The Joy of Meditation- Vipassana and the Whole 9 Yards
8 Sesssions
Thursday mornings, 10:00-Noon, February 4-March 25

 The Buddha’s teachings on meditation have been referred to as a “technology of transformation.”  His teachings offered a range of meditation practices which are generally categorized as Sati (Mindfulness), Samadhi (Unification/tranquility), Vipassana (Insight), Metta (Friendliness), and Jhana (Absorption).  Many of these practices found their way into the later Buddhist traditions and are very much part of the modern mindfulness movement (MBSR etc), although not always explicitly. Added to this, the practices themselves are taught in a very wide range of ways, depending on the individual teacher and cultural context. 

This bounty can, paradoxically, lead to confusion and doubt, or to staying on the surface level in our practice as a result of switching around so much. What is the relationship between these practices? How do we know when to turn to one or the other? There are ways to welcome depth, playfulness and creativity in practice to counter this doubt and confusion.

This class is intended as a support for anyone who has completed a beginner meditation course or a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction class, and who is curious about the specific Buddhist teachings on meditation.  Each class will involve a significant practice period and teaching based on the original suttas, as well as classical and modern interpretative commentaries. 

We will spend time investigating our own experience with each of these practices and sharing the fruit of wisdom and compassion that comes of this.

Thursday morning Dharma
offered by New York Insight
October 1-November 5 10:00-noon
On-Line Via Zoom

This very first factor of the Noble Eightfold Path, Right View (Samma Ditthi) is crucial for both our individual and societal awakening. It propels us onto the path, and helps us to return to the practice and to clarity when we stray. Right view starts with the simple understanding of how to live a wholesome life, and then becomes a direct seeing into the three qualities of existence—dukkha, anicca, and anatta, followed by the embodied knowing of these qualities. How do we then live from this place? How do we move from a vision to sustainable transformation? How do we integrate Right View into our lives, and impact the world around us?  In this six-week course we will take a deep dive into Samma-Ditthi, considering various suttas and their interpretations, and how this aspect of the Dharma evolved in later Buddhist traditions.

Each class will involve guided meditation, a dharma talk and discussion,

Participants should have completed at least an Insight 101 class and have a basic understanding of the Four Noble Truths.

A Five Wednesday mornings for MBSR Alumni
(and others whose meditation practice could use some fertilizing) 

Has your meditation practice been flagging?  Are you finding yourself falling into unskillful habits? Give you mindfulness practice a boost.  This class will include periods of formal practice, inquiry and discussion and offer many options for exploring all the areas in your life where the seeds of practice can be cultivated.   This class is suited for anyone who has recently (or not so recently) completed the 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction class and anyone who feels “stuck” in their practice.

Six Wednesday Evenings!

You’ve learned to meditate and started to develop a daily practice and perhaps are wondering “now what”? If so, this course is for you.

Each session in this six-week class will include meditation and discussion of how we bring our meditation practices to life and life to our practice. Meditation cultivates compassion, patience, equanimity and much more. Do we integrate them into our daily life and are we mindful of those moments when we don’t? How do we work with afflictive emotions like anger, jealousy, frustration? How do we handle our inner critic? Most importantly, in this age of COVID19, how does our practice of meditation and mindfulness keep us safer?

This course is for MBSR graduates and relatively new meditators.

Registration: $330-$120

How do the core Buddhist teachings impact the way you live and how does your life create its own dharma. Are you trying to control life or are you allowing life to live itself fully through you? How do you get in your own way? When does love and trust vanquish fear? Within the Buddha’s own teaching the word Dharma has a number of meanings—the truth, the teachings, the way, the nature of life, qualities of the mind, etc.

We will integrate all these meanings into this exploration of practice. Each week we will explore a very specific teaching and see how it reflects our lives, and how our lives reflect the teaching. What keeps us from living the Dharma fully?

Each class will include a period of formal practice, a short dharma talk, time for discussion and further practice as well as one-to-one teacher meetings.

The class is geared for advanced practitioners as well as for those who have already taken a beginning meditation class or MBSR.

Thursday Mornings at the Center
a six-week class

In the Satipatthana Sutta (Foundations of Mindfulness) the Buddha states “one abides contemplating the body (feelings, mind and dharmas) internally, externally and internally and externally. . . “.

If we are to fully engage with life our meditation practice must be internal and external and in so doing we connect with the eternal that connects all beings. In this way, we have an impact not only on our individual life but we truly share the merit of our practice with all lives.

During this course, we will investigate the internal and external phenomenon in Buddhist meditation practice, looking through various lenses both in the specific teachings on mindfulness but in many other teachings as well.

Participants should have some prior meditation experience, and it is helpful to have thorough experience with a foundational course or text on topics such as Insight Meditation or MBSR.