Insight

Meditation
Society
ANNUAL BULLETIN | 2022

The Art of IMS

Exploring the history and role of
art at our centers

The Nipmuc, Past

and Present
Affinity Groups at IMS
Cut down
the forest of desire,
not the forest of trees.
From the forest of desire
come danger
& fear.
Having cut down this forest &
its underbrush, monks,
be deforested.
The Dhammapada, verse 282
Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
 IMS is a spiritual refuge
for all who seek freedom
of mind and heart.

We offer meditation
retreats and online
programs rooted in the
Early Buddhist teachings
of ethics, concentration,
and wisdom. These
practices help develop
awareness and compassion
in ourselves, giving rise
to greater peace and
happiness in the world.

4 • Insight Meditation Society

Contents

7 Letter from the Executive Director

8 Year in Review: A Look at IMS in 2022 and Beyond

12 The Art of IMS

Exploring the history and role of art at our centers

20 The Nipmuc, Past and Present

Acknowledging the first caretakers of this land

26 The Intersection of Indigenous Wisdom and

the Dharma
Spotlight on Jeanne Corrigal, co-creator of the IMS
program Touching the Earth

28 Nurturing the Richness of Our Community

The meaning and purpose of IMS’s affinity offerings

30 IMS Virtual Book Club Continues to Flourish

Insight Meditation Society • 5

“That IMS is still here—still
quietly holding space on the
land and through the screen
for practice, for solace,
and for the possibility of
liberation—is not accidental.
Things might have unfolded
a different way, but here
we are.”

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Dear Friends,
What a joy it has been to see so many of you join us
online from home, at the Retreat Center, and at
the Forest Refuge this year. How remarkable, the
simple gift of being together. I appreciate that so
much in 2022.
This year-long process of coming back into full
operation has been notable in so many ways. For me,
readying the centers for full occupancy again was also
an opportunity to deeply appreciate the great gifts
and energy of those spaces; when we are in them so
often, it can be easy to stop noticing all the evidence of
generations of practice, loving care, and wise decision-
making. But it’s right there: the investments of all
those who came before us, took some risks, committed
their energies and resources without knowing how the
years ahead would unfold. That took courage. That
IMS is still here—still quietly holding space on the
land and through the screen for practice, for solace,
and for the possibility of liberation—is not accidental.
Things might have unfolded a different way, but here
we are.
This generation—ours—is holding that work of
continuation for the next generations. All of you, all
of our staff, our Board, our Guiding Teachers, and
extended teacher community—all of us together
contribute to the very palpable sense of steadiness that
has been so very evident this year at IMS. Things are
good. The spaces are solid and well kept. The land
is tended with deep care. Retreats are underway and
teachers and yogis are here in their practice. It’s quiet,
but humming. Thank you, truly.
It’s no coincidence that this issue of our annual
bulletin features several articles that reflect on the
legacies evident all around us. John Spalding’s
beautiful piece on the art of IMS (p. 12) looks at the
LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
extraordinary gifts of art and statuary that are present
throughout the IMS property and hold such meaning,
both as part of individual practice and as enduring
and familiar features of so many spaces. How lovely
to be able to share some history about several of them
and reflect on the role they play at IMS. It’s also lovely
to be able to introduce the newest wooden Buddha
on the altar in the Retreat Center. (Don’t worry—the
original bronze Buddha is still here!)
You may also be interested to read about the
Nipmuc—the first caretakers of the unceded land
on which IMS rests. John and Raquel Baetz (p. 20)
explore both the history of the Nipmuc and their work
today to celebrate that history, their culture, and their
ongoing presence in our local communities. You’ll
also learn about the very real challenges the Nipmuc
continue to face in gaining federal recognition, and
their emerging work in land reclamation efforts.
We hope you enjoy the many bits and pieces of this
annual bulletin, and that it helps to make you feel
connected in between visits. On behalf of all of us
at IMS, thank you for your ongoing friendship and
countless acts of generosity in support of this center
and all of its work. We feel your presence every day.
With boundless appreciation,
Inger Forland
Executive Director
Insight Meditation Society • 7
 Year in Review:
A Look at IMS in
2022 and Beyond
By Raquel Baetz

in september of this year, the World Health

Organization declared that the end of the Covid-19
pandemic is “in sight,” announcing that weekly deaths
from the virus around the world were at their lowest
level since March 2020. We are not there yet, the
agency said, noting that there is still a risk of more
variants, illness, deaths, and uncertainty. But the world
has never been in a better position to end the pandemic,
said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the agency’s
director-general, “so let’s seize this opportunity.”
At IMS, we aimed throughout 2022 to strike a similar
balance of caution and hope, wary of the possibility
of another outbreak, but deeply grateful for the
opportunities we’ve had to host a full schedule of
residential retreats, make improvements to our campus,
develop our online programming, and explore initiatives
that will conserve our land, align IMS’s endowment
with our values, and build toward a financial future in
which we can offer retreats free of charge.

Welcoming Faces Familiar and New

Every retreat this year has had the quality of a
reunion—even as we welcomed so many first-time yogis
to the centers. It was extraordinary to witness so many
coming back—gingerly, eagerly, joyfully, tentatively—
into shared space after so much isolation. By April, we
were able to hold full-capacity retreats at the Retreat
Center and, by May, we were able to hold full-capacity
retreats at the Forest Refuge.
We continued to maintain a careful approach to the
risks posed by Covid, with the generous and expert
guidance of friends of IMS within the scientific
community, to ensure that our yogis, teachers, staff, and
volunteers were supported by the best protocols. Going
forward, we will continue to adapt and innovate as
needed to meet the challenges of these times.

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We welcomed many new and some familiar faces
to IMS this year to assist with the work of running
the Retreat Center and Forest Refuge, as well as our
growing online programming. We continue to add to
our team, and welcome applicants for the open positions
listed on our website.
On the Ground at IMS
With our doors reopened and our major indoor projects
complete, the facilities team has focused this year on
our grounds. New landscaping at the Teacher Village
was completed, and new benches and picnic tables built
for all to enjoy at the Retreat Center and Forest Refuge.
Much energy went into cleanup and improvement of
many of our trails, including the new trails west of
Pleasant Street. This included building new bridges with
non-skid strips and railings, bog bridges over some of
the streams that are frequently muddy, and new signs
that make it easier for all to navigate the trails.
Donors supported all of this work. In addition, generous
contributions allowed us to purchase an electric lawn
mower, which is more environmentally friendly and less
noisy; and new equipment for the laundry room at the
Retreat Center, bringing more ease into the lives of our
yogis and staff.
IMS Online
When IMS Online was born in March of 2020, few
of us imagined that it would grow into the remarkable
vehicle it has become for creating meaningful
connection, supporting practice, and extending access
to teachers and the teachings for a global community of
students and meditators. In its short history, more than
15,000 people have enrolled in IMS Online programs
each year.
One of the highlights of our live online programming
from the past year was Ask Joseph: Group Mentorship
Program, which brought IMS co-founder Joseph
Goldstein together with 500-plus live attendees from 30
countries. More than 350 questions were submitted in
advance and Joseph answered a selection on each of the
three nights of the program.
In September, IMS held its first-ever virtual monastic-
led retreat, Refuge: A Monastic-Led Weekend Retreat.
Over the course of the weekend, Ayya Anandabodhi
shared core teachings of the Buddha on refuge and
letting go, as part of a full home retreat schedule that
included live sessions throughout the weekend.
Touching the Earth, a first-of-its-kind experiential
online retreat led by IMS Teachers Jeanne Corrigal
and Yong Oh, introduced students to the Dharma
through the lens of nature and environmental
stewardship. The program, centered on four seasonal
gatherings, began in spring of this year and will
conclude in winter 2023. (Read more about this
program on page 26.)
IMS Online now includes an audio library with
more than 70 hours of free, on-demand content.
This immersive learning experience, known as The
Way of the Buddha: Core Teachings of the Dharma
Path, includes dharma talks from many of our IMS
teachers and is appropriate for meditators of all levels.
Our online programming allows us to offer the
Dharma to all, regardless of financial means. We are
committed to offering these programs at reduced
rates or at no charge. Participants may select the
scholarship rate without having to provide any reason
or proof of need.
Looking Towards the Future
This past July, the IMS Board of Directors and
Guiding Teachers met in person on campus for the
first time since 2019 for three full days of governance
meetings.
“It was deeply meaningful to have them all here,
reconnecting and recommitting to their work on
behalf of IMS,” says IMS Executive Director Inger
Forland. “For a leadership community that really
values and invests in relationships, these last Zoom
years have been impactful. What a joy to be able to
stand in the same space again, here on the grounds
in Barre.”
Below are some of the topics and initiatives discussed
during this gathering.
Land Conservation at IMS
In alignment with the Buddha’s teaching on the
interconnectedness of all beings to each other and
to the environment, we are working to place about
280 acres of IMS land into a conservation restriction,
which guarantees that the land will be free of
development and kept wild in perpetuity. This land
will remain in the care of IMS and will continue to
be used by the many retreatants, staff, and teachers
who enjoy our trail systems.
Insight Meditation Society • 9

Several of IMS’s neighbors have agreed to do the same
with their land; in total, approximately 500 acres of
adjoining land will be placed in conservation restriction.
Expanding the acreage in trust, in partnership with our
local community, increases the environmental benefit
for all, as well as the grant funding that allows each
partner to purchase the conservation restriction.
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation
and Recreation (DCR) has approved purchasing the
development rights to the IMS land west of Pleasant
Street, which includes Gaston Pond and is part of the
Quabbin Reservoir watershed. This involvement of a
state agency allows IMS and our neighbors to obtain a
Landscape Partnership Grant, which will fund 50% of
the cost of purchasing the development rights for the
DCR and our other partners, Massachusetts Audubon
and the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust.
IMS is also applying for a grant from the USDA
Natural Resources Conservation Service to implement
our Forest Management Plan, allowing us to improve
wildlife habitat on our land with projects such as
adding more native plant species and controlling
invasive plant species.
Aligning IMS’s Endowment with Its Values
The IMS endowment is a collection of investable assets
that the organization manages and uses to sustainably
finance our operations in concert with the wishes of
our donors. For the past several years, there has been
interest in further aligning the investments within
our endowment with the mission and values of the
10 • Insight Meditation Society
organization. To accomplish this, the IMS Board
has approved moving the endowment from a partial
investment in environmental, social, and governance
(ESG) funds to a 100% ESG investment strategy.
“These are indexes that are diversified but take into
consideration environmental, social, and governance
ideas to align what an organization is doing in terms
of its investments with certain core principles,”
explained Salma Abdulla, Board Vice President and
Finance Committee member.
Environmental components typically include carbon
emissions, water usage, and deforestation, while social
considerations might include equitable pay, fair labor
practices, and customer satisfaction. Governance
issues encompass diversity of board members, political
contributions, executive pay, lobbying, etc.
The Legacy Sangha
During a meet and greet with new staff this past
year, Joseph was asked about his hopes for the future
regarding IMS. He answered, “My hope is that
there will be no retreat fees for IMS—that it will be
completely dana funded.”
For this to become a reality, our current endowment
would need to be doubled—a strategic initiative
we have not yet taken on. However, we are deeply
committed to providing financial support for in-
person and online retreats for as many people as
possible, expanding accessibility to the Buddha’s
teaching regardless of financial means.
One of the ways we are doing this is through our
newly created Legacy Sangha. This forward-thinking
community of donors has committed to include IMS
in their wills or estate plans. Their bequests, of all
shapes and sizes, will enable IMS to continue to thrive
into the future and open its doors to all who seek a
path to liberation.
The Legacy Sangha recognizes the generosity of these
supporters who are helping to sustain our campus,
care for our community, and expand access to the
Dharma for generations to come.
If you are interested in becoming part of our
Legacy Sangha, please reach out to Director of
Development Leah Giles at leahg@dharma.org
or (978) 355-4378, x320.
Upcoming Program Highlights
As this publication goes to print, IMS’s first-ever
online Women’s Retreat is in progress (October
6–9), led by IMS Teachers Narayan Helen
Liebenson and Christina Feldman. The IMS
residential Women’s Retreat is one of our most
popular programs, and the first one we moved
online when IMS closed in 2020. While the
residential version has a requirement of two previous
weeklong women’s retreats, the virtual Women’s
Retreat does not require participants to have
attended previous retreats; this expands accessibility
and allows this program and community to grow
and thrive.
We’re delighted to announce a new monthly online
gathering beginning soon. Freedom from Craving
joins our stable of online affinity gatherings,
including our BIPOC Sangha and Indigenous
Insight. (For more information on our affinity
offerings, see page 28.) This new offering will
explore the theme of craving through the lens of
addiction recovery, providing an opportunity for
participants to incorporate meditation into their
personal recovery program. The monthly gathering
will be paired with two annual events: a weekend
retreat and a mini-retreat for advanced practitioners.
In January of 2023, IMS will host Mindfulness
and Liberation: Foundations of Mindfulness-Based
Approaches, designed for professionals involved in
mindfulness-based modalities. This weeklong retreat
will be led by Akincano and Christiane Wolf and
assisted by Thimo Wittich.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity,

and Inclusion
The Buddha taught that every being plays a part in
the lives of all others, and that hatred never ceases by
hatred, but by love alone. We dedicate ourselves to
these teachings by remaining steadfast in upholding
non-harming and nonviolence as the pillars of
compassionate action.
To ensure that our community adheres to these
principles, we continue to expand and evolve our
diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work, through
our programming and financial assistance, within
our teaching community, and through our staff
training and hiring. Read more about IMS’s DEI
work on our website.

Insight Meditation Society • 11

 The Art of IMS
Exploring the history and role
of art at our centers
By John Spalding
dozens of statues, thangkas, scrolls, and other
devotional items grace IMS’s Retreat Center and Forest
Refuge, projecting a calm mental state and reinforcing
the Buddha’s teachings about the path leading to the
end of suffering. For yogis who are curious about these
sacred objects—Where did they come from? How were
they made? What purpose did they serve? How might one
best practice with them?—direct experience may yield
some answers. For example, why do all the Buddha
statues appear to be smiling? Because they are enjoying
a moment of stillness, undisturbed by a thought. Other
mysteries may not be so easily deduced, however—like,
why do some seem to be wearing hats covered with
bumps? The answer, according to legend: One day, as
the Buddha was meditating in the hot sun, 108 passing
snails climbed up on his head and formed a cap on his
shaved head, so the heat wouldn’t distract him on his
path to enlightenment.
Despite the prevalence of Buddhist art on our campus
today, IMS’s founding teachers debated whether to
display any art at all before the center opened its doors
in 1976. “My first teacher in India, S. N. Goenka,
said that the Buddha did not teach Buddhism—the
Buddha taught a way of life,” recalls IMS co-founder
Sharon Salzberg. “And because insight meditation
is about cultivating a more mindful response to life,
rather than joining a religion or becoming a follower of
the Buddha, we asked ourselves, ‘Why put out statues
of the Buddha?’”
Ultimately, the recognition that this art amplifies
the Buddha’s teachings and conveys the energy of
refuge won out. “We believed the Buddha’s serene
posture and inner strength shows us something about
ourselves,” Sharon says, “and about the potential for
transformation that’s possible through practice.” There
was also a desire among IMS’s founders to honor the
12 • Insight Meditation Society
A Chinese stone Buddha adds to the serenity of the circular garden in front
of the Retreat Center.
long history and tradition of the teachings they brought
back to the United States after their years of practice
and study in Southeast Asia in the late 1960s and early
1970s. As Sharon often says, “We didn’t just make these
teachings up.”
Much of IMS’s art in the early years was acquired by co-
founder Jack Kornfield, who began collecting Buddhist
art in Southeast Asia after his stint in the Peace Corps
in the late 1960s. “I didn’t know what I was going to
do with all this art when I got it, I just knew that I
loved it,” Jack recalls. “Because I was planning to stay
in Thailand to become a monk, I shipped it all home to
my mom, who stored it in her attic.” Once IMS opened,
and differences of opinion about graven Buddhist
images had been resolved, Jack retrieved his trove from
his mother’s home and placed the objects in various
rooms throughout the Retreat Center. Over the years,
the objects at the Retreat Center and Forest Refuge have
come from donors too numerous to list, many of whom
prefer to remain anonymous.
The abundance of art at IMS is one of the many joys of
spending time here. You never know which pieces will
speak to you, excite your curiosity, and call you back
to them again and again over the course of a retreat.
It might be the Chinese stone Buddha in the circular
garden out front at sunset. Or the cracked Kwan Yin that
exemplifies how imperfection can enhance beauty. Or
the little gold Buddha in the dining room, hands folded
in dhyana, or samadhi, mudra, glowing softly in the
darkness before sunrise as you sip tea and prepare for the
first sit of the day.
The Origins of Buddhist Art
The evolution of Buddhist art has traditionally been
thought of as having two periods. Art from the
aniconic phase, during the several hundred years
following the death of the Buddha, portrayed the
events of the Buddha’s life rather than the Buddha
himself, through images such as his footprints
(Buddhapada) imprinted with the dharma wheel
(dharmachakra), a riderless horse, an open royal
umbrella, and an empty seat under the Bodhi tree
where he achieved enlightenment. The idea was that
the Buddha had attained parinirvana (nirvana after
death) and been released from the cycle of samsara,
karma, and rebirth, so it would have been misleading The new Buddha in the meditation hall was hand-carved
from suar wood in Bali.
to suggest that he still existed in human form.
Beginning in roughly the 2nd century BCE A New Presence in the Med Hall
and continuing through today, the iconic phase Retreatants returning to the Retreat Center for the first
of Buddhist art encompasses representations of time since IMS reopened last fall may be surprised by the
the person of the historical Buddha—Buddha sight of a new wooden Buddha adorning the altar in the
Shakyamuni, “sage of the Shakya clan.” Depictions meditation hall. Donated to IMS last summer by Melanie
of Shakyamuni Buddha first emerged in Gandhara, Rose, a meditator living in Amherst, Mass., the new
an ancient region in what is now northern Pakistan, Buddha is originally from Bali. Hand-carved from suar
where Buddhist, Greek, Roman, and other cultures wood in the 1990s and depicting the uttarabodhi (“supreme
mixed. That accounts for the Buddha’s Greco- enlightenment”) mudra, it is warm, richly textured, and
Roman appearance in many sculptures from this larger than its bronze predecessor. IMS co-founder Joseph
region, notable in his hairstyle, draped robes, and Goldstein loved Melanie’s gift, and felt it was the perfect
facial features. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in replacement for the smaller bronze Buddha that formerly sat
New York has what is likely one of the oldest iconic here. “The new Buddha is quite striking, and it’s easier to
representations of the Buddha from Gandhara. see from anywhere in the hall,” Joseph says.
Seated in a yogic posture and holding his right hand
in abhaya mudra—a gesture of approachability—this Calling the Earth
small bronze looks less like any Buddha you’ll find at
as Witness
IMS and more like the neoclassical Statue of Liberty,
especially given its green hue and serrated halo. Acquired by Jack in
Thailand in the early
1970s, this seated
bronze Buddha,
pictured to the right,
has been the focal
point of countless
retreats since taking
its place on the altar
in the meditation hall
when IMS opened. It’s
now been moved from
The Buddha or Lady Liberty? the meditation hall to
This small bronze from 1st- or 2nd-
century Gandhara is likely one of
the interview room at
the oldest representations of the the end of the hall on
Buddha in human form.
the Retreat Center’s
Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Insight Meditation Society • 13

 second floor. This Buddha is likely Burmese, given the are common across styles. His ears are long, signifying
roundness of his face and small ushnisha (the bump that the Buddha was a prince, having worn heavy
or “turban”) atop his head, symbolizing the Buddha’s jewelry that stretched his lobes.
regalness, the power of his enlightenment. By contrast,
If you look closely at the long fingers of this Mandalay
Buddha sculptures reflecting the Sukhothai style,
Buddha’s right hand, you’ll see a small object between
considered the “golden era of Thai art” beginning in
his middle finger and thumb. It’s a piece of fruit
the 14th century, featured smooth, sinuous bodies, with
known as a myrobalan, or arura in Sanskrit, highly
elegant lines and slender oval faces. Sukhothai Buddhas
regarded in Ayurvedic and naturopathic medicine for
typically have a flame on top of their ushnisha,
its healing properties. Buddhas holding this fruit, or
representing spiritual energy, or knowledge.
perhaps a bowl, in their right hand signify that this
Seated Buddhas in this style feature the bhumisparsha is a “medicine Buddha”—the Buddha being one who
mudra, or earth-touching gesture, with all five fingers heals suffering by showing the path to liberation.
of the right hand extended toward the ground, while
the Buddha’s left hand rests palm upward in his lap. The Gift of Brokenness
The earth-touching gesture represents the prelude to After an IMS retreat Sharon led many years ago, a
the Buddha’s awakening, when he was attacked by yogi who happened to be an art dealer from Bangkok
Mara’s army of demons, a metaphor for the temptations approached her and said he was going to send IMS a
of the five hindrances, and in response the Buddha gift when he got home. Sharon didn’t give this kind
called upon the Earth to bear witness to his right to gesture further thought until, months later, a massive
attain enlightenment by virtue of his innumerable acts crate was delivered to IMS. Within it was a wooden
of compassion over many lifetimes. When he did this, statue of Kwan Yin (or Guan Yin) cracked down the
thunder roared, the Earth shook, and the Buddha middle. “It took our breath away,” Sharon said. Today
attained enlightenment. the early Chinese antique statue sits in the middle of
the meditation hall by the back wall, facing the altar,
An Awakened Prince and it remains Sharon’s favorite piece of art at IMS.
The standing Buddha that “For me, that cracked Kwan Yin represents the broken
yogis pass as they walk from heart of seeing,” she says. “The broken heart of seeing
the foyer into the dining suffering in the world.”
room at the Retreat Center
is another sculpture Jack
acquired in northern Thailand,
near the Thai-Burma border. For Sharon Salzberg, this Kwan
“It’s difficult to say which
country that piece originally Yin at back of the meditation
came from, because Thai and hall represents “the broken heart
Burmese art are intermingled
along the border,” Jack says.
of seeing suffering in the world.”
This figure is in the style of
a Mandalay Buddha, named
for the royal capital of 19th-
century Myanmar. Typically
Sacred Relics
carved of wood and gilded, Among the more unusual sacred Buddhist objects at
Mandalay Buddhas are sweet- IMS are the small, clear perspex containers shaped
faced and youthful, almost like stupas that sit on the altar in the Retreat Center’s
Sweet-faced and youthful, a childlike, and clad in ornate meditation hall, below the feet of the Buddha. They
Mandalay Buddha stands at
the dining room entrance, flowing robes that typically hold bone relics of the Buddha’s two foremost disciples,
ornately dressed and holding a cover the chest and arms. Sariputta and Maha Moggallana. The relics were
myrobalan fruit, known for its
medicinal properties. Other features of this Buddha originally discovered, with inscriptions, by the British

14 • Insight Meditation Society

Insight Meditation Society • 15
 archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham, in India’s
Bhopal province during excavations of an ancient
site in 1851. They were sent to England’s Victoria
and Albert Museum, where they remained in the
basement until 1939, when the Maha Bodhi Society
of India asked the British government to return them
to India. The request was granted.
Years later, the Maha Bodhi Society decided to
distribute the relics to various places they considered
worthy—and IMS made the list. The relics were
placed on the meditation hall altar in 2008, and a
year later a portion of Sariputta’s relic was given to the
Barre Center for Buddhist Studies for the dedication
ceremony of the beautiful stone stupa recently
constructed on the organization’s grounds.
On the meditation hall altar, perspex containers hold bone relics of
the Buddha’s two chief disciples, Sariputta and Moggallana.
A Map for Contemplative Experience
As a focal point of meditation, a thangka, or
“recorded message” in Tibetan, is a scroll-like
painting full of symbolic meaning that is intended to
serve as a visual map for contemplative experience.
The thangka that hangs in the Forest Refuge dining
room offers a vibrant, mesmerizing example of the
narrative power of Buddhist art. Hand-painted on
silk, and likely 19th-century Chinese, this thangka
features the Buddha performing the earth-touching
gesture, with two disciples, or arhats, at his side.
The Buddha is framed geometrically within successive
layers; the outer borders show the Buddha in different
seated postures and the inner layers depict various
events from the Buddha’s life. In the final frame,
just outside the mandala, some 30 demons, deities,
humans, and beasts are stirring up all sorts of
tumult—hanging upside down, fighting, dancing,
16 • Insight Meditation Society
having sex. A few of the demons are firing arrows at
the Buddha, three of which pierce the membrane of the
Buddha’s protective mandala but don’t hit him.
Thangkas, like the one hanging in the Forest Refuge dining room,
depict the life of the Buddha, serving as a teaching tool and guide
for contemplative experience.
“This thangka captures much of what I love and find
inspiring about Buddhist art,” says Bonnie Pitman,
an IMS yogi who is the former director of the Dallas
Museum of Art and currently the Director of Art-
Brain Innovations at The Center for BrainHealth
at the University of Texas at Dallas. “Depictions of
the Buddha convey such equanimity and calm, a
solitary figure almost in a world of his own. But here
we see the Buddha surrounded by what we all face
daily—conflict, distress, distractions both pleasant and
unpleasant, threats to our safety and security.
All of that painting’s frenetic activity—talk about
monkey mind! We can relate to that. And yet, in the
center of it all, the Buddha remains serene and unfazed,
focused on his teachings and on sharing them.”
Gifts on the Path to Enlightenment
George Oleyer, a longtime IMS yogi and avid student
of Buddhist art, has donated a number of significant
pieces to IMS, including the striking sitting Mandalay
Buddha in the lower Karuna walking room; the serene
white Buddha, his right palm facing outward in abhaya
(“fear not”) mudra, in the garden of the inner courtyard
outside the Retreat Center dining room; an antique
stone stele featuring the Buddha and his disciples,
Sariputta and Moggallana, in the hall outside the library
at the Forest Refuge; and an antique Chinese hand-
The antique stone stele displayed in the hall outside the Forest Refuge library
represents a mix of styles used in China between the 6th and 8th centuries.
The Buddha’s disciples, with square jaws and high topknots, their faces angled
in three-quarter profile, reflect images from the Northern Wei dynasty in the
6th century, while the Buddha, his robe covering both shoulders, has the fuller
figure and face of Buddhas from the time of the Sui dynasty (581 to 618) and
early Tang dynasty (618 to 907).
Insight Meditation Society • 17
 painted Mahayana silk scroll in the main hallway at
the Forest Refuge, depicting Shakyamuni Buddha
arrayed with the five Dhyani Buddhas, or meditation
Buddhas, above him, each representing a different
aspect of enlightened consciousness.
Created using a process called lost-wax casting, some
bronze Buddhas, particularly from Tibet and China,
contain a sacred object in their hollow interiors,
George says—a relic or small manuscript inscribed
with a prayer that was sealed inside the Buddha at the
time of its consecration. The base under a Buddha
may provide additional information about the statue.
“These often include iconography—like a Tibetan
vajra, symbolizing the indestructible, diamond-like
hardness of enlightenment—and on the base an
inscription identifying the object, and sometimes its
donor,” says George. “Often these pieces were given
by donors to obtain merit or overcome obstacles.”
The upper walking room in Retreat Center in the mid-1970s.
18 • Insight Meditation Society
Love and Devotion
The two stained-glass windows in the upper walking
room are remnants from the days when IMS was a
Catholic novitiate. Ram Dass, the late spiritual teacher
and longtime friend of IMS, sat a few retreats here in
the early days, and in a 2011 interview with Inquiring
Mind, he recalled that he preferred to do walking
meditation between these windows. Here, he said,
“I felt the bhakti, the love that I love to feel.”
Thanks to GEORGE OLEYER, an IMS yogi and art donor,
and CARON SMITH, PH.D., formerly curator at the
Rubin Museum in New York City and curator emeritus,
Crow Museum in Dallas, for their assistance in identifying
objects described in this article.
For 2023, IMS Online is developing a series of programs
on Buddhist art led by Bonnie Pitman and Sharon Salzberg.
Stay tuned for more.
The Garden of Gethsemane: one of two stained-
glass windows in the upper walking room.
This antique Chinese hand-painted Mahayana silk scroll at the Forest Refuge depicts Shakyamuni
Buddha and the five meditation Buddhas.

In the inner courtyard garden, this Shakyamuni Buddha sits in lotus posture, his right The lacquered wood statue in the lower Karuna walking
hand bent at the wrist, palm facing outward in abhaya mudra, the “fear not” gesture. room is a 19th-century Burmese Shakyamuni Buddha in
lotus posture, the palm of his right hand facing inward in
bhumisparsha mudra, or earth-touching gesture.

Insight Meditation Society • 19

The Nipmuc,
Past and Present
Acknowledging the first
caretakers of this land

By John Spalding and Raquel Baetz

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Andre Strongbearheart Gaines, Jr., a citizen and cultural steward of the
Nipmuc tribe, and his nephew, Daishuan Garate, demonstrate traditional
methods of fleshing deer and buffalo skins at the Nipmuc Cultural Celebration.
on a sunny Saturday morning this past May, Andre
Strongbearheart Gaines, Jr., a citizen and cultural
steward of the Nipmuc tribe, surveyed the crowd on the
town green in Petersham, Mass., some 10 miles from
the IMS campus. A few feet away, Gaines’ nephew,
Daishuan Garate, worked a large double-handled blade,
scraping flesh from a deerskin. “I’ve got a few hides that
need to be fleshed,” Gaines said to the crowd, pointing
to a steel barrel at his side. “If you want to help out, you
could do some scraping on that buffalo hide.”
The hides will be used to make traditional Nipmuc
clothing, blankets, drums, and other items, with
nothing wasted, Gaines told the onlookers. For
instance, the hair from the deer pelt Garate was
scraping could be used to make a headdress, or left in
the woods for birds and other animals to use. “The birds
are always looking for material to prepare their homes
for winter,” Gaines said. “That’s a huge thing, to do that
for the animals.”
Gaines and Garate were participating in the Nipmuc
Cultural Celebration—a festival honoring Nipmuc
history, culture, land-use, and living presence in
Petersham, through music, crafts, and storytelling
by Nipmuc citizens. The event aimed to educate the
community about the history of the Nipmuc and to
celebrate that the Nipmuc community has returned
to their homeland, as Petersham—or Nichewaug—is
Nipmuc land.
“We are honored and happy that we are here today,”
Gaines said. “I’m able to grow my hair long, and we’re
able to speak our language and hold our ceremonies”—
all of which was illegal up until 1978, when Congress
passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
“That’s right, it wasn’t until 1978 that it was even legal
for us to practice the beliefs and ways of our ancestors,
to celebrate our culture and be who we are supposed to
be.” He paused. “Let that sink in a little bit.”
For those of us in attendance from IMS, the celebration
was an opportunity to reflect more deeply on who the
Nipmuc are, our shared history with them, and what it
means when we introduce ourselves during retreats and
online programs with a land acknowledgment that we
are located in Barre, Mass., on “unceded Nipmuc land.”
A Brief History of the Freshwater People
Long before the first Europeans arrived, the Nipmuc,
or “freshwater people,” were among the Algonquian
people who had lived for some 12,000 years on the
72,000-square-mile area we call New England.
(Variations on the Nipmuc name include Nipnet,
Nipmuck, Nipmuk, Neepnet, Neetmock, and Nipmug.)
Although the Algonquians shared a similar language
and culture, they consisted of several different groups:
the Nipmuc, Abenaki, Pennacook, Pequot, Micmac,
Mohegan, Nauset, Narragansett, Woronoco, and
Wampanoag. In the 17th century, Nipmuc kinship
and territorial connections extended from northwest
Massachusetts, near the Vermont border, down into
central Massachusetts and back up to southern New
Hampshire, as well as into parts of northeastern
Connecticut and northwestern Rhode Island. Some
of Native heritage claim that in the 1600s there wasn’t
a “Nipmuc” tribe or nation, only separate bands of
Indigenous peoples who lived in the geographical
area. As with other tribes, the Nipmuc lived in semi-
permanent villages, moving according to growing and
hunting seasons in order to avoid depleting the land
where they harvested corn, beans, and squash. They
relocated throughout the year to trade with other tribes,
and to be closer to the shore during the hotter months
and further inland during the winter.
The Indigenous people also traded with the European
explorers and settlers, exchanging pelts for textiles and
metal work. These encounters exposed the tribes to
infectious diseases they hadn’t faced before, decimating
them. Between 1616 and 1619, before the Pilgrims
landed in Plymouth, one epidemic introduced by
European traders and fishermen—possibly yellow fever,
smallpox, or bubonic plague—wiped out as much as
90 percent of the native population along the coast of
present-day Massachusetts.
Insight Meditation Society • 21
 With the arrival of more settlers over the years, English
cows and other livestock strayed onto tribal lands,
eating native crops and digging up native clam beds.
The settlers’ farming methods soon depleted the soil,
prompting the English to seek ever more land. Making
matters worse, the English understanding of property
ownership differed radically from that of the native
people, who didn’t believe that land could be owned by
anyone. Rather than the rights to the land itself, they
thought in terms of the rights a people had to what they
grew, fished, or hunted on the land.
The Puritan settlers, on the other hand, didn’t
comprehend that a people could have rights to a
land they did not fence and “improve,” establishing
permanent, year-round residences; therefore, they General locations of Nipmuc (and other tribes) areas of interaction and association
viewed Indigenous hunting and gathering grounds as in southern New England.

“vacant” and not native “property.” By the end of the

1600s, Indigenous lands were considered completely
within English colonial jurisdiction. For the native
people to own land, they would need to have it granted
to them by the English crown or colonial authority.
As the colonists’ encroachment on native lands
continued, many Nipmuc joined the resistance led by
Wampanoag sachem Metacom (or King Philip, to the
English). Other Nipmucs who had adopted Christianity
through the teachings of John Eliot, “Apostle to the
Indians,” fought in support of the English. In 1675
and 1676, “King Philip’s War” proved to be the
bloodiest conflict (per capita) in American history,
with thousands of Indigenous people killed, displaced,
executed, farmed into servitude to colonial families,
or sold into slavery in the West Indies. Shortly after the Historical Nipmuc homeland clusters in central Massachusetts.
start of the war, the English rounded up 500 Nipmuc—
mostly women, children, and elderly men—from the
Christian “Praying Indian town” of Natick and interned
them on Deer Island in Boston Harbor without
adequate food, shelter, clothing, or medicine. Half of
those interned on Deer Island died in captivity.

The Nipmuc Community Today

Having once inhabited vast swaths of central
Massachusetts, the Hassanamisco band of the Nipmuc
now manages just three and a half acres in the town of
Grafton, Mass., at the Hassanamisco Cisco Homestead.
“There was a time that our people were 250,000 to
300,000 strong,” Gaines said. “We’re down to about
3,000 of us now. But we’re still here.”
Hassanamesit historical marker in Grafton, Mass.

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The Nipmuc gained state acknowledgment in 1976,
and have been seeking federal recognition for more
than 25 years. To date, the Nipmuc are not one of
the more than 500 Indian tribes recognized by the
U.S. government. They have been denied federal
recognition from the Bureau of Indian Affairs three
times—in 2001, 2004 and 2007. Federal recognition
is vital to the health and survival of indigenous tribes,
granting them “domestic dependent nation” status
with powers of self-government and entitlement to
certain federal benefits, services, and protections.
Only federally recognized tribes have political and
legal authority acknowledged by the U.S. government.
For a tribe to receive federal recognition, they must
have a specific number of people registered and
counted as part of the tribe. U.S. Census data is
used to inform this count, but the Census Bureau
has a long-running history of not counting or
undercounting native people, resulting in “paper
genocide.” Another criterion for federal recognition
is a record demonstrating tribal leadership and
membership over their history, posing a challenge
to the Nipmuc, who were dispersed and decimated
by the English settlers. Moreover, Indigenous tribes
traditionally didn’t create and maintain written
records the way colonists did.
Massachusetts has two federally recognized tribes:
the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Mashpee, on
Cape Cod, and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay
Head (Aquinnah) on Martha’s Vineyard. Ramona/
Nosapocket Peters, a Bear Clan member of the
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and founder and
president of the Native Land Conservancy, a
nationwide native-run conservation trust, has been
assisting the Nipmuc with repatriation and protection
of some of their sacred sites.
“Because federal rights supersede the territory,
it appears that the Wampanoag tribes are the
Indigenous peoples overseeing the land that IMS sits
on due to the federal Indian law,” Peters said in an
interview with IMS’s Sangha News earlier this year.
(A practicing Buddhist, Peters has participated in
several of IMS’s programs dedicated to Indigenous
peoples.) “But as soon as the Nipmuc are federally
recognized, they can exercise their own rights without
any assistance from us. That’s one of the ways that we
work together. As Indigenous peoples, we recognize
them as a tribal nation and their homelands.”
Current Land Reclamation Efforts
Indigenous communities across the U.S. have been
working to gain access to some of their tribes’ original
lands. These efforts have been getting more national
attention in recent years due in part to the expanding
social justice movement in this country and abroad.
One such campaign in the Indigenous community,
Land Back, seeks the repatriation of Indigenous lands,
including U.S. national parks. So far, land has been
returned to tribal owners in Ohio, California, and
Virginia.
The Nipmuc are working with various local groups to
reclaim land as well as create shared-land opportunities
that would make some of their original homelands
accessible for tribal use. In 2019, the nonprofit Nipmuk
Cultural Preservation (NCP), Inc., acquired 18.5 acres
of forest in Petersham that the Nipmuc called home
for centuries. Located within the Quabbin watershed,
the land was purchased from Larry Buell, founder of
the University of the Wild at Earthlands in Petersham.
This property is in addition to another 2.5-acre site, near
what is called the “Indian Caves,” that Buell deeded and
transferred to the NCP in 2016.
In 2022, the NCP entered into an agreement with the
Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust and the East
Quabbin Land Trust, entitling the Nipmuc to make use
of a portion of land in the eastern Quabbin region on
which the tribe historically lived. The agreement grants
the Nipmuc rights to land use the general public doesn’t
have, including activities such as harvesting medicinal
plants, camping, and holding ceremonies on the land.
Reflecting on Indigenous approaches to land use, Fred
Freeman, chair and founding member of the NCP,
says, “It is all about creating balance. Rather than it
being something to be owned or exploited, the land is
something to be lived in. You can’t keep taking without
returning something. Why that’s not obvious is one of
the things that has always puzzled Indigenous folks.”
The NCP is finding ways to shore up the Nipmuc
community near and far, including educational events,
archiving Nipmuc artifacts and other materials, and
additional land reclamation and land-sharing agreements.
“The Nipmuc have always been spread out and, over the
years, we’ve spread out even more,” says Freeman. “We’re
seeing what we can do to help all of us become a little
bit more involved in the community—not only the folks
who are local, but also reaching out and looking at what
the needs of other folks may be.”
Insight Meditation Society • 23
 The Path from Here
At IMS, we recognize that we now meditate, work, and
live on Nipmuc land. We acknowledge the tragic past of
these peoples, their ongoing efforts to right some of the
wrongs perpetrated against them, and our responsibility
to self-educate and assist their efforts where we may be
well placed to do so.
IMS has begun to develop programs specifically for
Indigenous peoples, including the annual Indigenous
Peoples Insight Meditation Weekend and Indigenous
Insight, a monthly online sangha, both of which
provide space for Indigenous peoples who practice
meditation to connect in the safety of their shared
experience.
Back at the Nipmuc Cultural Celebration on the
Petersham common in May, Gaines offered a few words
of hope and renewal.
“This is a powerful place,” he said. “There was a time
when all of this land was forest, and the trees were
huge. Ten people could put their arms around them.
I’m grateful that these trees are here, because [the
colonists] wanted to create a ‘new England,’ turning all
the forests into prairies.”
“They did clear out the forest here,” he added, “but the
trees came back.”

The Nipmuc Cultural Celebration, a festival honoring Nipmuc history,

culture, land-use, and living presence in Petersham took place in May 2022.

The Indians of the Nipmuck

Recommended Reading About
the Nipmuc
These four books offer a starting point for learning
more about the Nipmuc, the Indigenous people who
lived—and continue to live—in central Massachusetts,
on the land where IMS sits. Recommended by Fred
Freeman, chair and founder of the Nipmuc-operated
nonprofit Nipmuk Cultural Preservation, Inc., this
selection provides information on Nipmuc history
as well as insights into the Nipmuc’s present-day
challenges, including their efforts to gain state and
federal recognition.
Country in Southern New
England, 1630–1750:
An Historical Geography
by Dennis A. Connole
(McFarland, 2007)
This comprehensive history illuminates the Nipmuc way
of life and its transformation with the advent of white
settlement in New England. During the early years of
Puritan colonization, the Nipmuc remained on the fringes
of the expanding white settlements, until King Philip’s War
(1675–1676) forced them to flee their homes as the land
they lived on was redistributed among the settlers.

24 • Insight Meditation Society

 Our Beloved Kin: A New
History of King Philip’s War
by Lisa Brooks (Yale University
Press, 2019)
Brooks paints a complex picture of war, captivity, and Native
resistance during the “First Indian War” (later named King
Philip’s War) by relaying the stories of Weetamoo, a female
Wampanoag leader, and James Printer, a Nipmuc scholar,
whose stories converge in the captivity of Mary Rowlandson.
Through both a narrow focus on these stories and a broader
scope that includes vast Indigenous geographies, Brooks
provides a new understanding of the history of colonial New
England and of America’s origins.

Firsting and Lasting:

Writing Indians out of Existence
in New England
by Jean M. O’Brien (University of
Minnesota Press, 2010)
Firsting and Lasting argues that local histories became a
primary means through which European Americans asserted
their own modernity while denying it to Indigenous peoples.
Drawing on more than six hundred local histories from
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, O’Brien
explores how these narratives inculcated the myth of Indian
extinction, a myth that has stubbornly remained in the
American consciousness.

Recognition, Sovereignty
Struggles, and Indigenous Rights
in the United States: A Sourcebook
edited by Amy E. Den Ouden and
Jean M. O’Brien (University of
North Carolina Press, 2013)
This collection surveys and clarifies the complex issue of
federal and state recognition for Native American tribal
nations in the United States. Written by leading scholars in
the field, including historians, anthropologists, legal scholars,
and political scientists, these focused and teachable essays
cover the history of recognition, recent legal and cultural
processes, and contemporary recognition struggles nationwide.

Insight Meditation Society • 25

 The Intersection of
Indigenous Wisdom
and the Dharma
Spotlight on Jeanne Corrigal, co-creator of
the IMS program Touching the Earth

“If one sees nature, one sees

Dharma. If one sees Dharma,
one sees nature. Seeing nature,
one knows Dharma.”
—Ajahn Chah

for many métis people, connecting to nature is at

the heart of their lives and tradition.
IMS teacher Jeanne Corrigal is a member of the
mixed heritage Métis Nation, one of three Indigenous
communities recognized in Canada. Jeanne’s heritage
combines Swampy Cree, Scottish, and English
traditions. The guiding teacher for the Saskatoon
Insight Meditation Community in Saskatchewan,
she has spent more than two decades studying and
teaching the Dharma.
Jeanne’s father, Andy Corrigal, was a park warden in
Prince Albert National Park in central Saskatchewan.
Growing up in this environment gave Jeanne the
chance to experience the natural world on a daily
basis, and she credits nature as one of her first
teachers. Today, many of her teachings focus on
the interconnectedness of Indigenous wisdom, its
reverence for nature, and the Dharma. This past year,
she brought these themes together to co-create and
co-lead, with IMS Teacher Yong Oh, a first-of-its-kind
experiential online retreat called Touching the Earth.
“My inspiration for this course grew out of my love for
and experience with nature, and how it can connect us
to a sense of something larger than ourselves, helping
us loosen our sense of the tight, solid self,” Jeanne says.

26 • Insight Meditation Society Photo credit: James Lowe


Weaving mindfulness practice with Indigenous ways
of knowing, the program began in the spring of 2022
and will conclude in winter 2023. Built around four
seasonal gatherings, the schedule gives participants the
opportunity to notice and connect with the natural
cycles of the earth, and how these changes impact our
daily lives.
“Just before the Buddha’s experience of awakening, he
touched the earth, and in that touching he received
support for the liberation and freedom of his mind
and heart,” says Jeanne. “In this course, we touch
the earth together—with our hearts, our minds, and
our embodied presence—as a way of turning toward
awakening into our true nature.”
The program is also a forum for her to “share the
reciprocal relationship with nature that Indigenous
people live,” she says. “That’s what we want to
cultivate—a reciprocal relationship with both our inner
nature and with outer nature and this relationship of
connection.”
In addition to completing IMS teacher training in
2021, Jeanne is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated
Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader
Program. She is also a certified Mindfulness Based
Stress Reduction teacher, through the University of
Massachusetts Medical Center, and a certified Life Skills
Coach, and is trained in Indigenous Focusing-Oriented
Trauma Therapy and Somatic Experiencing.
One of Jeanne’s first teachers was Saskatchewan Cree
Elder Jim Settee, whose story and teachings she honored
with the film Jim Settee: The Way Home, which she
created for the Aboriginal People’s Television Network
in 2009. The idea for the movie came to Jeanne in a
dream while on retreat at IMS. In the dream, Jim gives
Photo credit: Cam O’Bertos
Jeanne a teaching about finding her way through fear.
She also received the same guidance from a teacher on
the retreat. In this moment, Jeanne recalls, Indigenous
wisdom and the Dharma came together for her as very
complementary teachings. She has toured with the
film throughout Saskatchewan and Manitoba, sharing
Jim’s teachings on loving presence, reconciliation, and
cultural education with more than 35,000 people in
more than 320 schools and communities. The film will
soon be available free, online.
Jeanne is also the co-teacher for Indigenous Insight,
a monthly online gathering for Indigenous peoples
hosted by IMS. The program is one of IMS’s affinity
offerings—safe spaces where people with shared
identities can meet and meditate—which represent
one arm of the organization’s larger diversity, equity,
and inclusion efforts. (Read more about IMS affinity
groups on page 28.)
“By cultivating a
safer container for
Indigenous practitioners
and for people of color,
we’re coming into more
of a wholeness in our
sangha, so that all our
parts are present,”
Jeanne reflects. “We’ve all got in our mind streams
these stereotypes—thoughts and patterns that are
sexist, racist, homophobic. This is an opportunity for
each of us to be liberated from that.”
Insight Meditation Society • 27
 Nurturing the
Richness of
Our Community
The meaning and purpose of IMS’s
affinity offerings

“If you have come to help me

you are wasting your time.
But if you have come because
your liberation is bound up
with mine, then let us work
together.”
—A BORIGINAL ACTIVISTS GROUP,
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
“In gladness and in safety,
may all beings be at ease.”
— T HE BUDDHA,
KARANIYA METTA SUTTA
What is an affinity group?
An affinity group is a gathering for a specific group
of people—typically individuals forming around a
common identity, such as gender, sexual orientation, or
race—that provides a safe space for those with shared
life experiences to be with others with whom they can
identify. Many workplaces today support affinity groups
for their employees; Xerox was one of the first companies
to give space to affinity groups when it founded the
National Black Employees Caucus (now Association) to
address injustices in the workplace and beyond during
the Civil Rights movement.

for more than a decade, IMS has been growing
and evolving its efforts around diversity, equity,
and inclusion (DEI). We recognize that this work is
ongoing and needs to be regularly assessed to ensure
that we are living and promoting non-harming
actions toward all people. We acknowledge the
importance of this work, and we remain committed
to this process.
In these dedicated groups and spaces, participants are
able to live the full expression of themselves without
concern about having to conform to ideas that members
of other groups might have. This can provide a kind of
rest and replenishment that members of these groups
may not experience as part of their daily life in the wider
world. These spaces also allow for deeper connection and
support within the specific community.

As part of this DEI work, IMS offers a variety of
affinity gatherings for specific groups of people, and
we sometimes receive inquiries about the necessity
of these retreats, gatherings, and sittings. Here we
address this and other related questions, to help our
community understand why IMS provides these
offerings for our sangha.
Why does IMS provide affinity group
offerings?
We acknowledge that, for some, it’s counterintuitive
for IMS to offer affinity groups. More than once we’ve
been asked, How does separating yogis into identity-
based groups help create unity? This is complex
territory, indeed, and even among those who share a

28 • Insight Meditation Society

fundamental commitment to DEI there may be
disagreement about the right pathways. Some of
what IMS does in this arena will turn out to have
been transformative, and some of it may seem
unskillful in retrospect. We can only proceed with
clear intention, try to discern wisely, and respond in
service to the changing needs of our sangha and the
world as best we can.
To serve as a refuge for anyone who seeks the
teachings of the Buddha, in accordance with our
mission, we must notice who is missing from the
room—and then wonder why they are missing.
We support affinity groups because we recognize
that wanting to be a safe space for all doesn’t make
it so: we have historically not served as a refuge for
groups that are so often unseen or underrepresented
in our community, in our country, and in our
world. Providing optional, dedicated practice space
for these groups—either in person or online—is one
step we have taken toward fulfilling this aspect of
our mission.
“Providing these affinity groups is not separate
from the sangha,” said IMS Guiding Teacher DaRa
Williams, in “Diversity and the Dharma,” a video
series about IMS’s DEI efforts. “Supporting these
groups and allowing them to be with some ease and
non-judgment actually supports the larger sangha.”
“This group provides a chance for teachers to
come together and self-educate, deepening our
understanding of the ways that issues of race,
privilege, and power arise and play out when teaching
and on our teaching teams,” says IMS Guiding
Teacher Greg Scharf. “The intention is to support
the movement towards greater self-awareness and
competence on the part of our White teachers.”
How can our sangha support this work?
As with all our offerings, we recognize the
importance of accessibility. IMS will continue to
provide financial assistance and no-fee enrollment for
our affinity retreats and gatherings, supported by our
sangha’s generous contributions. We also welcome
your feedback as we continue to grow these offerings.
* IMS adheres to the grammatical rule of capitalizing the
descriptors Black and White when referring to racial
identity. This decision follows the guidelines of the American
Psychological Association, the Associated Press, the Center for
the Study of Social Policy, the National Association of Black
Journalists, and other style guides.

What are IMS’s affinity group offerings?

IMS offers various in-person and online retreats and
gatherings for specific groups of people. Our BIPOC
Sangha is held online biweekly for self-identified
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Our affinity
offerings also include our annual in-person Women’s
Retreat; a monthly online gathering for Indigenous
peoples called Indigenous Insight; and an annual
in-person retreat for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Our Affinity Sits are separate sittings during retreats
for People of Color, members of the LGBTQIA+
community, and other groups.
IMS also supports a discussion group for teachers
who self-identify as White* or have Whiteness as
one of their identities. This group is a forum for
examining issues around race and undoing racism,
power, and privilege, particularly in the context of
the teaching role.

Insight Meditation Society • 29

 IMS Virtual Book
Club Continues
to Flourish
the ims book club began during the pandemic,
to connect our community with dharma teachers
and Buddhist practitioners on a wide variety of
subjects, and it’s still going strong. Once a month
(and sometimes more), the Book Club brings together
authors and readers for a facilitated discussion
on the featured dharma book of the month. This
forum offers participants a deeper experience and
engagement with early Buddhist teachings and
practice through the lens of the selected book.
Facilitated by IMS Director of Partnerships and
Communications John Spalding and Marketing
Coordinator Albert Karcher, the Book Club continues
to be a popular part of IMS’s online programming,
with some club meetings welcoming hundreds of
participants. This past year John and Albert hosted
conversations around a wide array of titles, from
George Mumford’s The Mindful Athlete: The Secret to
Pure Performance to Rhonda Magee’s The Inner Work
of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming
Our Communities Through Mindfulness to Jacoby
Ballard’s A Queer Dharma: Buddhist-Informed
Meditations, Yoga Sequences, and Tools for Liberation.
Other highlights of the year’s book club programming
included a lively discussion with Dan Harris about his
meditation journey and New York Times bestselling
book, 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My
Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and
Found Self-Help That Actually Works—A True Story
and an in-depth discussion with psychotherapist and
Buddhist practitioner Mark Epstein about his most
recent book, The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering A Hidden
Kindness in Life.
We’re now well into the Fall 2022 lineup of books. In
September, we hosted Allan Cooper, discussing his
new book, A Householder’s Vinaya: With Home and
Sangha Retreat Guides, as well as Christina Feldman
with her book Boundless Heart: The Buddha’s Path of
Kindness, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity.

30 • Insight Meditation Society

We invite you to join
us this fall and winter
as we welcome the
following authors:

October 25: November 3: November 15 & 22: December 1:

Rima Vesely-Flad
with her book Black
Buddhists and the Black
Radical Tradition: The
Practice of Stillness in the
Movement for Liberation
Amy Schmidt with Shaila Catherine with Valerie Brown with
Dipa Ma: The Life Beyond Distraction: Hope Leans Forward:
and Legacy of a Five Practical Ways to Braving Your Way
Buddhist Master Focus the Mind toward Simplicity,
Awakening, and Peace

Thanks to generous donors, the

IMS Book Club is free of charge
and open to all. To join, register on
our website.

Insight Meditation Society • 31

32 • Insight Meditation Society
With Gratitude
Our heartfelt gratitude goes to our sangha for your
support, care, and ongoing commitment to IMS.

We also thank our Board of Directors who generously

donate their time and expertise to IMS.

IMS Board of Directors

Salma Abdulla Joseph Goldstein Ben Rubin
Bob Agoglia Tara Healey Sharon Salzberg
Rebecca Bradshaw Muriel Jaouich Greg Scharf
David Ellner Gina LaRoche DaRa Williams
Inger Forland Winnie Nazarko Karen G. Williams

2022 Annual Bulletin Credits

Graphic Design: Kristen DeVico
Photography: Stephanie Zollshan
Writing and Editing: Raquel Baetz and John Spalding

To learn more about IMS or to support our

mission and programming, please contact:
John Spalding, Director of Partnerships and Communications:
(978) 355-4378, x295 | johns@dharma.org
Leah Giles, Director of Development:
(978) 355-4378, x320 | leahg@dharma.org

If you would like to give today, please visit:

dharma.org/generosity/donate-ims

Insight Meditation Society • 33

“ We, too, should look around us and be
observant because everything in the world is
ready to teach us. With even a little intuitive
wisdom, we will then be able to see clearly
through the ways of the world. We will come
to understand that everything in the world
is a teacher. Trees and vines, for example,
can all reveal the true nature of reality.
With wisdom there is no need to question
anyone, no need to study. We can learn from
nature enough to be enlightened, because
everything follows the way of truth.”
—Ajahn Chah
1230 Pleasant Street, Barre, MA 01005
www.dharma.org