The fast pace of urban life has been considered an impediment to serious meditation practice since ancient times; the Buddha himself advised practitioners to eschew the village for the solitude and relative quiet of the forest. Nonetheless, the Boston area has been home for almost 10 years to CIMC, a contemplative oasis in the midst of a major urban area. Encouraged by a group of his meditation students who sought a place to pursue intensive practice while actively engaged in work, school and family life, Larry Rosenberg founded the center in 1985.
Noting that the Vipassana community in this country is largely urban and includes “individuals with very serious intentions, who have tremendous energy to practice,” Larry says the fact still remains that “most of us aren’t going to become monks or nuns” as typically happens among committed practitioners in Asia. As a nonresidential urban center, CIMC’s programs and facilities are designed to provide a strong foundation of support for daily practice.
With the founding of the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies four years ago, the New England area now has a very rich and diverse array of Theravada Buddhist teaching centers. The Study Center is primarily intended to provide yogis with a sound education in the doctrinal basis of the teachings; IMS, a retreat center emphasizing long-term intensive practice of these teachings; and Cambridge Insight Meditation Center (CIMC), a resource for the development and manifestation of this very same dharma in the midst of urban living, in all of its complexity. these three loosely knit institutions for a “dharma” campus of sorts with each supporting the other two, and with all three providing a supportive environment for deepening practice.
CIMC’s teachers, Larry Rosenberg, Narayan Liebenson Grady and Michael Liebenson Grady also lead retreats and programs at IMS and the Study Center. Larry’s teaching emphasizes the Anapanasati Sutta, a vipassana meditation system taught by the Buddha in which conscious breathing is used to develop both serenity and wisdom. This spring, Larry will be offering a weekly practice group on anapanasati and the art of mindful living.
Narayan will be leading two groups this summer. One, for older students, is based on a systematic experiential investigation of the Paramis (Perfections). The Paramis are forces of purity in the mind which link contemplative practice with everyday life. The other group focuses on wise speech. Participants in this group will explore ways in which speech and interpersonal communication can become vehicles for developing awareness and insight.
Michael will be offering a practice group in the spring on the quality of investigation. This class will encourage the strengthening of investigation through reflection and a focused awareness of the body.
In addition to these classes, all of CIMC’s teachers lead weekend retreats in Cambridge on a regular basis. Other CIMC offerings include daily sittings, weekly dharma talks, teacher interviews and use of an attached studio apartment (the kuti) for self-retreats. Outside of these formal programs, yogis are encouraged to use the meditation hall for individual practice as their schedules permit. In addition, the center maintains an extensive library of books and tapes concerned with Buddhadharma.
A week-long “sandwich” retreat, an innovation prompted by the busyness of contemporary life circumstances, will be offered here in the fall. The sandwich is comprised of the “bread” of two consecutive weekends and the “filling” of the five weekdays in between. The weekends are like any other retreat–lots of sitting and walking practice. During the weekdays, retreat ants practice general mindfulness while at school, work or home, as well as focusing on a specific dharma theme, e.g. right speech. the weekday evenings continue the weekend emphasis on formal meditation and also include discussions of the dharma theme practice carried out earlier in the day. This approach helps to dissolve the illusory split between contemplation and action that exists in the minds of many practitioners.
An open invitation is extended to all who ar part of the greater IMS community and in the Boston area, whether living there or just visiting, are invited to stop by CIMC and browse through the library or join in any of the public sittings or Wednesday evening dharma talks. A growing number of out-of-town yogis have been enrolling in our weekend retreats. Several members of our local sangha offer rooms to these yogis either for free or a very nominal charge. For further information, click here.
