This Week's EventsTuesday Jan 21 at 7:00 pm. Meditation: Hybrid meditation. Tuesday Jan 21 at 7:30 pm. Dharma Talk: Steve Wilhelm joins us. ClassesRetreatsSaturday Apr 19 at 3:00 pm. April 19-25, 2025 with Tuere Sala. |
Welcome to Bellingham InsightBellingham Insight Meditation Society (BIMS) supports meditation and practice in the Buddhist Theravada tradition. We do not have a single guiding teacher. Rather, we are a sangha-led community. We bring in regional and national teachers, including monastics, for residential and non-residential retreats. Our weekly programs are facilitated by senior members in coordination with our Board and Program Committee. Bellingham Insight Meditation Society welcomes visitors. To receive announcements and links to our Zoom meetings, join our list-serve by emailing bellinghaminsight+subscribe@googlegroups.com or by e-mailing the listserv moderator. Insight meditation is a simple and direct practice, the moment-to-moment investigation of the mind/body process through calm and focused awareness. Learning to observe experience from a place of stillness enables one to relate to life with less fear and clinging. Seeing life as a constantly changing process, one begins to accept pleasure, pain, fear, joy and all aspects of life with increasing equanimity and balance. As insight deepens, wisdom and compassion arise. This practice is sometimes called "vipassana", which is a Pali word for insight. We meet at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship (BUF): 1207 Ellsworth Street (at the corner of Ellsworth and I Street a few blocks north of downtown). The main entrance faces Ellsworth Street. You can become a member of the Bellingham Insight Meditation Society by completing the Membership form found on the Supporting BIMS page. NewsTuesday Janaury 14th - Soup and meditationThis Tuesday from 6-6:50 PM we will be hosting Soup with the Sangha, a simple vegetarian meal of soup and bread (and possibly chocolate chip cookies) - a chance to gather as a community before our meditation. No need to bring anything, though of course you can. We will be eating in the space near the Bellingham Unitarian kitchen which is right off our meditation space.
Please bring empty yogurt/cottage cheese containers for when there is extra soup. (We have a place where we can store any that are not used.)
Our meditation will continue in a hybrid format: in-person at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship (1207 Ellsworth Street, at the corner of Ellsworth and I Street) and also via Zoom. Our greeters will be at the main entrance of BUF until 6:55pm to let you into the building.
We will not have a formal program after meditation, but there will be time to connect with sangha members
6:00 Soup with the Sangha 6:45 Zoom room opens 7:00 Silent meditation 7:45 Dedication of Merit, Introductions & Announcements
We hope to see you this Tuesday evening. 1/12/25
Tuesday January 7th - Ajahn Nisahbo joins us to welcome in the new yearOur Tuesday evening meditation will continue in a hybrid format: in-person at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship (1207 Ellsworth Street, at the corner of Ellsworth and I Street) and also via Zoom. If you are not on the list and wish to attend via Zoom, send an email to info@bellinghaminsight.org
Our greeters will be at the main entrance of BUF from 6:30 until 6:55pm to let you into the building.
Ajahn Nisahbo from Clear Mountain Monastery in Seattle will join us via Zoom to welcome in the new year.
6:30 Hall opens 6:45 Zoom room opens 7-7:10 Introduction, Refuge, and Precepts 7:10-7:40 Guided Meditation led by Ajahn Nisahbo 7:40-745ish Introductions and Announcements 7:45- 8:05 Dharma Talk 8:05 - 8:20 Q&A 8:20-8:30 Conclusion and goodbyes
We look forward to starting the New Year with our sangha.
1/7/25
New Year's Eve - Zoom only MeditationThis Tuesday we will be having an online meditation, and won't be meeting at BUF. The meeting link will be sent out to our email list. Write to info@bellinghaminsight.org if you aren't on the list and want to attend. The Zoom room will open at 6:45. We will do a 45 minute meditation beginning at 7:00. The meditation will be guided, based on instructions from Ajahn Amaro in his book Just One More. After meditation we'll listen to a Dharma talk from Ajahn Amaro. 12/29/24
Tuere Sala Retreat at Camp Samish, April 19th to 25th, 2025
Join Tuere Sala for a five-day residential retreat, hosted by Bellingham Insight Meditation Society (BIMS), on Samish Island, Saturday April 19th to Friday April 25th. The retreat's title is "Cultivating a Mind in Balance".
In this retreat we will explore how seven friends–the seven factors of awakening–can develop in our practice and support our mind to find a deep balance between ease and energy. These seven factors are beautiful qualities of the mind that are innate potentials in all of us. When developed, they lead to awakening; they are also characteristics of the awakened mind. Tuere Sala is a Co-Guiding Teacher at Seattle Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Retreat Center. She is a retired prosecuting attorney who has practiced Vipassana meditation for over 30 years. Tuere is committed to lay practice and inspired by bringing the Dharma to nontraditional places. She is a strong advocate for practitioners living with high stress, past trauma and difficulties sitting still. Tuere has been teaching since 2010 and has a long history of assisting others in establishing and maintaining a daily practice. Learn more about the retreat at this link. We are using online registration for this retreat. The registration form is found at this link.
12/29/24
Tuesday December 17th, Jill Shepherd - Pleasure and EnjoymentOur Tuesday evening meditation will continue in a hybrid format: in-person at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship (1207 Ellsworth Street, at the corner of Ellsworth and I Street) and also via Zoom. If you are not on the list and wish to attend via Zoom, send an email to info@bellinghaminsight.org
Our greeters will be at the main entrance of BUF from 6:30 until 6:55pm to let you into the building.
Dharma teacher Jill Shepherd will join us again via zoom from her home in New Zealand. Jill has led residential and non-residential retreats for us, and has given us excellent teachings many times over the internet. Jill will talk to us about the role of pleasure and enjoyment on the path to freedom.
6:30 Hall opens 6:45 Zoom room opens 7:00 Meditation led by Jill 7:35 Introductions and Announcements 7:45 Dharma talk by Jill, followed by discussion 12/13/24
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