Balance of mind is a possibility. Meeting experience with calm creates some peace, and an opportunity to check things out that we would miss if we’re in reaction. This is equanimity: not being pulled around by experience. You can be with something just the way it is, without pushing or pulling. If we can touch into the quality of awareness, which is mindfulness, and a quality of collectiveness or steadiness, then what naturally arises is a state of equanimity, balance of mind.
Victoria Cary
Residential Retreat Teacher
Victoria Cary is a Dhamma teacher and leader who co-founded the San Francisco Black Indigenous People of Color Insight Sangha and continues to serve as one of its core teachers. She has been practicing and studying Insight meditation for nearly two decades, most recently finding inspiration in the Mahasi/U Pandita lineage with Venerable Sayalay Daw Bhaddamanika and Venerable Sayadaw U Vivekananda, and sitting 3-month silent retreats in Nepal and at Insight Meditation Society.
Victoria loves the Dhamma and is particularly drawn to supporting people in their practice through a focus on the integration of Dhamma into everyday life. As a queer, biracial black woman, Victoria’s approach to teaching seeks to investigate the complexity of our human experience while holding plenty of space for kindness. Her practice has also been informed by 3-years of volunteer work at Zen Hospice and a deep exploration of how developing a relationship with impermanence and death can actually point us to a profound sense of aliveness.
She completed Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders training program in 2016, and Teacher Training in 2020. Victoria is honored to currently serve as one of Spirit Rock’s Staff Dharma Teachers, and a member of the Teacher’s Council for the San Francisco Dharma Center project, in addition to teaching retreats and groups, and mentoring students.
Victoria Cary's Upcoming Programs
Retreat | On-Land
September 27 - October 2, 2026 | Sunday - Friday | 5 nights
The Dharma of Nature: Nature as Refuge, Teacher, Beloved
Spaces Still Available! Through guided nature-based meditations, together we will cultivate embodied mindfulness, deepen our connection to the earth, and awaken to the profound wisdom found in nature. Explore teachings on impermanence, interconnection, and letting go while opening to joy, awe, and inner stillness. This retreat offers a powerful refuge—nourishing the spirit, supporting resilience, and inspiring heartfelt presence in the midst of our changing world.
Mark Coleman
Victoria Cary
Kirsten Rudestam
Lissa Edmond (Teacher in Training)
Fernmarie Rodriguez (Teacher in Training)
Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith (Teacher in Training)
Retreat | On-Land
November 1 - November 6, 2026 | Sunday - Friday | 5 nights
Finding True Refuge: A Retreat for the LGBTQIA+ and GNC Community
For those who identify as LGBTQIA+. Spaces Still Available! Explore Buddhist practices and teachings of liberation in our LGBTQIA+ and GNC (Gender Non-Conforming) community. Together, we will practice mindfulness and heart-fulness, embracing all of our experience with loving awareness and deep acceptance. There will be an emphasis on cultivating a continuity of awareness in all activities (sitting, stillness, standing, walking, movement, eating) with a relaxed and gentle presence. Through these practices, we will explore what true refuge means for us individually and for our community.
Retreat | On-Land
November 6 - November 13, 2026 | Friday - Friday | 7 nights
Liberation through Mindfulness and Insight
Spaces Still Available! This silent meditation retreat is rooted in the early Buddhist tradition, drawing on a living lineage of liberating practice from the time of the Buddha. Through kind, sustained attention to body and mind, we cultivate mindfulness and insight through direct experience rather than theory. Within the supportive structure of silence, clarity and ease can naturally arise. Suitable for newcomers and experienced meditators, the retreat includes guided and self-supported meditation, with limited speaking for Q&A and practice meetings.
Retreat | On-Land
January 27 - February 1, 2027 | Wednesday - Monday | 5 nights
Turning Toward Freedom: The Four Noble Truths
Registration Open. Explore the Four Noble Truths as a direct path of freedom. In this retreat, we look closely at how suffering and dissatisfaction show up in everyday life, and how reactivity can be understood rather than followed. Grounded in lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, this is a training in meeting each moment with clarity and care. No prior experience required—only a willingness to begin.
Retreat | On-Land
April 6 - April 10, 2027 | Tuesday - Saturday | 4 nights
Ancient Wisdom, Present Freedom: Follow the Buddha's Recipe for Liberation
Registration Open. In this retreat, we will be following the Buddha's powerful recipe for liberation as outlined in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta. This is a powerful practice framework for cultivating openhearted awareness with the full dimensionality of our human experience and liberating insight into the nature of our own minds. All experience levels are welcome.
Upcoming Drop-Ins
Drop-in | Online
Sunday, October 4 | 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
BIPOC Voices: Weekly Sunday Saṅgha
For those who identify as BIPOC.
The Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Sangha is a weekly gathering for BIPOC practitioners that provides a safe place to meditate and explore the Dharma. Beginners and experienced meditators are welcome.
Victoria Cary
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Victoria Cary through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.