Eric Kolvig

Eric Kolvig has been teaching in the vipassana tradition since 1985. He leads meditation retreats and gives public talks around the United States and will be teaching in New Zealand for the first time in March & April 2011.

He has a particular interest in “grassroots dharma”, building spiritual community in democratic, non-authoritarian ways, and enjoys the special value of spiritual practice in the natural world, leading retreats in the wilderness.

Eric has worked with many teachers but primarily with Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg in the lineage of Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma, and with Richard Clarke in the zen lineage of Roshi Philip Kapleau.

He is the son of Tao (1915-1963), a Cook Islander, and Einar (1904-1964), a Danish-American. He is the brother of Chris (1943-1972) and Beulah (1925-1985).

He holds a BA from Middlebury College, and an MPhil and a PhD from Yale University. Eric lives in a singlewide mobile home in La Bolsa, a rural intentional community in northern New Mexico.

Upcoming events

Eric will be in New Zealand in March and April 2011 to teach at a retreat that brings together insight meditation and engaged buddhism in Otaki.

The programme can be found at http://www.abet.net.nz/eric-kolvig-2011/

Eric’s travel costs

Your generosity is sought! Contributing towards Eric’s travel costs will reduce the cost of his retreats, making his teachings more accessible to more New Zealanders.

You can make donations through Aotearoa Buddhist Education Trust. To find out how, visit http://www.abet.net.nz/eric-kolvig-2011/.

Resources

Three dharma talks are available online at
http://www.audiodharma.org/teacher/91/

Some talks he gave in New Mexico in 2009 are available for download from
http://www.abqsangha.org/recordings.html

Contact details

  • Email : Click here to send Eric an email
  • Website : http://www.erickolvig.com/

About

There are a number of communities and individuals who practise insight meditation, as well as people who teach it, in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This website lets you know who they are and where they can be found, as well as where you can find sitting groups, learn to meditate, and sign up for retreats.

Contact the community or person nearest to you to find out more.

A Thought for Today

One of the most wonderful things in teaching retreats is to see people begin to open to that understanding of selflessness. It’s tremendously liberating to begin to see that there’s nothing to protect and nothing to solve and that rather than necessarily working out our problems, we can stop identifying with them.

— Joseph Goldstein