About InsightLA Meditation (original) (raw)

Mission

Living Mindfully:
We offer the highest quality of teachings, rooted in the insight wisdom tradition, and are a global leader in a shift of consciousness and compassion.

Living Compassionately:
We face our complex world with love, serving all, supporting those on the front lines of suffering and inspiring personal and collective transformation.

Living Joyfully:
We create an inclusive, diverse and joyful community – a refuge for all.

Pledge

We offer practices of inner peace, compassion, mindfulness and love. We are open to all.

Here is our commitment: in this world, with its great beauty and many difficulties, we will train our hearts in peace and kindness and courageously take a stand against all forms of greed, hatred, delusion, and cruelty.

We acknowledge the implicit and overt violence that has been done to individuals based on race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, gender identity, religion, body size, ability, age and class. We recognize the violence that has been done to our planet and to the first nations peoples who stewarded this land before us.

We pledge to undo the forces of ill-will and isolation in ourselves and in our world. We will offer to all who come practices of mindfulness, compassion and wisdom. And inwardly and in our actions, we pledge to hold all beings in a circle of mutual respect, love, and unity.

May our resolve and our practice together benefit all.

Insight in Action outreach program

Through this 100% donor funded program, InsightLA partners with local, national, and global non-profit partners who ask us to provide meditation training to those who would otherwise not have access to these teachings. read more

No One Turned Away Financial Support Program

Every day of the week, our doors are open to people who are suffering. Over 20% of our community relies on financial aid to attend our classes and retreats. Additionally, we have a significant number of offerings that are donation-based, and these classes are open to anyone. No one is turned away for lack of funds.

Recognizing that Los Angeles is a diverse community, we are deeply committed to equity and inclusivity in all we do. Insight in Action allows us not only to sustain our commitment to accessibility, but to meet the ever-increasing need for our services regardless of socio-economic level or demographic.

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is an intentional connection with the present moment that changes how we relate to ourselves, others, and the world. A dedicated mindfulness practice cultivates compassion, inclining us to treat ourselves and one another with greater kindness. Mindfulness is similar to learning a musical skill, it brings joy and grows with daily practice. Emerging research demonstrates that mindfulness and compassion practice remodels the brain’s physical structure in ways that build resilience and support well-being.

What is meditation?

Meditation is exploring. It’s not a fixed destination. Your head doesn’t become vacuumed free of thought, utterly undistracted. It’s a special place where each and every moment is momentous. When we meditate we venture into the workings of our minds: our sensations (air blowing on our skin or a harsh smell wafting into the room), our emotions (love this, hate that, crave this, loathe that) and thoughts (wouldn’t it be weird to see an elephant playing a trumpet).

Mindfulness meditation asks us to suspend judgment and unleash our natural curiosity about the workings of the mind, approaching our experience with warmth and kindness, to ourselves and others.