Online: Beyond the Scarcity Mindset – Generosity and the Path of Liberation
with Devin Berry and Gina LaRoche
Sunday, October 19th, 2025 | 10:00am – 1:00pm ET
Online via Zoom
In a time marked by fragmentation, instability, and growing disconnection, it can feel difficult to stay open—or to step beyond our individual needs. The pull toward self-protection and scarcity is strong, and yet, these conditions are exactly where the heart practice of generosity becomes most vital.
In this half-day retreat, we’ll return to dāna—the ancient Buddhist teaching of generosity—as a path toward freedom and interconnection. Through meditation, Dharma reflection, and relational practice, we’ll explore how generosity can soften the heart, nurture compassion for ourselves and others, support letting go, and remind us of the inherent reciprocity that sustains all life.
Participants will leave with:
- Embodied practices for cultivating generosity in everyday life
- Ways to extend generosity toward oneself as a foundation for giving to others
- A deeper understanding of generosity (dāna) as a liberating heart quality
- Tools for meeting the world with courage, care, and reciprocity
Join us in reclaiming generosity not only as something we offer, but as a way of being that heals and frees.
In the spirit of generosity, this retreat is being offered at a special lower rate to make participation accessible to all.
This retreat is open to all, regardless of meditation experience, background, or tradition.
Registration:
Please register below. If you are able, registering at the “Supporter” level enables others to attend at the “Subsidized” level. Thank you for your generosity! (Please note that the registration price includes a base level of teacher support, and you will have the opportunity to donate more after the program.)
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Bring a Buddy: If you are a member of our Circle of Friends, you’re invited to bring a Dharma buddy to this program for no additional cost. Simply select “1” from the drop-down next to the Bring a Buddy level, and enter your special discount code (provided in your Circle of Friends welcome email) to reduce the price to that of a single, standard registration. This registration will grant attendance for you and your buddy.
Volunteering
All of our programs rely on volunteers to support our teachers and staff with various tasks and responsibilities. Volunteering allows you to participate in our programs at no cost. To inquire about volunteering opportunities, please fill out our inquiry form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Teacher(s)
Devin Berry
Devin Berry began practicing in 1999. His teaching is rooted in the Buddhadharma and mindfulness daily life practices. His training includes Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher training, the East Bay Meditation Center Commit to Dharma Program, Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioners Program, and Insight Meditation Society’s four-year Residential Retreat Teachers Program. Devin also cofounded both the Teen Sangha and Men of Color Deep Refuge Group at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland. Twenty years ago, Devin began some of the first mindfulness programs in San Francisco Bay Area schools, including weekly mindfulness groups for youth, and worked as a frontline advocate for marginalized youth living on the streets. Over the years, Devin’s work has included leading wilderness camps for teens, rites-of-passage programs for tweens, and a summer camp for boys. Devin co-created Deep Time Liberation, an ancestral healing journey that explores the impact of ancestral legacy and intergenerational trauma on Black Americans. He is passionate about the power of witnessing and storytelling as a liberation tool. Devin is a father and teaches nationally.
Gina LaRoche
Gina LaRoche is a trainee in the four-year IMS and Spirit Rock teacher training program. She started her meditation practice in 2000 and was introduced to Insight Meditation while attending her first residential retreat in 2010. Deeply transformed by the Dharma, Gina integrates its teachings into her daily life and work. She is a 2017 graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader Program, a founding teacher of Elm Community Insight in New Haven, CT, a former IMS Board member, and co-holds the monthly POC sit at CIMC (MA). Gina is married with two adult children and co-authored, The 7 Laws of Enough: Cultivating a Life of Sustainable Abundance.