Three Facets of Investigation: Patterns, Processes, and Moments of Presence

Three Facets of Investigation is a residential insight meditation retreat at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre, Vermont, led by Chris Crotty. It is for practitioners who want to look closely at how experience is put together, and who are interested in the Buddhist teaching of not-self as something to be seen directly rather than only discussed.

The retreat takes up investigation as its theme, approached through three lenses. Together they offer a steady way to see more clearly, respond more wisely, and explore the lack of self in experience.

What to Expect

The retreat is organized around the three facets named in its title:

- Patterns. Noticing the habitual mental patterns that shape how we perceive and react.
- Processes. Seeing experience as something that unfolds and changes, rather than as fixed things.
- Moments of presence. Meeting experience as it is in a single moment, with attention that is steady and awake.

Taken together, these approaches invite you to look at your own experience with curiosity and care, and to let that looking inform how you meet daily life. The setting is a residential meditation retreat, so the days are given over to practice, and you stay on site for the length of the program.

About Chris Crotty

Chris Crotty leads this retreat. He is a meditation teacher offering insight practice through the lens of investigation, and this program draws on that approach.

The Setting

The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies is in Barre, Vermont, and hosts residential programs in the Buddhist tradition, with teachings on mindfulness, insight, and study. This retreat is held in person there, so you take part on site rather than online.

Before You Go

This is an in-person residential program. If you are considering it, it helps to have some familiarity with mindfulness or insight meditation, since the retreat asks you to investigate your own experience closely. Residential retreats at a center like this are generally quiet, reflective spaces, so plan to settle into a simple rhythm of practice and rest.