This program will be held online via Zoom. All registrants will receive the link to join the program in their Order Confirmation email. This program will not be recorded. Times are ET.
This program will not meet on Sunday, July 6. The final session of this practice group on Sunday, August 3 will be offered both in-person at the Center and online (hybrid).
This weekly gathering will support and deepen your Dharma practice in a time of global turmoil and destabilization, bringing Buddhist wisdom to the intertwined socioecological crises touching all our lives. Our time together will include guided meditation, teachings, and discussion. We’ll explore the questions: How can the more-than-human world be our teacher? How do we engage Buddhist meditation and nature connection practices torespond skillfully to life in the Anthropocene – the current era in which humans have become the dominant force shaping Earth’s bio-geophysical composition and processes? Where do we find hope?
We will practice shamatha (from the Sanskrit “shama” meaning peace, and “tha” meaning to dwell) meditation to stabilize and clarify the mind, the Seven Homecomings practice to access refuge and guidance, mettā to connect with boundless compassion, and nature-based meditation to open to the wisdom of the earth.
There are no neat and tidy answers to the transitions we are experiencing. We will instead plant our questions in the soil of our practice and wait for insights to unfurl in the openness of our hearts. We’ll aspire to radical openness and discernment as we navigate practice in community— meditating together, sharing in dialogue, and discovering new ways of being with the reality of climate collapse. No prior meditation experience necessary. All identities are warmly welcomed. Participants are expected to maintain a daily meditation practice based on the unfolding guidance throughout the 5 weeks of this course.
No prior meditation experience necessary. All identities are warmly welcomed. Participants are expected to maintain a daily meditation practice based on the unfolding guidance throughout the 5 weeks of this course.
Full and partial scholarships are available. Please submit your requests to office@cambridgeinsight.org at least 72 hours prior to the start of the program.
Zac Ispa-Landa (he/him) has studied and practiced meditation for 20 years – primarily Vipassana (insight) meditation and, more recently, Vajrayana practices. His primary teacher is Lama Rod Owens, and his practice is supported by a broad mix of teachings and techniques. He is particularly interested in the role contemplative practices can play in undoing systems of oppression and creating conditions for collective liberation and sustainability. He is a founder and teacher at Burlington Dharma Collective and teaches at Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, Inward Bound Mindfulness, Bhumisparsha, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, MIT Sloan School, and elsewhere. He’s also a Senior Lecturer in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont where he teaches courses on ecology, environmental justice, mindfulness, critical reflection and dialogue, and honeybee culture. Zac lives in Vermont with his partner, son, and tens of thousands of honeybees.
Closed Captions (CC) for CIMC Programs are generated through Zoom.