IMS Online Schedule

Mindfulness is a quality of awareness in which our perception of the present moment’s experience is not distorted by biases such as old fears, assumptions, or projection into the future. It shows us what life looks like when we see through the lens of universal conditions such as impermanence and interconnection. Mindfulness spearheads the path of understanding our lives by helping us to notice what causes us suffering and what brings us freedom from suffering. It is the root of living our lives more fully and more truly. This nine-month online program features IMS teachers from many generations and backgrounds. You can participate in all nine months or pick and choose the topics that interest you most. Whether you use mindfulness to manage stress or difficult emotions, improve relationships, increase engagement, or enhance your overall well-being, these discussions can help you further live your mindfulness practice.

The Insight Recovery Sangha will meet monthly on Zoom and is for anyone (self-identified) who is working with strong cravings or addictions. We will meditate, hear short dharma talks related to Buddhist teachings and recovery, and share candidly with each other in community. The purpose of this group is to foster community and learn how to apply teachings on mindfulness, compassion and wisdom to our recovery program. The emphasis will be on how craving causes suffering and how cultivating insight into the nature of craving can greatly ease our suffering, and help us lead more peaceful and contented lives. We have no affiliations with any other organizations and this is not a 12-Step group, although various known addiction recovery modalities may be referred to from time to time. This group is open to everyone. There is no need to qualify for membership when you introduce yourself to the group. However, we do believe this group will work best for those committed to a life free from substance abuse and harmful addictive behaviors. The teachers, Walt Opie and Dalila Bothwell, will serve as group facilitators, dharma teachers, and sangha (community) members. Over time, there will be guest teachers, as well.

Open to all self-identified BIPOC only. The BIPOC Sangha is a bi-weekly gathering of practitioners who meditate together and explore the teachings of the Buddha in the light of personal experience. Each weekly gathering includes a short talk, guided meditation, and/or a silent sit for about 30-40 minutes. Some gatherings add a 10-15 minute question and response period to help support the practice.

Welcome to Indigenous Insight, a monthly gathering. Throughout 2023,  join IMS teachers Jeanne Corrigal (member of the mixed heritage Métis Nation) and Bonnie Duran (an Opelousas/Coushatta descendant), as they bring together Indigenous voices and hearts to explore the Buddha’s teachings through the lens of the Indigenous experience. Each session will feature a short talk, silent or guided meditation, and a Q&A or other opportunity for discussion. Core themes include community, comfort and ceremony. While we understand that many non-Indigenous people may be interested in participating, we ask that they refrain from joining this program which is specifically offered to provide shelter and respite to our Indigenous community.

There is no fee to enroll in Indigenous Insight . If you would like to support this program or your teachers, you may make an offering within the program platform after you enroll.

We live in a web of mutuality and the interpersonal realm is where the rubber meets the road in spiritual practice. Our relationships act like a magnet, pulling both our goodness and unhelpful habits to the surface. As dharma practitioners, we can commit to using relationships as a forum for cultivating more freedom and sharing the fruit of our practice. How can we infuse the principles and practice of dharma into our relational lives? How can others serve as a mirror for our self-understanding? How can we express our joy and freedom in the world?

 This weekend retreat will include guided meditation, periods of silence, dharma talks and opportunities for dialogue with the teachers. All are welcome.

The central focus of Buddhism is the uncovering and abiding in the essence of life. Buried beneath the conditioned rubble of our words and perceptions lies this very approachable fruit of our search. We have to release the conceptual layers that have hidden it from view in order to enter the greater wonderment available to us all. This course will focus on uprooting our false identity within our encased narrative and aligned ego structures. Because of the mental and spiritual stability needed for this exploration, this course is suitable for students with 10 or more years of experience in the Zen, Chan, or Insight Traditions who also have extensive residential retreat experience. We realize this course may only speak to a few practitioners, but we feel this may be one of the rich but infrequent opportunities offered in our tradition where students can access the view, wisdom, and practices necessary for their complete contentment of heart. Participants are asked to remain the entire 7 days and engage the online schedule fully. This course begins on Tuesday, May 2, at 11:00 am ET and concludes Monday, May 8, at 8:00 pm ET. A full home retreat schedule and instructions will be offered.

This online retreat experience will be a livestream of the onsite The Path to Awakening Retreat with Joseph Goldstein, Winnie Nazarko, Bart van Melik, Cara Lai and Roxanne Dault. Meditation instructions and Dharma talks will be broadcasted live from the IMS Meditation Hall. There will also be group practice meetings with support from Ines Freedman, nakawe cuebas berrios, Sharon Salzberg, and Gulwinder “Gullu” Singh on zoom, as well as online affinity groups. Please note: The onsite teachers will not offer practice meetings to online practitioners. Insight meditation (vipassana in Pali, the language of the original Buddhist teachings) is the simple and direct practice of moment-to-moment mindfulness. Through careful and sustained observation, we experience for ourselves the ever-changing flow of the mind/body process. This awareness leads us to accept more fully the pleasure and pain, fear and joy, sadness and happiness that life inevitably brings. As insight deepens, we develop greater equanimity and peace in the face of change, and wisdom and compassion increasingly become the guiding principles of our lives. The Buddha first taught vipassana over 2,500 years ago. The various methods of this practice have been well preserved in the Early Buddhist tradition of Buddhism. This silent retreat, suitable for both beginning and experienced meditators, is rooted in this ancient and well-mapped path to awakening, and draws on the full spectrum of this tradition’s lineages.

This online retreat experience will be a livestream of the onsite The Path to Awakening Retreat with Joseph Goldstein, Winnie Nazarko, Bart van Melik, Cara Lai and Roxanne Dault. Meditation instructions and Dharma talks will be broadcast live from the IMS Meditation Hall. Please note: This audit option of the online program is for anyone that would like to watch and listen to the Dharma talks. The onsite and online teachers will not offer practice meetings for participants of the audit option.  Insight meditation (vipassana in Pali, the language of the original Buddhist teachings) is the simple and direct practice of moment-to-moment mindfulness. Through careful and sustained observation, we experience for ourselves the ever-changing flow of the mind/body process. This awareness leads us to accept more fully the pleasure and pain, fear and joy, sadness and happiness that life inevitably brings. As insight deepens, we develop greater equanimity and peace in the face of change, and wisdom and compassion increasingly become the guiding principles of our lives. The Buddha first taught vipassana over 2,500 years ago. The various methods of this practice have been well preserved in the Early Buddhist tradition of Buddhism. This silent retreat, suitable for both beginning and experienced meditators, is rooted in this ancient and well-mapped path to awakening, and draws on the full spectrum of this tradition’s lineages.

Free Audio Program. Open to all. 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.