Insight Meditation Instruction
Introduction to Meditation Course – Several times a year Gil Fronsdal (the lead teacher at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, Calif.) offers a 6-week instructional series for beginning meditators. These classes provide a good overview of insight meditation practice as well as many guided meditation sessions which help the student learn how to establish and sustain a daily meditation practice. This link provides recordings and materials from this wonderful class.
Brief Instructions for Sitting Meditation – from The Issue at Hand by Gil Fronsdal
Instructions for Walking Meditation
Basic meditation instruction from Present Moment: Mindfulness Practice & Science
Audio
Links to talks we've listened to during Wednesday night meetings (available via Meetup.com).
Recorded talks from Roswell Insight Meditation.
Guided meditations (from Insight Meditation Center's audiodharma.org).
Websites with Dhamma Talks and Recommended Readings
Online Directories
Check out the websites georgiameditation.org and meditateatlanta.com for up-to-date listings and information on local practice groups near you.
Insight Meditation Centers and Groups
Roswell Insight Meditation – Teacher-led, diverse community of practitioners dedicated to cultivating greater compassion, understanding and wisdom, through the teachings of the Buddha. These teachings, or Dharma, provide a path of practice, leading directly to the reduction of our personal and collective suffering. The group practices in the tradition of Insight Meditation, or Vipassana, which offers practices for opening the heart and mind, and seeing more clearly into the nature of our interconnected existence. Welcomes practitioners from diverse spiritual and secular traditions. Roswell Insight Meditation Community | Heron House, 102 Russell Rd, Roswell, GA 30075
Insight Meditation Center – Redwood City, California – The Insight Meditation Center (IMC) is a community-based urban meditation center for the practice of Vipassana or Insight meditation. They are dedicated to the study and practice of Buddhist teachings. They have a wonderful library of articles and dhamma talks. This is a wonderful resource for new practitioners or for those who don’t have a local sangha to attend. In the spirit of the Buddha, their teachings are freely shared. IMC does not require payment for any of their classes, events or website offerings. They able to do this because of the tremendous generosity of the many people who support them.
Insight Meditation Society - Barre, Massachusetts - Founded in 1975 by a small group of young meditation teachers with the goal of creating an environment where the teachings of the Buddha could flourish in the West. Over its history, IMS has become a spiritual home to thousands of practitioners, and is now regarded as one of the Western world’s most respected centers for learning and deepening meditation practice.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center - Spirit Rock Meditation Center is dedicated to the teachings of the Buddha as presented in the vipassana tradition. The practice of mindful awareness, called Insight or Vipassana Meditation, is at the heart of all the activities at Spirit Rock. The Center hosts a full program of ongoing classes, daylong programs, and residential retreats.
Southern Dharma Retreat Center - Located in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina, this 501(c)(3) non-profit educational center offers affordable, teacher-led retreats representing a variety of spiritual traditions, including insight meditation.
Recommended Books on Meditation & Buddhist Practice
The Issue at Hand, by Gil Fronsdal – This book was written by Gil Fronsdal as a gift to the community. It is freely given and is also available online in English, French, and German.
Mindfulness in Plain English, Updated and Expanded Edition (Paperback) by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana – A wonderful, straightforward and concise introduction to Insight meditation.
Presence: How Mindfulness and Meditation Shape Your Brain, Mind, and Life, by Paul Verhaeghen, Oxford University Press
It’s Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness, by Sylvia Boorstein
With Each & Every Breath, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There, by Sylvia Boorstein
Mindfulness With Breathing, by Bhikku Buddhadasa
Woman Awake, by Christina Feldman
The Experience of Insight: A Simple and Direct Guide to Buddhist Meditation, by Joseph Goldstein
Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom, by Joseph Goldstein
The Science of Enlightenment, by Shinzen Young
Seeking The Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation, by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield.
Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh
Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, by Jon Kabat-Zinn
A Path With Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises Of Spiritual Life, by Jack Kornfield
Teachings of Twelve Buddhists Masters, by Jack Kornfield
Freedom From the Known, by J. Krishnamurti
The Wisdom of the Desert, by Thomas Merton
Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, by Sharon Salzberg
A Heart As Wide As the World: Living with Mindfulness, Wisdom, Compassion, by Sharon Salzberg
Lessons From the Dying, by Rodney Strong
The Mind and the Way: Buddhist Reflections on Life, by Ajahn Sumedho
The Profound and the Profane, by Christopher Titmus
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, by Shunryu Suzuki