Bearing Witness

A Donor’s Story of Planned Giving

IMS has been Pamela Lear’s spiritual home since 1982. Since then, she has made a pilgrimage to Barre almost every year, finding refuge in the silence and exploring the possibility of awakening. A few years ago, she took the step to include the organization in her will. 

What brought her to that point, and what did this gesture signify? Here, she tells her story.

As I look back over my life, my father’s death in 1976 was one of those momentous turning points. I’d returned home to help nurse him while he was critically ill. Just prior to this, I’d been on retreat with Ram Dass, and he’d advised me to “go home as his daughter and serve in that role.” It was a sad and grueling month. My last words with my father were something like, “I love you, Dad, take care of yourself.”  He responded, “Don’t worry, Pammy, I’ll be all right.” He was dying, facing the unknown, and yet he was trying to reassure and comfort me.

This period of time motivated me to explore the mysteries of death as a part of life and I eventually went to Ram Dass and Stephen Levine’s first retreat on Death and Dying in Yucca Valley in 1979. After attending three such courses, Stephen Levine recommended that I try vipassana (insight) meditation. I did, and for four years became a dharma bum, sitting three or four retreats a year, cooking for or managing retreats, all on the West Coast where I was based. In 1982 I sat at IMS for the first time, participating in the three-month course. Ever since, I have tried to come back once a year to practice.

Spiritual practice is the foundation of my life - the anchor from which everything else is processed and assessed. Whether confronting issues about my marriage of 33 years, my teenage daughter, work, or my friends, I know that my life is in balance if I am responding with humor or gratitude. These two qualities are fruits of my spiritual practice; they are qualities that I have found lead to compassion and wisdom. IMS is where I continue to develop those qualities.

I am awed by the courage displayed by Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield and others who founded IMS all those years ago, pioneering something new in the West. Their invitation was, and still is, remarkably simple – to take an honest look and see clearly what is true in life and what isn’t. When I do this, I discover what leads to happiness and contentment, and what doesn’t. IMS offers a rare and precious opportunity to engage in this type of exploration.

So it was a very natural step to include the organization in my estate plans. I called IMS to ask questions and was given easy guidelines and recommendations about various options. I talked to my lawyer and a simple sentence was added to my will.

In adding this sentence, however, I made a much bigger, bolder statement: I am bearing witness to what is true for me. I am declaring that what has mattered deeply to me is my spiritual practice, and I am acknowledging the part that IMS continues to play in that process.

The small annual contributions and the modest bequest in my will represent my alignment with the commitment and vision of my teachers – it is my way of affirming the benefits of the practice. This gesture both expresses my gratitude for the guidance provided by my teachers and helps assure the availability of the teachings for future generations, long after I’m gone.

Please consider including IMS in your estate plans. For more information about giving options, from bequests to gifts of retirement assets, contact our Development office at (978) 355-4378 ext. 230 or development@dharma.org or visit our Planned Giving section.

If you have designated IMS as the beneficiary of a legacy gift, we would love to hear from you.