About
Eric McCullum teaches in the Vipassana tradition through InsightLA, where he completed the one-year Mindfulness Facilitator Training Program and serves on the Board of Directors and Ethics and Reconciliation Council. Based in the South Bay of Los Angeles, he teaches classes including Essentials of Mindfulness, Death and Dying, and the Dedicated Practitioners Program. He has led mindfulness instruction for USC, school districts, and corporate organizations. McCullum holds an MA in Counseling Psychology and has worked as a bereavement counselor and hospice volunteer for over ten years. He is principal of a structural engineering firm.
Teaching focus
Eric McCullum, MA's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Vipassana and Insight traditions. Several threads come up: death and dying as a practice context;. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Eric McCullum, MA works with whatever shows up in the room rather than reading from notes, which is part of why these talks land as conversational instead of scripted. Short pauses, longer sits, and questions that come back to direct experience are usual. Listed specialties on the source profile include grief, beginners. The bigger move Eric McCullum, MA keeps making is back toward attention itself: what's happening, how it's being held, and what gets in the way. That keeps the teaching close to practice rather than drifting into commentary about practice. For talks, schedules, and longer essays, the affiliated organization's page is where the live material lives. Eric McCullum, MA's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on. Eric McCullum, MA's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on.
Background
Eric McCullum, MA teaches in the Vipassana and Insight traditions. The teaching home is InsightLA. From the teacher's own profile: Eric McCullum first discovered meditation in the early 1990’s. In 2005 he began practicing in the Vipassana tradition with Trudy Goodman and Insight LA. Eric has completed InsightLA’s one-year Mindfulness Facilitator Training Program. He is currently a member of InsightLA’s Board of Directors, co-chair of the Ethics and Reconciliation Council and is a member of the teacher development group. Eric teaches a variety of mindfulness classes including Essentials of Mindfulness, classes on Death and Dying, and the Dedicated Practitioners Program. He regularly leads groups in the South Bay locations and has taught classes and events for the University of Southern California, the Beach Cities Health District, the Redondo Beach School District, and corporate mindfulness events. “Off the cushion” Eric places a strong emphasis on service work. From 1999-2001 he served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in the country of Vanuatu. He holds an MA in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and has been a bereavement counselor and hospice bed side volunteer for over 10 years. Eric currently is principal of a structural engineering firm in the South Bay of Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife and 2 children. In the Insight stream Eric McCullum, MA works inside, the emphasis is on direct attention to body, feeling tone, and mind, alongside the brahmaviharas and an ongoing investigation of how clinging and aversion arise. Talks tend to be conversational rather than scripted, and there's room for sila and ethics to be talked about as part of practice rather than as a separate topic. Eric McCullum, MA's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Eric McCullum, MA's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Eric McCullum, MA's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Eric McCullum, MA's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography.
Lineage
Eric McCullum, MA teaches as a lay teacher in the Vipassana and Insight traditions. The institutional home, per the source listing, is InsightLA, and that's where most of the public teaching schedule and any retreat offerings will be posted. The Insight lineage in the West runs through teachers like Mahasi Sayadaw, U Ba Khin, Anagarika Munindra, and Dipa Ma into the founders of IMS, Spirit Rock, and the regional centers, and most contemporary Insight teachers position themselves somewhere in that broad family.
What to expect
On a class or retreat with Eric McCullum, MA, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. The container is shaped by InsightLA, so format details, fees, and access policies follow that organization's norms. Expect plenty of silence, less talking-at-you than you might think, and an emphasis on letting the practice do its work rather than chasing experiences. For exact dates, registration, and any sliding-scale or scholarship information, There's usually a short Q&A window and, on retreats, optional teacher interviews where students can bring specific questions about their practice. There's usually a short Q&A window and, on retreats, optional teacher interviews where students can bring specific questions about their practice.
