IMS Online Schedule

When teaching Metta, we often hear from students that cultivating loving-kindness for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we have Metta 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 inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate loving-kindness for all beings.

This program is available as individual months, although we recommend that you join us for the entire year to learn different teachers’ approaches to this practice, in order to find some that work best for you.

Our vision is to have our teachers share stories about their teachers, to honour our gratitude to the Asian roots of the practice; to give a sense of these teachings being handed down, generation to generation; and to give current practitioners a sense of carrying this precious gift forward.

Our collective practice is primarily rooted in the Burmese and Thai Forest lineages through Mahasi Sayadaw and Ajahn Mun, and, is also influenced by many other traditions. We will build a virtual lineage image as we go along, to create a visual sense of our practice and its roots.

During this session, these beloved teachers will share stories of their beloved teachers from the Theravada Thai Forest Tradition as well as exploring how the Theravada and Mahayana traditions balance and support one another.  This session will also explore how our lineage and practice support wise and strong action in our world for climate, peace, and social justice.

This group offers a unique opportunity to read and explore with author and meditation teacher Rebecca Bradshaw from her newly released book, Down to Earth Dharma: Insight Meditation to Awaken the Heart. Practicing dropping down out of our usual mind- and action-oriented relationship with the world, our inquiry will emphasize the cultivation of softer qualities touched through the heart and body, such as receptivity, feeling, intuitive understanding, interconnectedness, and down-to-earth authenticity.  All students and adventurers are invited to this personal exploration of traditional Buddhist teachings navigated through the heart and embodiment. Each session we will investigate a section of the book through author reflections, guided meditation, and inquiry.

Metta is the practice of offering positive intentions for the safety, peace and wellbeing of ourselves, others and ultimately all beings. Join us for this weekend of cultivating deeper connection to ourselves and all of life.

In this 4-part series, we will explore the theoretical and practical ways that the Dharma reveals caregiving as both a liberative and nourishing path of practice. We’ll find practical ways to apply the teachings to the realities of caregiving life, and we will connect on the struggles and blessings of the life of a caregiver; making space for grief, joy, and love.

When teaching Metta, we often hear from students that cultivating loving-kindness for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we have Metta 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 inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate loving-kindness for all beings.

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 in this daylong retreat exploring dana, the Buddha’s path of generosity, as a source of freedom and connection. Through guided and silent meditations, relational exercises and Dharma reflections, experience dana as an act of letting go and kindness. Deepen your understanding of generosity’s transformative power, cultivating joy and interdependence. This program offers practical insights, community connection, and opportunities to integrate dana into everyday life. All are welcome.

Our vision is to have our teachers share stories about their teachers, to honour our gratitude to the Asian roots of the practice; to give a sense of these teachings being handed down, generation to generation; and to give current practitioners a sense of carrying this precious gift forward.

When teaching Metta, we often hear from students that cultivating loving-kindness for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we have Metta 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 inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate loving-kindness for all beings.

Exploring deeply the Buddhist teachings of mindfulness infused with lovingkindness, this silent meditation retreat, open to all, will cultivate our connection to ourselves and to life itself through body-centered awareness. Developing intimacy with our physical, energetic, and emotional bodies, we will touch essential truths about life and gain the stability of heart that helps us move through this world with greater wisdom and compassion.

When teaching Metta, we often hear from students that cultivating loving-kindness for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we have Metta 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 inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate loving-kindness for all beings.

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 teaching Metta, we often hear from students that cultivating loving-kindness for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we have Metta 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 inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate loving-kindness for all beings.

When teaching Metta, we often hear from students that cultivating loving-kindness for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we have Metta 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 inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate loving-kindness for all beings.

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 teaching Metta, we often hear from students that cultivating loving-kindness for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we have Metta 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 inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate loving-kindness 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 teaching Metta, we often hear from students that cultivating loving-kindness for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we have Metta 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 inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate loving-kindness for all beings.

When teaching Metta, we often hear from students that cultivating loving-kindness for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we have Metta 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 inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate loving-kindness for all beings.

When teaching Metta, we often hear from students that cultivating loving-kindness for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we have Metta 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 inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate loving-kindness for all beings.

When teaching Metta, we often hear from students that cultivating loving-kindness for themselves is the hardest part. But how can we have Metta 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 inward as the ground upon which we can cultivate loving-kindness 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 IMS Online teachers who held community space for us to sit together, find our breath, and take refuge in each other and our practice. This program was recorded live on November 6 – November 9, 2024 and includes reflections and meditations from Kamala Masters, Tara Mulay, Chas DiCapua, and Sharon Salzberg.

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.