Speaker Series: Goals in Meditation
April 24, 2018 @ 7:30 pm PDT - 9:00 pm PDT
An event every week that begins at 7:30 pm UTC on Tuesday, repeating until May 29, 2018
We invited several local teachers to share both the personal aims that guide their practice and their understanding of the goals of the Buddhist Path. We asked them the following questions:
- What is the goal of Buddhist practice?
- What do you personally hope to achieve through your practice?
- What is a reasonable way to assess our progress – how can we tell if we are on track?
- How can we work skillfully with goals in the context of mindfulness-based practices that emphasize present moment awareness?
This series will explore both the ultimate and relative goals of Buddhist practice. It will address the benefits and limitations of having goals, and explore some related practice issues: comparing, expectations, craving for attainments, inspiration, and the potential for discouragement.
Join us for an illuminating look into some aspects of your practice you may never have considered!
April 24 – Shaila Catherine – Commitment to Awakening and the Heartwood Simile
May 1 – Kim Allen – Nurturing the Process
May 8 – Andrea Fella – Cooling the Fire
May 15 – Tony Bernhard – Not Making Things Worse
May 22 – Dawn Neal –Milestones or Millstones on the Eightfold Path to Freedom? Assessing Practice Skillfully
May 29 – Community Wesak Celebration will include reflections on goals.
Please visit our Teachers Page for biographies and photos of our speakers.
Insight Meditation South Bay offers two weekly meditation programs. Tuesdays we meet in Mountain View for our drop-in weekly program of meditation and teachings. Thursdays we meet in Saratoga for our Dhamma Classroom, which offer a series of structured courses with registration, and periodic drop-in practice events.
Today’s group meets every Tuesday evening for a sitting and Dhamma talk in Mountain View. 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.