In a time marked by stress, emotional fatigue and uncertainty, a growing number of people are turning toward Metta, or loving-kindness meditation, as a path of healing, balance, and insight. Building on a tradition that has touched thousands of practitioners worldwide, Metta Vipassana Meditation retreats are now being offered in India and online under the guidance of teachers trained in the Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center lineage.

A Metta Vipassana Meditation retreat in India, guided in the Dhamma sukha Tradition

Rooted in the early Buddhist discourses (the suttas), these retreats are inspired by the teaching approach developed by the late Bhante Vimalaramsi, founder, together with Ven. Khanti Khema, co-founder of the Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center in the United States. Their method, known as Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation, integrates insight (vipassanā), with the deliberate cultivation of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

Unlike more effort-heavy techniques, these Metta Vipassana retreats emphasize relaxation, softening, and an embodied sense of kindness toward oneself and others. Practitioners are gently guided to recognize how craving and resistance arise in daily life – and how releasing them through kindness can lead to clarity, emotional resilience, and deep inner calm.

A distinctive feature of this approach is the practical application of the 6Rs – Recognize, Release, Relax, Re-smile, Return, and Repeat. Rather than suppressing distraction or striving to control the mind, practitioners are encouraged to meet every experience with gentle awareness. When attention wanders, one simply recognizes the movement of mind, releases it without judgment, relaxes any tension, re-smiles, and returns to the meditation object. This cycle is repeated patiently, offering a clear and workable expression of Right Effort in daily practice.

Smiling throughout is also encouraged. A soft smile, felt at the lips, the eyes, the mind and the heart, supports ease, reduces inner friction, and encourages a relaxed attentiveness. Over time, practitioners often notice that with smiling effort softens, emotional reactivity diminishes, and awareness becomes clearer without strain. 

Sharmila Rao, BE, MBA, PGDPA, who has over 30 years of corporate leadership experience in prominent IT organizations says, “The Metta Vipassana meditation retreat was a deeply transformative experience for me. Unlike traditional Vipassana, this practice is rooted in metta, loving-kindness, and that made the progress feel natural and surprisingly fast. The daily one-on-one interactions with the teacher provided profound insights and gentle course correction, helping me deepen my practice with clarity. The emphasis on smiling, love, and compassion made the inner awakening feel alive and joyful. What stood out was that progress wasn’t just meditative depth, but an inner joy that naturally wanted to be shared, even with ‘enemies.’ The daily discourses were beautifully aligned, answering doubts before they arose and preparing me for the next day. This heightened mindfulness helped me clearly see my habitual thought patterns and gently rewire them toward more constructive, joyful ways of living. I am sure that even first-time meditators can experience remarkable inner shifts through this practice.”

In select retreats this inner cultivation is also developed through Sukhita Yoga. Sukhita brings to life the essence of Dhamma teaching through embodiment, offering a practice designed to foster ease and balance rather than physical achievement. The relationship you have with your body gives a tangible, undeniable experience of living your life in loving awareness with yourself, others and the planet. In every moment you learn the structures of support and steadiness that reveal inner space and how to look after yourself with love and compassion when this wholesome way of being gets distorted by stress, tension and other patterns of imbalance.

These retreats integrate gentle movement, walking and sitting meditation and individual interviews, allowing participants to experientially sense how physical tension and mental habits influence one another. This holistic model reflects a core insight of the Dhamma Sukha tradition: that embodied awareness supports sustainable clarity and insight.

The India-based retreats offer residential, silent retreat environments suited to both beginners and experienced meditators, while online retreats make the same structured guidance available globally. Participants learn a sustainable practice that can be carried into work, family life, and relationships, not confined to the cushion alone.

These offerings reflect a growing international interest in softer and gentler meditation as a complement to insight practice – one that aligns ancient wisdom with modern psychological well-being. This emphasis is reflected in the name Metta Vipassana Way in India.

For more information, please visit: mettavipassana.org