The ripple effects of our practice: Compassionate action at Vermont Insight

December 2025

Vermont Insight’s 20th anniversary in 2025 gave us joyful occasion to reflect on our sangha’s growth and the ripple effects of our practice in the Brattleboro community.

When we opened our doors in 2005, there were two weekly meditation sits on our schedule. Now, we hold meditation events almost every day of the month. And our sangha numbers have grown alongside our offerings. 

We say it often: Your practice is a gift to all. Our practice can touch those around us in many ways, including through compassionate action. Below, we hear from Vermont Insight teachers on compassion and take a look at our community programs.

Two teachers on Buddhism and compassion

Vermont Insight teacher Susan Dreyer Leon says the classical teachings describe compassion as a natural reaction to suffering. But it takes some nurturing. 

“I think that we’re looking for tools that can allow us to not turn away from suffering, but to be with it, whether it’s our own suffering or the suffering of other people. And that being-with is a strength position,” Susan said.

Susan described the neuroscience of compassion through the hypothetical situation of encountering someone who’s fallen into a hole. “The feeling of compassion that motivates us to help get the guy out of the hole … is really a different neural mechanism than the one that’s kind of like secondary trauma, where we see the suffering of another person and merge with that.”

While we may fear getting stuck in the hole ourselves if we take action, compassion creates an empowering space of “standing alongside,” Susan said. “I might climb down into that hole with the guy and push him out, and then he’ll pull me out … As long as there are two of us, we’ll be able to make it. Or I can use my skills to get him out without having to go into the hole myself.” 

Community Dharma centers like Vermont Insight help people develop the skill set of compassion, Susan said: 

[W]hat we need to really grow our personal practice is a space where we can meet together, talk to each other, have teachers who know our practice and are able to offer us support, guidance, and instruction on the path. … We need a heartbeat, a center from which [compassionate action] can flow.”

Vermont Insight teacher Paul Rodrigue noted that “compassion is the wish that suffering be alleviated. The Buddha’s expression of compassion was to teach. His path is about finding an ultimate end to suffering. Having accomplished that task for himself, he did not proceed to try to remove suffering in others. Rather, he taught others how to do it themselves, because this is the only way for any one of us to end our suffering.”

“Of course,” Paul said, “his path included transforming our hearts to be more loving and compassionate. And to understand how change happens. So that, as we travel this path, our understanding becomes more refined, and we naturally become more attuned to suffering and the ways that might end.” 

Paul continued, “As a householder, we’re going to have lots of opportunities to move through the community in our day-to-day lives, and have these more and more refined views of kindness and compassion be influencing every interaction.” 

Paul sees the Buddha’s teachings at work in all his interactions with others, down to buying a cup of coffee at Amy’s:

What I love about the practice of Buddhism is the understanding of how change happens. With that understanding, I can move through my day recognizing that every interaction I have is a conditioning moment, reciprocal. … I want to take advantage of every moment to use that understanding of conditioning to bring greater joy and ease in people’s lives.”

Below, we discuss two Vermont Insight programs meant to reduce suffering and create greater ease in our community.

Meal program

Fiona Cook has coordinated Vermont Insight volunteers in preparing meals for our unhoused neighbors since 2009. We’ve supplied one dinner a month for the Groundworks shelter on South Main St. since it opened in 2021. Previously, our meal program ran during the colder half of the year only (and was limited to holiday meals in the early days of the pandemic).

Demand for Groundworks’ dinners increased 85% after the state’s motel program closed in 2024. “It’s kind of shocking that the need is so great for a little town like this,” Fiona said. The program now provides dinners for around 60 people and breakfasts for 40-plus overnight shelter guests. 

“It’s amazing how committed people are to this effort,” Fiona said. “Practicing generosity is very good and very important to Buddhists, so this is one way that we provide that opportunity.” Fiona brings her practice off the cushion while preparing her monthly contribution:

When I make that tuna casserole, I’m often trying to be mindful as I’m doing it, and conscious of the fact that I’m feeding these people who need this food. … If I’m present while I’m making the meal, it always feels like I’ve been putting that extra energy into the food. And I think other people probably feel that way, too.”

Twenty-six people contributed to the shelter meal program at Vermont Insight in 2025. 

Introduction to Meditation at Turning Point

Paul began teaching an Introduction to Meditation course at Turning Point Recovery Center in 2022 as part of his meditation teacher certificate program. He wanted the course to be available to people who weren’t already connected to Vermont Insight. 

Paul decided to keep it going as a twice-monthly offering after meeting his certificate requirement. Each event now serves an average of three participants, sometimes regulars and sometimes new attendees. 

The event is for people in recovery as well as those who work in the field (and there’s often overlap). “The pressures seem to be on [Turning Point staff] more than at least I previously understood,” he said, noting the center’s work with the police department and emergency room, “so that feels good to be able to support them.”

“I have benefited from these teachings a lot,” Paul said. “There’s been much greater peace in my life. And it has felt important to be able to at least steer people in that direction, so that they can see how they can do it.”

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Vermont Insight opens our regular meditation sits, courses, and retreats to all who would benefit, regardless of ability to pay. We also extend practice opportunities beyond local borders by offering most of our programs on Zoom.

We invite sangha members to reflect on the ways their practice touches those around them. Click here to learn more about compassionate action opportunities at Vermont Insight.