Alice Mun
The Vermont Insight Meditation Center is a non-residential Theravada Buddhist community located in Brattleboro, Vermont established in 2005.
CO-FOUNDERS
The Vermont Insight Meditation Center has three co-founders:
Cheryl Wilfong: co-founder and teacher
Masters in Counseling Psychology (Antioch New England)
1977: First 10-day retreat at Insight Meditation Society
2005: Co-founded Vermont Insight Meditation Center
2008: Community Dharma Leader training @ Spirit Rock
2009: Integrated Study and Practice Program at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies
Blog: www.themeditativegardener.blogspot.com
Claire Stanley: co-founder and guiding teacher, emerita
Ph.D. Educational Studies with a specialization in reflectivity, former associate professor of Applied Linguistics
1986: First seven-day meditation retreat at Insight Meditation Society @ Barre, MA
2001-2002: Extensive travel in Asia; ordained as a nun for 3 months in Burma
2004: Six-month silent meditation retreat @ Forest Refuge program @ Barre, MA Insight Meditation Center
2005: Co-founded Vermont Insight Meditation Center
Teachers: Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Carol Wilson, the Venerable Sayadaw U Janaka, Venerable Tsonknyi Rinpoche
Jack Millett: co-founder and teacher, emeritus
Former Associate Master in the Master of Arts in Teaching program at the School for International Training
1990: Started studying insight meditation
2001-2002: Three-month retreat to Burma; pilgrimage to major sites of the Buddha and one-month retreat (Nepal) with Tsoknyi Rinpoche
2004: Six-month silent meditation retreat @ Forest Refuge program @ Barre, MA Insight Meditation Center
2005: Co-founded Vermont Insight Meditation Center
Teachers: Carol Wilson, Steve Armstrong, Joseph Goldstein, the Venerable Sayadaw U Janaka, the Venerable Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Stanley and Millett have both traveled to and studied Theravada Buddhism in Asia. Notable educators include the Venerable Sayadaw U Janaka and the Venerable Tsoknyi Rinpoche, both of whom have greatly contributed to the western expansion of Buddhism. Additionally, Stanley and Millett have studied with the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA for many years prior to opening the Vermont Insight Meditation Center.
Wilfong studied under teachers Matt Flickstein, Shinzen Young, and Jon Kabat-Zinn (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program). She has published meditation books including The Meditative Gardener: Cultivating Mindfulness of Body, Feelings, and Mind, Following the Nez Perce Trail: A Guide to the Nee-Me-Poo National Historic Trail with Eye-Witness Accounts, and Mindfulness Meets Breast Cancer.
RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER WESTERN AND ASIAN BUDDHIST COMMUNITIES
Two of the co-founders studied with eastern Buddhist teachers: the Venerable Sayadaw U Janaka (Burma) and the Venerable Tsoknyi Rinpoche (Nepal).
The aforementioned co-founders also have ties to the Insight Meditation Society of Barre, MA and Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA.
Vermont Insight’s website has a “Buddhist Resources” page that provides lists of residential retreats, non-residential retreats, and other Buddhism-related websites, as well as links to their respective websites.
The Center’s website also mentions three Buddhist Recovery Groups:
- Paul Rodrigue’s meditation group for those in recovery from addiction at the Center
- Brattleboro Zen center, a Zen recovery and meditation center in their community
- Recovery Dharma, an online peer-led movement and community
COMMUNITY CONSTITUENCY
- 7 Board of Directors
- 5 Ethics and Reconciliation Council members
- 5 teachers (3 of whom are co-founders)
Other than the aforementioned constituents, there is little information on Vermont Insight’s population or demographics. However, their home page states that they are a “small Buddhist community center.” Given the completely white American members of their Board and Ethics and Reconciliation Council in addition to their location in Vermont, the second whitest state in America, one may infer that their community serves white American Buddhists.
PRACTICES
The Vermont Insight Meditation Center encourages dana (the Pali word for generosity) to their teachers through offerings. As mentioned in their title, Vermont Insight focuses around insight (Vipassana) meditation practice. They offer a Group Awareness Exercise over Zoom on Friday mornings (7:00 AM – 8:00 AM) as well as a Sunday Sitting Group in-person and over Zoom (10:00 AM – 12:00 PM). Their mission statement also mentions study of Buddhist teachings and an application of such teachings in the practitioner’s daily life. Vermont Insight’s teachers often use chanting in their meditation courses, including those of the three refuges and five precepts. The website also provides a link to a chanting book used by the Saranaloka Foundation’s Nuns’ Sangha as well as their teachers. The book includes devotional, reflective, and ceremonial chants:
https://alokavihara.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Chanting-Book.pdf
In addition, the Vermont Insight Meditation Center practices “Compassionate Action” by collaborating with other non-profit organizations in their community to serve dinners monthly at the Groundworks Shelter.
COVID Policies
- CDC guidelines
- Unwell/not fully vaccinated are welcome to join courses and meditations over Zoom only
- Those who have traveled outside of the state are only welcome to Zoom classes for the first five days subsequent to their travels
- Those who may have been exposed to COVID-like respiratory illnesses should wear masks to in-person events
EVENTS
- Weekly sitting practice groups (Zoom, in-person): Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings in-person (7:00 AM – 7:45 AM) / Friday and Tuesday evenings over Zoom (6:00 PM)
- Sunday Sitting Group (Zoom, in-person)
- Monthly Meditation Retreats (10:00 AM – 4:00 PM)
- Throughout the year: Zoom courses throughout the year of various lengths (6, 7, 8, 10 wks), retreats, visiting teachers
- Affinity groups:
- Wednesday Dharma Friends (peer-led groups)
- Mindful of Race Alumni Group (MORA): Implement mindfulness practice in anti-racism work in one’s daily, professional, and community lives
- Sunday Evening Sutta Group: study Pali canon and contemporary Dharma teachers’ texts
- One-on-one teacher-student practice meetings (~30 min sessions)
Vermont Insight Meditation Center Calendar
COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING OF BUDDHISM
Vision Statement:
- “Vermont Insight Meditation Center is a Buddhist spiritual center dedicated to the study and practice of Vipassana (Insight meditation) and committed to the possibility of liberation for all beings. Vermont Insight welcomes diverse populations. It supports and encourages the development of and compassionate action towards community, based upon the ideals, teachings, and practices in the tradition of Theravada Buddhism.”
Mission Statement:
- Vermont Insight Meditation Center (Vermont Insight) is a spiritual center and place of refuge dedicated to the study and practice of Vipassana (Insight meditation) according to the Theravada Buddhist lineage. Vermont Insight provides Brattleboro and surrounding communities opportunities for meditation practice, study of Buddhist teachings, and application of the teachings in the context of daily life through weekly sitting groups, daylong retreats, and weekly study courses. Invited guest speakers from other Buddhist centers in the United States and around the world supplement the offerings of dedicated local teachers. Vermont Insight supports and encourages compassionate action locally and globally, assists sangha members in deepening their study throught financial support for extended retreats, and offers multiple opportunities for developing a sense of community among its sangha. Wise and sustainable fiscal management of Vermont Insight allows all people access to the teachings.
Home Page:
- “Vermont Insight Meditation Center (VIMC) is a small Buddhist community center dedicated to the study and practice of Insight Meditation (Vipassana) and committed to the possibility of liberation for all beings.”
- “We are a non-residential center that welcomes diverse populations. Vermont Insight Meditation Center supports and encourages the development of compassionate action towards community, based upon the ideals, teaching, and practices in the tradition of Theravada Buddhism. All are welcome.”
FUNDING
The Vermont Insight Meditation Institute relies on community donations, which they refer to as dana (giving). They accept tax-deductible online donations through Paypal and payment through checks. Those who opt to pay online have the option to make one-time or monthly donations. Mail donations go to either a specific teacher or a specific type of donation:
- Home Dana Bowl: offerings for teachers (online or in-person @ back of meditation hall)
- Expenses
- Endowment fund: the Vermont Insight Meditation Center collaborates with other non-profit organizations in the state to invest money in the Vermont Community Foundation. The more they donate/invest, the more they receive in annual income. They accept supporter donations through their Annual Appeal and Spring Appeal. The Center’s annual operating budget largely depends on this fund.
- Volunteer admin team and Board of Directors
- Various fundraising events
On the Vermont Insight Meditation Center’s diversity:
Vermont Insight claims to welcome diversity, and it offers a course on implementing mindful anti-racism in one’s daily and professional lives as well as their communities. However, one cannot ignore the lack of diversity in their community. Their co-founders, teachers, Board members, and Ethics and Reconciliation Council members are all white American, and upon searching through the archive of past visiting teachers, there have been very few teachers of color. Additionally, past and current courses are mainly about Buddhist teachings, introductions to meditation, and ways to implement Buddhist teachings and meditation in one’s daily life. There is no acknowledgement of Asian Theravada Buddhism’s rich, cultural history’s contributions to the practice, and the site does not provide information on any Buddhist traditions, only teachings.
Bibliography:
Vermont Insight Meditation Center. Vermont Insight Meditation Center, 2023, https://vermontinsight.org/. Accessed 03 December, 2023
“About Tsoknyi Rinpoche“. Tsoknyi Rinpoche, https://tsoknyirinpoche.org/rinpoche/. Accessed 03 December 2023
“Biography of Chanmyay Sayadaw, U Janakabhivamsa Abbat of Chanmyay Meditation Centre.” Insight Meditation Online, 2012, https://www.buddhanet.net/janaka.htm. Accessed 03 December 2023