Events

Mindfulness in Daily Life Retreat with Andrea Fella

Mindfulness in Daily Life Retreat with Andrea Fella

(Householder Retreat) Sunday to Saturday, March 7 – 13 Integrating practice into our daily lives can be difficult. Many of us need support for this challenging but rewarding aspect of practice. We will integrate formal practice and Dharma discussion with daily life by surrounding our usual workweek and workdays with practice & discussion. A half-day retreat with instructions and discussion on Sunday, ending with a daylong retreat on the following Saturday. During the week, meet morning and evening. You may…

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Beginners’ Practice Group

Beginners’ Practice Group

Wednesdays, February 17, 24, March 3, 10, 17, 7:30 to 9pm This series is for those beginners who have taken a basic mindfulness meditation instruction class and would like to take the next step in building and supporting their practice.  Come to this six-week discussion group on developing mindfulness practice.  There will be a 20 minute sitting, a review of the basic teachings, and lots of discussion.  The class will review the basic instructions in mindfulness meditation, discuss the five…

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Young Adults (Ages 20 – 35) Sitting Group

Young Adults (Ages 20 – 35) Sitting Group

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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Visit the Divine Abodes Series w/ Anushka Fernandopulle

Visit the Divine Abodes Series w/ Anushka Fernandopulle

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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Sati Center: Union of Mindfulness & Concentration Daylong with Thanissaro Bikkhu

Sati Center: Union of Mindfulness & Concentration Daylong with Thanissaro Bikkhu

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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Three Month Course, Part 2 with Joseph Goldstien, Rebecca Bradshaw, Annie Nugent, Greg Scharf, Andrea Fella

Three Month Course, Part 2 with Joseph Goldstien, Rebecca Bradshaw, Annie Nugent, Greg Scharf, Andrea Fella

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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Bringing the Dharma to Prison: An introduction to offering meditation, chaplaincy and Buddhist practice in prisons and jail with Paul Haller and Jacques Verduin

Bringing the Dharma to Prison: An introduction to offering meditation, chaplaincy and Buddhist practice in prisons and jail with Paul Haller and Jacques Verduin

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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Metta Daylong with Greg Scharf

Metta Daylong with Greg Scharf

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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The Sacred Act of Death and Dying with Berget Jelane & David Cohn

The Sacred Act of Death and Dying with Berget Jelane & David Cohn

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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Sati Center Sutta Study: Fruits of the Contemplative Life Taught by Gil Fronsdal

Sati Center Sutta Study: Fruits of the Contemplative Life Taught by Gil Fronsdal

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.

Daylong Retreat with Gil Fronsdal

Daylong Retreat with Gil Fronsdal

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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