Visiting Insight teacher, Melissa, McKay will be offering four weeks of teaching on Developing the Qualities of the Heart on Thursdays at 7PM starting September 21.

Melissa will guide a meditation, offer teachings and take questions on these four consecutive Thursdays. Each week will explore one of the four Brahma Viharas or “noble abodes of the heart.”

Sept 21: Metta, kind-hearted warmth and friendliness
Sept 28: Compassion, for self and world
Oct 5: Resonant Joy, being available for Delight
Oct 12: Equanimity; staying balanced, present and wise through life’s ups and downs.

No registration needed. Drop in, in person or over zoom as per usual on Thursdays

Floyd Fantelli joins Bozeman Insight Community via Zoom on August 24 with a talk entitled “Practicing Before Your Hair Catches on Fire.”

There’s a saying in Buddhist teachings that you should practice like your hair is on fire. But the more I think about this, I think it should say “ Practice before your hair catches fire”. Because sooner or later your hair WILL catch fire. All of us will have our hair on fire at some point in our lives. You or your loved one will get a serious illness. Your loved ones will die. You may lose your job, or a relationship may end. Is there a way to practice that we can fall back on when our hair catches fire?

This is why we practice. Yes, of course it helps us live a life worth living; with kindness, compassion, and non grasping. But can we prepare for these painful times so that when our hair catches fire, we have some practice  tools to deal with the these painful situations. So that’s what I want to talk about on our Sangha night. How do we practice now and how we can use this practice when things catch fire? I hope you can join me. Floyd

Join Bozeman Insight Community’s former Guiding Teacher and see why he is beloved by the sangha.

Bozeman Insight Community is excited to welcome Shelly Graf as a guest speaker on Thursday, August 10 at 7PM. Shelly’s talk is entitled “A Balanced and Tender Heart: Relying on Wisdom to Cultivate Beneficial and Sustaining Heart Qualities, for Ourselves and Others.” Shelly has been practicing at Common Ground since 2003. They are currently being trained by Insight Meditation Society as part of the four-year teacher training program. Shelly has been a clinician and administrator in the Social Work and mental health fields since 2005. They have a special interest in waking up to whiteness as part of this total path of awakening. 

Everyone is welcome to drop in and join us online!

On July 20, Dave Smith joins the Bozeman Insight Community via Zoom to teach and offer guidance for a meditation based on the concept of infusing mindfulness with kindness. This Metta+Vipassana approach is gaining momentum in western Insight (vipassana). It integrates the wisdom and compassion of  the dharma in to one, comprehensive practice.

This evening is designed to guide relative beginners in establishing a good foundation for practice, to enrich the meditations of those with some experience, and to preview what Dave will offer at the BIC five-night residential retreat in October.

Everyone is welcome to drop in and join us online!

We’re excited to welcome Tempel Smith back to Bozeman! Tempel will be the guest speaker at the Bozeman Insight Community on Thursday, May 18. Everyone is invited to catch up with Tempel and get to know him better in this informal gathering of dharma stories, history and Q&A.