Bring the dharma into your daily life as an engaged Buddhist*. You can work with one of the IMCW-sponsored programs, or join Good Works, partnering with charitable organizations in the D.C. metro area.
* A term coined by Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Click on the Contact link of the program you're interested in, and email the contact for more information. They'll be delighted to hear from you!
IMCW-Sponsored Programs
Good Works: Partnering with Charitable Organizations
Insight on the Inside (IOI), a program of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW), was founded in June 2009. IOI volunteers teach mindfulness practices to incarcerated men and women and to those transitioning from incarceration into their communities. Currently IOI has twelve volunteers who are teaching at six locations (including a local prison, several detention centers and a pre-release center) in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
In 2012 IOI expanded its work into the DC correctional system and offers mindfulness classes at the DC Detention Center. Volunteers aspire to broaden their efforts to include juveniles, women and inmates who have addictions to drugs and/or alcohol.
IOI volunteers meet monthly for training and program planning under the guidance of IMCW senior teacher, Hugh Byrne. While IOI is not currently looking for more volunteers to teach in local facilities, there are a number of ways you can help support IOI’s programs and activities—including through donations to IMCW for the IOI program or by donating books.
The Insight Meditation Community of Washington recognizes our relationship to the web of life.
• We belong to the Earth. We are each profoundly connected with and dependant upon all beings on planet Earth.
• We are alive at a critical moment in history. Thousands of choices of billions of people add up. The impact of human beings on the earth has reached a critical point so that we, collectively, are changing the Earth’s lands, waters and climate, harming countless beings and threatening the very systems upon which all life depends.
• Our actions matter. When we believe ourselves to be separate from each other and from all of life, we consume and exploit. Conversely, when we act from our connectedness, we contribute to healing. No matter the size or visibility, each act of love for the Earth affirms our belonging, creating positive change in the web of life and in ourselves. We encourage all members of the IMCW Sangha to take steps and incorporate practices that express our love for the Earth and the truth of our interconnectedness. IMCW’s Green Program supports the sharing of ideas as well as organizing collective initiatives.
Send your ideas on how we can continue to evolve a green community. Share steps are you and your family taking to reduce waste or heal ecosystems. Send email to green@imcw.org and we’ll post the highlights here.
Many of you are already aware of how meditation and mindfulness can deeply transform our lives and help us find peace, joy and well-being in life. If these profound teachings and practices are to address the great social suffering of our society and world and help us live with greater wisdom and compassion, there is probably no more important area to put attention than bringing the practices of mindfulness and compassion into our schools. Programs to bring mindfulness into schools have had a significant impact on student absences, suspensions, attention-skills, and behavior.
IMCW is beginning a program to help bring mindfulness to schools in the greater Washington area. Please contact us for more information and to get involved.
The Good Works program promotes the dharmic principle of generosity as IMCW volunteers work with other charitable organizations. The organizations will offer a variety of volunteer opportunities, as well as volunteer training and support.
Learning Ally, formerly Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic provides audio textbooks, digital playback equipment and training for individuals with visual, learning, or physical disabilities that prevent them from reading print. Nearly 3,500 students in the Washington metropolitan area use RFB&D recorded texts to gain access to education and employment opportunities.
Learning Ally asks for a commitment of 2 hours per week for one year. Daytime, evening, and Saturday morning hours are available at the DC office in Friendship Heights. Weekday hours are available to NIH employees at the satellite studio on campus. Financial contributions are always appreciated.
On Our Own of Fairfax County is a community drop-in center that assists people who are living with serious mental illnesses. Individuals show mutual care by promoting self-help, peer support, socialization, advocacy, education, spirituality, economic development, personal growth and creativity.
Volunteers are needed to establish weekly Oasis Mindfulness/Meditation Groups and will commit to attending 2 evening groups per month for a total of 3 hours.
You can help us brainstorm ideas on how to bring more mindful consumption techniques to the lives of the IMCW sangha, the general Buddhist community, and the larger community as a whole. Come to our next meeting! We will discuss organizing and actions to take to bring mindful consumption to our communities.
