IMS Online Schedule

Extolling the virtuous qualities of meditative development in the Metta Sutta, the Buddha described the qualities of kindness and compassion that manifest in one who embodies his teachings.

Throughout the Sutta series, we will explore narratives about and discourses by the Buddha, which have been passed down for over 2,500 years, and directly apply them to practice in our modern lives.

This program is open to beginning and seasoned meditators alike. All are welcome. This program will include dharma teachings, meditation instructions, and opportunities for Q&R.

A silent mindfulness half-day retreat for the LGBTQIA+ community. This is an opportunity to come together in the safety of our beloved sangha, embracing all of ourselves, as we cultivate wholesome qualities of our hearts and minds. There will be alternating sitting and walking meditation, instruction, and relational practice.

This retreat is open to both experienced and beginner meditators who self-identify as queer, questioning, trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, bisexual, lesbian, gay, agender, intersex, or two-spirit.

We invite self-identified Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) who have been practicing mindfulness for three years and have sat at least two silent residential Insight Meditation retreats of at least 4 days in length to join us for this special online concentration retreat.

In today’s world, it is vital that BIPOC people have access to the Buddha’s empowering teachings on the capacity of the mind/heart to experience deep stillness, tranquility, and one-pointedness.  Wise concentration strengthens the mind, opening it to liberating insight and stabilizing it so that we can meet and effectively respond to life’s challenges.

The instructions and offerings on this retreat will explore the factors of mind that support concentration, including the jhanic factors, renunciation, seclusion, tranquility, and joy.  We will cultivate concentration both through mindfulness of breathing and lovingkindness meditation, and we will explore the different types of concentration accessible to us through these practices.

While one doesn’t practice the Buddha Way for personal gain, there are benefits to those who do. In the Mangala Sutta, the Buddha describes the blessings that are attained along the path.

Throughout the Sutta series, we will explore narratives about and discourses by the Buddha, which have been passed down for over 2,500 years, and directly apply them to practice in our modern lives.

This program is open to beginning and seasoned meditators alike. All are welcome. This program will include dharma teachings, meditation instructions, and opportunities for Q&R.

During this three day online retreat, we will explore how and why we conceptually impose internal and external boundaries upon a world that is naturally boundary free. Each time we draw a line of demarcation internally (my body, my mind, my persona) or externally (others, the external world, nature) we establish a narrowing definition of ourselves while increasing our psychic distance from others. We believe we gain control by establishing boundaries but are usually unaware of how it restrains and limits our freedom.  Since boundaries establish our sense of self and other, a life without boundaries would reveal a truly interconnected world.

Join us on this three-day exploration of boundaries, which will also explore the sanity of setting healthy personal boundaries and establishing principled ethical limits. This weekend retreat will include dharma talks, silent and guided meditations and inquiries, Q&A sessions and Qigong with Ellen McCown.

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.

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.