Heroic Heart – Day-Long Retreat: The Courage to Know Yourself
August 16, 2026 – Online and In Person
This is the last session in this series
We are grateful for the opportunity to gather each month for these precious teachings. This month’s retreat will focus on developing the courage to know yourself. We will gather for a day of reflection on the 31st Practice of a Bodhisattva and the path of inner transformation, based on Chapter 31 of The Heroic Heart: Awakening Unbound Compassion by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, a commentary on The Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva.
The greatest obstacles to a meaningful and joyful life are often not found in the world around us, but within our own habitual patterns of thinking, reacting, and relating. In this day-long retreat, we will explore the 31st Practice of a Bodhisattva through the wisdom of Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo’s Heroic Heart, learning how to cultivate honest self-awareness without self-criticism. As we learn to recognize our conditioned habits with kindness and clarity, we open the door to genuine transformation, greater compassion, and lasting peace.
Wisdom lies at the heart of the Buddhist path. While generosity, ethical conduct, patience, joyful effort, and meditation create the causes for awakening, it is wisdom that transforms these practices into a path of liberation. In this chapter, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo explores the profound teachings on emptiness, selflessness, and the “three concepts” of subject, action, and object that subtly shape our experience and keep us bound to suffering.
During this day-long retreat, John Bruna will guide participants through a careful exploration of this chapter, offering commentary, meditation instruction, and opportunities for discussion and reflection. Together, we will examine how wisdom and compassion work hand in hand, why understanding emptiness is essential to the bodhisattva path, and how these teachings can be applied in our everyday lives to cultivate greater freedom, clarity, and compassion.
In The Heroic Heart, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo illuminates the heart of Mahayana Buddhism—bodhicitta, the awakened heart of compassion—and provides practical guidance for bringing these timeless teachings into modern life. Through study, contemplation, and meditation, this retreat offers an opportunity to deepen our understanding of one of the most profound and transformative aspects of the Buddhist path.
The retreat will be offered both in person and online and will consist of sessions approximately fifty minutes in length, with short breaks between sessions and an hour lunch break at noon.
As always, our retreats and teachings are offered on a free-will donation basis. All donations support the Way of Compassion Foundation.
Retreat Details
Date and Time: Sunday, August 16, 2026.
- Pacific Time: 8:30 am to 2:30 pm
- Mountain Time: 9:30 am to 3:30 pm
- Central Time: 10:30 am to 4:30 pm
- Eastern Time: 11:30 am to 5:30 pm
Cost: By donation. You may offer any amount.
Way of Compassion Dharma Center, 520 S Third Street, Suite 12, Carbondale, CO 81623
Topic: Practicing Wisdom
Register: To register make a secure donation below (any amount). Please make a note to specify if you will be attending in person or online. Once your donation is processed, you will receive a confirmation by email to enter your information and receive your zoom link. If you would like to register by check or in person at the retreat, email or call us, admin@wocompassion.org or 970-704-5512.
If you are attending in person, you can either bring a lunch or go out to eat. There will be an hour-long lunch break.
Online Attendees: The retreat will use the Zoom online webinar platform. There will be breaks and time for reflection, and questions and answers.
Before making your donation, please watch the short video above.