Welcome

Upcoming Weeklong Retreat!

Freeing the Heart and Mind Through Presence and Generosity

Seven-day Insight Meditation Retreat with Brian Lesage

Co-sponsored by FIMC and Prescott Insight Meditation Community

April 16 - 22, 2023

Please visit this website for details and to register.

Brian Lesage has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1988 and has taught meditation since 2000. He has studied in the Zen, Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism. He was ordained in the Rinzai Zen tradition in 1996. His training in Vipassana Meditation includes doing extended meditation retreats in Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, and India as well as numerous retreats in the U.S. He leads retreats and teaches meditation courses nationwide. Brian also has a private practice in Somatic Experiencing, which is a naturalistic approach to healing trauma.

See original announcement.

Opportunities to Help Your Sangha!

Dear Sangha,

Thank you very much for coming to our "hybrid" Monday evening gatherings at Beacon Unitarian Universalist Church in downtown Flagstaff on Monday nights. We would not be able to do this without your support and generosity!

We also send a big thank you to the people who have volunteered to assist us in hosting these hybrid gatherings, from greeting you and setting up chairs to handling the technical aspects of camera, microphones, and zoom to closing the space at the end. As you know, volunteering needs to be sustainable for all concerned, so we are taking this time to ask for more volunteers in the following areas:

*Hybrid Tech Support for Monday evenings: This involves setting up the AV equipment before the gathering, monitoring the Zoom room and questions from the remote participants during the event, and taking down the equipment and packing it safely at the end. You don’t need to be very tech-savvy to do this job, but just be willing to learn. And of course if you do have related experience that is helpful.

*Opening the Space: arriving early at BUU, setting up chairs, Dana boxes, greeting people.

*Closing the Space: staying after the gathering to put things back, possible light cleaning.

If you are interested in any of these three volunteer opportunities, please email our new FIMC Volunteer email address at volunteer@flagstaffinsight.org.

With gratitude,
The FIMC Board

See original announcement.

New Early Morning Practice Opportunity

Early Morning Silent Meditation - Starting Tuesday, January 3, 2023!

Seven Days a Week
5am to 5:30am MST (AZ time)
Zoom Link: Click Here
Meeting ID: 830 3029 9483
Passcode: 108108
Need to dial in? Learn How.

Flagstaff Insight Meditation Community (FIMC) is excited to announce this new opportunity to practice together online as a community​ in silent meditation.

This is a wonderful way to kick start and encourage your regular meditation practice. It is a chance to both receive the benefit of practicing with others as well as offer support to others through participating.

If you can't make this 5am sit, please join us at the daily 7:30am (AZ time) sit which uses the same zoom link. Hope to see you there and then!

For More Information: contact@flagstaffinsight.org

See original announcement.

New Time & Format for Monday Evening Sits!

We are excited to let you know that, starting in January 2023, we will offer a Hybrid of both in-person and Zoom options for the Monday Evening Sit and Dharma Talks. The In-Person will be at Beacon Unitarian Universalist Church in downtown Flagstaff. A big thank you for all the support in making this happen!

We are also starting a bit earlier starting January 2nd at 6:30 p.m.

Our first January Monday Evening Sit will be Online-only on January 2, 2023 from 6:30 p.m. AZ time (5:30 p.m. Pacific time).

Our first Hybrid Monday Sit will be on January 9, 2023 from 6:30 p.m. AZ time (5:30 p.m. Pacific time) at Beacon Unitarian Universalist Church (510 Lerous Street, Flagstaff) & Online via Zoom.

A gentle reminder - We have changed the sequence of offerings within the Monday Evening Sits. We will be starting with meditation for 25-30 minutes, followed by the Dharma talk, and then announcements and discussion. This is the sequence most other centers offer and we hope the change will support more discussion. On occasion a teacher may decide to have the Dharma talk first, followed by the meditation when that order supports the instruction. The invitation is that you are welcome to attend any and all offerings.

With gratitude,

The FIMC Board

See original announcement.

Continuing a Community of Generosity

Dear Flagstaff Insight Meditation Community,

As we come to the end of another year, we hope you and your family are doing well. During the inevitable ups and downs of life it is important to feel gratitude for all the good things that come our way and have the strength to face the difficult things that also arise. Our practice supports us in facing both types of life events. Looking directly at what comes our way in a mindful and present way can be incredibly helpful. We learn to develop compassion for ourselves and the ones around us. This can make our daily lives a wonderful ride whether experiencing the happy marvels of life or the heartbreaking events that inevitably come our way. Our deepening practice may not change the things that come our way but can profoundly change our relationship to those events.

At Flagstaff Insight Meditation Community (FIMC) we strive to help in the process of deepening your practice. If you visit our website, you can see that we are continuing the offerings we have provided in the past and adding new things you might find interesting.

Our morning sits on zoom from 7:30-8:00 am are a good way to start the day. The weekly Monday night sits, and Dharma talks are also still very popular. Starting in January we plan to offer hybrid Monday night sits that are both on Zoom and in person at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Leroux near downtown Flagstaff. We will be bumping up the time from our previous 7:00 pm start time to 6:30. This is to honor the feedback we have received. We also will be changing the order of our gathering by starting with a meditation and then following with a Dharma talk and a group discussion for those who wish to stay after the talk. Check our website for more information.

We also continue to add other things to deepen your practice. Brian Lesage will be offering an eight-month Buddhist study group, starting in January, titled, “Buddhism Beyond the Lists, Bringing Classical Dharma Teachings into our Contemporary Lives.” In addition, some of the FIMC Dharma Leaders will be offering “Practice Check-Ins” on Zoom. This will provide an opportunity for community members to have a 20-minute private discussion about your practice. There will also be retreats offered this coming year. Again, periodically check our website for details of upcoming events.

At FIMC we are still committed to offering all our programs free of charge because we all think it is important for this practice to be available at no cost. Over the years we have been so fortunate to have a Sangha that has supported this effort by donating their time and money to make this possible. We continue to have expenses that are required to keep FIMC operating smoothly. As the year ends, we would like to ask, once again, that any of you who are willing and able to please help with our ongoing operations. We so much appreciate the gifts that allow our organization to thrive.

We look forward to seeing you all in the coming year.

FIMC Board:
Allen Atkins, Brian Lesage, Kvann Smith, Laura LaBranche, Leslie McLean, and Sarah Hsia

“Generosity is the most natural outward expression of an inner attitude of compassion and loving-kindness.” —The Dalai Lama XIV

We are deeply grateful to those who have donated in the past and have made FIMC possible all of these years. Thank you for considering supporting FIMC through a financial donation. Gifts to FIMC are tax deductible and can be made on our Donation Page.

For More Information email contact@flagstaffinsight.org.

See original announcement.

New! Practice Check-Ins with FIMC Dharma Leaders

The Flagstaff Insight Meditation Community's Dharma leaders are happy to offer 20 minute one-on-one practice check-ins for sangha members, to discuss and receive support regarding their Dharma practice.

We are starting with a trial period running during the weeks of November 28 - December 18. Each teacher is offering 1-2 hours per week during that trial period. We plan to start again in January 2023 and offer the service continuously from then on.

Please click the below link to see the new web page called "Practice Check-Ins" and to schedule a meeting with one of the FIMC dharma leaders.

Click this link to get to the Practice Check-Ins webpage.

You can also access this link through the FIMC website. At the top of the home page is a heading titled Practice Check-Ins. Click on that link to go to the Practice Check-ins page. 

FIMC Dharma Leaders are not psychologists or therapists. Problems or issues in your personal life, such mental health situations that seem overwhelming, are best dealt with through a skilled professional—not a Dharma Leader.

See original announcement.

New! Peer-led Study Groups

Flagstaff Insight Meditation Community is happy to announce a new offering: peer-led study groups. We are currently requesting input from the community on formats and topics for these groups.

For more information click on the "Study Groups" link at the top of this page. Or to go directly to the survey, please click here.

Weekly Dharma Support Group and Sit

​Weekly Dharma Support Group and Sit (on Zoom)

Wednesdays 6:30pm to 8:00pm

An intimate online support group of spiritual friends. Leaderless and lightly self-facilitated. After sitting 30 minutes, we ask if anyone has brought a topic or would like support with a challenge. We support each other with deep listening and by offering our individual experiences and understanding of the dharma. This offers us the opportunity to deepen our relationships as spiritual friends and our practice together. We abide by the group agreements for confidentiality, listening, and participation used for discussions after Monday sits. Please join us.

Confronting Racism

We continue to be confronted with the historical legacy of racism that is interwoven into the very fabric of our society. Names such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery have now been added to the seemingly endless list of unarmed black people murdered by police. Our hearts are heavy with a mixture of feelings such as grief and outrage and compassion.

At the heart of our practice is a desire to see clearly. At this time, we are being called to face the realities of discrimination that black, indigenous, and other people of color face daily in our country and around the world. We acknowledge that as an organization, FIMC has failed to adequately address issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity. We are at the beginning of our journey to investigate how we can be present with these issues, and be of better service to both our sangha family, and to people of color in our wider community. This work will not be easy, but we are committed to it as an essential part of opening the pathway to freedom.

“It is said the Buddha’s teachings turn upright what has been overturned. In light of this, we commit to this principle of righting wrongs by learning to decenter whiteness and to deepen our listening.”
-Brian Lesage, FIMC Guiding Teacher

We encourage white members of our community to explore how their hearts and minds have been overturned by habitual tendencies rooted in racism and bias.

In that light, we invite you to read two essays written by Buddhist practitioners of color, which offer two perspectives on the intersection between racial justice and our practice:

• Being Mindful of Race by Ruth King
  • https://ruthking.net/being-mindful-of-race/
• Your Liberation is on the Line by Rev. angel Kyodo williams
  • https://www.lionsroar.com/your-liberation-is-on-the-line/

“A central principle of Buddhist ethics is that we practice not for ourselves but for the benefit of all; therefore, the conditioning that perpetuates racial suffering and separation is to be known and uprooted through our practice and our actions. We all have a part to play in the symphony of racial healing."
-Ruth King, African American psycologist & meditation teacher

One way FIMC plans to move forward is by making diversity, inclusion, and equity a top priority. We will educate ourselves on how we can do this skillfully, commit to concrete actions as soon as possible, and announce these actions to our community. If you would like to join us and get involved with these first steps, please contact us at contact@flagstaffinsight.org

May our work together bring freedom and happiness to all beings everywhere without exception.

May all of us turn upright what has been overturned to dispel the tyranny of racism.

Flagstaff Insight Meditation Community (FIMC) Board of Directors:
Allen Atkins
Laura LaBranche
Brian Lesage
Leslie McLean
Tasha Miller Griffith
Janine Schipper
Chris Taesali

contact@flagstaffinsight.org
www.flagstaffinsight.org

FIMC Virtual Online Meeting Passwords

Starting today, all future online public meetings hosted by FIMC will use passwords.

Passwords are now enabled for our next Monday meeting on April 20th, 2020 and all other public offerings. Password information is provided in this email and on our website homepage so that participants can easily find the resources needed to join each meeting.

We kindly ask that you familiarize yourself with the information below to help us navigate our implementation of passwords.

Why is FIMC choosing to enable passwords?

It has come to our attention that there are individuals that have been Zoom bombing public meetings and sharing unwanted content via video, screen, chat, etc. Therefore, to reduce the chances of this happening to one of our meetings, FIMC has implemented several protections and is now enabling passwords for all our public offerings.

Please do not share our meeting passwords online.

FIMC asks that if anyone wants to share our offerings online—via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, forums, other websites, etc—we ask they only share the direct link to our website for instructions on connecting, where the meeting information (including password) can be found and not the passwords themselves.

• Website: http://flagstaffinsight.org/

 
Why shouldn't we share passwords on other sites?

By sharing passwords on other platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, forums), our risk significantly increases.

Why can FIMC share the passwords on its website?

We have implemented code on our website (and in this email) to reduce the chances that hackers/robots can scan our pages to extract this information. This code is designed to require an individual to actually read the password—with the intention of preventing robots extracting this information automatically via code or scripting.

Will the passwords change?

Each weekly meeting has it's own unique password—Monday and Wednesday—and these passwords will not change week to week at this time. We will notify our community via email and website if passwords change in the future.

Having trouble reading the passwords below or on our website?

Please reach out to help@flagstaffinsight.org for assistance.

See original announcement.