What does the Seattle Insight Meditation Society (SIMS) have to do with monks making alms rounds in Thailand? More than you might think, according to Rodney Smith, guiding teacher of the newly formed non-profit organization, and former monk in Southeast Asia.

One of the deepest teachings from my years in Thailand came from our daily ritual of going out into the countryside to receive food. Every morning as the sun was rising, we'd walk together through the rice fields slowly, quietly, keeping our eyes downcast. People would come out of their houses, and we'd stop, hold out our bowls, and they'd give us some of whatever they were eating -- often only white rice, buffalo fat, a few leaves. This was all done in silence; it was a very solemn ritual. And what touched me most was this: in the exchange, there was always a moment of simple, direct connection, of metta or lovingkindness, that expressed generosity and respect, and acknowledged our dependence on each other.

It's just this sense of a community, or sangha, based on respect, warmth, and a recognition of our interdependence, that Smith and other SIMS founders hope the Seattle Insight Meditation Society will offer to practioners of vipassana, or insight meditation, in the Pacific Northwest.

Started by a group of longtime insight meditators, SIMS intends to help build an open, cohesive sangha to support the practice of mindfulness in daily life. Sustained by a board of directors and a guiding teacher, SIMS will offer dharma talks, retreats, classes, social gatherings, as well as outreach services to health care providers, prisons, and other community service organizations. SIMS will also sponsor visiting vipassana teachers from the Insight Meditation Society and other national and international dharma organizations.

We want to provide a structure to help people integrate meditation into their lives in an ever-deepening way, explains Smith. So we'll offer a continuum, from retreats, in which people develop their ability to be mindful, to activities in which people can put their mindfulness to work in everyday situations. That's really where the Buddha's eightfold path leads us we don't just stop with right understanding, we also need to cultivate right speech, right action, right livelihood, and so on.

What brought the Seattle Insight Meditation Society together? Smith puts it succinctly: numbers and timing. First, the numbers. When I first started teaching meditation in Seattle six years ago, Smith reflects, a beginning class might have 20 people in it. This fall, 80 people came! And our quarterly days of mindfulness have gone from a dozen to 60! I think more and more people these days feel the need for heartfelt connection with themselves and with each other. The traditional Buddhist refuges Buddha, dharma, and sangha can offer them this. At the same time, Smith's four annual beginners classes have produced a growing group of people with a basic understanding of the dharma who are eager to deepen their practice.

As for the timing, it s mostly coincidence. Explains Evan Prenovitz, president of the SIMS board of directors, "A group of us who've been practicing for awhile had been discussing launching a non-profit vipassana organization. Not only were we looking for ways to support our own practices, we knew how much vipassana had given us, and we wanted to figure out how we could pass it along to others."

At the same time, Smith decided to reduce his hospice-related activities to free up time and energy for teaching the dharma. The group approached Smith, and after some exploration, they decided to form the organization with Smith serving as SIMS's first guiding teacher. Adds Smith, "I'm at a stage in my life where teaching really serves my own growth -- it allows me not only to share the dharma, which is my greatest joy, but also to develop personally and spiritually. So it seems like the right time, both for the community and for me."

SIMS guiding teacher Smith spent eight years in Buddhist monastic settings, first as a long-term student at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Massachusetts, then as a monk in Asia. He ordained with Mahasi Sayadaw in Burma, then practiced for four years with Ajahn Buddhadassa in Thailand. In 1983, after returning to the US and disrobing as a monk, he entered hospice work and began teaching vipassana meditation.

Over the last fifteen years, Smith has devoted his energies to serving the dying in positions ranging from hospice social worker to hospice executive director. Smith currently conducts meditation classes and offers training workshops and one-on-one consultation to end-of-life caregivers in the Seattle area. He also teaches Insight Meditation throughout the United States, serves as a Senior Teacher at IMS, and acts as a guiding teacher for Insight Meditation Houston.

SIMS is committed to sustaining the 2500-year-old practice of providing the Buddha's teachings freely to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. As a result, all Society activities are offered at the lowest fee possible to cover administrative costs and to provide support for the guiding teaching, and no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. This approach relies on the traditional Buddhist practice of dana, the Pali term for spontaneous generosity of the heart, in which the community supports the teachings through free-will donations much as the Thai rice farmers supported Smith and his fellow monks twenty years ago.