On October 12, hundreds of meditators from over 30 countries tuned in to hear Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein share stories about their foundational Dharma teachers and their own spiritual journeys. Joseph and Sharon, along with Jack Kornfield, were among the original founders of Insight Meditation Society near Barre, Massachusetts, which opened in 1976. The practices and teachings they brought to North Americans at that time are rooted largely in Theravada Buddhist teachings as taught to them by venerated teachers from Burma, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India.
In the 1970s, Joseph and Sharon travelled to Asia seeking spiritual guidance with various teachers, eventually meeting each other at a meditation retreat. They encountered and studied under deeply realized and venerated teachers, including Burmese meditation master Mahasi Sayadaw (who created somewhat of a revolution in Theravada practice through his focus on serious practice for laypeople), Anagarika Munindra, Dipa Ma, Sayadaw U Pandita and SN Goenka. Sharon’s and Joseph’s stories brought these teachers to life, telling about their personalities, teaching styles, wisdom, and dedication to bringing the Buddha’s teachings to all.
As practitioners of meditation and the Buddha Dharma in the world today, it’s important for us to acknowledge and pay respect to the Asian roots of our practice and the teachers of our teachers. The vision for the Lineage Stories series is to honour and express gratitude to the Asian roots of the practice; to give a sense of these teachings being handed down generation to generation; and to give current practitioners a sense of carrying this precious gift forward.
Over at least the next two years, the *Prairie Sangha, in partnership with Insight Meditation Society Online, will offer more sessions with other respected Insight Meditation (Vipassana) teachers who will share the stories of their foundational teachers. To register for the series or a particular session, please go to https://ims.dharma.org/bundles/lineage-stories. Please note, the first session sold out, so register early!
*The Prairie Sangha is a group of practitioners representing five sanghas across the prairies: Two Rivers Insight Meditation Community of Winnipeg, Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, Regina Insight Meditation Community, Edmonton Insight Meditation, and Calgary Insight Meditation Society who have come together to offer the Lineage Stories series… and possibly future endeavours still to be envisioned.