{"id":22738,"date":"2023-09-28T15:28:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T20:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dharma.org\/?p=22738"},"modified":"2025-09-01T14:37:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T19:37:39","slug":"lineage-stories-oct-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dharma.org\/lineage-stories-oct-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Handing Down the Stories of our Teachers\u2019 Teachers"},"content":{"rendered":"

IMS Partners with the Canadian Prairie Sangha to Preserve the Stories of Our Lineage Holders<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

First-hand stories of Asian Buddhist meditation masters are a precious gift that a few North American insight teachers have shared for decades.<\/p>\n

A new online series, Lineage Stories, offered by IMS Online and five Canadian Prairie sanghas, seeks to preserve our teachers’ stories about the Asian teachers with whom they studied. The series begins on October 12 with IMS co-founders Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg discussing Munindra-ji, Dipa Ma, Mahasi Sayadaw, and others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to honor the Asian roots of this practice and create something that had the sense of the teachings being handed down from generation to generation,\u201d explains Jeanne Corrigal, who helped organize the series. \u201cWe wanted people to be able to hear these stories as close to the source as possible, now, while they still can. And we thought the storytelling format would work best since it is a traditional and powerful way of hearing the Dharma.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeanne, who is the Guiding Teacher of the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and an IMS teacher, conceived of the project in partnership with four other Canadian Prairie sanghas across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Jeanne is also a member of the mixed heritage M\u00e9tis Nation, one of three Indigenous communities recognized in Canada, for whom the storytelling tradition is an important part of their culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can lose sight of where these teachings came from,\u201d said Jeanne. \u201cSo, it\u2019s important for current practitioners to be able to hear from the teachers who trained with our Asian ancestors, particularly for students who are a long way from the big meditation centers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The impetus for the series was to give practitioners living on the Canadian Prairie more access to the teachers who trained with early Buddhism\u2019s lineage holders. \u201cBut, of course, our teachers are everyone’s teachers,\u201d said Jeanne. \u201cSo, we\u2019re happy to have this valuable collaboration with IMS Online.\u201d<\/p>\n

These first-hand stories inspire one’s practice and desire to share the Dharma. \u201cIf we have a stronger connection to the roots of the practice, we\u2019ll feel more committed to it in our own hearts and grounded in carrying it forward,\u201d said Jeanne.<\/p>\n

The intention is to make this an annual series with programs in every season, spanning the next three (or more) years. The series schedule is:<\/p>\n