Vipassana Meditation Community in Columbia, South Carolina
Our community is a place where everyone of different ages, cultures, ethnicities, sexual orientation, and spiritual backgrounds is welcome to begin or deepen their meditation practice based on the teachings of the Buddha.
Insight Meditation Community of Columbia (IMCC), located in Columbia, South Carolina, is a growing community of people practicing and learning Buddhist meditation through the Theravada tradition known as “Vipassana.” Chartered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2015, we are the first Vipassana sitting group in the Midlands of Columbia, South Carolina. We are a peer-led group of practitioners with diverse levels of experience who meet weekly for sitting instruction, meditation practice, a dharma talk, and discussion.
Buddhism teaches us that through practice we can relieve our own suffering caused by grasping, aversion, and ignorance. We learn about our own mental processes through a combination of mindfulness—paying attention, compassion, and wisdom. That practice is made easier in the company of others on the same path, known in Buddhism as the sangha. IMCC is a sangha, a community. Persons of all faiths and beliefs who seek freedom of heart and mind are welcome. As is traditional, we offer these teachings freely and at no charge.
Buddhism does not ask that its teachings be taken on faith. We offer the invitation to come and see for yourself whether the Buddha’s path to self-knowledge and greater kindness to self and others is right for you.