The Enneagram - a Tool for Mindfulness and Insight Most of us come to a meditation practice out of a longing to free ourselves from the repeated experience of being caught in familiar, often painful, emotional experiences within ourselves or in our relationships. We may meditate for hours, days, even years, become more and more aware of these difficult patterns and increasingly long to be free of them. But, at some point, it may seem like we’ve hit a wall, where sitting in individual meditation practice just doesn’t seem enough to penetrate through these more difficult blind spots. We may reach a stage where it’s hard to really see and recognize what’s happening by just continuing to sit with it. The Enneagram is a tool that can help when we encounter these more difficult blind spots.... October 29, 2020By Rob Creekmore event
Welcome in the New Year with IMCW's New Online Weeklong Retreat (Space Available) with Tara Brach, Jonathan Foust, La Sarmiento, Anam Thubten Rinpoche, and Kate Johnson -- This year has been tough on all of us. The pandemic has affected everything in our lives – our work, our routines, our health, and our families. Wouldn’t it be good to have a space where we can go to breathe again – to feel quiet and spacious and free? That will allow us to feel all that is in the moment – both the grief and the small joys? That is what IMCW has created for our 2020 New Year’s Retreat. The end of the year is a perfect time to reflect and to breathe and to prepare for the coming year. Tara Brach tell us: The purpose of a retreat is to follow a formal rhythm of practice that allows you to center yourself, tend your body, quiet your mind, see the present circumstances with clarity and freedom, and open your heart.... October 23, 2020By Editor announcement, event, ResidentialRetreats
IMCW Tackles the Pandemic At a time when we all need community and mindfulness practice, IMCW has been delighted to welcome so many members who live out of the area to our new online, Zoom classes – people from as close as Pennsylvania, and as far away as Chicago, Seattle, Albuquerque, Canada, Great Britain, Portugal, India, Brazil, Japan and Australia. Students who have moved away, students who have listened to our audio dharma but couldn’t attend classes due to distance, family and work obligations, illness or other reasons, have been able to join the daytime and evening classes IMCW offer each week.... October 13, 2020By Editor announcement, COVID-19
Is There a Self? What did the Buddha say about the nature of the self? While his teachings were preserved in the oral tradition through recitation, nothing was written down until 450 years after his passing. I can’t help but wonder how much editorial enhancement his teachings received as they were shared over the centuries following his death. There are some fantastical sayings attributed to the Buddha... October 1, 2020By Jonathan Foust teachings
Incarcerated Students Struggle During Lockdown I miss their shy smiles, their hugs, the way they loosen up and get a little goofy during mindful movement. Most of all, I miss the peace on their faces and the tangible sense of ease in their orange-clad bodies after a guided meditation. It is a visceral experience that anchors me to a unique sangha: the men and women incarcerated in the DC Department of Corrections.... September 24, 2020By Sheryl Stratton SocialJustice, teachings