Insight Meditation South Bay

I signed up for a 10-​day retreat and paid the $ 250 deposit. The registration form clearly stated that the deposit was nonrefundable. But as the time of the retreat approached, my wife was scheduled for surgery due to a shoulder injury, and because she would require my assistance for post-​op care, it became clear I could not attend. I contacted Insight Meditation South Bay and asked if I could postpone my retreat and use the deposit for the identical offering (same topic, venue, duration, and teachers) eight months later. I received a note that said they understood my reasons for not being able to attend, but that their policy was firm: no refunds, and also no transferability.
This seems like a very unforgiving policy from a center that is presumably promoting maturation of consciousness. It is hard for me to respect an organization that operates with such rigidity and lack of compassion. A meditation center should not behave like the airline industry.

I’ve been going to Insight Meditation South Bay for over a year. I drive almost a half hour to get there, so you know it’s worth it. I appreciate the depth of the teachings, which focus on mindfulness-​based meditative approaches. So if you are looking to begin or enhance meditation or even mindfulness practices, this is the place. Beginners may find the lightly or non-​guided 30 minute sit daunting at first, but not for long. The sitting meditation is followed by a dharma talk. Also, while all practices and talks are based on teachings of the Buddha, ISMB doesn’t engage in the religious rituals, chanting or decorative temple atmosphere. Definitely westernized and comfortable for non-​buddhist practitoners. I first came here to hear a guest speaker, Lama Surya Dass one of my favorite western dharma authors. I was impressed of how highly he spoke of IMSB’s primary teacher and founder Shaila Catherine. He also spoke highly of her two books on meditation (very deep and intense texts for the serious practitioner). So I kept on coming. There is a sitting every tuesday night, and sometimes there is series on a certain practice topic. Also I enjoy the daylong meditations once a month. An introduction session is held on the first tuesday of every month at 6:30. Meditation starts at 7:30 every tuesday. Come check it out, you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

The location for the meditation is at a meeting room in St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, a quiet, lovely church on the residential side of Grant Road. Shaila is the main teacher. I went because I was new to vipassana meditation; and Shaila is teaching a series exploring alternative meditation technique in five Tuesday evenings.
At first I was worried that my incessant mind chatter wouldn’t let me sit through the whole meditation; that I would be incredibly bored, restless or going crazy. But I was pleasantly surprised by how calm I had slowly become after I started to watch my breaths. Mental images and thoughts still invaded my mind between breaths, but I was able to go back to my breaths and not get restless because of them.
30 minutes went by easily. (The meditation is from 7:30−8pm, followed by Shaila’s talk from 8−9pm.) I didn’t feel any incredible illumination after I opened my eyes though. For one thing, Shaila wanted us to talk and mingle after the half-​an-​hour meditation. So people started talking to one another. It’s weird to go from quietude to noise so quickly. Secondly, the pale-​white florescent lighting is depressing, making the room look industrial and dim. (I would prefer a warm orangy soft lighting, if I could choose a light for this post-​meditation moment. I would also prefer to have a quiet time to absorb the effect of our practice and slowly return to reality.)
Anyway, Shaila let us talk and mingle for a few minutes, then she had us quiet down and she began to give a talk. Every week she would talk about and elaborate on a different meditation technique (so far: mindfulness; and body parts contemplation). I didn’t find the talks to be particularly engaging. She didn’t touch much (if at all) on Buddhism. Nonetheless I find that she has a nice balance between warmth and detachment; and she talks with a soft, soothing voice. Also, personally I find that sitting on my butt for 1.5 hours (30 min for meditation and 1 hr for talk) is really long. (1.5 hours is normally the whole length of my active yoga practice!) But most people seem to be alright with it.
I am still new to meditation and I am far, far from gaining wisdom and insights. But I am glad that this place exists for us unenlightened beings to start exploring a little bit about our inner landscape. It is entirely donation– and volunteer-​based– now that’s a lot of people’s conscious efforts, and I’m grateful for it. I want to continue to explore more on the realm of meditation though: on places to meditate, good teachers for guidance, and techniques that works for me and my healing and transformation.

I attended several workshops and programs over the last year at IMSB and found them to be very well organized with great speakers and they stay focused on the announced topic. They are a good mix of discussion and practice and both were appropriate for my level — beginner — of mediation.
Highly recommended if you are interested in learning about meditation, learning how to meditate, learning about Buddhism or just learning how to enjoy life more