What’s New At Insight Meditation Center
Third Sundays of the month, 7 to 8:30pm February 21: Martina Schneider March 21: Spring Washam Kate Janke started her meditation practice in 2004 at IMC. In 2005 she went to Thailand for six months to deepen her meditation practice in Southeast Asia sitting long retreats. This was a transformative experience that has propelled her to make Buddhist practice central to her life. Currently, Kate co-leads a Kalyana Mitta group for young adults and is one of the founders of…
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Mondays, January 25, February 1 and 8, 7:30 to 9pm
Thursday Evenings, January 7, 14, 21, 28, 7:30 to 9pm We will be exploring the brahma viharas, or divine abodes, on Thursday evenings in January. These are four states of heart and mind that the Buddha encouraged us to develop: unconditional kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), appreciative joy (mudita) and equanimity (upekkha). Each week we will learn the meditation practice associated with one of these and reflect on that state in our own life, its benefits, and the obstacles. We will…
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Sunday, January 24, 11:15am to 12pm
Saturday, April 17, 9am to 5pm Right mindfulness and right concentration, together with right effort, form the concentration-aggregate of the noble eightfold path. Although these factors are often discussed separately, the Pali discourses show that the Buddha meant for them to form a unified practice. This course—through talks, readings, discussions, and meditation—will explore what these factors means and how they can be brought together in a mutually supportive and nourishing way. Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff) is an American monk of…
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October 24 – December 4, 2010 Insight Meditation Society Barre, Massachusettes This three-month course, including its six-week partials, is a special time for practice. Because of its extended length and ongoing guidance, it is an opportunity for students to deepen the powers of concentration, wisdom and compassion. Based on the meditation instructions of Mahasi Sayadaw and supplemented by a range of skillful means, this retreat will encourage a balanced attitude of relaxation and alertness, and the continuity of practice based…
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Friday, January 29, 2010 9:30am to 4:30pm What does it mean to ‘leave prison before you get out’? What are the greater implications of teaching the experience of freedom not just as the other side of the gate but rather as a state of mind? This day-long training features two dedicated professionals that aim to share many years of service in the trenches of our prison system. The teaching will address both specific questions related to Buddhist practice as well…
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The results of the Sept-Oct 2009 IMC Community Survey are in. They are broken into three parts and are available in PDF: Results from all respondents Results from people that attend IMC in person Results from online sangha members Our survey received 322 responses – 242 (75%) from people who attend in person, and 80 (25%) from people who primarily interact with IMC online. Fully 98% report that Buddhist practice has had a positive or very positive effect on their…
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Saturday, February 27, 2010, 9am to 4:30pm Beside insight meditation, metta or lovingkindness meditation is a foundational practice of our Buddhist practice. It is the opening to a compassionate heart, the heartfelt wish for the well-being of oneself and others. A day dedicated to cultivating friendliness and goodwill. Greg Scharf began meditation practice in 1992. He has studied with a variety of teachers both in Asia and the west, and has trained as a Buddhist monk in Burma. Greg has…
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Saturday, February 20, 9am to 4:30pm This is a daylong retreat with alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation, instruction in mindfulness practice, particularly in mindfulness of the body and a dharma talk. It is recommended for both beginners and experienced practitioners. No interviews. Bring lunch.
Saturday, February 6, 2010, 9am to 4:30pm This will be a day of silent and verbal exploration of our own dying process beginning now. In a safe, caring environment we will offer the Buddhist teachings on death as well as our own experiences, fears, hopes, concerns. Together we will share our process and do an exercise to help us get more in touch with the reality of our dying and begin to demystify the whole aura around death. Please bring…
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Friday, January 15, 9:30am to 1pm This morning class will offer an in-depth study of an important discourse by the Buddha. In a dramatic narrative context, a king asks the Buddha about what benefits come from the religious life. The Buddha responds by describing the stages of Buddhist practice. The sutta is the second discourse in Long Discourses. A translation can be found online at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html.
Saturday, January 30, 8:30am to 5pm Practicing mindfulness on retreat is one of the foundations for maturing insight meditation. The simplicity, silence and support of retreats contribute to letting go of many of the distractions that get in the way of clear seeing. Retreats also are a wonderful environment for developing a continuity of awareness for an extended period. This particular daylong retreat is meant for people who already understand the basic practice of mindfulness; no instruction will be given….
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Third Friday of the Month Evenings, 7pm to 9pm On the Monastic Evenings one or more Theravadan nuns will be offering traditional Buddhist chanting, silent or guided meditation, and sharing the Dhamma from the heart. This may take the form of a Dhamma reflection, Dhamma dialogue, taking refuge, or questions and answers. The Saranaloka Foundation was established in 2004 to support nuns from Chithurst and Amaravati monasteries in England to come to the United States to teach. With the blessing…
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Saturday, December 5, 9am to 4:30pm For Young Adults, Ages 20-35 Come join us for a day of practice and experiential investigation into our shadows—dark and light, individual and collective—and how “shadow work” can be a major part of our spiritual practice! Carl Jung spoke of the shadow of the individual as “the ‘negative’ side of the personality, the sum of all those unpleasant qualities we like to hide.” Yet, he thought, the shadow also carries energies and insights necessary…
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