At the Tuesday, February 7 teaching in Mountain View, Shaila Catherine addressed the topic of Faith and confidence in the Buddhist tradition. She distinguished between bright (blind) faith and verified faith. Bright faith is superficial, but valuable if it inspires us to stay on the path. Over time, the benefits of our own practice sow the [...]
The IMSB Board of Directors thanks the community! Recent donations in response to the 2016 annual fundraising appeal raised $23,895 in contributions from 62 generous sangha members, both near and far away. The number of people contributing was about twelve percent higher than in 2015, although total receipts were down a bit.Many sangha members have [...]
IMSB is starting a new Dhamma Classroom with courses in meditation, mindfulness, and the Buddha's Teachings Thursdays in Saratoga/San Jose 7:15 to 9:00 pm at Westhope Presbyterian Church 12850 Saratoga Ave SARATOGA, CA 95070 (just off I-85 at the Saratoga Ave exit) These small group classes will offer newcomers an ideal opportunity to learn meditation, and [...]
Shaila Catherine will be leading an online course titled The Liberating Practice of Metta. Registration ends January 10. Register now! www.bodhicourses.org
A group of IMSB members met in San Jose today to enjoy the privilege of offering the mid-day meal for Thanissaro Bhikkhu. It was a scrumptious lunch, followed by conversation on many themes. Thanissaro Bhikkhu will be the guest teacher at IMSB in Mountain View tomorrow — Tuesday September 27.
Jennifer Dungan, a NASA climate scientist and meditation practitioner, gave a wonderful talk at Insight Meditation South Bay (www.imsb.org). If you missed this special event, you can listen to her talk at: https://imsb.dharmaseed.org/teacher/573/talk/36155/.
Appreciations for all your support with this summer's school supplies drive. The recipients of your generosity include 2 local programs that run school supplies drives: Help One Child, a program based in Los Altos that serves local foster children. Santa Maria Urban Ministry, a San Jose based organization that serves needy children and families. IMSB collected donations [...]
Registration has opened for the next online course with Shaila Catherine. Topic: Jhana Factors and the Focused Mind July 17 – September 20, 2016 – Registration period September 28 – December 7, 2016 – Course dates Visit Bodhi Courses for details and registration information.
Each summer IMSB helps needy children get a good start in their school year by filling backpacks with useful school supplies. You may bring materials (or a check/cash made payable to IMSB) to any IMSB event in July and give to either Shaila or Sharon (teachers), Farzaneh (project coordinator), or Ed (treasurer). Deadline for collections is Tuesday [...]
Wisdom Publications just published an in-depth interview with Shaila Catherine that emphasizes the early period of her practice, and covers a wide range of topics. She discusses her experiences living in India with Poonjaji, and the significance of the deep absorption states of jhana. You will find the interview at: https://learn.wisdompubs.org/podcast/shaila-catherine/
IMSB’s first daytime Introduction to Mindfulness class is coming to Saratoga Tuesday mornings February 23 through March 22, 2016, from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Registration is required. See IMSB's event calendar for details and registration information.
On September 24th, Shaila Catherine, principle teacher of IMSB, and Erik Swanson, pastor of Westhope Presbyterian Church, spoke about living a contemplative life in Silicon Valley. They guided the meditation together that included mindfulness and Lectio Divina, and then led an inspiring discussion. Study, reflection, and silence are practices common to both traditions. Shaila and [...]
Shaila Catherine just returned from an annual retreat in Kansas City, co-lead with Philip Jones of Mid-America Dharma. Deep teachings were given on insight meditation and the commitment to awakening to a full house of meditators. People came from all levels of experience — some were nervously attending their first retreat and other participants welcomed [...]
In August 2015 Shaila taught three retreats in Holland — all were filled to capacity with eager meditators. The meditation community is strong in the Netherlands, and Shaila's teachings were well received. Before and after the retreats she enjoyed visiting museums, bicycling on the dunes, and seeing windmills, castles, bridges, and dikes. She has been invited [...]
Early this September 2015, IMSB was delighted to host Lama Surya Das for two wonderful speaker events. Tuesday September 1st, Surya Das spoke about his latest book Make Me One with Everything: Buddhist Meditations to Awaken from the Illusion of Separation and was available for book signing. On Thursday in Saratoga he spoke as part of our series [...]