photo of two young people with hands in anjali
BMC group photo 12/2018
BMC summer retreat at IMCN
Chris, Sayadaw, Mimmi
Chris and Rod
Latest News
BMC is now meeting on Tuesday mornings for a virtual group meditation from 8:00am to 8:45am ET. More information can be found here.
About
Boston Meditation Center (BMC) is a Buddhist sangha in the Insight tradition serving greater Boston and the East Coast. Emphasizing the development of wisdom and kindness through traditional practices made accessible and relevant to modern-day lives, BMC welcomes everyone who seeks greater freedom and happiness in their lives. Central to our vision is the belief that the path of awakening is attainable by all and should be available to all. Our guiding teacher is Chris Crotty.
We offer weekly meditation classes and dharma talks, as well as daylong and residential retreats.
Weekly Meditations
BMC currently meets every Thursday from 7:15pm to 8:45pm ET. Meetings typically begin with 20 to 30 minutes of guided meditation, followed by a dharma talk and discussion with our guiding teacher, Chris Crotty, or another teacher or facilitator.
Donations are gratefully accepted.
Though grounded in the Theravada tradition, we strive to expose our members to diverse approaches to the dharma by occasionally hosting teachers from other traditions, such as Tibetan or Zen Buddhism.
Next Day Program:
December 3 to 6 - Wisdom and Compassion Home Retreat
Second Annual Retreat (Online) with Chris Crotty and Leslie Booker, Assisted by Lia Houk
Co-sponsored by Boston Meditation Center and Natural Dharma Fellowship’s Wonderwell Mountain Refuge
Description
Wisdom and compassion balance each other, and the world needs both. Through insight meditation we quiet the mind and investigate its true nature. With the mind made calm and stable we enjoy the peace of non-attachment, and with wisdom as the basis for compassion we undertake our whole life with great care. On this retreat, we will practice insight and compassion through meditation periods which may include the “four postures:” sitting, standing, laying down, and walking. Dharma reflections will explore the application of wisdom and compassion in meditation as well as daily life, emphasizing how compassion can provide a direct path to engage the suffering of the world as well as our own freedom.
This virtual retreat will emphasize the real time integration of doing a retreat from our homes. Through periods of teacher-led meditation and dharma talks, interspersed with individual practice sessions, we will discover how practice is not something we move away from once we’re off our cushions, but something that we embody and cultivate in our lived day-to-day experiences.
This unique retreat will provide an opportunity to practice with the support of teachers and community within a modified retreat schedule to minimize screen time.
When
Thursday, December 3 to Sunday, December 6, 2020
The retreat will start at 6:30pm ET Thursday evening and conclude at 12:30pm Sunday afternoon. Full retreat schedule below.
Where
A Zoom link will be emailed before the program.
Cost
$170 Base
$250 Sustaining
$315 Contributing
Paying at the highest level you can afford helps us make our programs available to as many people as possible. There is also an opportunity to offer additional dana (generosity) for the teacher at the end of the program.
Please let us know if finances are an obstacle. Scholarships are available for anyone experiencing financial hardships.
Retreat Schedule
All times are Eastern Standard Time
Thursday, December 3
6:30pm-8:30pm Retreat opening and meditation
Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5
7:15am-8:00am Morning meditation
9:00am-10:00am Instructions and guided practice
10:00am-12:00pm Independent meditation practice*
12:00pm-2:00pm Lunch/Rest/Walking meditation
2:00pm-4:30pm Independent meditation practice* (Meditation meetings with teachers will occur during this time slot as well)
4:30pm-5:30pm Dharma talk
5:30pm-6:30pm Dinner
6:30pm-7:15pm Sitting meditation
7:15pm-8:00pm Q&A and Dedication of Merit
8:00pm-9:30pm Independent meditation practice* (optional)
9:30pm Rest
Sunday, December 6
7:15am-8:00am Morning meditation
9:00am-10:00am Instructions and guided practice
10:00am-11:00am Independent meditation practice*
11:00am-12:30pm Community discussion and closing ceremony
*Independent Meditation Practice allows students to practice individually. Teachers will offer suggestions and examples for ways to practice during this time.
Teachers
Booker brings her heart and wisdom to the intersection of Dharma, Embodied Wisdom, and Social Justice. She shares her expertise nationally on expanding our vision around culturally responsive teaching, and changing the paradigm of self and community care. Booker is a graduate of the 2020 Spirit Rock Retreat Teacher Training, is a 2020 Sojourner Truth Leadership Fellow through Auburn Seminary, and was voted by her peers as one of the 12 Powerful Women in the Mindfulness Movement in Mindful.org.
Chris Crotty, a Buddhist teacher, pastoral counselor, and adjunct professor in alternative medicine, is the guiding teacher of Boston Meditation Center. He has practiced meditation since 1998 with Burmese monastics Sayadaw U Inndaka and Sayadaw U Tejaniya, as well as Bhikkhu Analayo; Western monastics of the Zen and Thai Forest tradition; and senior western Vipassana teachers. Chris is an active member of the Center for Spiritual Care and Pastoral Formation. Learn more about Chris here
Next Residential Retreat:
June 1-6, 2021: Spring Mettā Retreat
5-Night Residential Retreat with Sayadaw U Indaka, Chris Crotty, and May Myint Oo
Description
The practice of loving-kindness (mettā-bhāvana) includes sitting and walking meditation to cultivate a loving, friendly, and benevolent attitude towards all living beings. For over 2600 years, loving-kindness meditation has been practiced to ensure that good-will surpasses all forms of enmity and ill-will. The well-being of mettā is a natural support for the development of insight and wisdom.
In this unique retreat, participants will have the opportunity to be guided by
Burmese meditation master, the Venerable Sayadaw U Indaka, who is renowned in Burma as both a mettā and vipassanā teacher. He will be joined by Western teacher Chris Crotty and Burmese translator May Myint Oo.
This fifth annual retreat will take place at the beautiful and spacious Won Dharma Center in Claverack, NY, where nature will play an important and supportive role in our meditation practice. Beginners and experienced students welcomed and encouraged.
Teachers
Sayadaw U Indaka was born in 1952 in Upper Burma and ordained in 1972 at the famous Mahagandhayon Monastery in Amarapura, Burma. Starting in 1976 he practiced vipassana meditation in the Mahasi Meditation Center in Mandalay; some years later he went to the Chanmyay Yeiktha Meditation Center in Yangon, where he was commissioned to teach meditation. In 1996 he became the abbot of the newly established Chanmyay Myaing Meditation Center on the outskirts of Yangon. In 2009 he established a second center in the northern town of Pyin Oo Lwin, not far from Mandalay. Sayadaw U Indaka’s books on the practice of metta meditation and the factors of enlightenment have been translated into English and German.
Chris Crotty is a Buddhist teacher, pastoral counselor, and adjunct professor in alternative medicine. Practicing meditation since 1998, he has taken retreat with Burmese monastics Sayadaw U Inndaka and Sayadaw U Tejaniya, scholar-practitioner Bhikkhu Analayo, western monastics of the Zen and Thai Forest tradition, and senior western Vipassana teachers. Chris was authorized to teach Buddhadharma in 2015, and in 2016 was encouraged to teach vipassana and metta by Sayadaw U Inndaka.