Offering Mindfulness Meditation

in the context of the Buddha’s teachings

in a welcoming community

Sunday Dharma Talks: All Sundays will be Zoom only meetings until further notice.  Subscribe to our Newsletter for updates!

A Morning of Practice: Half-Day Retreat with Ian Challis

March 16, 2024   9:15 am – 12:00 noon (doors open at 9)

Mizell Center 

480 S. Sunrise Way

Palm Springs, CA 92262

Please join us as we practice together in community and take a few hours to experience the gift of quiet practice. With our busy lives and the stress of each day, we sometimes let our practice slip away, yet it is so important to maintain, especially right now. Our morning will be an opportunity to let go and get back to cultivating present time awareness, and rest in being. There will be sitting and walking meditation, dharma, and conversation. Suitable for everyone.

Reg Fee: $45 covers the cost of the day and support to ICD. No one is turned away for lack of funds. There will be an opportunity to offer dana to the teacher.

Join us online for these regular events…

Meditation as Refuge

6:30 – 8 pm

Meditation as Refuge extends a weekly invitation to everyone who would like to explore meditation as a support for their spiritual development. The intention is to focus on realizing our innate capacity for care, compassion and mutual respect.

Just Sit

5:30 – 6:15 p.m.

Join friends and sangha for a silent 45 minute peer-led sit. Everyone is welcome!

Weekly Metta Meditation with Ian Challis & Friends

4:30 – 5:15 p.m.

When the Buddha’s followers felt anxious and afraid, he taught them the practice of mettā or lovingkindness meditation. Mettā is a form of practice that helps us touch deeply into our own hearts, uncover the energies of kindness and compassion, and share these energies for the benefit of all beings.

If you would like to explore this powerful practice, please join Ian Challis & Friends online. These 45- minute meetings will be practice-focused with most of the time spent in meditation. If you are new to the practice, great! We will learn by doing. After practice, there will be time for questions and sharing.

Spotlight

Volunteering is a Beautiful Act of Generosity

Dear Sangha,

As we prepare to come back to in-person gatherings, there is also the opportunity to build in-person community again. Part of creating the space to share the dharma is the need for volunteers to support it.

Volunteering is a beautiful act of generosity and can be considered a form of dana. Your time helps to support the sangha and teachers which enables us to offer the dharma today, tomorrow, and beyond. Being of service in this way also lets us connect with others outside of the Zoom mosaic, gently moving into re-entry.

You can volunteer in any number of ways. Can you help set up a few chairs or tables? Can you help with checking people in at a daylong? Can you help greet at the Sunday group? Can you help with online support? There are several ways to help us move into this next iteration of ICD, and we really do need you.

For more information or to sign up, please contact us at volunteer@desertinsight.org

update from the icd board

Friends,

We write to reflect on 2023 and to indicate where we see Insight Community of the Desert heading in the coming year. The biggest change for ICD was a robust return to in-person gatherings in the form of half and full day retreats. ICD’s retreats were well attended, and participants and teachers report a positive experience. Retreats deepen practice and allow participants to engage the Dharma in all its complexity. And it is also clear that many of us enjoy the social connection that in-person gatherings provide. We are happy to share that ICD’s teachers will continue to offer similar retreats in 2024.

ICD continues to offer accessible weekly online meetings that provide the opportunity to practice regardless of your location and despite mobility or schedule challenges. The ability, for example, to finish work at the end of the day on Wednesday and easily join the 5.30 Just Sit with fellow Sangha members is a gift. Or perhaps you enjoy the Sunday or Tuesday evening sits that provide the opportunity for group practice, teaching, and discussion. For those of us who enjoy Metta practice, our Friday online meeting is a powerful way to end the week. ICD is committed to providing accessible and welcoming online gatherings in 2024.

The board continues to consider the feasibility of acquiring, either by lease or purchase, a physical location for ICD. For the moment, we do not feel that we can make this level of commitment. The organization continues to run a deficit and it is not clear that we have the volunteer capacity needed to operate a space. ICD has no paid operational staff. Rather than invest in a physical location, the board has chosen to prioritize the support of our teachers who we believe can continue to serve the Sangha through retreats and virtual practice.   

We hope that you feel supported by ICD and that you have opportunities to connect with the Sangha. If you have not yet attended a retreat, we invite you to do so. And, of course, we welcome you to participate in our virtual meetings. We also invite you to consider a gift to ICD. Recurrent gifts – a scheduled monthly donation to ICD – are hugely appreciated. We appreciate you and look forward to seeing you in the coming year. 

Thank you for your support.

ICD Board of Directors & Guiding Council

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