One area of the Buddha’s teaching describes the set of processes that we often identify with as the self. Known as the aggregates or skandhas, these five processes include the physical processes of the body as well as several mental processes. Gaylon Ferguson unpacks each of these processes and attempts to show why identifying with… Continue reading
Author: Jon Swanson
Quote for the Week
I repeat to myself over and over again—and to whoever is willing to listen—old stories of who I am, who I was, and who I am becoming (as well as who you are and why you’re that way). We leave the spacious, open humility of not-knowing far behind and take shelter in a thicket of… Continue reading
Sangha News 10/21/25
Thursday Evening Meditation & Talk: Over the next month or so we’ll explore the Buddha’s teachings on four qualities of the heart that support us in our lives and practice, and can help us to cultivate an open heart. These four qualities, lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, are usually known as the Brahmaviharas or the… Continue reading
Updated Resources for Meditation and Support
The Buddha’s teachings on non-self are considered to be some of the most important for finding liberation from the distress we can experience in life, but also some of the most difficult to understand. Gil Fronsdal provides a brief introduction to the teachings on non-self and their connection to freedom from suffering. You can find… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
People often become confused about selflessness because they sense a continuity in their experience. But selflessness does not imply a lack of continuity. When we think of a seed becoming a sapling and then becoming a tree which bears fruit, we find a continuity in that process even though there is no single element which… Continue reading
Cancer Center Meditation Support Group Meets October 16
Our monthly mindfulness meditation support group meeting at the Tri-Cities Cancer Center will be held on Thursday, October 16, 2025. The Cancer Center is located at 7350 West Deschutes Avenue, Kennewick. The sessions, which are held on the third Thursday of each month, are meant for cancer patients, cancer survivors, and their caregivers. The session this month will begin at 12:00 pm at the Cancer Center in… Continue reading
Sangha News 11/7/25
New Code of Ethics and HEAR Council We have included a suggestion on the website for many years that people try to observe some basic ethical practices suggested for the community of practitioners. Those suggestions, a Community Code of Ethics, are now more visible on the website. Following the practice of other Insight Meditation groups,… Continue reading
Updated Resources for Meditation and Support
The human experience of uncertainty and groundlessness play a central role in most of the teachings of Pema Chodron. She is quite clear that there’s no cure for impermanence or uncertainty, they are a part of life we can’t escape. However, she provides many approaches to learning to be more at ease with uncertainty. This… Continue reading
Quote for the Week
When we resist change, it’s called suffering. But when we can completely let go and not struggle against it, when we can embrace the groundlessness of our situation and relax into its dynamic quality, that’s called enlightenment, or awakening to our true nature, to our fundamental goodness. Another word for this is freedom—freedom from struggling against… Continue reading
Sangha News 9/23/25
Thursday evening info: Over the next month or so we’ll explore the Buddha’s teachings on four qualities of the heart that support us in our lives and practice, and can help us to cultivate an open heart. These four qualities, lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, are usually known as the Brahmaviharas or the four immeasurables.… Continue reading Sangha News 9/23/25