About
Susan Morgan teaches mindfulness meditation and is affiliated with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. She co-leads residential retreats with Bill Morgan, including silent retreats focused on mindfulness practice and nervous system regulation.
Teaching focus
Susan Morgan's teaching focus sits inside the Burmese vipassana revival as transmitted to the West, with insight meditation (vipassana) as the working ground. Vipassana practice as taught here works with direct observation of body, feeling-tone, mind-state, and dhammas, the four foundations of mindfulness as they appear in the Satipatthana Sutta. The instruction keeps coming back to what's actually arising rather than what should be. Working with stress isn't treated as the entry-level version of the dharma. It's where most practitioners actually start, and the teaching takes that starting point seriously. The teaching is shaped by the silent-retreat container, with the long arcs and the sustained quiet that container makes possible. Across the body of work, the consistent thread in Susan Morgan's teaching is the refusal to let practice become abstract. The instruction asks for direct contact with what's actually arising, and the framing supports practitioners in giving it that. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion.
Background
Susan Morgan teaches mindfulness meditation and is affiliated with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. She co-leads residential retreats with Bill Morgan, including silent retreats focused on mindfulness practice and nervous system regulation. This retreat offers mindfulness practices to calm the nervous system, release built-up stress, and restore balance, held in silence and spiritual friendship. RESIDENTIAL August 4, 2026, August 9, 2026 Bill Morgan, Susan Morgan Finding Balance in Chaos: A Mindfulness Retreat for Coming Back to Ourselves In turbulent times, return to what steadies you. This retreat offers mindfulness practices to calm the nervous system, release built-up stress, and restore balance, held in silence and spiritual friendship. In turbulent times, return to what steadies you. This retreat offers mindfulness practices to calm the nervous system, release built-up stress, and restore balance, held in silence and spiritual friendship. Filter by: - Metta - Metta Susan Morgan's teaching is anchored at Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in central Massachusetts, the scholarly partner to IMS. The teaching draws from the Burmese vipassana revival as transmitted to the West, with insight meditation (vipassana) as the working ground. Areas of particular focus include stress, silent retreat. In Susan Morgan's talks the emphasis lands on direct observation. What the breath actually does, what mood actually feels like in the body, what arises and passes when nothing is being added. The practice is asked to deliver its own evidence. Practitioners drawn to Susan Morgan's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Susan Morgan's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Susan Morgan's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Susan Morgan's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Susan Morgan's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Susan Morgan's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way.
Lineage
Susan Morgan teaches within the Burmese vipassana revival as transmitted to the West. Current affiliation runs through Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in central Massachusetts, the scholarly partner to IMS. Susan Morgan teaches as a lay practitioner rather than from a monastic role. The lineage shapes the form of the teaching, not just its content. Practitioners encountering it find a transmission line still actively developing. The lineage shapes the form of the teaching, not just its content. Practitioners encountering it find a transmission line still actively developing. The lineage shapes the form of the teaching, not just its content. Practitioners encountering it find a transmission line still actively developing.
What to expect
On retreat with Susan Morgan you'll get long sits, walking practice, and dharma talks that build on each other across days. The container is silent or near-silent, which gives the teaching room to land in a way that single classes can't quite reach. Sittings are conventional, mindfulness of breath and body, with metta and inquiry into difficult mind-states woven through. There's space for questions, and the answers don't get rushed. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own.
