Open Weekly Groups
Join Us for Meditation and Community
PIMC offers gatherings online, in person at PIMC, and community friendship and affinity groups in Washington and Oregon.
Drop-In Meetings by Day
Sunday – Saturday
10 am - 12 pm
PIMC Sunday Program
MEETS IN PERSON AND ONLINE
With ROBERT BEATTY (he/him) and PIMC Teachers
UPCOMING GUEST TEACHERS
Sunday, December 3 – Jim Dalton
Sunday, December 10 – Doug Pullin
Join us every Sunday morning for a guided meditation, Dharma Talk, and mindful movement. Offered in-person at PIMC and Online via Zoom.
Stick around after 12 pm for social time, tea, and snacks.
Suggested Dana - $10-$25
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Daily, 6:30-7:30 am
Waking Up Together
MEETS ONLINE ONLY
With TRINA TRUONG (she/her) and Guest Facilitators
Waking Up Together is an online sitting group that was established in 2020 by Trina and partners. Our mission is to help support individuals in maintaining their meditation practice through practicing in an accessible community that meets every day, virtually. While we are rooted in the Vipassana-Insight tradition, our approach is also inclusive in all Buddhist meditation practices such as anapanasati (mindfulness of the breath), metta (loving-kindness), body scans, tonglen, and a few others. The space that our meditators come to know is one that expresses itself as welcoming and embodying all views and interpretations of spirituality.
We hold the commitment to remain humble and vulnerable in our role as the guide and door opener to the individual's inner journey. We aspire to facilitate the experience for participants to attain a sense of groundedness, clear-seeing and the understanding of the mind, and [no] self through the practices, the guidance, the reflections offered in group sharing. To solidify this spiritual aspiration is to make a commitment to sit in community with a predetermined frequency or as often as you can.
Daily Meditation Schedule (in Pacific Time):
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6:25 am - Zoom room opens
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6:30 am - 30 mins of Guided Meditation
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7:00 am - Mini Dharma Talk, Group Sharing and Questions
Suggested Dana - $5-15
First and Third Sundays, 6:30-8:30 pm
Sunday Insight and Metta
MEETS ONLINE ONLY
With CANDLE SUMMERS (she/her)
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.
Suggested Dana - $10-$25
Monday-Friday, 7-8 am
Morning Meditations
MEETS ONLINE ONLY
With ROBERT BEATTY (he/him) and PIMC Teachers
UPCOMING GUEST TEACHERS
Monday, December 4 – Trina Truong
Tuesday, December 5 – Paul LaVigne
Wednesday, December 6 – Trina Truong
Thursday, December 7 – Paul LaVigne
Friday, December 8 – Candle Summers
Monday, December 11 – Trina Truong
Tuesday, December 12 – Dan Leif
Wednesday, December 13 – Trina Truong
Thursday, December 14 – Paul LaVigne
The morning will begin with a poem, followed by a 30 minute meditation, and closes with a discussion.
Mondays, 7-8:30 pm
Monday Night Guest House
MEETS ONLINE ONLY
With JIM DALTON (he/him)
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.
Suggested Dana - $10-$25
Tuesdays, 9:30-11:30 am
Peer-Led Meditation Group
MEETS ONLINE ONLY
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.
Suggested Dana - $10-$25
Tuesdays, 6:00-7:30 pm
Thaypassana Tuesdays
MEETS ONLINE AND IN PERSON AT PIMC
With TRINA TRUONG (she/her)
Thaypassana combines the teachings of “Thay” Thich Nhat Hanh and Vipassana. The term was coined by Cheri Maples, an ordained disciple of Thay. In honor of the beloved peace activist and world renowned Vietnamese Buddhist Zen master, Trina weaves together her reverence of Thay’s teachings, the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and the Vipassana-Insight tradition that has shaped her spiritual journey, sharing with practitioners the eloquent and pragmatic approach to mindfulness, meditation, and ancient wisdom teachings rooted in Buddhist thoughts.
These weekly drop-in classes will consist of a blend of Insight practices and Engaged Buddhism to facilitate the opening of our hearts and cultivate the clarity of mind to compassion and wisdom that lies deep within each individual's true nature.
Trina will offer chantings, songs and poems to soothe the mind and calm the body, generating good energy for meditation. There will be a guided meditation to cultivate awareness and concentration, followed by a teaching and mindfulness practice, group discussion, and Q&A.
Suggested Dana - $15-30
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Thursdays, 7:30-9:00 pm
Heart of Freedom
MEETS ONLINE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
UPCOMING EVENT
Candlelight Winter Solstice Celebration/Contemplation
Thursday, December 21
NOTE: MEETS IN PERSON AND ONLINE AT 7:00PM THIS WEEK ONLY
Doug Pullin and the Heart of Freedom Meditation Group will meet in person and on Zoom for this event. For more info CLICK HERE to visit our calendar.
With DOUG PULLIN (he/him)
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.
Suggested Dana - $10-$25
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, Annie Zenn, Paula Baugher
CURRENT STATUS: Open to new members. EMAIL FOR ZOOM LINK, USE "BQN LINK" IN SUBJECT LINE.