On February 24, 2015, IMSB had the honor to host A Benefit Evening with Ajahn Brahm. This was Ajahn Brahm's last West Coast teaching before returning to Australia. The event raised over $4000 for the Bhikkhunis of the Dhammadharini Sangha. The event was so popular with the community that guests arrived before most of the IMSB volunteers. The entire [...]
Thanks to the expertise of Dave Hurwit, the Thursday evening sittings and classes in Saratoga now have a full professional quality sound system with amplified speaker, recorder, wireless mic for the guest teacher, wireless handheld mic, and personal hearing assistance device. Sounds terrific!
The first series of classes on the theme of Cultivating Mindfulness offered in Saratoga on Thursday evenings completed with class six last week. Teachers for the series included Shaila Catherine, Jennifer Dungan, Sharon Allen and Drew Oman. The classes were held at Westhope Presbyterian Church
IMSB just concluded a six month program called Walking the Path by celebrating with a delicious sushi dinner. This year's focus was the four foundations of mindfulness (Satipatthana). This group met monthly after the day-long for an hour-long discussion of the readings. They were guided through individual interviews with Shaila and enjoyed community building by [...]
The opening of our new Thursday evening meditation group in Saratoga got off to a superb start with 60 people in attendance. Shaila Catherine gave teachings on mindfulness with breathing, and we enjoyed meeting each other over refreshments. The new facility at Westhope Presbyterian Church was warm, spacious, comfortable, and very quiet. With a broad array of guest [...]
2014 was a productive year for IMSB. We enclosed the letter below in a recent mailing to our donors, sharing the highlights of our work in the past year. Dear IMSB supporter, With your support 2014 was an amazing and productive year for IMSB. Much of the work is quietly accomplished behind the scenes, so [...]
We can all take great satisfaction in our sangha’s generous response to the 2014 year-end appeal. We raised $27,254, up 39% over the total for 2013. Almost 60 donors participated, up from about 40 the year before. Historically, year-end donations have covered about half of IMSB’s operating budget each year. This past year’s gifts will [...]
This week IMSB mailed the annual recognition letters for tax deductible gifts. Letters were sent to the approximately 170 donors who offered dana to any of our funds (General Fund, Scholarship Fund, Teacher Dana, Karuna Fund, Building Fund) during 2014. It is our custom to track donations throughout the year and send a single convenient letter for donors tax [...]
The Saturday morning weekly email event digest is quietly created by a few volunteers behind the scenes each week. A recent change has occurred that you might not know. After two years of editing our weekly digest, Debra R. has now passed the baton onto a new volunteer, Lesli S. We welcome Lesli S. to the publicity [...]
Three new sutta study groups have just formed that are focusing on the Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. Our Monday night online class is full with a wait list. Our Thursday night and Friday morning local groups have a lovely mixture of new and returning students, with 9-10 people registered for each section. The local groups can accommodate [...]
A new project that involves volunteering at a nursing home or helping care for the elderly is reviving IMSB's Outreach Committee. If you are interested in joining with other sangha members to explore service as an integral aspect of your mindfulness and compassion practice, please contact Sonali at service. We welcome input, ideas, and eager volunteers. We are currently [...]