Open Weekly Groups
Monday-Friday
Mondays
Monday Night Guest House with Jim Dalton
7-8:30 pm
Meets Online ONLY
Format: Meditation, movement, discussion
Description: Reach out and connect for an evening of meditation and connection. How will we connect? We know how to do this. For centuries groups of people have banded together and supported each other through wars, famines and epidemics. Today’s situation is unique and seemingly overwhelming, but we know how to work with feelings and thoughts. We know how to build a circle of empathy. We know how to still the mind. All cultures have developed skills and rituals to summon the interior forces to face the challenges we all face as fragile human beings. Each one of us contributes to this ancient resilience and wisdom. Let’s begin.
This is an invitation to fill your electronic screen with faces and smiles and listen to how your friends are coping with our current challenges. We will be creating a group mindfulness session, including quiet sitting, guided meditation, mindful movement and time for discussion and questions.
Please be compassionate with yourself and your friends. Use this virtual tool to stay connected while we are seemingly separated one from another.
Tuesdays
Peer-Led Morning Meditation Group
9:30 - 11:30 am
Meets Online ONLY
Description: This is a friendship and meditation group. Leadership is rotated among all who wish to lead. It meets every Tuesday morning and typically includes sitting and walking meditation, optional personal sharing, reading, and discussion of Dharma topics. Practice and support among friends.
Thursdays
Heart of Freedom with Doug Pullin
7:30 - 9:00 pm
Meets Online until further notice
Description: The evening includes guided and silent sitting in the practice that leads to insight or Vipassana mind. This is the mindfulness meditation practice that was taught by the Buddha over 2500 years ago. The focus of Doug's teaching is on the cultivation of compassion, loving-kindness and wisdom through the practice of being fully present for the ever changing joys and sorrows of life. In addition to traditional mindfulness meditation, there is also an opportunity for informal discussion and for questions related to practice. The Dharma discussion is in a small group setting. Open to beginning and advanced students alike.
Sundays
Sunday Insight and Metta with Candle Summers
First and Third Sundays Monthly, 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Meets Online ONLY
Format: Meditation, discussion
Description: Dharma practice and spiritual friendship presented in an easeful, natural style. The time together will include 45-minutes of gently guided insight meditation and loving friendliness practice along with personal sharing and discussion of various Dhamma topics such as applying awareness in daily life and Sutta study.
This group is committed to making the exploration of practices and teachings of the Buddha relevant and accessible in today’s world and welcomes all people of every age, ethnicity, cultural heritage and religious background, socio-economic group, ability, sexual orientation and gender identity. In this way we aspire to follow in the footsteps of the Buddha, who offered his teachings of awakening and freedom freely to everyone without exception.
Kalyana Mitta and Affinity Groups
Our network of Kalyana Mitta (KM), or Spiritual Friends, groups is an important component of the PIMC spiritual community. They provide a platform for members of our sangha to deepen both their practice and their relationships with one another outside of PIMC, though regular meditation and Dharma study sessions in small groups on their own schedules.
KM groups were started at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin, Calif, and their website has a great deal of information about them HERE.
It's important to understand that a KM group is NOT a conventional social group, and it's not a place for the kind of unfocused conversation one might engage in at a bar or party. The members of a KM group all agree to focus on the Dharma during their meetings - through study and meditation, as well as discussing the the way it shows up in their lives. There is always time outside of group to talk about the details of every-day life, such as politics, sports, dating, or family. Each KM group typically has some set of formal agreements about conduct within the group that all members accept, such as this example.
Because our own Dharma work is intensely personal, discussion in group often involves personal self-disclosure that requires a willingness to be vulnerable, as well as a deep level of trust in all of the members of the group. To help facilitate that sense of trust, all KM groups require members to hold all discussion in group as private and confidential. This is an example of a typical KM confidentiality policy.
Some of PIMC’s KM groups are open to new members and some are not, as noted in the listing below. For those that are open, any PIMC member is eligible to join. Most groups meet in members homes. For groups that meet in public spaces, this is noted in the listing below.
By coming together on a regular basis... meditating together, studying together, and learning to know one another in an environment of trust, we deepen our ability to open fully to all that is within us... to give voice to our deepest and most authentic “selves.” By doing so, we begin to see how connected we are in this human experience. When we are able to let go of some of the boundaries and barriers we experience as “reality,” our sense of separation from others is reduced, and the perception of loneliness and isolation is recognized for the delusion it truly is. This gives us the foundation to experience "Anatta", that is, "no fixed, abiding self" on a very real and tangible basis.
May you each bring open-hearted kindness and wisdom to every contact, every relationship, every effort. May that intention be returned to your heart increased one-hundred fold.
For More Information
While PIMC is committed to providing structure and support for these affiliated groups, they do operate independently of PIMC. If you want additional information about a specific group, please follow-up with the group contact listed.
To Start a New KM Group
It is PIMC's hope that our network of KM groups will grow over time, giving more members of our sangha access to the benefits for spiritual development. If you want to create a new KM group, please contact Gregory Maloof, PIMC Manager to arrange an appointment with Robert to discuss it.
Current Kalyana Mitta (Spiritual Friends) and Affinity Groups
BE QUEER NOW-Affinity Group
MEETS: Sundays 6:30-7:30 pm, weekly
ORGANIZER: Kat Selah, Birch
CURRENT STATUS: Open to new members
REGISTER FOR ZOOM LINK HERE