Insight Meditation Community of Providence
Important Announcement Regarding COVID-19 Cancellations
In keeping with the national and global response to the current public health emergency, we are canceling our regular 1st and 3rd Thursday Sitting Meditation and Dharma Reading / Dharma Sharing gatherings until further notice, including canceling the gathering formerly scheduled for Thursday, March 19, 2020.
As we are all continuing to learn, the more we can limit or eliminate proximity to other people, the more we will help contain the spread of COVID-19 such that it does not wildly exceed our health care system's capacity to provide the care that will be needed. Practicing at home rather than in community is one way we can do this. Insight Meditation Society is offering shared online practice through its Facebook Live page as a way of supporting practice and community. IMS also has these words of guidance:
We also encourage you to consider a home retreat; while the experience may not be the same as an IMS retreat, the development of wisdom and compassion is more important than ever and these characteristics can be cultivated in any location, and at any time. Resources to support your home practice are available at dharmaseed.org.
You might also consider engaging in a daily metta practice. The coronavirus has already taken the lives of many beings, and many more – near and far – are suffering at this time.
We will provide updates if they are needed, i.e., when it is safe to resume our twice monthly gatherings. Because this crisis will almost certainly continue to demand our shared attention and vigilance, including minimizing unnecessary contact, for the next several weeks, and probably the next several months, we anticipate suspending meetings for quite some time.
Please feel free to write to us, including with ideas about nourishing practice and community in these challenging times. Please also feel free to use this IMCP Facebook page as a place for our community to connect online for those so inclined.
We are a growing community dedicated to supporting the practice of Insight (Vipassana) Meditation and the study of the Dharma, the Buddha's teachings on how to live a fulfilling and helpful life that addresses the suffering of each person and all beings.
Our community exists to support and nurture the practice and study of the Dharma for anyone in the greater Providence area and beyond. We seek to know each other and to help one another along this path. We welcome newcomers warmly!
We are aligned with the Insight Meditation Society, and look to teachers affiliated with it for most of our dharma teaching. The Insight Meditation Society was founded in 1976. Located in Barre, Massachusetts, IMS describes itself as a spiritual refuge for all who seek freedom of mind and heart. It offers meditation retreats rooted in the Theravada Buddhist teachings of ethics, concentration and wisdom. These practices help develop awareness and compassion, giving rise to greater peace and happiness in the world.
Insight Meditation
Vipassana meditation, which can be translated as insight meditation, is a simple yet profound practice from among the central teachings of the Buddha. Fundamentally, we simply sit, and know, with full awareness, that we are sitting. More specifically, the practice encompasses two interwoven phases: the development of tranquility (shamatha) that makes way for clear seeing (vipassana) of things as they really are. The practice helps participants cultivate deeper awareness that fosters compassion for self, others, and the world.
Sitting meditation practice is the cornerstone of our 1st & 3rd Thursday sittings. However, other practices, including walking meditation and lovingkindness (metta) practice, are also central to the insight meditation tradition, and are incorporated into periodic community practice events. All are also encouraged to incorporate these practices, as well as the awareness and kindness that they help cultivate, into our everyday lives in whatever way fits best. Participants are able to discuss these during the sharing time at our Thursday gatherings--an experience that can provide encouragement through the group’s support.