New to Meditation?
Welcome to the Seattle Insight Community
This six week course teaches the fundamentals of insight or mindfulness meditation and is highly recommended before attending other classes and events. It’s designed to help you establish a regular home practice.
Introduction to Meditation Class
This is a basic meditation instruction course. It is a 2 hour class that meets weekly for six weeks. This course centers around the Buddha’s teachings on mindfulness meditation. It’s designed to help you establish a regular home practice.
Our regular classes and events do not teach meditation techniques. Basic meditation instruction is highly recommended to people new to meditation before attending other offerings.
The class includes:
- Guided Meditations
- Sitting and walking meditation
- Meditation posture and techniques
- Talks and guidance on understanding the principles of meditation
- Group Discussions
- Weekly homework and practice suggestions
Upcoming Intro Classes
Take an Introductory Meditation class at your own pace at home
What is Insight Meditation?
Tim Geil describes what Insight Meditation is and gives an introduction to learning meditation.
What is Insight Meditation?
Insight meditation (vipassana in Pali, the language of the original Buddhist teachings) is the simple and direct practice of moment-to-moment mindfulness. Through careful and sustained observation, we experience for ourselves the ever-changing flow of the mind/body process. This awareness leads us to accept more fully the pleasure and pain, fear and joy, sadness and happiness that life inevitably brings. As insight deepens, we develop greater equanimity and peace in the face of change, and wisdom and compassion increasingly become the guiding principles of our lives.
The Buddha first taught insight meditation over 2,500 years ago. The various methods of this practice have been well preserved in the Early Buddhist tradition, and the offerings at SIMS are all rooted in this ancient and well-mapped path to awakening.(from Insight Meditation Society website)
Why We Meditate?
Meditation aims to free the mind from the distortions of self-centeredness, negativity, and confusion. Seeing life as a constantly changing process, one begins to accept pleasure and pain, fear and joy, and all aspects of life with increasing balance and equanimity.
This balanced awareness, grounded in the present moment, leads to stillness and a growing understanding of the nature of life. Out of this seeing emerges wisdom and compassion. Insight meditation practice is a moment-to-moment investigation of the mind and body process. Our experience is explored from a balanced and spacious awareness which allows the heart to flower in love.
More info
If you’d like to talk with someone to learn more about how SIMS works or the programs offered, please email webmaster@seattleinsight.org
Check this page or the calendar for new & upcoming classes. We look forward to seeing you there!
