Buddha’s Core Teaching

A 5-week speaker series exploring the Four Noble Truths.
January 7 – February 4, 2020

Finding true happiness.

No one wants to suffer, and yet stress is everywhere in our lives.  After the Buddha awakened under the Bodhi Tree, the first thing he talked about was how to find true happiness.

He described four wise ways you can work with your mind in the midst of ordinary and meditative experiences, popularly known as the Four Noble Truths. You can (1) comprehend your suffering; (2) abandon its causes; (3) realize that it is possible to end suffering; and (4) follow the path that leads to its end. Practicing this path, you will become free—not by avoiding what is unwanted, but by developing a wise relationship to your mind and all the myriad conditions by which it manufactures stress.

• January 7 – Understanding How Things Are, with Lisa Dale Miller
• January 14 – Letting Go of Distress, with Janetti Marotta
• January 21 – Realizing Freedom, with Tony Bernhard
• January 28 – Practicing the Path, with Carla Brennan
• February 4 – Awakening with the Four Truths, with Shaila Catherine

This series is appropriate for newcomers as well as experienced practitioners. Each evening includes silent or guided meditation, a break, and teachings.

Please visit our Teachers Page for biographies and photos of our speakers.

Insight Meditation South Bay offers two weekly meditation programs. On Tuesdays, we meet in Mountain View for our drop-in weekly program of meditation and teachings.  On Thursdays, we meet in Saratoga for our Dhamma Classroom, which offer a series of structured courses with registration, and periodic drop-in practice events.

Our Tuesday evening program usually includes a sitting meditation and Dhamma talk. The principal teacher is Shaila Catherine and guest speakers are featured regularly. Thematic series are periodically presented, but whether or not a topic has been advertised in advance, Shaila or a guest teacher will lead the sitting and offer teachings. See also weekly sitting.

Newcomers are always welcome. To help newcomers get acquainted with mindfulness meditation and IMSB, a senior member or teacher offers a beginner’s orientation beginning at 6:30 on the first Tuesday of each month.

IMSB relies upon the generosity of participants to support our teachers and cover organizational expenses. Dana is a word in the ancient Pali language that describes donations, offerings and generosity. Two bowls will be available at an event to practice dana for the teacher and IMSB. We encourage you to give joyfully and generously, according to your resources and means. IMSB is a 501(c) (3) organization. All donations are tax deductible as permitted by law.