Benefit with Tara and Devin- IN-PERSON - 10-16-24

October 16, 2024 Benefit

***This page is to register for the In-Person event (click the button above to reserve your seat).

If you can't attend in-person, please register HERE to attend via Zoom, receive the recording, or just donate to support IWM's Sustainability Campaign.***

On the Path Together:

Ethics and Community Building in Challenging Times

An Evening of Question & Response with Tara Mulay and Devin Berry

Florence Civic Center, 90 Park Street, Florence, MA 01062

6:30-7pm: Mix and mingle, 7-9pm: Program

The Buddha taught that ethical integrity – sila – is a fundamental part of the path. Our practice unfolds in community, and it matters how we relate to others as we walk this path. How can we embody the Buddha's teachings on ethics today, both individually, in all our communities and in the world around us? What does it mean to bring a sense of ethical integrity into our practice?

This benefit to support IWM’s Sustainability Campaign is an exciting opportunity to gather in community and reflect on these questions together with the wise guidance of two of our beloved teachers, Tara Mulay and Devin Berry. 

Tara and Devin will respond to questions and comments from the sangha. As part of the registration process, you will have the opportunity to submit a question. 

IWM’s Sustainability Campaign

Tara and Devin are generously offering this evening as a benefit for IWM. Our offerings provide much needed refuge in this tumultuous world – and require a significant level of infrastructure. To create access to the Buddha’s teachings for the hundreds of people who come to IWM (virtually and in person), we pay rent, internet, insurance, teacher dana supplements/stipends, and of course staff salaries.

Please consider giving at whatever level is right for you. (By making a gift now, you are registering for the benefit in-person with Tara & Devin, and will also receive a recording.) Below is a list of IWM monthly expenses for various line items in our budget. All gifts matter. Together we can continue to shepherd IWM into a sangha that supports our learning and deepens our practice.

Monthly*

$4,575 Staff wages/taxes/workers comp

$1,137 Rent

$400 Guiding Teachers Council stipend (total for 4)

$250 Teacher Dana Supplements (range varies)

$170 Internet/phone

$156 Quickbooks with payroll

$100 Flipcause 

$75 Insurance

$55 Constant Contact

$34 Zoom (public/affinity)

$27 Website domains/Rackspace email

$11 Dropbox

Advance registration on this page is appreciated for in-person attendees (and guarantees you a seat and a recording). Your generosity ensures IWM will continue to blossom and grow to meet the needs of our community. We look forward to seeing you on the 16th!

* Monthly expenses listed above do not include other operating costs IWM incurs including: consultants (fundraising, bookkeeping, website development); program expenses; processing fees; expenses funded by restricted gifts.

Tara Mulay's practice and teachings stem from the lineage of Mahasi Sayadaw. She has been authorized to teach by Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts and has gratefully drawn influence from many teachers within and outside of the Mahasi lineage, including Howard Cohn, Kamala Masters, Gil Fronsdal, Joseph Goldstein, Sayadaw U Tejaniya, and Ayya Anandabodhi. Tara practiced criminal defense law in California for over 20 years. She was a leader of Mission Dharma in San Francisco, and in 2016 she co-founded the San Francisco People of Color Insight Sangha. She remained a core teacher with the group until the spring of 2019, when she relocated to Western Massachusetts. She then served as Interim Guiding Teacher of Insight Western Massachusetts from April 2020-April 2021. Tara felt initially drawn to dharma practice upon encountering the Buddha's teachings rejecting social caste as a measure of worth and of capacity for awakening. She believes classical Buddhist practices, designed to cultivate compassion, non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion, are uniquely potent vehicles for empowering people in marginalized communities and effecting social change. For more information, please visit Tara's website taramulay.com.

​Devin Berry has been meditating for over 20 years. His practice is primarily informed by the classical teachings of early Buddhism and the Insight Meditation tradition. He has undertaken many periods of silent long-term retreat practice. Devin’s training includes Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher training, the East Bay Meditation Center Commit to Dharma Program, Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioners Program, and Insight Meditation Society’s four-year Residential Retreat Teachers Program. Devin also co-founded both the Teen Sangha and Men of Color Deep Refuge Group at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland. He has recently relocated to Western Massachusetts and teaches nationally. Devin is an Insight Meditation Society Core Guiding Teacher. He is passionate about the power of witnessing and storytelling as a liberation tool. He is deeply committed to the personal and collective liberation of marginalized communities knowing that through the integration of reflection and insight, clarity and wisdom give rise to wise action. Devin's website is devinberry.org.

IN-PERSON LOCATION: 

Florence Civic Center
90 Park Street, Florence, MA 01062
Chairs available; if you prefer to sit on zabuton/cushion, please bring your own.

Covid Protocols:

• Masks optional.

• If you have COVID concerns (new symptoms or think you've been exposed), please attend via Zoom.

• Field Control Trio Plus portable air purifier will be running (H13 HEPA with an ultraviolet light component).