Description
Larry Rosenberg, CIMC founder, and Matthew Daniell’s longtime mentor, friend, and teaching partner wrote these words: “Where is peace to be found, in the same place as sorrow. How convenient!”.
Here is the essence of the challenge that Larry poses to us: how is one to live amidst life’s contradictions and complications? In this Practice Group we will draw from the wisdom of Larry’s new book The World Exists to Set Us Free: Straight Up Dharma for Living a Life of Awareness (Shambala Publications, 2025) to bring greater connection, resilience, freedom and ease to the challenges of formal practice and daily life. Not only a clear and practical distillation of essential dharma teaching, Larry’s book also addresses a period in his own life marked by illness and disability, and a time when our lives on our shared planet are marked by pandemic, war, existential climate crisis, and pervasive technological distraction.Â
This course is suitable for practitioners with all levels of experience. Guided and silent meditation will be complemented by reflection and a discussion period in each session.
As a complement to the Practice Group, participants may be interested in attending the CIMC Wednesday Evening Dharma Talk with Larry’s co-author, Madeline Drexler on Wednesday, September 24, 2025. This drop-in talk will celebrate the release of The World Exists to Set Us Free: Straight Up Dharma for Living a Life of Awareness.Â
Attending an online practice group
- Sitting a practice group from home online differs greatly from coming to a meditation center. Tending to your comfort and giving yourself a quiet, private sitting and walking space (if possible, in your environment) will help keep your attention focused and support your practice and learning. Plan to bring as much simplicity and ease to your day as possible. The schedule of the practice group is structured to support your well-being and practice with regular breaks and time for mindful movement.
- We use Zoom for online practice groups. Before your practice group begins, be sure to download Zoom and familiarize yourself with using the program, including the chat feature. Specifics about how we use Zoom during your practice group will be covered initially; however, we cannot provide technical support during the group.
- We ask that you treat our virtual meditation hall as if we were together in person, in the same room. The teachers and other yogis benefit greatly from your full presence and careful attention.
- Join each session of the practice group a few minutes early. This will support the teachers and your fellow attendees.
- Please maintain noble silence as much as possible for the duration of the practice group and take any necessary steps to limit external distractions such as incoming emails, texts, or other interruptions to maintain the integrity of our practice together. Close all programs on your computer other than Zoom and turn off all notifications on your devices.
- Power off your phones and smartwatches for the entire practice group. Please don’t check your devices during breaks. We suggest you put an “away” message on your email and voicemail and leave your devices in another room during the practice group.
- Please keep your video on during our time together as much as possible. This supports a sense of connectedness and sangha.
- You will receive a welcome email from CIMC a day or two before your program, including the Zoom link, practice group schedule, and further information.
- Practice groups will often have home practices in between sessions.