IMS Online Schedule

Through natural and relaxed awareness, we train to see the habits of mind and the ways we separate, distract, and isolate ourselves from the world. Compassion and equanimity allow us to be present and connected, softening our hearts and revealing with clarity what it’s like to be human while enabling us to maintain balance as we navigate the challenges of the times.

“When learning about compassion, we often hear from students that cultivating it for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we cultivate compassion or loving-kindness for others if we cannot start with the person closest to us? During this year-long program, a variety of IMS Online teachers will guide us through the tender practice of turning our metta and karuna practices inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate those energies for all beings.

In this special group mentorship program, IMS co-founder Joseph Goldstein offers support to meditators seeking to unlock the secrets of deep practice. The  program offers a rare opportunity to ask questions that may be shared by others and to receive customized instruction while being in community and learning from each other.

This six-week online course will explore what the Buddha was pointing to when he stated that experience is impermanent (aniccā), unsatisfactory (dukkha), and not-self (anattā). Focusing mostly on anattā, we will approach this key teaching in a variety of ways, to help understand how it leads to greater ease, happiness, and freedom in our lives.

“When learning about compassion, we often hear from students that cultivating it for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we cultivate compassion or loving-kindness for others if we cannot start with the person closest to us? During this year-long program, a variety of IMS Online teachers will guide us through the tender practice of turning our metta and karuna practices inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate those energies for all beings.

During this daylong retreat for experienced practitioners, we will explore qualities of attention that refine our mindfulness practice and provide the ground for insight into the truth of the way things are.  Inclining our minds towards a deeply restful, allowing attention opens us to joy and ease.  Clear perception of moment-to-moment experience unclouds our attention.  Letting go of a mistaken sense of ownership of passing experience deepens our understanding of the truth. These capacities of mind are available to all of us, and they are the seeds of awakening.

Many of the teachings throughout this retreat will draw from the path to awakening as described in the late Mahāsi Sayadaw’s Manual of Insight. We’ll explore the steps laid out by the Buddha that lead to the sure heart’s release: the purification of conduct, the purification of mind through concentration and insight, the understanding of absolute and conventional reality, and the stages of insight that lead to nibbana (liberation).

“When learning about compassion, we often hear from students that cultivating it for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we cultivate compassion or loving-kindness for others if we cannot start with the person closest to us? During this year-long program, a variety of IMS Online teachers will guide us through the tender practice of turning our metta and karuna practices inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate those energies for all beings.

This online retreat experience will be a livestream of the onsite Your Life Is Your Practice: Insight Meditation Weekend Retreat with Narayan Helen Liebenson.

Meditation instructions and Dharma talks will be broadcast live from the IMS Meditation Hall. There will also be an opportunity to submit questions to Narayan.

“When learning about compassion, we often hear from students that cultivating it for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we cultivate compassion or loving-kindness for others if we cannot start with the person closest to us? During this year-long program, a variety of IMS Online teachers will guide us through the tender practice of turning our metta and karuna practices inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate those energies for all beings.

Over decades, we have been delighted to walk the path of awakening with other women through the annual women’s retreat at IMS. The community of women who have participated in this retreat over time have been a source of inspiration and refuge for us and so many of our alumni. It has been a rich and enlivening journey, and we have been honored to have been part of your lives through this extraordinary retreat. To create even more space for women who wish to join our community, we are now committed to continuing this offering through the addition of an annual online retreat, open to all those who have participated in the women’s retreat in the past and to any new students who feel called to add their voices and hearts to the circle.

“When learning about compassion, we often hear from students that cultivating it for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we cultivate compassion or loving-kindness for others if we cannot start with the person closest to us? During this year-long program, a variety of IMS Online teachers will guide us through the tender practice of turning our metta and karuna practices inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate those energies for all beings.

Buddhist teachings name wisdom, paññā, as a faculty that all humans possess, but may not have developed deeply. Wisdom is essential for liberating the heart from suffering, and is naturally developed through Dharma practice. This class aims to help participants recognize and deepen the Dharma wisdom already present in their life so that it can be applied to benefit themselves and others. The world dearly needs more wisdom, both as basic clarity and discernment and because it is intimately connected to compassion.

“When learning about compassion, we often hear from students that cultivating it for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we cultivate compassion or loving-kindness for others if we cannot start with the person closest to us? During this year-long program, a variety of IMS Online teachers will guide us through the tender practice of turning our metta and karuna practices inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate those energies for all beings.

“When learning about compassion, we often hear from students that cultivating it for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we cultivate compassion or loving-kindness for others if we cannot start with the person closest to us? During this year-long program, a variety of IMS Online teachers will guide us through the tender practice of turning our metta and karuna practices inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate those energies for all beings.

Every human being who meditates is likely to face challenges in their practice. A seasoned guide is essential for developing the necessary skills to proceed on the path to liberation with balance and stability. In this on-demand program, IMS co-founder Joseph Goldstein supports meditators seeking to unlock the secrets of depth practice. The topics covered in these sessions include practicing with aging, illness and death, concentration, grief, karma, mindfulness, equanimity, impermanence, and the self.

This on-demand program, open to all, includes short guided meditations and Joseph’s responses to questions that students raised. The content in these sessions offers practical tools and techniques that can be used for your formal meditation or daily practice anytime, anywhere.

This program consists of previously recorded live sessions from the “Ask Joseph: Group Mentorship Program.”

Join Christina Feldman for a mini retreat focused on the quality of joyfulness—a gladdened heart that the Buddha valued deeply in his teachings as a quality that inclines the mind toward awakening. Christina describes joyfulness as a resilient ally that brings empathy, compassion, and light during difficult times. She emphasizes the importance of cultivating joyfulness, especially in challenging moments, and shares teachings from the Buddha about joy and appreciation.

The retreat includes two hours of guided meditations, Dharma talks, reflections, and a suggested schedule. This framework can be integrated into your daily practice or sprinkled throughout the days to come, giving you the opportunity to shape your practice as you wish. The retreat is open to both beginning and experienced meditators.

Welcome to The Way of the Buddha, an immersive audio learning experience from IMS Online. For 45 years, IMS has been a leader in Dharma education rooted in the foundational principles of Early Buddhism. Now, for the first time, our teachers offer the profound insights of the Buddha in a comprehensive practice and study program delivered directly to you in your own online practice space. Each module features IMS teachers from many generations and backgrounds who will guide you on the path.

During this daylong on-demand recording, we’ll dive into the practice of Metta, or loving-kindness, as taught in the Visuddhimagga. Using phrases, images and felt sense, we’ll cultivate the unconditional heart that wishes goodness for ourselves, others, and even those most difficult to love. In developing the natural kindness of the heart, we can trust that we’re building the skills to wisely respond to our own challenges, as well as our collective challenges of these times.

Appropriate for beginning and seasoned meditators alike. All are welcome. This on-demand retreat includes dharma teachings and meditation instructions for both sitting and walking meditation.

A film about the early days of IMS and how this revered Buddhist meditation retreat center came into being. Made in partnership with long-time yogis Eddie and Jan Hauben and filmmakers Joe and Elizabeth Seamans, the documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the discovery and creation of IMS’s permanent home—where it sits today—in Barre, MA. It includes personal, heartwarming interviews with co-founders Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, and Jack Kornfield, and other early teachers, board members, and staff as well as photos and archival footage from the beginning days of IMS.

This March, we honor Nani Bala Barua (1911-1989), the beloved teacher known as “Dipa Ma”—mother of Dipa. Born in East Bengal (now Bangladesh), Dipa Ma broke barriers as a married householder committed to the path of enlightenment. Following her training in Burma, she settled in Calcutta, where her reputation as a Buddhist teacher and realized meditator quickly inspired other women to begin spiritual training as part of everyday life. Eventually, her mastery and modesty attracted many Westerners as well, including IMS co-founders Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, and Jack Kornfield. Dipa Ma is said to have encouraged relationships with people near and far, saying, “They are hungry for the Dhamma, so let them come.” In 1980 and again in 1984, Dipa Ma came to teach at IMS, establishing a connection that remains in our hearts today.

Through personal stories and the transmission of practices held sacred by Dipa Ma herself, Sharon Salzberg lead three sessions honoring Dipa Ma’s life, legacy, and teachings. Together, we will contemplate her influence and bathe in the maternal love that Dipa Ma represented through her thoughts, words, and actions. We hope you will join us for this special IMS event; the first of several explorations into the lineages and legacies that shaped the Insight Meditation Society and that continue to inspire our work and practice.