Free State Sangha—also known as the Lawrence Insight Meditation Community—is a Buddhist vipassana (insight) meditation group in Lawrence Kansas. The group meets weekly on Wednesday evenings, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. in the Oread Friends (Quaker) meeting house at 1146 Oregon Street, though that location will be changing in the near future.
We have an on-going association with the dharma teacher Santikaro at the Liberation Park Buddhist Community and Meditation Center in Wisconsin. Our practice consists of 30 to 45 minutes of silent or guided meditation followed by tea, followed by either listening to a recorded dharma talk by Santikaro (these are available at this link), or discussing earlier talks. We also periodically have discussions with Santikaro via a conference call, as well as periodic weekend retreats.
Beginning October 28th and through the end of the year we will be listening and practicing with Pema Chodron and her recording of “Noble Heart—a self-guided retreat on befriending your obstacles”. Recorded at a 10-day retreat, these talks and meditations support the awareness of our noble heart...“one that sheds its armor, opening itself with equal fearlessness to both heartache and delight. Using special meditations and traditional teaching, Pema Chodron leads you, step by step, toward a full realization of your true strength—the strength that can come only through embracing the pain of your own experience.”
Our weekly format will differ slightly in that we will listen to a talk by Pema Chodron first followed by a guided meditation and an opportunity to share as a group.
Todd Wyant will be leading the Lawrence Insight Meditation Community in an introduction to meditation, "Strategies and Techniques". This will cover basic meditation instruction, overview of techniques, and strategies for effective meditation. This class will begin on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010, at 7:30 pm at our new location; Unity Church of Lawrence, 900 Madeline Lane. The class will continue each Wednesday evening for four weeks. Each evening will include instruction and a guided meditation period.
We meet every week of the year. We have meditation cushions (zafus) for you to use if you do not own one. Chairs are available if you prefer. We also have a collection of dhrama [teaching] tapes and books that can be borrowed.
Newcomers, including those from other meditative traditions and those with no prior experience in meditation, are always welcome. A good introduction to vipassana/insight meditation practice can be found at this link (click on the logo on the introductory screen to get to the contents). Please feel free to contact us at freestatesangha@gmail.com.
For a map and directions to 1146 Oregon, follow this link.
For information on other Buddhist groups and activities in the Lawrence, Kansas area, please check out the site http://lawrencebuddhism.org.
Note: This web site is a work-in-progress; we intend to add more content in the coming months. In addition, the individual who was maintaining the site has moved out of state, and we would be very interested if someone could volunteer to take over this site and the lawrencebuddism.org site.
Last update: 12 December 2009