About
James Rosser is a licensed clinical social worker and meditation teacher in the Insight/Vipassana tradition. He began practicing in 1987 with James Baraz and trained through Spirit Rock's Dharma Institute and Community Dharma Leaders Program, InsightLA's facilitator and dedicated practice programs, and the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program led by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. His primary teacher is Tempel Smith. Rosser is a trained teacher with the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion and a mentor at Kristen Neff's Self-Compassion Institute. He co-leads retreats at Big Bear Retreat Center and The Land of The Medicine Buddha in Santa Cruz. He teaches secular and Buddhist-based mindfulness training, community building, and affinity groups. Rosser serves on InsightLA's Board of Directors and works at UCLA's Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.
Teaching focus
James Rosser, LCSW's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Insight and Vipassana traditions. Several threads come up: compassion training that doesn't collapse into pity or burnout;. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. James Rosser, LCSW 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 retreat. The bigger move James Rosser, LCSW 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. James Rosser, LCSW'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. James Rosser, LCSW'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
James Rosser, LCSW teaches in the Insight and Vipassana traditions. The teaching home is InsightLA. From the teacher's own profile: James began meditating 1987 with James Baraz. He is an active participant in Spirit Rock’s Dharma Institute, a graduate of the their Dedicated Practitioner Program, and a current student in the Community Dharma Leaders Program. He is a Mentor at Kristen Neff’s Self-Compassion Institute. James is also a Trained Teacher for the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. James graduated from InsightLA’s Facilitator Training Program, InsightLA’s Dedicated to the Dharma Program, and Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP)(Inaugural Class). James co-leads retreats at Big Bear Retreat Center, and The Land of The Medicine Buddha (Santa Cruz, CA). James leads secular and Buddhist-based mindfulness training, practices, community building, and affinity groups. His primary teacher is Tempel Smith. His primary influences are Phillip Moffitt, Venerable Bhikkhu Analayo, Tuere Sala, Leslie Booker, and Jack Kornfield. James is a member of InsightLA’s Board of Directors, and works at UCLA’s Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital. In the Insight stream James Rosser, LCSW 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. James Rosser, LCSW'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. James Rosser, LCSW'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. James Rosser, LCSW'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. James Rosser, LCSW'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. James Rosser, LCSW'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
James Rosser, LCSW teaches as a lay teacher in the Insight and Vipassana 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 James Rosser, LCSW, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. Retreats are part of the offering, usually a few days to a week, mostly silent. 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.
