South Bay Insight LA
South Bay Study Group
Third Thursday of the Month
7:00 - 9:00 pm
Our South Bay monthly study group aspires to be a community based in spiritual friendship and good will. The Buddha teaches that no other external factor does so much for the development of awakening as spiritual friendship.
South Bay Insight LA Teacher - Eric McCullum
Registration:
Email Eric at
eric@insightla.org
Online Donations
About Our 2026 - 2027 Study Group Plan
Our South Bay Study Group is starting up again and this year we will focus on Small Boat, Great Mountain by Amaro Bhikkhu, a book that explores Theravada reflections on the Natural Great Perfection. A companion book (as support) will be Carefree Dignity by Tsoknyi Rinpoche.
Each month there will be suggested readings. We’re asking you to commit to attend all monthly meetings (extenuating circumstances aside).
There is a suggested donation of $20/class (optional and not required). All donations/money raised will be given to charities that are collectively agreed on at the end of the year.
Email Eric at eric@insightla.org for more information and registration. See the map below for the location of our meetings.
About Our Texts
Small Boat, Great Mountain
by Amaro Bhikkhu
Small Boat, Great Mountain is an inviting exploration of awakening, awareness, and freedom from the habit of identifying with thoughts, feelings, and personal stories. Amaro Bhikkhu brings the Theravāda Buddhist tradition into dialogue with Dzogchen, the Tibetan Buddhist teaching of the “Natural Great Perfection,” illuminating resonances between two profound paths of practice.
Originally presented as retreat teachings, the book unfolds in a direct, accessible voice: practical reflections, traditional sources, and vivid metaphors guide readers toward recognizing the spacious, knowing quality of mind. It is an especially rich text for a study group, inviting careful reading, shared inquiry, and reflection on how ancient teachings meet lived experience.
Amaro Bhikkhu is a Theravāda Buddhist monk in the Thai Forest Tradition and abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in England. Ordained in Thailand in 1979 by the renowned meditation master Ajahn Chah, he later co-founded Abhayagiri Monastery in Northern California and has written widely on Buddhist practice and wisdom.
The text is free for download from the Abhayagiri Monastery here: Small Boat, Great Mountain
From the Publisher
Carefree Dignity
by Tsoknyi Rinpoche.
Carefree Dignity explores the possibility of meeting life with inner ease, confidence, and compassion. Drawing on Tibetan Buddhist teachings about the nature of mind, Tsoknyi Rinpoche distinguishes genuine “carefreeness” from indifference: it is an open, uncontracted presence that allows wisdom and kindness to arise naturally.
Presented as accessible discourses on meditation and training in awareness, the book combines plainspoken instruction, concrete examples, and guided contemplative practice. Its warmth and immediacy make it well suited to group study, encouraging participants to examine habitual tension and self-concern while discovering a more spacious relationship to experience.
Tsoknyi Rinpoche is a widely respected Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher in the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions. Recognized as a tulku, or reincarnate lama, in childhood, he has taught internationally for decades and is known for communicating profound teachings with humor, clarity, and psychological insight.
This text is available free from the Internet Archive Digital Library here: Carefree Dignity
From the Publisher
SPECIAL NOTE: The two books are directly connected: Small Boat, Great Mountain grew from a retreat taught jointly by Ajahn Amaro and Tsoknyi Rinpoche, focused on the Natural Great Perfection and its resonances with Theravāda teachings. Amaro’s reflections build a bridge between traditions, while Tsoknyi Rinpoche offers direct, practice-centered guidance for recognizing the mind’s innate openness and ease.
Location
St. Cross Episcopal Church
1818 Monterey Avenue, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
Room #4, Park anywhere in the St. Cross parking lot (free)