This Week's EventsMonday Aug 14 at 6:30 am. Morning Meditation: . Tuesday Aug 15 at 6:30 am. Morning Meditation: . Tuesday Aug 15 at 7:00 pm. Meditation: Tuesday Evening Meditation. Wednesday Aug 16 at 6:30 am. Morning Meditation: . Thursday Aug 17 at 6:30 am. Morning Meditation: . Friday Aug 18 at 6:30 am. Morning Meditation: . Monday Aug 21 at 6:30 am. Morning Meditation: . ClassesTuesday Sep 5 at 6:00 pm. Orientation to Insight Meditation. Red Cedar Dharma Hall Tuesday Oct 3 at 6:00 pm. Orientation to Insight Meditation. Red Cedar Dharma Hall RetreatsMonday Oct 9. October 9-15 2017 with Sister Santussika. Friday Nov 10 at 7:00 pm. November 10-12 2017 with Kate Dresher. Friday Apr 13. April 13-27, 2018 with Pascal Auclair and Heather Martin. |
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 BIMS members in coordination with our Board and Program Committee. BIMS welcomes people of people of all ethnicities, abilities, and gender identities. We work to build skills and heighten our awareness of actions that will make our community safe and welcoming. 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 and 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. Our address is: Red Cedar Dharma Hall, 1021 N. Forest Street. NewsSoup with the SanghaAll are invited to come early on Tuesday June 27th to have a simple meal before the meditation period. Vegetarian soup and bread will be provided. (You may bring additional dishes if you wish, but there should be plenty of soup and bread). Where: The kitchen at the dharma hall (come down the stairs, or you may enter from the back). When: Between 6:00 and 7:00 PM on June 27th. What: Vegetarian Soup, Gluten Free Crackers, Bread, and camaraderie Donations of a dollar or two to cover the cost of ingredients are appreciated but not required. 6/27/17
Ajahn Santi visits on Tuesday, June 13thAjahn Santidhammo from the Wat Atam monastery in Woodinville will be with us again on Tuesday June 13th for our meditation period at 7 PM, followed by a Dharma talk at 8 PM.
All are invited to join us for the evening.
6/13/17
BIMS Practice Period April 4th -May 2ndBIMS began its annual practice period on Tuesday, April 4th; it will continue till early May. Our practice period is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the Buddhist path and to more fully integrate practice into our daily life. See the flyer with details on the talks that will make up the practice period.
The theme for this year is Renunciation. On five successive Tuesdays there will be a dharma talk on one aspect of this theme, followed by small group discussions. Recordings of the Dharma talks, notes and references will be on the Resources/Practice Period page.
Check the calendar or watch your emails for each Tuesdays topic and presenter.
We hope to see you at the Hall. 3/10/17
Recordings from Heather Martin February RetreatRecordings of Heather Martin's talks at the February Non-Residential retreat are being posted. Use the links below to listen.
3/1/17
Mindfulness and Insight Meditation - March 18thWhy do we meditate? What are the benefits? How do we do it? These are common questions that anyone curious about meditation may ask. And for those with a regular meditation practice, these questions are good to ask again from time to time, to freshen-up our intention. A few times every year BIMS offers an introduction-level class on our style of mindfulness and insight (Vipassana) meditation. Meditation instruction is given and these questions are discussed. This is an opportune time for new and even experienced practitioners to explore how meditation may fit into their life. Please consider joining us on Saturday March 18th, 9 a.m. to noon at the Red Cedar Dharma Hall. Cost is by voluntary donation. Registration is recommended by contacting Karen at karen.sheldon@gmail.com
2/23/17
Workshop on Welcoming People of All Genders and Sexual OrientationsBIMS wants to welcome people of all colors, ability levels, sexes, genders, and sexual orientations. BIMS recognizes that having the right intention is not enough, and to make the intention a reality we need to build skills and heighten our awareness of actions that can make our spaces feel unsafe and unwelcoming.
BIMS is therefore happy to welcome April Hinkle-Johnson, Queer Youth Project Coordinator of Northwest Youth Services, who will lead a workshop aimed at heightening awareness and building the skills needed to make our community welcoming to people of all genders and sexual orientations. April is not charging a fee, but donations are welcome.
Who: April Hinkle-Johnson, Queer Youth Project Coordinator of Northwest Youth Services
What: Skill-building Workshop on Welcoming People of All Genders and Sexual Orientations
Where: Red Cedar Dharma Hall
When: December 13th, 7:30 to 9:00
We hope to see you all there. 11/25/16
Recorded Talks from Ayya Santussika RetreatAyya Santussika joined BIMS for a non-residential retreat, November 12th and 13th, 2016. Her theme was 'Breaking the Chain: Focusing on the weakest links in the chain of dependent origination and the way to Nibbana'.
Recordings of her public talk on Friday night as well as those during the weekend can be found at this link. 11/6/16
Book Club Starting Up in NovemberOn November 1st we will begin a twice-per-month book group, reading Leigh Braisington's Right Concentration: A Practical Guide to the Jhanas.
From a review: "The Buddhist jhanas—successive states of deep focus or meditative absorbtion--demystified. A very practical guidebook for meditators for navigating their way through these states of bliss and concentration." 10/7/16
Through Dhamma Eyes: Training in Awareness and WisdomRecordings from the Steve Armstrong and Alexis Santos retreat on June 24th through 26th will be posted at this page. 7/2/16
New library catalog - Wow!Chris Burkhart and Karen Ssebanakitta just completed cataloging all of the books in the Dharma Hall library! They used a site called LibraryThing.com. It is impressive! Go look at it for yourself.
It is linked from the Library page in the Resource section of this web site. 6/18/15
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