About Us
We are dedicated to fostering a welcoming refuge for all people to explore meditation, mindful living, and the teachings of the Buddha. We are committed to cultivating an appreciation of the value of diversity and to acknowledging the need to recognize and dissolve barriers that separate us from each other. We open our doors and hearts to all social identities including, but not limited to, all races, classes, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, abilities, cultures, and ethnicities.
Individuals from all religious and spiritual backgrounds, and at all stages of their spiritual journey, are welcome. We come together to support each other on the path of awakening, and to deepen our practice of wisdom and compassion for the benefit of all beings.
May our work together bring freedom and happiness to all beings everywhere without exception.
Coming Together
We are a group of meditators who meet together for silent meditation, Buddhist teaching and discussion. We emphasize Insight Meditation, also known as Vipassana or Mindfulness, though anyone is welcome to sit with us and practice their preferred meditation techniques.
We offer many sits throughout the week which encompass dharma talks, silent sitting, and discussion. In addition, we have monthly events which include full-day sits (mini-retreats), mindful hiking, community potlucks, and other events. Please see our Calendar or Facebook Page to find out more about our current offerings. Also, many up and coming events are posted right on the homepage of the website.
Non-residential retreats are offered several times per year, and we are working on offering residential retreats. These retreats are often led by our teacher, Brian Lesage.
We seek to make the dharma available to all who seek it.
Mission
Flagstaff Insight Meditation Community (FIMC) is a community of spiritual practitioners. Our origins arise from the Vipassana/Theravada/Early Buddhist traditions. FIMC sponsors teachings that are rooted in these traditions to bring freedom and contentment to all beings everywhere without exception.
Vision
FIMC aspires to develop a supportive, inclusive, and healthy community that can grow and flourish. Our goal is to expand our offerings and to have a space that supports the needs of our community. We aspire to this goal while continuing with our generosity-based model which allows us to offer services freely, with the support of donations and volunteer service.
Goals
- Offer regular local meetings for meditation.
- Provide frequent organized meditation retreat(s) with trained teachers.
- Provide co-operatively run meditation retreats supported by the generosity of the community.
- Create opportunities for fellowship.
- Provide information regarding other retreats, publications, books, tapes or information that may be of interest to FIMC.
- Encourage the practice of generosity (dana) in various forms to support the day to day functions as well as the on-going financial obligations of FIMC.
- Create a community which nurtures and supports its diverse participants on the path of awakening.
- Engage in any other activities as deemed appropriate and allowable for a charitable organization under the provisions of IRS Section 501(c)(3).
Board of Directors
For information regarding the members of the community that help coordinate activities, please see the Board of Directors page.
Teachers
For information regarding the members of the community that speak at our events, please see our Teachers page.
