The list of courses below provides a glimpse of what we offer at IMSB’s Thursday Programs. Most of these courses were offered in the past; some are scheduled for the near future; many will be re-offered again in the future.

For information and registration details about current and upcoming courses, visit our Event Calendar:

Questions about our Thursday Program can be addressed to ThursdayClass.

Courses in the Dhamma Classroom in 2019:

Buddhist Fundamentals

A six-week course led by Shaila Catherine, Sharon Allen, and Chris Clifford

Demystifying the core beliefs of Buddhism

Thursdays, January 10 – February 21, 2019
7:15 pm to 9:00 pm. Silence begins at 7:00.Arrive early (around 7:00) to enjoy the optional pre-class meditation period.

This course will provide a nuts-and-bolts guide to the core teachings of the Buddha for anyone who is curious about Buddhism. The course is designed to help participants understand fundamental Buddhist concepts and explore how they relate to everyday life, without extensive use of Pali terms or complex lists. Each week we will focus on a different aspect of the Buddha’s teaching, with an emphasis on applying the practices in contemporary everyday life.

  • January 10 – A Brief History of the Buddha and Buddhism
  • January 17 – The Four Noble Truths
  • January 24 – Practicing Mindfulness (Satipatthana)
  • January 31 – The Characteristics of Insight
  • February 7 – The Eightfold Path
  • February 14 – Virtue, Action, and Kamma
  • February 21 – Mindfulness Meditation: A drop-in evening for meditation practice

WHO SHOULD JOIN: This course is open to all practitioners.
COURSE LEVELS: It is designed as a level 1-2 course. Click this link for a key to course level designations.

Pain Without Suffering

Finding peace in the midst of pain

A six-week course led by Shaila Catherine, Janetti Marotta, and Sharon Allen

February 28 – April 11, 2019, 7:15 pm to 9:00 pm. Silence begins at 7:00 pm
Arrive early (around 7:00) to enjoy the optional pre-class meditation period.

Life is uncertain and our bodies are vulnerable to illness and pain. In this 6-week class, we will develop a meditative approach to working with pain that is based on selections from How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness: A Mindful Guide by Toni Bernhard. We will clarify the difference between physical pain and a response to pain that produces suffering.

Drawing from Buddhist principles, these pragmatic and straightforward teachings will be useful for everyone, from those who experience only mild discomfort to those who are living with chronic pain and illness. Regardless of your circumstances, you can learn to live with joy, compassion, and purpose.

  • February 28 – Skills to Help with Each Day
  • March 7 – Complaining: a Recipe for Suffering (and more Skills)
  • March 14 – Mindfulness: a Potent Medicine for Easing Symptoms
  • March 21 – Responding Wisely to Troubling Thoughts and Emotions
  • March 28 – Special Challenges; Sick Upon Sick
  • April 4 – Isolation and Loneliness
  • April 11 – Mindfulness Meditation: A drop-in evening for meditation practice

WHO SHOULD JOIN: This course is open to all practitioners.
COURSE LEVELS: It is designed as a level 1-2 course. Click this link for a key to course level designations.

The Development of Happiness

A Six-week course led by Kim Allen

A practical approach to training in happiness.

April 25 – May 30, 2019. 7:15 pm to 9:00 pm. Silence begins at 7:00.
Arrive early (around 7:00) to enjoy the optional pre-class meditation period.

The Buddhist path can be viewed as the cultivation of deeper and deeper forms of happiness. When suffering is progressively removed from experience, the mind naturally realizes greater ease, joy, happiness, and peace; they are two sides of the same coin. A great depth of happiness is available to the trained mind. This six-week course will explore several levels of happiness through teachings (including sutta readings), meditation instruction, reflections, and small-group discussion. We will nurture practical skills that bolster positive states of mind, and learn to recognize, appreciate, and extend the experience of happiness.

  • April 25—Happiness and the Three Trainings with [Shaila Catherine / Kim Allen]
  • May 2—The Happiness of Ordinary Pleasures with Kim Allen
  • May 9—The Happiness of Benefit and Service with Kim Allen
  • May 16—The Happiness of a Calm and Focused Mind with Kim Allen
  • May 23—The Happiness of Wisdom and Insight with Kim Allen
  • May 30 —The Happiness of Liberation and Living in Peace with Kim Allen

WHO SHOULD JOIN: This course is open to all practitioners.
COURSE LEVELS: It is designed as a level 2-3 course. Click this link for a key to course level designations.

Working Skillfully with Anger

A 6-week workshop on letting go

Led by Sharon Allen and Shaila Catherine

Thursdays, June 20 – August 8, 2019, 7:15 pm to 9:00 pm. Silence begins at 7:00.
Arrive early (around 7:00) to enjoy the optional pre-class meditation period.

Anger is a powerful emotion. When unchecked and unexamined, anger has enormous potential to harm relationships and lead to deep personal suffering. This six-week course will show you how, instead of hating yourself for getting angry, you have the potential to observe the emotion, understand how it functions, learn to let it go, and watch it lead to forgiveness.

The course is based on teachings presented in the anthology All The Rage. This anthology includes short inspiring essays from thirty contemporary Dharma teachers who practice Theravada, Zen, or Tibetan styles of Buddhism. They share their reflections and struggles to face their anger, and learn to live at peace while fully engaged in this complex modern world.

Required Reading: All The Rage: Buddhist Wisdom on Anger and Acceptance. A comprehensive Buddhist anthology edited by Andrea Miller (2014)

  • June 20: Buddhist Perspective on Emotions
  • June 27: Understanding Anger
  • July 11: Practicing with Anger
  • July 18: Going Beyond Blame
  • July 25: Finding Forgiveness
  • August 1: Opening to Compassion
  • August 8:Mindfulness Meditation: A drop-in evening for meditation practice

WHO SHOULD JOIN: This course is open to all practitioners.
COURSE LEVELS: It is designed as a level 1-2 course. Click this link for a key to course level designations.

Focused and Fearless: A Concentration Course

Cultivating the conditions for deep concentration in the midst of daily life

A six-week course led by Shaila Catherine

August 22 – October 3, 2019 7:15 pm to 9:00 pm. Silence begins at 7:00.
Arrive early (around 7:00) to enjoy the optional pre-class meditation period.

This six-week course is designed to strengthen the conditions that make the mind conducive to concentration. We will refine our concentration using practical techniques to help us reduce distraction, anxiety and stress. We will also clarify the experiences and qualities that arise with the deep meditation states known as jhānaand samādhi.

This course will include sitting meditation, readings, and discussion, and will follow the early chapters of Focused and Fearless, our primary course text.

Required Reading: Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide To States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity, by Shaila Catherine

  • August 22 – Creating Conducive Conditions
  • August 29 – Joy of Seclusion
  • September 8 – Pleasure and Happiness
  • September 12 – Equanimity and Balance
  • September 19 – Intensifying Factors
  • September 26 – Transformation of the Object, Access and Absorption
  • October 3 – Mindfulness Meditation: A drop-in evening for meditation practice

“Samadhi is the beautiful state of an undistracted mind, described in the Pali texts as “internally steadied, composed, unified, and concentrated.” —Shaila Catherine, Focused and Fearless, page 3

WHO SHOULD JOIN: This course is open to all practitioners.
COURSE LEVELS: This is designed as a level 1-2 course. Click this link for a key to course level designations.

Mindfulness Meditation

A six-week course taught by Shaila Catherine, Janetti Marotta, Aishin Leonard
A liberating practice for body and mind.

Thursdays, October 17 – December 12, 2019
7:15 pm to 9:00 pm
Silence begins at 7:00.
Arrive early (around 7:00) to enjoy the optional pre-class meditation period.

Living with mindful awareness grounds us in the present moment. In this course, you’ll learn principles of mindfulness and discover how to remain mindful with both pleasant and unpleasant experiences, leading to increased mental clarity, calm and ease.

This six-week course will focus on understanding and practicing mindfulness meditation practices, drawing on the ancient teachings of the Buddha that can be easily integrated into daily life.

Class content and practice skills will include:

  • Week 1: Why Meditate: The power of mindfulness with breathing
  • Week 2: Cultivating Presence: Mindfulness of the body
  • Week 3: Emotional Presence: Mindfulness of mental states
  • Week 4: Settling the Restless Mind: Mindfulness of thoughts
  • Week 5: Practicing Kindness: Metta Practice
  • Week 6: Remember to Remember: Mindfulness recap and practice tips
  • Week 7: Mindfulness Meditation: A drop-in evening for meditation practice

Class format will include:

  • Meditation instruction, with both guided and unguided meditation practice time
  • Teachings on a mindfulness theme
  • Written and experiential exercises and homework
  • Group discussion, Q&A

Visit our Teacher Page for teacher biographies and photographs of our guest teachers.

WHO SHOULD JOIN: This course is open to all practitioners.

COURSE LEVELS: It is designed as a level 1 course. Click this link for a key to course level designations. This foundational Level 1 class is appropriate for those new to meditation as well as those wanting a refresher in establishing a mindfulness meditation practice.

Courses in the Dhamma Classroom in 2018:

Mindfulness in the World

A Practice-Based Course led by Sharon Allen, Jill Shepherd, Jennifer Dungan, and Bill Kostura.
January 25 – March 1, 2018

Life in the world can be stressful – but you can do something about it. This six-week course will emphasize teachings and practices from Buddhism that can make the difference between increased stress and increased well-being in your interactions with the world. You’ll learn about bringing mindful awareness to daily life experiences – for example, with family, in the workplace, and in broader social and cultural circles. Understanding the dynamic interplay between our inner awareness and our responses to experience is an important first step in life decisions.

If you value greater mental and physical balance, clarity, and ease of being, this course is for you!

Some previous meditation experience is useful but not required. This is a Level 2 course.

Class content and practice skills will include:

  • January 25 – Mindful View: finding peace with impermanence and change – with Sharon Allen
  • February 1 – Mindful Intention: letting go of harmful states – with Sharon Allen and Bill Kostura
  • February 8 –Mindful Action: acting in ways that support peace of mind and avoiding harmful actions – with Sharon Allen
  • February 15 – Mindful Livelihood: working from a moral and ethical foundation – with Jennifer Dungan
  • February 22 – Mindful Compassion: caring for all, because we all matter – with Jill Shepherd
  • March 1 – Living in Balance – integrating mindfulness into your life for wisdom, clarity, and ease – with Sharon Allen

Class format will include:

  • Meditation instruction relevant to these themes, with both guided and unguided practices
  • Teachings on these themes
  • Written and experiential exercises and homework
  • Group discussion and interaction, Q&A

Resources will include:

  • Guidance and teachings from experienced mindfulness teachers
  • Weekly written guidelines
  • Sutta references and practice links

Mindful Speech

Bringing clarity and peace to communication.
A 6-week course led by Shaila Catherine, Sharon Allen, and Chris Clifford.
March 15 – April 26, 2018

  • March 15 — Defining Right And Wrong Speech, with Sharon Allen
  • March 22 — Difficult Communications; Responding to Anger, with Shaila Catherine
  • March 29 — No meeting this week. Church needs the room for their Easter events.
  • April 5 — What Is Worth Discussing, with Chris Clifford
  • April 12 — Promoting Community Harmony, with Sharon Allen
  • April 19 — Timely and Useful Speech, with Shaila Catherine
  • April 26 — Where does the talk lead? with Shaila Catherine

Visit our Teacher Page for teacher biographies and photographs.

Course Description:

Words serve as the bridge between our inner thoughts and the world of interaction – once spoken, words produce consequences for the speaker, listener, and community. Cultivating right speech as part of our mindfulness practice serves a dual purpose: it nurtures clarity, understanding, and harmony in relationships, and it helps us investigate subtle intentions and mental patterns.

The Buddha placed a great deal of emphasis on speech—he incorporated Right Speech into the eight-fold path and addressed it in dozens of individual discourses. This six-week course will look at the teachings on speech that are preserved in the Discourses Of The Buddha. Weekly readings and home exercises will explore the role of speech on a spiritual path and help participants bring mindfulness and wisdom to daily conversations.

Mindful Self-Esteem: Cultivating Self-Acceptance and Self-Compassion

A 6-week course based on the book 50 Mindful Steps to Self-Esteem: Everyday Practices for Cultivating Self-Acceptance & Self-Compassion

Led by Janetti Marotta, Ph.D.
May 10 – June 14, 2018

Low self-esteem is such a common issue because we’re conditioned to look for comfort and security in outside factors that are constantly changing. We struggle to lock in a permanent stamp of approval that is unachievable. This “problem of self-esteem” is both a part of the human dilemma in general and at the center of Western culture in particular. 

Mindfulness shifts your perspective from outside-in to inside-out: self-worth arises by cultivating qualities that make it possible to embrace all parts of yourself, just as you are. This cultivation invites your inherent worth or Buddha nature to come to the surface. From an open, undefended position, you’re able to be truly present for yourself, others, and the experience of life.

As you learn to accept that everything changes, you recognize that success and failure wax and wane. When you begin to experience life as an unfolding process, you loosen the confines created by defining yourself as “this or that.” As described in 50 Mindful Steps: “From a Buddhist perspective, self-esteem can be defined as self without definition.”

This course will be taught through three sets of sequentially-based teachings, exercises, and practices:

  1. Practices to still the mind and calm the body (mindfulness of breath and body);
  2. Practices to cultivate self-acceptance (mindfulness of thoughts);
  3. Practices to cultivate self-compassion (mindfulness of emotions).

For biographies and photos of our teachers, visit the Teacher’s Page.

COURSE LEVELS:
This course is open to all practitioners. It is designed as a level 2 course. Click this link for a key to course level designations.

Untangling Self

A practical inquiry into who we think we are.
A course led by Shaila Catherine and Sharon Allen

Thursdays June 28 – August 9, 2018

In this 6-week, teacher-led book group, we will contemplate Untangling Self by Andrew Olendzki—an intriguing new book that explores how the teachings of not-self can be understood, appreciated, and realized through contemporary Buddhist practice.

The author is a Pali Scholar, vipassana practitioner, and longtime member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. He has served as executive director of the Insight Meditation Society and Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and led the Mapping the Mind project for the Mind & Life Institute. Untangling Self is pervaded by his practical knowledge of the Discourses of the Buddha, Abhidhamma psychology, and countless encounters with contemporary meditators. Each chapter draws on important Buddhist concepts and doctrines that are critical for comprehending how the sense of self is constructed and functions.

The course will be led by IMSB’s teachers Shaila Catherine and Sharon Allen, both of whom have studied directly with Andrew Olendzki and are very familiar with these topics. Guided meditations and discussion of the reading assignments will be augmented by teachings or teacher-led exercises. Students are expected to read one chapter per week (10 – 20 pages) to prepare for the in-class discussion.

Required Reading: Untangling Self, by Andrew Olendzki, Published by Wisdom Publications, ISBN: 978-1-61429-300-2

The paperback version of the book will be available for purchase at IMSB events during the two months prior to the course. Alternatively, you can purchase a copy from a bookstore or online bookseller.

  • Week 1 – Understanding the Buddha
  • Week 2 – Mindfulness and Meditation and Non-self
  • Week 3 – Understanding Ourselves
  • Week 4 – The Interdependence of Experience
  • Week 5 – Healing or Harming?
  • Week 6 – Rethinking Buddhism

WHO SHOULD JOIN: Some previous experience with meditation is expected. The topic and concepts are profound, but presented in clear and easily comprehensible language.

COURSE LEVELS: This course is designed as a level 2 course. Click this link for a key to course level designations.

Joy on Demand

A 6-week class on cultivating joy
August 30 – October 4, 2018

Led by Shaila Catherine and Sharon Allen, with a special question and answer session with the acclaimed author, Chade-Meng Tan. 

Joy is a potent guide for spiritual development. Joy supports the development of many beautiful qualities including concentration, wisdom, and letting go. This course will follow the teachings presented in Joy On Demand, by author Chade-Meng Tan. This pragmatic and delightfully simple curriculum will nurture joy and cultivate calmness, mindfulness, and ease in the midst of daily living.

Required Reading: Joy on Demand by Chade-Meng Tan

  • August 30 — Benefits of Mind Training with Shaila Catherine
  • September 6 — Joy with the Breath with Sharon Allen
  • September 13 — Relaxing, Anchoring and Sustaining Joy with Shaila Catherine
  • September 20 — Inclining the Mind Toward Joy with Sharon Allen
  • September 27 — Joy of the Heart Practices with Shaila Catherine and special guest Chade-Meng Tan
  • October 4 — Working with Emotional Pain with Shaila Catherine

Visit our Teacher Page for teacher biographies and photographs of our guest teachers.

WHO SHOULD JOIN: This course is open to all practitioners.

COURSE LEVELS: It is designed as a level 1-2 course. Click this link for a key to course level designations.

Courses in the Dhamma Classroom in 2017:

Mindfulness in the Buddhist Tradition: A Short Course on the four modes of mindfulness (Satipatthana Practice)

January 19 – February 9, 2017
A practical and direct path.
Presented by Shaila Catherine and Richard Shankman

A series of new classes on meditation and Buddhism will be offered by Insight Meditation South Bay starting January 19, 2017.

The classroom structure offers many advantages for continuity and depth in both the style of instruction and potential for learning. The educational and experiential format of this dhamma classroom will …

  • Support the establishment of consistent mindfulness meditation practice
  • Enable the development of in-depth sequentially structured teachings
  • Build relationships with experienced teachers and dedicated participants through exploring how the teachings of the Buddha and practice of mindfulness impacts our lives
  • Enable the inclusion of resources, exercises, and creative materials to enhance study and practice
  • Create practice and study groups focused on the development of skills and deepen of understanding.

The first series of classes that IMSB will be offering is on the theme of Mindfulness in the Buddhist Tradition: A Short Course on The Four Modes of Mindfulness Called the Four Satipatthanas, and will include:

  • January 19 – Mindfulness of Body
  • January 26 – Mindfulness of Feeling
  • February 2 – Mindfulness of Mind
  • February 9 – Mindfulness of Phenomena

Many practitioners consider the Satipatthana Sutta to be among the most important and practical teachings of the Early Discourses of the Buddha. It offers pragmatic instructions for establishing mindfulness with attention to four areas: body, feelings, mind, and various dhamma objects (physical and mental processes). These four satipatthanas, called establishments or foundations of mindfulness, are the core of insight meditation teachings. They frame the practice of mindfulness within the liberating aim of the path, thereby providing the means for our awakening.

COURSE DESIGN:
The curriculum includes practical meditation instructions, teachings on the four satipatthanas, supplementary readings or lectures, and discussion about the role and function of mindfulness in the Buddha’s teachings. This course offers an overview of how the satipatthana structure functions within the context of Buddhist practice.

It is appropriate for both new and experienced practitioners—those who want to learn about mindfulness, seasoned practitioners, and mindfulness instructors. Guided meditations and practical instructions will support newcomers, however, beginners will benefit by also attending one of our Introductory Mindfulness Courses for a skill-oriented training. Emphasis in the satipatthana course will be on the context and aims of mindfulness teachings, which will provide an excellent foundation for someone embarking on a mindfulness training, and will deepen understanding for adept practitioners.

Developing a Mindfulness Meditation Practice

A Skill-building Course
February 23 – March 20, 2017
led by Sharon Allen, Janetti Marotta, and Laura Lin

To live with mindful awareness in our world, we must become well grounded in a meditation practice. This course will focus on understanding, practicing, and developing mindful awareness, so you can more fully integrate it into your life. If you find yourself wanting to have greater balance in your life, more mental clarity, calm and ease, this course can help.

The class will emphasize learning how to remain mindful with both pleasant and unpleasant experiences, and practicing the four postures taught by the Buddha: sitting, walking, standing, and lying down.

This foundational Level 1 class is appropriate for those new to meditation as well as those wanting a refresher on developing a mindfulness meditation practice. These classes and practices draw on the Dhamma, the ancient teachings of the Buddha.

Class content and practice skills will include:

  • February 23 — Why Meditate: The power of mindfulness with breathing
  • March 2 — Cultivating Presence: Mindfulness of the body
  • March 9 — Settling the Restless Mind: Mindfulness of thoughts
  • March 16 — Making Room for Emotions: Mindfulness of mental states
  • March 23 — Practicing Kindness: Metta Practice
  • March 30 — Remember to Remember: Mindfulness recap and practice tips

Plus an optional drop-in session that continues the development of mindfulness practice on April 6:

  • April 6 — Enlivening Daily Activities: Eating and Walking with Mindfulness

Class format will include:

  • Meditation instruction, with both guided and unguided meditation practice time
  • Teaching on a mindfulness theme
  • Written and experiential exercises and homework
  • Group discussion, Q&A

Resources will include:

  • Guidance from experienced mindfulness teachers
  • Handouts of practice guidelines
  • Internet links for sutta references and writings on mindfulness

The Art of Happiness: The Power of Loving kindness (Metta)

led by Shaila Catherine, Berget Jelane, Laura Lin, and Sharon Allen
April 20 – May 22, 2017

  • April 20 — Metta for category of self — with Shaila Catherine
  • April 27 — Metta for category of benefactors — with Shaila Catherine
  • May 4 — Metta for category of dear friends — with Sharon Allen
  • May 11 — Metta for category of neutral ones — with Berget Jelane
  • May 18 — Metta for category of enemies — with Laura Lin
  • May 25 — Metta for category of all beings — with Shaila Catherine

LOVING-KINDNESS, also known as metta, is a profound quality of friendliness toward all of life. In this course we will cultivate loving-kindness through the use of guided meditations, and structured reflections. We will examine the contexts in which, and the purposes for which, the Buddha taught metta. And we will work directly with anything that seems to obstruct the natural flow of our good will.

This ancient practice of metta meditation cultivates a heartfelt wish that all beings be happy, beginning with ourselves and gradually expanding the field of loving-kindness to embrace those we love, and those who are difficult to love, until this caring radiates to all beings without exception. Loving-kindness meditation heals the heart, and helps us to meet difficulties in life with sensitivity. Metta meditation also strengthens the inner serenity that supports concentration.

This course is offered as a six week series, with progressive lessons and sequential instruction.

Strategies for Overcoming Distracting Thoughts

A course led by Shaila Catherine, Sharon Allen, Chris Clifford, and Diana Clark
June 8 – July 13, 2017

  • June 8 — Shaila Catherine
  • June 15 — Diana Clark
  • June 22 — Chris Clifford
  • June 29 — Shaila Catherine
  • July 6 — Shaila Catherine
  • July 13 — Sharon Allen

Visit our Teacher Page for teacher biographies and photographs.

Mental restlessness is an insidious and pervasive hindrance that all practitioners struggle to overcome. We can refine our skills for working with all the various modes of thinking that distract us from being mindful: critical thoughts, planning, worrying, lustful thoughts, memories, internal commentaries, to name a few. This course focuses on a sequence of effective strategies that was taught by the Buddha and recorded in the Middle Length Discourses, Suttas 19 and 20. Each session will emphasize one of the Buddha’s practical instructions for dealing with obstructive mental patterns.

This course is offered as a six week series, with progressive lessons and sequential instruction.

See for Yourself: The Buddha’s Teachings on Wisdom

A 6 week course led by Kimberly Allen and Diana Clark
July 27 – August 31, 2017

Visit our Teacher Page for teacher biographies and photographs.

The Buddha had much to say about Wisdom, the natural quality of mind that sees things as they are and brings about liberation. In this 6-week class running from July 27 to August 31, we will explore ways to see more clearly — in our daily life and on the cushion — which can lead to greater ease and harmony, and wiser choices.

We will read early Buddhist texts (suttas) to support our study and practice. No prior experience is required. This course is offered as a six week series, with progressive lessons and sequential instruction.

  • July 27: Wise View (Diana & Kim)
  • August 3: Seeing with Wisdom: Impermanence and Unreliability (Kim)
  • August 10: Seeing with Wisdom: Not Identifying with What’s Happening (Diana)
  • August 17: Understanding the Conditions for Happiness and Suffering  (Kim)
  • August 24: Wisdom and Compassion (Diana)
  • August 31: The Goal of Wisdom: Ending Suffering (Diana & Kim)

The Dhamma of Aging

A 6 week course led by Robert Cusick
September 14 – October 19, 2017

Visit our Teacher Page for teacher biographies and photographs.

Aging is a dynamic natural process. It not only includes the losses and heartbreak often associated with changing conditions but also the opportunity to cultivate deep insights and wisdom. Change, too, is a dynamic natural process. To recognize and acknowledge the challenges associated with change (at any age) brings us face-to-face with the truth of impermanence, suffering and non-self. To know and see such truths cognitively is one thing. To directly experience and live with them is another. In this six-week series of classes on “The Dhamma of Aging”, participants will explore questions about the nature of wisdom and compassion as it relates to the ebb & flow of their own real-world daily life issues of aging.

The course content is designed to address the richness and diversity that is our shared human experience and will include instruction, guided compassion techniques, breathing and contemplative practices and inquiry, and meditation exercises.

This course is offered as a six week series, with progressive lessons and sequential instruction.

The Buddha’s Teachings on Social and Communal Harmony

A ten-week sutta study discussion course led by Shaila Catherine and Sharon Allen
October 26, 2017 – January 11, 2018

In this course we will study Bhikkhu Bodhi’s powerful collection of discourses from the Pali Canon that address issues relevant to our times: communication, anger, conflict resolution, friendship, social equity, and interpersonal dynamics. This ten-week course offers a discussion format for sutta study and the contemplation of Buddhist teachings that lead to social harmony, ethical clarity, and engaged wisdom. Students are expected to read about 20 pages each week (approximately one hour of reading) and engage in the discussions.

Thursday Class Dates:

  • October 26 – Right Understanding with Shaila Catherine
  • November 2 – Personal Training with Sharon Allen
  • November 9 – Dealing with Anger with Shaila Catherine
  • November 16 – Proper Speech with Shaila Catherine
  • November 23 – No Meeting. Happy Thanksgiving Holiday
  • November 30 – Good Friendship with Shaila Catherine
  • December 7 – One’s Own Good and the Good of Others with Shaila Catherine
  • December 14 – Intentional Community with Shaila Catherine
  • December 21- Disputes with Shaila Catherine
  • December 28 – No Meeting this week. Happy Holidays!
  • January 4 – Settling Disputes with Shaila Catherine
  • January 11 – Establishing an Equitable Society with Shaila Catherine

Required Reading: The Buddha’s Teachings on Social and Communal Harmony: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon, edited and introduced by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Wisdom Publications, 2016, ISBN: 978-1-61429-355-2.

WHO SHOULD JOIN: This is an intermediate level course. Previous training in sutta study and retreat experience is welcome, but not required. Previous experience with mindfulness meditation, however, is expected. The course is designed for meditators who have already developed some continuity in their meditation practice, and who wish to now study, discuss, and contemplate the social implications of the Buddha’s teachings.

Courses offered in 2015 – 2016:

Cultivating Mindfulness

A training for living in the present.

This course is an introduction to the meditative development of mindfulness through which we refine our ability to focus and bring clear attention to all aspects of experience. We will cultivate mindfulness of breath, sensations, emotions, thoughts and actions. This series includes exercises that enhance mindfulness, support the establishment of a daily meditation practice, and highlight balanced awareness in work and home life. The course is appropriate for beginners as well as practitioners who wish to refine fundamental meditation techniques for a stronger daily practice.

  • Why Meditate?: The power of mindfulness with breathing
  • Cultivating Presence: Mindfulness of the body
  • Emotional Presence: Mindfulness of mental states
  • Settling the Restless Mind: Mindfulness of thoughts
  • Awakened Living: Integrating mindfulness into daily life
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Developing a Kind Heart

A series that will open the heart and bring balance in relationships.

This series will nurture the development of four profound qualities of heart: loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. These four qualities express a powerful and immeasurable intention of kindness toward ourselves and all beings. They are traditionally called the Divine Abodes (Brahma Viharas). When these qualities are well developed the heart-mind will be liberated from ill will, cruelty, envy, expectation and demand—one will dwell with a pure “divine” perception of all things.

  • Loving Kindness
  • Compassion
  • Empathetic Joy
  • Equanimity
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Overcoming Obstacles to Meditation

A practical series to help establish and deepen concentration and insight.

Mediation practice cultivates inner peace, clarity, concentration and joy. In order to experience these beautiful qualities, we must overcome the obstacles of agitation, dullness, distraction, obsessive thinking, and painful emotions, and we must learn to work skillfully with pain, illness, fear, and a wide range of obstructive patterns. This series course will investigate hindrances to meditation, and nurture the skills that will enable us to overcome the common obstacles to meditative insight. Through mindful inquiry we will recognize the presence, absence, and causal conditions for hindrances and thereby transform negative patterns into positive states.

Topics may include

  • Classic hindrances of desire, aversion, sloth and torpor, restlessness, doubt,  ­
  • Common obstructive forces such as obsessive planning, distraction, conceit, attachment, wrong understanding, pain, fear, worry, lack of discipline, unbalanced effort, discouragement etc.
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Fundamental Buddhist Principles

A series for those curious about what the Buddha taught.

Buddhist tradition offers a rich tradition of wisdom teachings, many of which are remembered as lists. This series will focus on the philosophy, principles, practices, and instructions that are fundamental to developing a meditative or Buddhist practice. It is intended as an introduction to Buddhism series, with an emphasis on the primary teachings that guide meditators to a liberating understanding of the mind, world, and life.

Topics may include basic Buddhist lists such as:

  • Four Noble Truths
  • Eightfold Noble Path
  • Three Trainings
  • Five Faculties
  • Three Characteristics
  • Three Poisons
  • Eight Worldly Dhammas
  • Seven Factors of Awakening
  • Five Precepts
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Concentration and Tranquility

With the joy of an undistracted mind.

This series will explore the role of concentration for calming the mind, deepening wisdom, enhancing enduring happiness, sharpening attentional focus, and resting the mind in a profound state of stillness. We will introduce meditation techniques aimed at strengthening concentration by using the breath as the primary meditation object. The instructions will cultivate skills for freeing the mind from distraction, and developing equanimity to maintain undistracted awareness. Combining deep concentration and penetrative insight we develop a liberating path.

The Eight-Fold Path of Awakening

Living with clarity and peace

This series will explore the Noble Eight-fold Path as a liberating practice. The Eight-fold Path is among the most practical and powerful core teachings of the Buddha. It offers practitioners a comprehensive approach for training the mind in the context of meditation, action, relationship, and life.

  • Right View
  • Right Intention
  • Right Speech
  • Right Action
  • Right Livelihood
  • Right Effort
  • Right Mindfulness
  • Right Concentration
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Three Jewels

Where the mind rests with trust.

What do you turn to when your enthusiasm for practice fades? Taking refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha can focus our intentions and inspire our practice. The potential for awakening, a clear path of training, and ongoing support of the community are three classic and accessible jewels of the Dhamma. In this series we will contemplate the stabilizing influence of finding refuge in the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha, the timeless teachings of the Dhamma, and the courage and inspiration of the Sangha.

  • Awakening and the Buddha
  • Path of Training and the Dhamma
  • Community of Practitioners and the Sangha
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Strengthening Mindfulness

A series dedicated to cultivating profound insight.

This series will expand on instructions offered in basic mindfulness courses, offering new depths of understanding, integrating the practice with life situations, and helping students establish a daily meditation practice. Mindfulness training is a practical tool that can support wisdom in any activity, and it is at the heart of Buddhist meditation leading to direct realization that frees the mind from suffering.

The selection of topics will vary in each Strengthening Mindfulness course, and may include:

  • Mindfulness of speech and communication ­
  • Mindfulness in the workplace and right livelihood
  • Mindfulness of the body, pain, illness, and death­
  • Mindfulness with emotions and feelings
  • Mindfulness of intention and decision-making
  • Mindfulness in relationships ­
  • Applications of mindfulness to overcoming habits, craving, and fear
  • Using mindfulness to address personal issues such as eating disorders, addictions, anxiety etc.
  • Tips for establishing and strengthening a daily mindfulness practice
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Pillars of Dhamma

What we can do to improve our lives.

Three core practices support growth in Buddhist practice—generosity (dana), virtue (sila), and mental development (bhavana). These Three Pillars are sometimes called sources of merit because they are actions that lead to beneficial results. Practicing generosity we nurture an open, kind heart; practicing virtue we live happily, free from remorse; and developing wise attention, mindfulness, and concentration we prepare the mind for liberating insight.

  • Generosity—dana
  • Virtue—sila
  • Mental Development—bhavana
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Beautiful Mind: Cultivating the Faculties and Mental Powers

Nurturing the best in ourselves.

This series will explore the five spiritual faculties and their cultivation in meditation: faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. The Buddha stressed the importance of these controlling faculties and powers, which offer a complete structure for meditative development and culminate with final liberation. They are necessary features of meditative progress that can be undertaken as a sequential training or as a finely balanced system of wholesome forces.

  • Faith
  • Energy
  • Mindfulness
  • Concentration
  • Wisdom
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Ethics, Action, and the Five Precepts

For a life of harmony and clarity.

This series will explore virtue as the indispensable foundation of Buddhist practice. The series will emphasize the five training precepts, and may explore action, ethics, kamma, and cause-effect dynamics. The precepts are not rules to be obediently followed; they serve as guidelines for the intentional development of compassion, mindfulness, and wisdom. These five precepts offer us a joyful method to cultivate the heart, nurture harmony in our relationships, and free the mind from inner forces of greed and anger that if unrestrained may cause suffering for ourselves and others.

  • Introduction: Path of Virtue
  • Precept #1: Refraining from Killing
  • Precept #2: Refraining from Stealing
  • Precept #3: Refraining from Sexual Misconduct
  • Precept #4: Refraining from False Speech
  • Precept #5: Refraining from Intoxication
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Seven Factors of Awakening

For the mind that values freedom.

These seven qualities offer an effective framework for cultivating the mind, overcoming the hindrances, and balancing the energetic and calming forces that develop in meditation. When cultivated and balanced, the mind is ripe for awakening. This series will explore each factor to reveal its importance, function, and role in the process of awakening.

  • Mindfulness
  • Investigation
  • Effort
  • Joy
  • Tranquility
  • Concentration
  • Equipoise
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Antidotes For Three Poisons

To uproot the causes of suffering.

We suffer when the mind is affected by the poisonous influence of greed, hatred, or delusion. These unwholesome forces corrupt our thoughts and actions, perpetuate unwise choices, and exacerbate suffering. In contrast, the highest goal of the dhamma is the realization of nibbana, which the Buddha defined as the extinguishing of greed, hate, and delusion. This series will help students identify and work with the root causes of suffering. And also to recognize and rejoice when the mind is free from these poisons.

  • Greed
  • Hatred
  • Delusion
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Doorways to Insight

Knowing liberation through the ordinary.

You know everything changes, so why do you suffer when possessions are lost, relationships end, or friends die? Insight meditation is oriented toward seeing three characteristics—the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and emptiness of experience. In some ways these are ordinary and obvious insights. Every day we experience changing sensory impressions; we cannot control what happens; and we have never succeeded in attaining lasting happiness from transient phenomena. Yet, these simple insights have the power to uproot our deepest misperceptions. When we see them clearly, we do not cling; when not-clinging, the mind is freed. This series will explore the nature of insight, wisdom, and liberating knowledge with an emphasis on what are called the three characteristics, or three doorways to nibbana.

  • Impermanence
  • Unsatisfactoriness
  • Not-self
  • Insight Knowledge
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Five Contemplations

Five daily reminders for life.

The Buddha recommended five themes for daily reflection which can dispel tendencies toward procrastination, inspire a sense of urgency, strengthen the commitment to cultivate the good in our lives, and uproot attachments that cause suffering. In the Numerical Discourses of the Buddha (AN 5:57 Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation) the Buddha urges both monastics and lay practitioners to frequently reflect on the universal nature of aging, illness, death, loss, and the consequences of action—no one is exempt from these conditions. This series will explore the profound implications of these five daily reflections.

  • Aging
  • Illness
  • Death
  • Change
  • Kamma
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Establishing Mindfulness: Teachings on the Four Satipatthanas

A practical and direct path.

Many practitioners consider the Satipatthana Sutta to be among the most important and practical teachings of the Early Discourses of the Buddha. It offers pragmatic instructions for establishing mindfulness with attention to body, feelings, mind, and various dhamma objects (physical and mental processes). These four satipatthanas, called establishments or foundations of mindfulness, are at the center of insight meditation teachings. They frame the practice of mindfulness within the liberating aim of the path, thereby providing- the means for our awakening.

  • Mindfulness of body
  • Mindfulness of feeling
  • Mindfulness of mind
  • Mindfulness of phenomena
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Four Noble Truths

Ways to realize the end of suffering.

No one wants to suffer, and yet we do. The first sermon that the Buddha gave after his awakening addressed the issue of suffering. He articulated four basic tenants that have been remembered as the four noble truths. They include the full understanding of suffering, the abandoning of the causes of suffering, the realization of the end of suffering, and the cultivation of the path leading to the end of suffering. It is through a wise relationship to suffering, that freedom will be known.

  • First Noble Truth
  • Second Noble Truth
  • Third Noble Truth
  • Fourth Noble Truth
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Ten Perfections (Paramis)

A series for developing the best of mind and heart.

Many powerful wholesome qualities are nurtured in the contemplative life. This series will explore the ten perfections (paramis) that support the path of awakening, and bring joy and harmony into our daily lives. These beautiful qualities are accessible to everyone, at every stage of our path, however, they are believed to have been perfected by the Buddha through his countless lifetimes as he strove to realize the ultimate perfection of Buddhahood. This series will provide a closer look at each of these respectable qualities to enable us to more fully develop them in our lives.

  • Generosity
  • Morality
  • Renunciation
  • Wisdom
  • Energy
  • Patience
  • Truthfulness
  • Determination
  • Loving-kindness
  • Equanimity
  • Deepening Practice: Meditation, Contemplation or Reflective Practices

Paths of Skillful Action

Living an ethical life in the modern world.

When we think of ethical practice in Buddhism, we often focus on the traditional five precepts. However a longer list of ten paths of skillful action (kusala-kamma-patha) occurs more frequently in the early texts. They overlap with the five precepts, and can help to reveal further what it means to live an ethically skillful life and how this encompasses and transforms the activities of body, speech, and mind. We will explore how these paths are described in the Pali texts and how we can understand and practice them in the modern world.

  • Skillful paths of bodily action
  • Skillful paths of speech
  • Skillful paths of mind

Balanced Practice

Developing a balanced practice.

The art of Dhamma practice includes engaging skillfully with complementary aspects of practice. Sometimes we are called to actively cultivate qualities, while at other times, letting go is more appropriate. We use both our head and our heart; we engage both inwardly and in the outer world; we need both restraint and boldness. Sometimes qualities that at first appear to be in opposition, are actually inseparable — like the front and back of a hand. This speaker series explores potential paradoxes and complimentary forces in meditation, as we learn to develop a balanced practice.

Topics will vary each time we offer this series, but may include:

  • Faith and Reasoning
  • Cultivation and Letting Go
  • On the Cushion and In the World
  • Escaping Suffering and Pursuing Happiness
  • Concentration and Insight
  • Walking and Sitting Meditation
  • Mindfulness of the Body and Mindfulness of the Mind
  • Study and Meditation
  • Reliance on Teachers and Self-reliance
  • Solitude and Community
  • Joy and Equanimity
  • Tranquility and Investigation
  • Confidence and Humility
  • Preservation and Innovation
  • Diligence and Relaxation