Mission, Vision and Values

Rooted in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center is a welcoming refuge and teaching Center for all who seek inner peace through the liberating practice of Insight Meditation (vipassana). As a community of practitioners, and as an institution, we endeavor to follow the Buddha’s path of ethics, tranquility, wisdom and compassion. As an urban center, and now as an online community, CIMC is dedicated to the integration of practice into every aspect of community and daily life.

• CIMC is a vibrant and relevant center of Dharma practice and learning.
• CIMC is financially stable, with a balanced budget, broad donor base, and sufficient contingency funds.
• Generosity is a shared community value and is experienced as an opportunity
  for people to deepen their practice and to support the practice of others.
• The programs offered at CIMC are available to all, regardless of personal circumstances.
• CIMC provides a safe and supportive environment for all members of its sangha to practice and participate according to their individual needs.
• CIMC teachers are well supported in their teaching.
• CIMC is efficiently run with a well-supported staff, a diverse, engaged and committed board, and a large, active volunteer community.
• Our building and gardens are beautiful and well-maintained.

CIMC’s core values are grounded in the teachings of the Buddha.

The Dharma

We dedicate ourselves to the ethics of the Five Precepts and the liberation framework of the Four Noble Truths.

Wisdom and Compassion

The teachings of wisdom and compassion guide our work and our daily relationships at CIMC and in the larger world.

Generosity

We actively cultivate open-hearted practice of generosity (dana). We recognize that generosity is a foundational, transformative practice on the path of awakening as well as an opportunity for individuals to support the Center and the CIMC community.

Personal Responsibility and Capacity

We are all responsible for our own ethical behavior, actions, feelings and happiness, and we are all capable of realizing liberation.

Diversity and Inclusion

CIMC’s community of diverse Dharma practitioners, which includes yogis, teachers, staff, volunteers, and board members, is dedicated to creating a welcoming community for all people. It abides by and makes available the teachings of the Buddha in the service aspiring toward the collective liberation of people of all cultural and religious backgrounds, races and ethnicities, socio-economic classes, financial capacities, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, educational backgrounds, and abilities. In addition to welcoming a diverse community to practice, we are deeply committed to inviting teachers in support of our community to share the dharma with the goal that all practitioners feel represented and heard, seen, and fully considered on their respective paths. With a recognition that advantages and privileges are not evenly distributed, we seek to learn and engage deeply together, aspiring toward less suffering and greater happiness for all.

Stewardship

We undertake responsible stewardship of financial, human and natural resources for future generations. We are committed to the development and maintenance of a healthy, responsive organization with stability and clear purpose. We recognize our ongoing personal and collective responsibility to sustain CIMC.

Simplicity

We value simplicity and moderation in life as a way of embodying the Dharma.

The Five Precepts

A significant aspect of Buddhist practice is sila, the Pali word for ethics. One expression of sila is following ethical guidelines. The focus of the ethical guidelines is to choose actions which are not harmful to oneself or others. The Five Precepts address different areas where we can practice avoiding harmful actions and encouraging compassionate actions. In order to contribute to a safe and harmonious environment, please observe the following Five Precepts while at CIMC:

1. I undertake the precept to refrain from killing living creatures and to practice compassionate action,
2. I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not given and to practice generosity,
3. I undertake the precept to refrain from using sexual energies unwisely or uncaringly and to practice responsibility in all my relationships,
4. I undertake the precept to refrain from harmful speech and to practice kind speech, and
5. I undertake the precept to refrain from the misuse of alcohol and drugs and to practice caring for my body and mind.