online weekend retreat: The Six Sense Bases: Clarity and Wisdom
Mar 20-22 (Fri evening to Sun midday)
A Sati Center event
Co-taught with Leigh Brasington
In this weekend online retreat, we will explore a less-taught area of the Dharma: The Six Sense Bases (the five physical senses plus the mind). The Buddha pointed out how prone we are to attachment and hence dukkha around sense experience, and yet, to live is to be in continual contact with the sense world. What to do? Clarity and wisdom are needed.
The retreat will consist of alternating sitting and walking practice, guided by a range of instructions and teachings from the suttas about the sense bases. Each day will also include Dharma talks and Q&A. Participants are encouraged to set up conditions of silence and seclusion to the degree possible.
Registration opening soon at https://sati.org/event/the-six-sense-bases/2026-03-20/.
In-person residential retreat: Insight Retreat
Insight Retreat Center (Santa Cruz, CA)
Mar 29-Apr 6 (Sun-Sun, 7 nights)
Co-taught with Diana Clark, Ying Chen, and David Lorey
Registration will open at InsightRetreatCenter.org. (Scroll down to the Mar 29 entry).
This retreat is offered within IMC's Culture of Generosity; there will be no registration fee (and there will be an opportunity to support the teachers and organization by donation).
May 2026
In-person residential retreat: Insight Retreat
Big Springs Retreat Center (outside of Sierra City, CA)
May 13-20 (Wed-Wed, 7 nights)
Co-taught with Diana Clark, Ying Chen, and David Lorey
Registration will open on Insight Retreat Center's "offsite retreats" page. (Scroll down to May 13 entry)
This retreat is offered within IMC's Culture of Generosity; there will be no registration fee (and there will be an opportunity to support the teachers and organization by donation).
In-person residential retreat: Awakening the Pure Heart
Seven Oaks Retreat Center (Madison, VA)
May 25-31 (Tues-Sun, 5 nights)
Co-taught with Marjolein Janssen
This retreat focuses on cultivating insight and the awakening of the heart. Inspired by a traditional Buddhist teaching that compares the mind to a cloth that can be cleansed and brightened, we will explore practical ways of recognizing and releasing unhelpful mental and emotional patterns. As these patterns soften, qualities such as confidence, clarity, kindness, and the four brahmavihāras naturally begin to reveal themselves.
Learn more and register
July 2026
In-person residential retreat: Listen, Heart, Peace: An Insight retreat
Big Bear Retreat Center (SoCal)
July 12-19 (Sun-Sun)
Co-taught with Diana Clark
Careful attention to our inner life awakens the heart and mind to the possibility of peace in the present moment. Supported by the quiet beauty of the natural surroundings and the shared field of community practice, we will explore classical insight practices, highlighting that these are also forms of opening the heart and evoking greater freedom. This silent retreat will include sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks and practice discussions with the teachers. It is suitable for both new and experienced meditators.
This retreat is offered in collaboration with the Insight Retreat Center (IRC) as a dana retreat with no registration cost. There will be an opportunity to support the teachers, who are not otherwise compensated.
Registration is open!
There are no upcoming events at this time.