Newsletters
January 9, 2008 by Tim Little
Welcome to the archives of our weekly e-mail newsletter. Please contact us if you would like to be added to our mailing list.
January 9, 2008 by Tim Little
Welcome to the archives of our weekly e-mail newsletter. Please contact us if you would like to be added to our mailing list.
REMINDER — 2/27/07 meditation group
Hello everyone!
This is just a quick reminder that the Tuesday night
meditation group will once again be meeting from 7:30
to 9:30 in the High School Room (upstairs) at First
Parish Unitarian Universalist in Chelmsford.
I also want to take this opportunity to mention that
our group is fortunate to be able to welcome two
esteemed guest teachers both this week and next.
This Tuesday, February 27, we will be pleased to
welcome Doreen Schweizer as our guest teacher for the
evening. Doreen is a Abhaya’s good friend from Spirit
Rock, and currently is Guiding Teacher at Valley
Insight Meditation Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire
(http://www.valleyinsight.org).
The following Tuesday, March 6, we will be pleased to
welcome Ajahn Mangkone Dhammadharo from Wat
Buddhabhavana in Westford. Venerable Mangkone
Dhammadharo has been an ordained monk in the Thai
Forest tradition since 1992, and has been in the
Lowell area since 1996
(http://www.greatwisdomcenter.org/event1.htm).
As you know, the tradition is for Buddhist teachings
to be offered freely. However, given the extraordinary
committment of time and travel provided by each
teacher, I would also like to remind us all of another
Buddhist tradition: dana, or generosity.
Doreen has a wonderful page on dana on her website
(http://www.valleyinsight.org/pages/2/50/?PHPSESSID=6dbcd7cdb0186dad79fea91d1ef339c5).
I don’t think I need to say anything further other
than to mention that we are extremely blessed to be
able to welcome these two teachers, and that
recognition their own generosity of time and teaching
would be appropriate.
We do plan to continue the group on a primarily
peer-led basis during Abhaya’s recovery, however both
Doreen and Ajahn Mangkone Dhammadharo have expressed
sincere interest on helping us out on an interim
basis. Doreen hopes to return later in March, and
Ajahn Mangkone Dhammadharo is available most Tuesday
evenings.
With much metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 3/6/07 meditation group
Hello everyone!
This is just a quick reminder that the Tuesday night
meditation group will once again be meeting from 7:30
to 9:30 in the High School Room (upstairs) at First
Parish Unitarian Universalist in Chelmsford. This week
we will be pleased to welcome Ajahn Mangkone
Dhammadharo from Wat Buddhabhavana in Westford.
Also, I just want to bring your attention to a couple
of events coming up at the Museum of Fine Arts in
Boston:
On Saturday, March 24, from noon to 1pm, there will be
a gallery talk entitled “Buddhism Across Asia.” This
is an excellent opportunity to see and learn about the
museums excellent collection of Asian art.
(http://www.mfa.org/calendar/event.asp?eventkey=26515&date=3/24/2007)
Also, the MFA will be showing multiple screenings of
the stunning Yatra Trilogy
(http://www.directpictures.com/trilogy.html), which
explore Buddhism in its various contexts across Asia.
—————————————————–
- Dharma River: Journey of a Thousand Buddhas (The
Spiritual Wonders of Laos, Thailand and Burma)
Saturday, April 14 — 3:45pm
Thursday, April 26 — 6:20pm
Saturday, April 28 — 12:30pm
Dharma River: Journey of a Thousand Buddhas by John
Bush (2004, 81 min.). Dharma is the Sanskrit word for
universal law. Essential to Buddhist understanding,
dharma is the natural order, a living truth, and a
force for awakening. Dharma River is a lyrical and
exquisite sensory journey through Southeast Asia’s
great spiritual and cultural treasures. Visiting the
legendary lost civilizations and living wisdom
traditions of Laos, Thailand, and Burma, Dharma River
powerfully conveys their continuing relevance for
contemporary audiences. Ancient temples, mystical
landscapes, and wondrous shrines-many of them UNESCO
world heritage sites-provide a rich visual tapestry.
With a score of rare classical Southeast Asian music,
this visual voyage masterfully illuminates artistic
and devotional traditions. From the canals of Bangkok
to the mountains of Laos, from the golden pagodas of
Burma to the Mekong River, the film is a unique
experience of sacred space.
- Prajna Earth: Journey into Sacred Nature (The
Spiritual Wonders of Bali, Cambodia, and Java)
Saturday, April 14 — 5:30pm
Thursday, April 26 — 8:00pm
Saturday, April 28 — 2:15pm
Prajna Earth: Journey into Sacred Nature by John Bush
(2004, 85 min.). Filmed entirely on location in
Southeast Asia, the second film of the Yatra Trilogy
is a stunning cinematic journey to the legendary
temples of Angkor in Cambodia, the spiritual sites of
Bali, and finally the marvel of Buddhist Borobudur in
Java. Prajna Earth is a pilgrimage to sacred
intersections where Buddhist and Hindu wisdom
traditions merge with the animist worship of nature.
Monks and nuns travel on foot for days to reach a full
moon gathering near Angkor Wat, the largest temple in
the world. The dance of the Devatas celebrates the
rebirth of this classic art form within the cultural
healing of war torn Cambodia. As the journey moves to
Bali, gamelan music, Ramayana dance, and lively street
processions echo through the hill town of Ubud. In
Java, a night of animist trance dance and spirit
possession is followed by a golden dawn and ascent up
the startling seven level stupa of Borobudur.
- Vajra Sky over Tibet
Saturday, April 14 — 7:15pm
Friday, April 27 — 6:15pm
Saturday, April 28 — 4:00pm
Vajra Sky Over Tibet by John Bush (2006, 89 min.).
Vajra is the thunderbolt of awakening that cuts
through delusion. It is the indestructible power of
truth at the heart of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet.
Filmed in Central Tibet, Vajra Sky is a cinematic
pilgrimage offering a direct experience of some of the
most revered temples, monasteries, and festivals still
surviving. The vastness of snow mountains, rushing
rivers, and turquoise lakes leads the journey westward
to the holy sites of Shigatse and Gyantse. Returning
to Lhasa, the luminous faces of pilgrims in front of
the legendary Jokhang Temple glow in the flicker of
butter lamp offerings. The empty windows and doors of
the traditional homes of His Holiness The Dalai Lama,
the Potala and Norbulinka, signal his painful absence.
Yet the exuberant blossoms of the Summer Palace hold
the promise of natural cycles of return. During the
colorful Drepung Monastery festival, a giant scroll
painting of the Buddha covers a mountain as
spiritually famished Chinese join with the multitude
of Tibetan pilgrims. Director present Apr 14.
All three films will be shown in the Remis Auditorium.
MFA members, seniors, and students $8; general
admission $9.
For more information:
http://www.mfa.org/calendar/sub.asp?key=12&subkey=1
—————————————————–
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 3/13/07 meditation group
Hi all….
I hope everyone enjoyed having our guest teacher last
week. I just want to remind everyone of his invitation
to the Wednesday evening (7-9pm) meditation group at
Wat Buddhabhavana.
It’s pretty easy to get to the temple:
- From I-495 south take exit 32 (Boston Road).
- At the end of the ramp, bear right onto Boston Road
and continue for one mile until you get to a stop
sign.
- At the stop sign turn left onto Main Street, which
becomes Forge Village Road after 1/2-mile. (The street
names are NOT well marked, so just keep following the
main road.)
- Once Main Street turns into Forge Village Road,
continue for another ~1.5 miles. (You will pass the
Westford Water Department.)
- You will come to a reaonably well-marked 4-way
intersection, with a sign for the Courier Company;
turn right here onto Town Farm Road.
- Continue for 1/3-mile on Town Farm Road. (You will
pass the Courier Company on your left.) Turn right
onto Milot Road IMMEDIATELY BEFORE the railroad
tracks. The road actually abuts the tracks, so it will
seem almost as if you are turning onto the tracks
themselves!
- Follow Milot Road all the way to the end. The temple
(#25) is pretty obvious, and parking is in the rear.
I hope to make it over myself one of these Wednesday
evenings, but strongly encourage anyone who is
interested to check it out in the meantime.
And I hope to see you all tonight at First Parish!
- Tim
REMINDER — 3/20/07 meditation group
Hi all…. Spring officially arrives at 8:07 this
evening, at which point we’ll likely be in the midst
of meditation. We’ll be back up in the High School
room this week, starting at 7:30.
I also wanted to remind people that the MFA will be
giving a gallery talk on “Buddhism Across Asia” this
Saturday, March 24, from noon to 1pm. More info here:
http://www.mfa.org/calendar/event.asp?eventkey=26515&date=3/24/2007
Finally, I’ve come across a number of interesting
tidbits on the internet over the past week:
- Cambodian dhamma teacher and Nobel prize nominee,
Bhante Maha Ghosananda died on March 12 in Leverett,
MA. There have been many obituaries; I’ll post links
to a few good ones here:
http://www.tricycle.com/issues/innews/3796-1.html
http://www.lowellsun.com/fastsearchresults/ci_5443318
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=9,3828,0,0,1,0
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=9,3829,0,0,1,0
- And speaking of the internet, Tricycle magazine
contributor Jeff Wilson has a very interesting piece
on finding the Dharma on the Web:
http://www.tricycle.com/issues/web_exclusive/3793-1.html
(The HTML code is a little funky for some reason, so
be sure to use the forward and back arrows, not the
“continued” link at the bottom of the page.)
- Finally, there are a couple of great videos online:
One is the 50-min BBC documentary “The Life of the
Buddha” available via YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IILUHZcE510
The other is “The Mindful Way,” another British
documentary featuring Thai teacher Ajahn Chah. It’s
posted on the Somerville-based Wisdom Publications
site and is about 20 minutes long:
http://www.wisdompubs.org/Pages/news.lasso#chah_video
See you all this evening!
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 3/27/07 meditation group
Hi all…. Same time and place for the meditation
group this week: 7:30-9:30 at First Parish, upstairs
in the High School room.
A couple of notes worthy of mention:
1) As some of you may know, last year Carrie and I
became members of Bear Hill Farm
(http://bearhillfarmcsa.com/), a community supported
family farm in Tyngsboro that provided us with a
cornucopia of fresh vegetables from June until
October.
A full share provides way more food than Carrie and I
can eat by ourselves, and our other “half-share” has
decided not to do it again this year.
Carrie and I wondered if the meditation group might be
interested in sponsoring a half-share for the monks at
Wat Buddhabhavana in Westford. A half-share costs $225
for the season, which isn’t too bad if divided among a
few people.
We need to let Anne and Mike (the farmers) know what
our plan is pretty soon, so please think it over and
let us know if it’s something you as a group would be
interested in.
2) MGH’s Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine
is a relatively new research center studying the
scientific components and clinical applications of
“the relaxation response” — which is a part of the
physiological process our bodies undergo while we
meditate.
The institute is currently seeking study subjects for
their research. More info can be found on the
Benson-Henry Institute website:
http://www.mbmi.org/research/subjects.asp
3) Finally, this week’s video selection:
http://www.fearlessmountainfilm.com/trailer.htm
This site only shows the trailer, which is worth
monastery
taking 2 minutes to see. The film is a documentary
about the Abhayagiri (”Fearless Mountain”
in Redwood Valley, CA. It looks like a beautiful film
in its own right, but has a special connection to our
own group: The head monk — Ajahn Amaro — is one of
Abhaya’s teachers from Spirit Rock, and is actually
the one who gave Abhaya her “Buddhist” name.
And last but not least, a couple of interviews from
PBS:
The first is an interview with Pema Chodron, an
American nun from the Tibetan tradition who has also
written many good books on Buddhist practice. This was
part of the Bill Moyers series “On Faith and Reason”
last year:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/media_players/chodron_full.html
The second is a Charlie Rose interview of His Holiness
the 14th Dalai Lama, also taped last year:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4235480941561974775
Both are well worth watching.
See you tomorrow evening!
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 4/3/07 meditation group
Hi all…. All sorts good news this week:
First, Phra Ajahn Mangkone Dhammadharo of Wat Buddhabhavana in Westford has once again accepted our invitation to lead the meditation group, and will join us tomorrow evening.
Second, Abhaya’s friend Doreen Schweizer has also offered to lead the meditation group on a forthcoming Tuesday evening; we also look forward to welcoming her once we figure out the specifics.
Third, it looks like there’s enough interest to sponsor a half share at Bear Hill Farm for the monks at Wat Buddhabhavana. Carrie and I have already paid for our half share; the second installment of $225 is not due until August 1, so there is a bit of time before we’ll need to solicit funds from anyone who is interested in contributing some “veggie dana” for the monks. Obviously, the more people who are interested in giving, the better for everyone. (So far, I believe Brenda, Priscille, and Sue are on board.)
Carrie will pick up the vegetables from the farm on Wednesdays this summer, and anyone who is interested in seeing the farm and/or helping deliver the vegetables to the monks is welcome to touch base with her. I strongly recommend taking advantage of the opportunity!
Last but not least, there are the usual few items off the Dharma newswire:
First, another very good (if somewhat belated) obituary on Ven. Maha Ghosananda:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=60,3866,0,0,1,0
And a related article:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=6,3888,0,0,1,0
Finally, there’s an interesting post on Tricycle’s Editor’s Blog:
http://tricycleblog.wordpress.com/2007/03/14/meditation-what-do-the-numbers-tell-us/
(Be sure to check out Jeff Wilson’s original post, too; it’s very interesting stuff!)
I hope to see everyone tomorrow evening!
With metta,
Tim
Follow-up to 4/3/07 meditation group
Hi all…. I just wanted to send a quick e-mail in
follow up to the meditation group the other evening.
In his dhamma talk, Ajahn Mangkone touched briefly on
the subject of relics. As it turns out there is a
fascinating article on the subject in the current
issue of Tricycle, available online as a PDF:
http://www.tricycle.com/issues/tricycle/pdfs/mackenzie163.pdf
Happy reading; see you all next week!
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 4/10/07 meditation group
Hi all…. Just the usual weekly reminder about the
meditation group tomorrow evening: 7:30-9:30pm,
upstairs in the High School room at First Parish.
Following Ajahn Mangkone Dhammadharo’s dhamma talk
last week, I’d sent out a link to a Tricycle article
on Buddhist relics. Hopefully those of you who’ve had
a chance to read it found it interesting.
Here are another couple of links on the subject, this
time from a PBS documentary from a few years ago:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week711/feature.html
and
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week711/excerpt.html
I personally remain “agnostic” on the matter of
relics, but it’s still pretty fascinating stuff
nonetheless.
Hopefully we’ll see everyone tomorrow; ’til then, keep
well.
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 4/17/07 meditation group
Hi all…. Just a reminder that we’ll be meeting in
the usual time and place again this week: upstairs in
the High School room at First Parish tonight from
7:30-9:30.
I think I mentioned this previously, but Doreen
Schweizer has again offered to come lead the
meditation group, probably sometime in May. Her
schedule is better suited to a Wednesday or Sunday
evening, however, and I said I would run that by you
all to see if that’s convenient. We could either plan
to move the date of the meditation group whatever week
that ends up being, or we could have Doreen lead a
group in addition to our regular Tuesday evening
meeting. (Obviously we’d also need to make sure space
was available.) Anyhow, please think it over and let
me know.
Also, it looks like our next “First Tuesday” with the
monks will be pushed back a week. Both Venerables
Ajahn Mangkone and Ajahn David Chutiko will be away on
May 1, but Ajahn David will be back and hopefully
available to lead the group on May 8.
Off on another tangent: While Carrie and I were
attending a performance of “Syncopation” at the MRT a
couple of weekends ago, we learned about a very
special upcoming professional production at Lowell
High School’s Cyrus W. Irish Theater:
“Where Elephants Weep,” a bilingual (Khmer/English)
“contemporary opera” in the style of Rent, is a love
story about a Cambodian refugee returning to his
homeland. It will have its world premier in Lowell on
Friday, April 27, and should be absolutely
spectacular. (Be sure to check out the promotional
video on their Web site!)
More information can be found at
http://www.whereelephantsweep.net
Finally, the usual video treats:
First is a very interesting-sounding independent film
called “10 Questions for the Dalai Lama.” It’s not yet
screening in the Boston area, but should be something
to keep in mind when it (hopefully) does arrive. You
can view the trailer here:
http://www.10questionsforthedalailama.com/
Also, a colleague of mine recommended another film
that unfortunately just finished playing at the
Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge. “Into Great
Silence” is a German film about Carthusian monks in
France, and is supposedly a very meditative experience
in itself. Again, the trailer can be found via the
film’s website:
http://www.diegrossestille.de/english/
Well, that’s it for this week; I hope everyone’s
managing to stay dry.
See you this evening!
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 4/24/07 meditation group
What wonderful weather at long last! Happy belated
Earth Day and even more belated New Year… the Thai
New Year, that is. The holiday of Songkran is actually
celebrated throught South East Asia (Laos, Burma,
Thailand, and Cambodia) from April 13-15. Anyhow,
since we’re practising according to the Thai
tradition, and one of our esteemed guest teachers
hails from Laos, I would be remiss to overlook the
occasion. If interested, you can find out more here:
http://www.asiasource.org/news/at_mp_02.cfm?newsid=77892
A couple of quick reminders of upcoming events:
The world premier of Where Elephants Weep takes place
this Friday evening at Lowell High School. There are
additional performances on Saturday evening and Sunday
afternoon:
http://www.whereelephantsweep.net/
Screenings of the Yatra Trilogy continue at the MFA in
Boston through May 6:
http://72.5.117.145/calendar/index.asp?keywords=Yatra+Trilogy&category=&collection=&cal_language=&week=
I would also like to solicit your collective feedback
as to whether there is any interest for me to put
together a blog for our meditation group. As I’ve
mentioned to a few of you already, I thought it might
be nice to have a “place” where we can post notes
about upcoming events, dharma
discussion/questions/comments, book/film reviews, Web
links, etc., in between our weekly meditation group
meetings. If there’s any interest/suggestions, please
e-mail me and let me know. (I’m certainly happy to
keep sending out these weekly e-mails either way.)
Finally, yesterday I spoke with Abhaya for the first
time in quite a few weeks; she sounds wonderful! That
said, she thinks she’s still a ways off from returning
to teach. It could be several weeks or even longer,
depending on the pace of her recovery, but she’s
definitely looking forward to when the time comes. In
the meantime, thanks for bearing with those of us
trying to keep things going!
Well, that’s it for this week. See you all tomorrow
evening — 7:30-9:30 upstairs in the High School room
at Frist Parish.
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 5/1/07 meditation group
Hello everyone; Happy Vesak!!
Vesak (or Wesak or Vaisakha) is the Buddhist holiday
commemorating at once the birth, enlightenment, and
death of the Siddharta Gautama. The name comes from
the second month of the Indian calendar, and the
holiday is celebrated — according to astrological
calculations — on the first full moon of Taurus.
This year there are two full moons during the month of
May, so that there is the unusual situation of some
Buddhists celebrating tomorrow, May 1, and others
celebrating on May 31.
There are a couple of good articles at the Buddhist
Channel for those interesting in learning more:
“What is Vesak?”
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=6,4043,0,0,1,0
and
“Celebrating Enlightenment”
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=56,4037,0,0,1,0
Tomorrow also being the first Tuesday of the month,
we’d normally welcome the monks from Wat
Buddhabhavana. Unfortunately Ajahn Mangkone
Dhammadharo and Ajahn David Chutiko are both away this
week, so that the visit will be postponed until next
week, May 8. (Ajahn Mangkone is away all month, so
that next week’s teaching will be by Ven. Chutiko.)
I myself will be away next week as I just received
word on Friday that I’m confirmed for the 9-day
vipassana retreat at IMS with Jack Kornfield, Gina
Sharpe, et al. I’m getting increasingly excited as the
time gets closer, although I’m sad that I’ll miss
Ajahn David.
I’m still working on the meditation group blog. So far
I’ve only received feedback from Matt and Carrie. I’d
love to get ideas from the rest of you, too! I’m
hoping to get things up and running before I leave on
Friday, although the site will definitely be a work in
progress for a while yet.
Finally, over the weekend I happened across an
interesting site called “Temple News.” It seems to be
affiliated with Wat Triratanaram, the Cambodian temple
in North Chelmsford.
http://www.templenews.info/
The “Temple News TV” shows some very interesting video
of goings on at the Wat, although unfortunately the
commentary is all in Khmer.
Speaking of Khmer, Carrie and I were very lucky to get
tickets to the full-house premiere of “Where Elephants
Weep.” I believe Carrie will do a more comprehensive
review for the blog, but in a word: Wow! Hopefully it
will return to Lowell and you all will get the
opportunity to see it.
That’s all for now; I hope to see everyone tomorrow
evening!
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 5/15/07 meditation group
Hi all!!
I’m freshly back from my 9-day vipassana retreat at
Barre with Jack Kornfield. What an absolutely amazing
experience! I’m planning to talk about it in detail
when I lead the group next week (in lieu of a proper
dhamma talk), but will be happy to answer any
questions after this evening’s sitting.
I’m still trying to segue back into everyday life, so
I don’t have much in the way of cool links to offer
this week.
I do, however, want to reiterate my encouragement for
people to take a look at the blog
(http://kalyanamittasangha.wordpress.com). At the
moment besides myself only Carrie, Brenda, Matt and
Ruth have signed up to participate. For those who have
signed up, please feel free to post something. It
needn’t be very profound — just your musings about
practice, questions, whatever seems right….
I hope everyone enjoyed Ajahn David’s visit last week
– it sounds like it was very interesting and I’m
sorry to have missed it.
The usual time and place for this evening’s sitting:
7:30-9:30 upstairs in the High School room at First
Parish.
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 5/22/07 meditation group (Abhaya’s farewell)
Greetings to all!
The first and most important thing to mention is that
Abhaya will be back to teach the meditation class this
Tuesday, 5/22. It will be the final time we as a class
will get to see her before she leaves for New Mexico,
so I want to give everyone as much advance notice as
possible.
The current issue of UU World features a pair of
articles about the convergence of Unitarian
Universalsim and Buddhism: the first, “Unitarian
Universalists on the Eightfold Path,” presents a good
picture of the current landscape; the second, “What is
Unitarian Universalist Buddhism?” by Rev. James
Ishmael Ford (First Unitarian Society and the Henry
Thoreau Zen Sangha in Newton) presents the history of
the convergence of these two wisdom traditions.
1) http://www.uuworld.org/life/articles/23523.shtml
2) http://www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/23667.shtml
Unrelated, but also worth checking out is Robert
Hardies’s article “Loving the Contradictions.”
http://www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/23672.shtml
On a more scientific note, Anna Douglas — one of the
teachers on my retreat, and a Spirit Rock colleague of
Jack Kornfield’s — mentioned in passing the discovery
of “mirror neurons,” which seem to be strongly
involved with our ability to empathize with other
beings. NOVA scienceNOW has a good segment (15 min.)
on the topic from a few years ago, well worth watching
if one is inclined to wonder about the physiological
bases for metta, mudita, and karuna.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/01.html
Also, the Dalai Lama visted Smith College in
Northampton a couple of weeks ago. WBUR gives a report
here:
http://www.wbur.org/news/2007/67055_20070510.asp
Finally, I just wanted to encourage people to sign up
for the meditation group blog
(http://kalyanamittasangha.wordpress.com). At the
moment only a few of us are registered as
contributors.
Brenda just posted about Jack Kornfield’s article on
the vision of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. I
should put up my own comments shortly, but you’re
going to have to visit the blog to read them!
If anyone is having trouble with the blog, or has any
technical questions, please e-mail me and let me know.
The usual time and place for this week’s meditation
group: 7:30-9:30 upstairs in the Hight School room at
First Parish.
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 5/29/07 meditation group
Hi all…. The usual time and place for this week’s
meditation group: 7:30-9:30pm, upstairs in the High
School room at First Parish.
My apologies for not having done much on the blog in
the past week or so, but hopefully I’ll have time to
add some content this coming week.
A couple of tidbits in the meantime:
1) Author Deepak Chopra, who has a reputation as being
a “New Age” guru, recently published his fictionalized
account of the Buddha’s life
(http://www.amazon.com/Buddha-Story-Enlightenment-Deepak-Chopra/dp/0060878800).
More interesting to me, however, is a recent op-ed
piece he wrote for the Huffington Post, cross-posted
on the Buddhist Channel. It’s actually quite good:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=8,4163,0,0,1,0
2) There’s also a very short (<2 min.) video on Lonely
Planet of Laotian monks going on their morning alms
round; again, very interesting:
http://www.lonelyplanet.tv/Clip.aspx?key=886B04253A0DE0F8
There’s also all sorts of headlines these days about
the protests against the extension of Aung San Suu
Kyi’s house arrest in Burma, the debate over the role
of Buddhism in the new Thai constitution, mock polls
in Bhutan as the country moves towards democracy, and
continued sectarian violence in Sri Lanka…. If
anyone’s interested in the particulars, I’ll be happy
to provide links.
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 6/5/07 meditation group
Hi all…. Just the usual reminder for tomorrow
evening’s meditation group: 7:30-9:30pm, upstairs in
the High School room at First Parish. Ajahn Mangkone
will be joining us again this week.
There are a couple of news items to share this week:
The BBC had an article last week on the conversion of
to Buddhism:
Indian dalits (”untouchables”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6695695.stm
This has been an ongoing phenonmenon in India for the
past 50 years or so following Dr. Ambedkar’s
neo-Buddhist movement for the empowerment of the
underclasses.
On a related note, there’s a fascinating article in
the current issue of Tricycle that explores the
complexities of the convesrion of Tamil dalits in
India’s Tamil Nadu province in relation to
Sihnalese-Tamil violence in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately
it’s only available online by subscription, but I can
copy the article for anyone who’s interested.
For a bit of a reality check, the Buddhist Channel
also had an interesting article on how poorly Buddhist
countries fare according to the Global Peace Index:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=70,4228,0,0,1,0
Japan ranks highest at #5, and Sri Lanka brings up the
end at #111 (of 121), with another dozen countries
falling all along the spectrum in between.
(Surprisngly, perhaps, Bhutan comes in at #19.)
A bit closer to home, I just wanted to give folks a
heads up that Thich Nhat Hanh will be leading a
retreat at Stonehill College in August. He will also
give a public lecture in Boston on August 19 on
“Walking the Path of Love with Muddy Shoes.” More
information can be found here:
http://www.greenmountaincenter.org/TNH%20US%20TOUR%2007/events.htm
Finally I just wanted to mention that there are a
couple of new items to check out on our blog:
http:kalyanamittasangha.wordpress.com
Again, you have be signed up for WordPress in order to
post or comment, but it doesn’t cost anything and is
spam-free. If anyone is interested and has not already
received an invitation from me, please let me know.
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 6/12/07 meditation group
Hi all…. Just the usual friendly reminder that the
meditation group tomorrow evening will be upstairs in
the High School room at First Parish from 7:30 to
9:30.
In the meantime there are a couple of logistical items
to share:
1) As most of you know Abhaya moved to New Mexico at
the end of May. While I’m sure we all will miss her
guidance and support as a friend and teacher, we are
also faced with some decisions to make regarding the
future direction of the group.
For the past few months we have pretty much maintained
the structure of the meditation group as Abhaya had
originally set it up, with Brenda, Carrie, and myself
“sitting in” to lead the meditation, check-in, and
dhamma talk. We’ve also been fortunate to be able to
turn to a few esteemed guest teachers who are provide
greater depth of experience.
We can certainly continue with the status quo, however
this might also be an opportunity to allow all of the
people in the group a chance “to express the dharma in
some way, so that there is a feeling of ‘peers’ in the
group,” as one of Abhaya’s Spirit Rock colleagues
suggested. This could be something as simple as
rotating the bell from one member to another each
week, or we could have a more organized schedule where
people can sign up to lead a discussion of some sort
following the meditation.
Anyhow, the point is to put this before all of you to
solicit your opinons and feedback as to what you would
like from the group. Please take some time to reflect
and let me know what comes up.
2) In other exciting news, Carrie and I just received
word from Mike and Anne at Bear Hill Farm
(http://bearhillfarmcsa.com) that the first veggies of
the season will be ready next week. Carrie will make
the first “farm-and-temple run” on Friday the 22nd,
delivering a half share of the week’s vegetables as
dana to the monks at Wat Buddhabhavana. Anyone who is
interested in joining her should feel free to do so.
Also, we will need volunteers for following two
Fridays, June 29 and July 6. It should be a great
opportunity to experience the practice of dana giving!
(I’ll be happy to provide directions, of course.)
Ideally we’ll rotate dana delivery among interested
members of the group, so that everyone has an
opportunity over the course of the summer.
Speaking of dana, I wanted to share a link to the
story of Vessantara to which Ajahn David alluded last
week. One of the Jataka tales — the traditional
stories of the Buddha’s previous incarnations — the
story of Vessantara is an illustration of the practice
of dana, or generosity:
http://www.vipassana.info/vy/vessantara_jat_547.htm
For the less mythologically inclined among us,
Santikaro Bhikku and Phra Phaisan Visalo have written
an interesting paper putting the practice of dana and
the tale of Vessantara into the context of capitalism
in modern Thailand:
http://www.bpf.org/tsangha/tsm03report/Karma%20Book/skphaisan.html#jataka
Jumping subjects, the Winter issue of UU Sangha has a
nice, short article by Rev. Doug Kraft on his
experience in a Thai monastery:
http://www25.uua.org/uubf/winter2007.pdf
Last but not least, I wanted to point out that Brenda
has been been quite busy on our blog, so I encourage
you all to stop by and take a look if you haven’t
recently had a chance:
http://kalyanamittasangha.wordpress.com
If you feel inclined to write a post or add you own
comments, please e-mail me to request an invitation to
WordPress.
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 6/19/07 meditation group
Greetings to all!
Per usual, we’ll meet upstairs in the High School room
at First Parish from 7:30-9:30 tomorrow evening.
In other news, the award-winning film “10 Questions
for the Dalai Lama” is finally screening locally at
the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge, beginning this
Friday, June 22.
“Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich?
Must a society lose its traditions in order to move
into the future? How do you reconcile a commitment to
non-violence when faced with violence? These are some
of the questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama
by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray. Ray examines some
of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving
together observations from his own journeys throughout
India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an
extraordinary spiritual leader. Also included is rare
historical footage as well as footage supplied by
individuals who, at great personal risk, filmed with
hidden cameras inside Tibet”
More information on the movie can be found here:
http://www.10questionsforthedalailama.com/
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/market/Boston/KendallSquareCinema.htm
See everyone tomorrow evening!
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 6/26/07 meditation group
Hello everyone!
For the moment we’re still scheduled to meet upstairs
in the High School room at First Parish from 7:30 to
9:30 tomorrow evening. However, with temperatures
supposedly pushing into the high 90s tomorrow, I’m
checking with the chuch Sexton to see if we can
relocate to the Chapel (which should be much more
comfortable). Please check as you come in tomorrow
evening to see if the meditation group sign is posted
at the entrance to the Chapel hallway (across from the
Church office); if the meditation group sign is there,
we’re meeting downstairs.
There are a couple of other things to mention this
week:
1) A few weeks ago Brenda brought our attention to
Krista Tippett’s inteview with Pankaj Mishra on APM’s
“Speaking of Faith.”
http://kalyanamittasangha.wordpress.com/2007/06/08/speaking-of-faith-on-buddhism-in-the-world/
This past week Tippett’s guest was Marieane Pearl,
widow of murdered Wall Street Journalist Daniel Pearl,
and subject of the current film “A Mighty Heart.”
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/pearl/index.shtml
Tippett offers some additional reflections on the
conversation at Gather.com:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977037081
2) The Buddhist Channel newswire has had a couple of
particularly interesting articles recently.
The first is an article that appeared in the New York
Times about an elementary school in Oakland, CA, that
is incorporating mindfulness meditation practice into
the classroom.
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=7,4331,0,0,1,0
The second is an article from Biology News Net about a
UCLA study that found a very intereting physiological
response to the practice of naming our feelings and
emotions as they arise (e.g., through mindfulness
meditation):
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=7,4367,0,0,1,0
3) Last but not least, Carrie and Pris made the first
delivery of Bear Hill Farm
(http://bearhillfarmcsa.com) produce to the monks at
Wat Buddhabhavana (http://www.greatwisdomcenter.org/)
on Friday.
A number of you have already expressed an interst in
contributing to the cost of the monks’ share, and
Carrie and I will be happy to start collecting
contributions. The total cost of the share is $225 –
defrayed among however many people care to
participate. While there is absolutley no obligation
we strongly encourage general participation as a great
opportunity to practice “dana” (generosity). (Checks
can be made payable to Bear Hill Farm.)
I also strongly encourage those who are able to join
Carrie in making the delivery. I think it makes the
practice of dana more meaningful to actually have the
hands-on experience of picking up the produce and then
bringing it to the monks (i.e., something more than
simply writing a check). It’s also a great opportunity
to check out what Bear Hill Farm and Wat
Buddhabhanvana are all about.
Carrie and I are away both this Friday and next, and I
believe Pris and Brenda (?) will be coordinating the
dana trips while we’re gone.
Well, I think that finally does it for this week; I
hope to see everyone tomorrow evening!
- Tim
REMINDER — 7/10/07 meditation group
Hi all…. Sorry for the change of venue last week,
and many thanks to Brenda and Sue for taking care of
things! (Actually, double thanks to Sue for hosting!)
This week we should be back on track at our usual time
and place: 7:30 to 9:30 at First Parish. Depending on
room availability and how warm the temperature gets
today, we may try to relocate from the High School
room to the Chapel. We’ll post a sign at the hallway
entrance across from the Church office if we end up
downstairs, so please check as you come in.
Just one quick tidbit to share this week: a essay
called “Little Decisions” (available both as text and
audio) from the Tricycle website:
http://www.tricycle.com/issues/web_exclusive/3947-1.html
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 7/17/07 meditation group
Greetings to everyone!
Just the usual weekly meditation group reminder:
7:30-9:30pm at First Parish; we’ll be downstairs in
the Chapel again this week.
One quick business item: Carrie and I are still
accepting contributions for the monks’ food dana. A
few of you have chipped in already (thank you!!), but
there are still others who had expressed interest in
contributing who have not yet done so. The more the
merrier, of course!
Carrie will be making the weekly farm-and-temple run
on Friday; anyone who is interested in joining her is
more than welcome.
In other exciting news, His Holiness the 14th Dalai
Lama will be coming to Radio City Music Hall in New
York City this October 12-14 for a weekend of dharma
teaching. Tickets for the teachings are quite
expensive ($80-$300 each), however tickets for his
Public Talk are only $25 and go on sale in August. I
expect they will go quickly.
http://www.dalailamany.org/registration/general_admission.html
A little closer to home, IMS just announced that they
will be offering a Metta weekend September 7-9. Anne
Nugent, who is leading the retreat, was resident
teacher at IMS from 1999-2003. Cost is on a sliding
scale.
http://www.dharma.org/ims/retreat_detail.php?id=93
That’s all for now; I hope to see everyone tomorrow
evening!
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 7/24/07 meditation group
Hi all!
There don’t seem to be any conflicts on the church
caldendar this week, so we can plan to meet in the
Chapel at First Parish from 7:30 to 9:30 tomorrow
evening. (If something does come up at the last
minute, we’ll post signs to let everyone know.)
There are also all sorts of exciting/interesting
things to pass on this week:
First, ever since Brenda introduced me to Krista
Tippett’s American Public Radio show “Speaking of
Faith,” I’ve made a semi-regular practice of checking
the SoF website to see what’s new.
This past week’s was a very interesting show called
“Stress and the Balance Within”
(http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/stress/index.shtml)
in which Tippett interviewed rheumatologist and author
Dr. Esther Sternberg on the latest research on the
relationship of mind, body, and health. (I
particularly liked Dr. Sternberg’s “Olympic
meditators” comment!)
I also briefly persused the SoF archives to see what
other gems had been hidden away, and turned up a 2003
interview with Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh
(http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/thichnhathanh/index.shtml).
Tippett also interviews a couple of other interesting
individuals who have been deeply affected by Thay’s
teaching: Larry Ward, a Baptist minister from North
Carolina, and police captain and former Wisconsin
Assistant Attorney General Cheri Maples.
On a personal note, Cheri and her daughter were
actually seated in front of me at my IMS retreat this
past June — although at the time I had no idea who
they were. It would have been very interesting to
speak with them once we broke silence!
Finally, Laura Howell, the teacher at Great Pond
Sangha (UUBF) in North Andover contacted Abhaya with
some information to pass along to all of you:
The first item is a half-day retreat in North Andover
with Lama Choying Palmo, an American-born teacher in
the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhistm and
student of Lama Surya Das. The retreat is on August 11
from 10am to 1pm in North Andover. I can pass along
further details to anyone who is interested.
Great Pond Sangha has guided meditation with dharma
talk and discussion on the first and third Wednesdays
of each month, and peer-led meditation and discussion
on the second and fourth Wednesdays. They also have an
intergenerational meditation and potluck (including a
children’s section) on the third or fourth Saturday.
Again, I’ll be happy to provide additional details to
anyone who is interested.
I’m personally very excited about developing contacts
with other UUBF sanghas in the area, and perhaps we
can invite Laura to join us on a Tuesday evening to
talk about Dzogchen practice.
Well, I think that’s quite enough for now; I look
forward to seeing everyone tomorrow evening!
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 7/31/07 meditation group
Hello everyone!
We’ll be meeting at the usual time and place again
this week: 7:30 to 9:30 tomorrow evening at First
Parish.
I checked the Chelmsford Community Band web site, and
it looks like they will continue their Tuesday evening
concerts through August 14, so we may be better off
relocating to the Vestry (downstairs) rather than
trying to meet in the Chapel for the next few weeks.
August looks to be a very busy month, with all sorts
of events coming up:
AUGUST 4, Saturday — The Insight Meditation Center of
Newburyport is hosting a half-day (9am-12:30pm)
retreat with Chas DeCapua. The focus will be on
working with difficult emotions. Chas is a senior
student of Jack Kornfield and is currently the
resident teacher at IMS in Barre.
http://www.imcnewburyport.com/weekend_schedule.htm
AUGUST 11, Satuday — As mentioned in my previous
e-mail, our sister UUBF sitting group in North Andover
is hosting a half-day (10am-1pm) retreat on “The Joy
of Meditation” with Lama Choying Palmo, a teacher in
the Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen tradition.
For more information or to pre-register, contact
Susan/Phil Malloy malloyps@yahoo.com (978-474-0823)
Suggested donation $30. Reduced rate for students and
those in need.
Appropriate for beginners as well as experienced
practitioners.
Old Center Hall is located at 3 Great Pond Rd.,
directly across from North Parish UU Church
AUGUST 18, Saturday — The 10th anniversary Lowell
Southeast Asian Water Festival takes place on the the
3rd saturday of August. From the website:
“The Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival, Inc. is
dedicated to the preservation, protection and sharing
of the cultural heritages of the Southeast Asian
Americans of Greater Lowell, Massachusetts area.
“Every 3rd Saturday in August, more than 60,000 people
from around the country and the world come to Lowell
to celebrate water as it is celebrated in Southeast
Asia. They come for the blessings, food, crafts,
performances and (of course) the races.
“In 1997, the first Lowell Southeast Asian Water
Festival celebrated the culture of Lowell’s many Khmer
citizens. In 2002, representatives of Lowell’s Khmer,
Thai, Vietnamese and Laotian communities incorporated
the Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival, Inc as a
501c3 tax exempt non-profit corporation.
“Buddhist scripture explains that the Water Festival
is held to thank the spirit of the water, to pray for
evil spirits to go away, and to honor the Dragon King
who dwells in the water. The Water Festival is a time
to be thankful for the rivers, lakes and ponds that
villagers depend upon for their livelihood and
economic development.
“On the morning of the races, there is a parade along
the Merrimack river near the Sampas pavilion, blessing
dances and a blessing of the the boats by monks.”
Wat Buddhabhavana is among the sponsors of the event,
and Ajahn Mangkone has strongly encouraged that we
come see this unique cultural event!
http://www.lowellwaterfestival.org/
AUGUST 25, Saturday — Sharon Salzberg will be leading
“an afternoon of guided meditations, talks and Q&A” at
Flowforms Yoga in Worcester. Registration is $30.
http://www.dharma.org/ims/retreat_detail.php?id=91
We are still working out the details for our own
half-day retreat at First Parish as we welcome back
Doreen Schweizer of the Valley Insight Meditation
Society in Lebanon, New Hampshire. August 25th or 26th
are tentative dates, but I’ll keep everyone posted as
plans coalesce.
And last but hardly least, it looks like Abhaya will
return to teach the meditation class on the evening of
Tuesday, August 28. It will be very good to see her,
even if only briefly, as she gets set to embark upon
her year-long retreat at IMS and Spirit Rock.
With metta to all,
Tim
REMINDER — 8/7/07 meditation group
Hello everyone!
We can plan to meet in the Vestry at First Parish at
our usual time (7:30-9:30) tomorrow evening, as it
provides a bit more a buffer from the band on the
Chelmsford town common. (The music is good, but not
particularly condusive to contemplation!) Ajahn
Mangkone or Ajahn David will join us again this week
as guest teacher.
If the Vestry is booked, we’ll stay in the Chapel, so
please do look for the signs!
There are a whole bunch of items to pass along this
week:
1) Added to the list of August events is a public talk
by Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh at 7pm on Saturday, August 18,
at the Boston Opera House. Tickets are $38. More
information can be found here:
http://www.greenmountaincenter.org/Boston%20Public%20Talk%20Info.pdf
2) Also on the 18th, of course, is the Lowell
Southeast Asian Water Festival. Wat Buddhabhavana has
been closely involved with this event in the past.
http://www.lowellwaterfestival.org/
3) Coming up this Saturday, August 11, is the half-day
retreat (10am-1pm) with Dzogchen teacher Lama Choying
Palmo hosted by Great Pond Sangha in North Andover. I
can forward additional details for anyone who is
interested.
On a related note, I want to mention a wonderful book
by Ajahn Amaro that is freely available online in PDF
format. Entitled “Small Boat, Great Mountain:
Theravadan Reflections on the Natural Great
Perfection” Ajahn Amaro — one of Abhaya’s teachers –
discusses the commonalities between the Thai Forest
and Tibetan Dzogchen traditions:
http://www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/book/138/
4) I recently stumbled across a very interesting
website (via YouTube) called Dhammatube. It hosts a
extensive (500+) collection of short dhamma videos,
mostly English-language interviews with monks.
http://www.youtube.com/user/dhammatube
There is an extensive interview with Ven. Bhante
Henepola Gunaratana, the Sri Lankan meditation master
and author of “Mindfulness in Plain English.” Of
particular interest to me were his commentary on the
differences between Asian and American approaches to
Buddhist practice. The others are worth watching, too,
however:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY_VC9AlFDA&mode=related&search=
5) While we’re on the subject of videos, Tricycle
magazine has a special remembrance of Alan Watts,
whose writings on Daoism and Zen were particularly
influential for me:
http://www.tricycle.com/issues/web_exclusive/4000-1.html
Of particular interest is “Alan Watts Theater” –
quite literally a mash-up of auido from Watts’s talks
set to animation by the creators of the Comedy Central
series South Park. (You’ll need a Flash-enabled
browser to be able to watch this.)
http://www.freshminds.com/animation/alan_watts_theater.html
And last but not least…
6) … A very intersting review of The Simpsons Movie
courtesy of the Buddhist Channel:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=12,4603,0,0,1,0
Of course we also have our own half-day (noon to
4pm)retreat with Doreen Schweizer coming up on Sunday,
August 26. Unfortunately it seems a few of you will
not be able to make it, but I strongly encourage those
of you who are able to attend.
See you all soon!
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 8/14/07 meditation group
Hi all…. Just the usual reminder about time and
location for the meditation group this week: 7:30-9:30
tomorrow evening in the Vestry at First Parish.
There is a whole slew of other items to pass along
this week:
First, Mike and I attended the half-day Great Pond
Sangha retreat with Lama Choying Palmo at North Parish
in North Andover on Saturday. It was my first
first-hand experience with the Dzogchen Tibetan
Buddhist tradition, and found — not surprisingly –
to be generally familiar territory, albeit with
slightly different vocabulary and emphases here and
there. I guess my greatest surprise was that we only
actually did sitting meditation for about 15 minutes
of the 3 hours! There was quite a bit more ritual –
particuarly chanting/singing — than I’ve been used
to, and I found it interesting how Lama Palmo used one
of the “hymns” as the basis for her teaching that day.
I’ll try to share a bit more about this expereience
whenever I’m next practice leader; Mike, it would be
great if you felt like sharing your impressions of the
day, too!
I also want to give a quick plug to some upcoming
events, including one that just came to my attention
the other day:
Actor-writer Even Brenner (a fellow Vassar grad) is
presenting the story of the Buddha’s life in a one-man
play entitled “Buddha: Triumph and Tragedy of the
Great Sage.” Performances take place the next two
Friday evenings — August 17 and 24 — at The Theater
at 56 Brattle Street in Harvard Square, Cambridge. It
sounds quite interesting! You can find out more and
order tickets from his website:
http://www.buddhacom.com/info.htm
Also coming up this Saturday evening (8/1
is Thich
Nhat Hanh’s public talk entitled “Walking the Path of
Love with Muddy Shoes.” This takes place at the Boston
Opera House, and tickets do still seem to be available
through Ticketmaster.
Also this Friday and Saturday is the 11th annual
Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival in Lowell. It
should be a very interesting cultural event, including
a performance Friday night by a Laotian dance troupe
supported by Wat Buddhabhavana.
Of coure coming up in a few weeks we are hosting our
own half-day retreat with Doreen Schweizer from noon
to 4 on Sunday, August 26, at First Parish. Please
feel free to spread the word to anyone you know who
might be interested; the more the merrier! I can
forward further details as needed. (Also, I may need
some logistical assistance from any one who knows he
or she will attend.)
Please take a moment to check out our webpage
(http://kalyanamittasangha.wordpress.com), too, to see
what else is going on.
Finally, I want to pass along some links for freeware
meditation timers for your computer. It makes
sitting/walking practice much easier if one is not
constantly checking the time! I have one (Mindful
Clock) installed on my PC at work, and another
(Meditation Timer 1.2) on my Mac at home. I think
they’d work especially well on a laptop, where one has
a little more freedom to practice where one wants:
Mindful Clock (for PCs):
http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/mindfulclock.html
Meditation Timer Widget (for Macs):
http://www.meditationresources.com/
Meditation Timer 1.2 (for Macs):
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/20879
(I can post these links on the website, too.)
Well, there’s always more, but that’s probably enough
for this week. I hope to see most of you tomorrow
night.
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 8/21/07 meditation group
Hello everyone!
We should be back in the Chapel tomorrow evening, now
that the Chelmsford Town Band summer concert series is
over. We’ll meet at the usual time: 7:30-9:30pm.
As seems to be usual of late, there’s a whole bunch of
stuff to mention:
First, of course, is our own half-day retreat with
Dorren Schweizer this Sunday afternoon, 8/26, from
noon to 4pm in the Chapel at First Parish (although
please try to arrive a few minutes early so we can
start on time).
A few of you have already mentioned that you won’t be
able to make it, but hopefully we’ll see most of you
there. It should be a good day. The retreat will be
followed a “tea hour” in the Vestry.
I’ll probably send out another e-mail later in the
week to ask for some set-up/logistical help (e.g.,
flowers, tea, arranging chairs, etc.).
For those who are interested, Dharmaseed actually has
one of Doreen’s recent dharma talks available for
listening: “By Love Alone Does Hatred End: Practice as
non-violence,” from this past Martin Luther King Day
weekend:
http://www.dharmaseed.com/teachers/?q=Doreen%20Schweizer
Also coming up this weekend is an afternoon of
meditation with Sharon Salzberg on Saturday, 8/25, at
Flowforms Yoga in Worcester:
http://www.dharma.org/ims/retreat_detail.php?id=91
And Friday night, 8/24, is the final performance of
Evan Brenner’s “Buddha: Triumph and Tragedy of the
Great Sage” in Harvard Square, Cambridge.
http://www.buddhacom.com/info.htm
Speaking of goings on about town, Brenda and I had a
chance to see Thich Nhat Hanh and the monks and nuns
of Plum Village at a very full Opera House in Boston
this past Saturday evening.
The evening began with some audience-participation:
chanting/singing and guided meditation led by the
monks and nuns before Thich Nhat Hanh himself spoke.
Thich Nhat Hanh delivered a two-hour dharma talk on
“Walking the Path of Love with Muddy Shoes” which
concerned nourishing the seeds of love:
lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. He
then spoke for a while about how much needless
suffering comes about through wrong perceptions, and
how the antidote to wrong perception is communication.
(I’m paraphrasing quite a bit here, of course.)
He suggested four practices for correcting wrong
perceptions: 1) Always being fully present for our
loved ones; 2) Expressing our gratitude for the
presence of our loved ones; 3) Regularly asking our
loved ones what we might have done to cause them
suffering; and 4) Asking why our loved ones might have
done a thing that has caused us to suffer.
Sister Chan Khong finally ended the evening with a
haunting song sung in both French and English.
Hopefully Brenda will share her thoughts here or on
the Blog (http://kalyanamittasangha.wordpress.com)
when she has a chance.
In other news:
- I came across some dharma videos on YouTube from
Ajahn Brahm of the Buddhist Society of Western
Austrlia. British-born Ajahn Brahm is an ordained monk
in the Thai forest tradition, and practices what he
calls “Haha-yana” Buddhism. If you watch his dharma
talks, you’ll see why:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhistSocietyWA
Two that I’ve particularly enjoyed are “How to change
the world” and “The Right to Believe?”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R6rUeUJZ5c)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Prm3nAvFs
Moving right along…:
- The Buddhist Channel has a short but interesting
interview with Rev. James Ishmael Ford, Zen teacher
and minister at First Unitarian Society in Newton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Prm3nAvFs
- A recent study at Oregon State University and the
University of Hawaii has found that “handling stress
properly” can actually lead to an increase in “good”
cholesterol. While no direct reference was made to
meditation, one can reasonably infer that it would
qualify as what the study authors consider a “good
coping mechanism.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20070819/hl_hsn/handlingstressproperlyincreasesgoodcholesterol
- And finally, for those who are interested, Northern
Arizona University is conducting its own “Buddhist
Health Study.” One needn’t necessarily identify as a
“Buddhist” to participate — which entails taking
about 45 minutes to complete a completely confidential
online survey. I’ve taken the survey and am very much
looking forward to seeing the results.
More information can be found here:
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~hs-p/bhs/index.php
Well, that’s probably more than enough for this week.
Hopefully we’ll see most of you tomorrow evening, and
again on Sunday afternoon.
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 8/28/07 meditation group (Abhaya returns)
Hi all…. Tomorrow evening’s meditation group will be
a very special one as we welcome back Abhaya to teach
the group during this short break in her long retreat.
We will meet, as usual, from 7:30 to 9:30 at First
Parish. Things are a little up in the air room-wise;
hopefully the Chapel will be free, but please look for
signs in case we have to relocate.
Yesterday’s half-day retreat with Doreen went very
nicely I thought. She led a small group of us through
an afternoon of seated, walking, and “non-walking”
meditation, and dharma teaching. It was very nice to
have the opportunity to spend that extended period of
time for practice, and hopefully we can have her back
again in a few months to lead another half-day. If
anyone feels like sharing their thoughts, I’d
encourage posting your comments on the blog:
http://kalyanamittasangha.wordpress.com
I believe a few people also headed out to Worcester on
Saturday for a half-day retreat with Sharon Salzberg.
Matt (and others), if you’d like to share a bit of how
that went for you, that would be great.
On Friday night Carrie and I headed to Harvard Square
to watch Evan Brenner’s one-man performance of
“Buddha: Triumph and Tragedy of the Great Sage.”
Adapted from the Pali suttas, Brenner did a fantastic
job of bringing the Buddha’s story to life. I think
what struck me the most — besides Brenner’s skill as
a playwright and actor — was how different it was to
hear the Buddha’s teaching from “his own mouth,” as it
were. Somehow, hearing the story/teaching transmitted
orally — as it once was — gives it a extra vitality
that is really hard to describe, or to get from the
written word. The short Q&A session after the
performance was also very interesting. While Friday’s
was the last scheduled performance, Brenner is hoping
to add more dates in September and/or October; we’ll
keep you posted as it’s very much worth going to see.
Finally, there a couple of nice, short articles I
wanted to bring to your attention:
First is an article from Bhikku Viradhammo on using
intelligence to observe life, particularly dukkha or
suffering:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=6,4685,0,0,1,0
Second is a Tricycle “web exclusive” by Zen teacher
Lin Jensen on choice, karma, and consequence:
http://www.tricycle.com/issues/web_exclusive/4036-1.html
Well, that’s all for now — hopefully we’ll see as
many of you as possible to welcome back Abhaya
tomorrow night.
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 9/4/07 meditation group
Hello everyone!
This week’s meditation group reminder is going out a
little earlier than usual as Carrie and I will be
travelling this weekend, off to visit friends in the
Buffalo area. We’ll be back on Tuesday — hopefully
arriving in enough time to vote in the Massachusetts
5th Congressional District primary and pick up Ajahn
David or Ajahn Mangkone from the monastery. (If it
looks like we’ll be delayed, we may make a panicked
phone call to see if someone else can perform
chauffeur duty!)
In the way of a public service announcement, I do wish
to remind folks that Tuesday is indeed Primary Day for
the Massachusetts 5th Congressional District special
election to replace US Rep. Marty Meehan. It’s a bit
unusual to have an election the day after Labor Day,
so voter turnout looks to be particularly important.
(More info via the Secretary of State’s website:
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ELE/elespeif/5congressionalcal.htm)
So, what exactly does politics have to do with
practice? My personal take (the short version, anyway)
is that political participation really is an integral
part of bringing one’s private practice into public
life, an expression of Right Intention and Right
Action.
For those who are interested, there’s a great book
from Wisdom Publications entitled “Mindful Politics: A
Buddhist Guide to Making the World a Better Place.”
http://www.wisdompubs.org/Pages/display.lasso?-KeyValue=32942&-Token.Action=&image=1
Speaking of books, Abhaya — whom it was very nice to
welcome back this past week — referred to the
Bangladeshi teacher, Dipa Ma, in context of trying to
bring one’s practice into everyday life — if only for
just 5 minutes at a time!
The book Abhaya read from, “Knee Deep in Grace: The
Extraordinary Life and Teaching of Dipa Ma” seems to
now be out of print, but might be available from the
library. Amy Schmidt, the author, does have another
book out called “Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a
Buddhist Master” which is more widely available:
http://www.amazon.com/Dipa-Ma-Legacy-Buddhist-Master/dp/0974240559/ref=pd_sim_b_1_img/103-9078402-8763807
Shifting gears slightly, I wanted to also mention
yesterday’s On Point show about Mother Theresa’s
crisis of faith — the subject of a upcoming volume of
her letters and diaries, “Mother Theresa: Come Be My
Light”:
http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/08/20070830_a_main.asp
Regardless of one’s personal predilictions it’s
unquestionable that Mother Theresa is a monumental
figure in contemporary religion and spirituality. As
such it’s really quite interesting to hear in her own
words her struggle with suffering, her “long, dark
night of the soul.”
This also reminds me of an article that came out last
month in the Christian Science Monitor about the
stuggle of spiritual leaders — of all kinds — to
address tragedy and suffering:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0725/p01s02-ussc.html
Finally, on a lighter note, there’s another old
article via the Buddhist Channel that relates the
interesting story of Buddhist monk and a Catholic monk
who teamed up for a 100-mile trek across Minnesota:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=62,4587,0,0,1,0
Anyhow, enough babbling for now…. I hope to see
everyone on Tuesday, 7:30-9:30pm at First Parish.
Again, we’ll try to be in the Chapel, but please do
check for signs!
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 9/11/07 meditation group
Hello everyone!
Well, I’m freshly back from a very interesting
day-long with Joseph Goldstein at BCBS on “liberating
practice in daily life.” Joseph covered a lot of
ground over the course of the day: The morning was
spent primarily in discussion of generosity, attitude,
and intention; the afternoon focused on anatta, or
non-self, particularly in relation to conventional and
ultimate reality. He really seems like a wonderful
teacher, even from just this small sampling. I hope to
receive the CD recording in a few weeks and would love
to share with anyone who is interested.
For anyone who has not been to BCBS in a while, work
on the Farmhouse extension is coming along a great
pace. I had a chance to check out the particularly
impressive, massive dry-masonry wall that is being
constructed as part of a bulwark (for lack of a better
word) supporting a sitting area behind the library.
Renowned mason Jim Dowd has been commissioned for the
project.
Meanwhile, Brenda spent the weekend just down the road
on a metta retreat at IMS. I’ll be very interested to
get her impressions either here, in person, or on the
blog. (Or all of the above!)
As an aside, BCBS has just published their 2008 course
schedule (available online here:
http://www.dharma.org/bcbs/index.htm#cal08). The IMS
2008 retreat schedule is not yet available online, but
I do have a hard copy if anyone is interested.
Per usual there are a number of articles and links to
share this week:
The first is a wonderful essay by Beth Roth entitled
“The Fragility of Silence”
(http://www.tricycle.com/issues/web_exclusive/4068-1.html)
The second is a short commentary, also from Tricycle,
by Martha Henry on the question of whether or not
she’s considers herself a Buddhist:
http://www.tricycle.com/issues/web_exclusive/4078-1.html
Shifting scope slightly, we have a longer article by
Nicholas Bennett on “The Economics of Enough,” which
seems to me to be a good reminder of the relationship
between one’s personal practice and the world around
us:
http://www.inebnetwork.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=18
Finally, a couple of calendar notes:
First, the September 18 guest teaching by Laura Howell
of Great Pond Sangha in North Andover has been
postponed until October 9. The reason is that Abhaya
will be on hiatus again from her retreat, and it is
our good fortune that she will join us again next
week.
Second, Ajahn David mentioned that Wat Buddhabhavana
will be holding a special celebration for the
consecration of their new shrine this coming weekend.
There is some confusion on my end as to whether this
will take place on Saturday or Sunday, but I will let
you all know as soon as I get more information.
Apparently this is a very big deal for the temple, and
we are all encouraged to attend.
Finally, this Saturday, September 15, is also Tricycle
magazine’s “Change Your Mind Day”
(http://www.tricycle.com/foundation/change.html). It
does not appear as though there are any local events,
but it’s something we can bear in mind throughout the
day. (Perhaps one of these years we can help
coordinate something in the Lowell area….)
As for this week’s meditation group, we’ll meet
tomorrow night from 7:30-9:30pm at First Parish. Now
that the church year has officially begun, I’m still
not sure what our exact location will be. We’ll aim
for the Chapel again, but please check for signs in
case we’ve had to relocate.
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 9/18/07 meditation group
Happy Monday!
We’ll meet at the usual time — 7:30 to 9:30 –
tomorrow evening, upstairs in the High School room at
First Parish. We’re also very fortunte to be able to
welcome back Abhaya to teach the class.
There are a number of goodies to pass along this week:
Last Monday I happended to listen to a very
interesting broadcast of WBUR’s On Point on “9/11,
Fear, and Politics.”
http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/09/20070910_a_main.asp
A number of thoughts crossed my mind at the time, and
later that week — while I was reading Ajahn
Thanissaro’s collection “Purity of Heart” — I came
across an essay entitled “Freedom from Fear.”
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/fear.html
Ajahn Thanissaro is very much a Buddhist scholar, and
much of his writing serves to dispel some popular
“myths” about Buddhism — at least from his
perspective. While much of his writing can perhaps be
best described as an “espresso shot” of dharma –
short, but pretty intense — one of his more
accessible works is a neat piece entitled “The Roots
of Buddhist Romanticism.”
http://www.mettaforest.org/Article/The%20Roots%20of%20Buddhist%20Romanticism.htm
For those who care to delve further, more of his
writings can be found via Access to Insight
(http://www.accesstoinsight.org) or the Metta Forest
Monastery (http://www.mettaforest.org/).
Also, a couple of weeks ago Ajhan David referred to
his friend and mentor, Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda, a Sri
Lankan monk who spent many years as a dharma teacher
in Malaysia.
It just so happens that the Buddhist Channel recently
published the text of Ven. Dhammananda’s final dharma
talk, given about two months before his death on
August 31, 2006:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=6,4794,0,0,1,0
There is also a short Web documentary on his life
available for download here:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=12,2800,0,0,1,0
Finally, I want to give a heads up that I’ll be
forwarding a great e-mail from Mike regarding some
items that have recently caught his attention.
Again, I hope to see you all tomorrow….
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 9/25/07 meditation group
Hello, everyone.
First, a couple of quick things:
1) We’ll meet tomorrow evening from 7:30 to 9:30,
upstairs in the High School room at First Parish.
Brenda will lead the practice.
2) IMS has just released their 2008 retreat schedule:
http://www.dharma.org/ims/retreats.php
Per usual, there looks to be a number of interesting
retreats this year, and hopefully many of you will
have the opportunity to make it out to Barre.
Now on to more serious matters:
As many of you may already know, the political
situation in Burma has reached a critical level over
the past few weeks as thousands of monks and nuns
across the nation have launched peaceful protests
against the military dictatorship. Just this morning
the military leaders have threatened to “take action”
against the protestors
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7010839.stm).
The BBC, the Christian Science Monitor
(http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0924/p01s02-woap.html),
and the Buddhist Channel
(http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/) all provide excellent
coverage of developing events in Burma.
The Buddhist Peace Fellowhip last Thursday issued a
statement in support of the monks
(http://www.bpf.org/html/whats_now/2007/burma_peace.html),
and the Buddhist Channel is coordinating a campaign
for solidarity with the monks and nuns
(http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=70,4945,0,0,1,0).
Tomorrow morning at 10:30EST there will be a 15-minute
period for silent prayer and meditation in support of
the monks, nuns, and all people of Burma:
——————————–
An appeal to pause and meditate
The monks of Burma are taking a great chance, trying
to transform the brutal, deluded generals of the
ruling military regime with metta (loving-kindness),
quiet courage, and discipline.
They have asked the people of Burma and those who
support them, to meditate and pray silently in their
doorways for 15 minutes at 2000 hours this Tuesday:
Can you join them?
2000 hours Rangoon time
1430 hours GMT
1030 hours New York
0630 hours Los Angeles
2030 hours Bangkok
2130 hours Kuala Lumpur/Singapore/Hong Kong
2230 hours Tokyo
——————————–
Even if you are not able to take part tomorrow
morning’s observance, I would still strongly urge you
to extend your metta practice to include all people of
Burma: the Sangha, the laypeople, and the soldiers
alike.
May all beings be safe and protected
May all beings be free from suffering
With metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 10/2/07 meditation group
Hi all…. We’ll be upstairs in the High School room
at First Parish from 7:30-9:30 tomorrow evening. As
tomorrow is the first Tuesday of the month, we’ll be
joined once again by Ajahn David. (Thanks to Sue for
providing the chauffeuring duties this month!)
I’m sure you’re all aware of the ongoing political
crisis in Burma, and the unfortunate direction in
which events have unfolded. The BBC
(http://news.bbc.co.uk) and the Buddhist Channel
website (http://www.buddhistchannel.tv) continue their
excellent coverage of the situation, even as getting
reliable news becomes increasingly difficult.
There’s a lot to read for those who are interested,
but here are a couple of articles I found particularly
interesting this past week:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/asia_pacific/2007/burma/default.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7015465.stm
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0927/p08s01-comv.html
Also, WBUR’s On Point featured a discussion of the
Burmese situation this morning:
http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/10/20071001_a_main.asp
This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend two
workshops out at the Barre Center for Buddhist
Studies: on Saturday, CIMC teachers Narayan and
Michael Liebenson Grady led a workshop on
“Investigating the Nature of Fear,” and on Sunday
Harvard psychologist Jack Engler led a workshop
entitled “What is Enlightenment?” Both were very
interesting — particularly Sunday’s session, which
unsurprisingly covered a lot of ground. You can get a
sense for how things went on Sunday morning from this
1998 Insight Journal article:
http://www.dharma.org/ij/archives/1998b/jack_engler.htm
In the afternoon Engler showed the parallels between
the 17 stages of meditation (per the Theravada
tradition) and John Bowlby’s 4-stage model of the
grief process. Heady stuff — which probably explains
why Enlightenment isn’t talked about very much!
Engler is a former Catholic monk who has practised
vipassana meditation for nearly 40 years and studied
with Munindra and Dipa Ma, themselves students of
Burmese meditation master Mahasi Sayadaw.
BCBS is also home to Dhamma Dana Publications,
distributor of free dhamma books primarily from the
Theravadan tradition
(http://www.dharma.org/bcbs/publications/index.htm). I
picked up a couple of books by Ajahn Thanissaro (aka
Geoffrey DeGraff) the last time I was out at Barre.
Some of his stuff is pretty intense to get through,
but other of his writing is much more accessible. I’d
highly recommend checking out “Meditations 3,” which
is the third volume of a collection of dhamma talks.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/meditations3.html
All of his writing can be found on the Access to
Insight website.
“Ajahn Geoff” also wrote a nice article for Shambhala
Sun entitled “Creating a Good Ground for Meditation”
which might be of interest:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1463&Itemid=0&pop=1&page=0
Well, that’s probably more than enough for this
week…. See everyone soon!
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 10/9/07 meditation group
Hello everyone!
Tomorrow evening we’ll meet at our usual time and
place: 7:30 to 9:30 at First Parish. We’re scheduled
to be upstairs in the High School room, but if the
Chapel is fee we may end up staying downstairs. In any
event, please keep a lookout for signs when you
arrive.
This week we welcome guest teacher Laura Howell of
Great Pond Sangha, the sitting group affiliated with
North Parish Unitarian Universalist in North Andover.
Laura will introduce us to the Tibetan Buddist
practice of Dzogchen (natural great pefection).
For those who are interested learning more about the
common ground shared by Dzogchen and Vipassana, I
again recommend Ajahn Amaro’s book “Small Boat, Great
Mountain: Theravadan Reflections on the Natural Great
Perfection” available as a PDF from the Abhayagiri
Monastery web site:
http://www.abhayagiri.org/index.php/main/book/138/
Per usual I have a few links to pass along:
The BBC continues to present excellent coverage of the
situation in Burma — at least as much as possible. I
thought this article was particularly interesting:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7022475.stm
I also thought this piece from New England Ethnic News
offers an interesting analysis from a political
scientist’s perspective:
http://www.gonewz.com/news/292/15/
Shifting gears slightly, this past week marked the
800th anniversary of the birth of the Sufi poet Rumi,
who’s work is often used by Jack Kornfield and other
teachers in the American Vipassana tradition. The BBC
(again) had a good feature piece –
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7016090.stm –
and WBUR’s On Point also did an hour’s segment this
week:
http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/10/20071005_b_main.asp
Interestingly, Rumi was born in a part of what is now
Afghanistan in which Buddhism (among many other
traditions) flourished before the arrival of Islam.
One of Jack’s (and Abhaya’s) favorite Rumi poems is
“The Guest House,” translated here by Coleman Barks:
http://www.gratefulness.org/poetry/guest_house.htm
Perhaps it is not surprising, but I find it
interesting to see the parallels between Rumi’s “Guest
House” and the Tibetan poet Gotsampa’s “Seven
Delights,” which was the focus of the day-long
teaching offered a couple of months ago by Great Pond
Sangha and Lama Choying Palmo:
http://www.ktdpublications.org/excerpts/vajrasongs.php
Well, that’s probably enough for this week; hopefully
we’ll see most of you tomorrow evening.
Metta,
Tim
PS — Just a quick reminder that Laura’s teacher, Lama
Surya Das, will be teaching at 7:30 this evening at
the Friends Meeting House in Cambridge.
REMINDER — 10/16/07 meditation group
Hi all…. Well, Carrie and I will be away next week
celebrating our 5th anniversary. We kick things off by
going down to NYC to hear the Dalai Lama give a public
talk on “Peace and Prosperity” at Radio City Music
Hall on Sunday.
The meditation group will meet at its usual time
(7:30-9:30) on Tuesday evening at First Parish, and
Priscille will lead the practice. I believe the
Religious Education committee will be in the Chapel on
Tuesday evening, so you all will probably be back
upstairs in the High School room.
As usual, there are a couple of links to leave you
with:
I mentioned my “What is Enlightenment?” workshop with
Jack Engler a few weeks ago. I also sent out a link
(http://www.dharma.org/ij/archives/1998b/jack_engler.htm)
to an article he wrote for Insight Journal about 10
years ago. Well, the second half of that article can
be found here:
http://www.dharma.org/ij/archives/1999a/jack_engler1.htm
Also, Jack will be back at BCBS this coming September
for a workshop on “Seeking the Seeker,” which he wrote
about more recently:
http://www.dharma.org/ij/archives/SeekingtheSeeker–JE.pdf.pdf
Shifting gears again slightly, I also came across an
interesting chapter by Gil Fronsdal from the book “The
Faces of Buddhism in America.” Entitled “Insight
Meditation in the United States: Life, Liberty, and
the Pursuit of Happiness,” Fronsdal presents an
interesting history of vipassana meditation as
introduced to and practisd in the United States. The
book is almost 10 years old, so some of the
information is a bit dated, but it’s still very
intriguing reading:
http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/articles/InsightintheUS.html
In a similar vein, Shambhala Sun has a great article
by Charles Prebish (co-editor of the aforementioned
book) entitled “Surveying the Buddhist Landscape”
which provides a brief survey of the wide variety of
Buddhist practice in the United States:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1697&Itemid=24
Shambhala Sun also has a nice collection of articles
on insight/mindfulness/vipassana practice on their
website:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=
Finally, Tricycle magazine essayist Marth Henry has a
wonderful, short Web Exclusive entitled “Among Other
Things.”
She begins:
“This January, in the bleak days of a New England
winter, I was unemployed, mournfully alone, and having
a bad hair day. It suddenly occurred to me that I
could solve all of my problems by becoming a Buddhist
nun.”
http://www.tricycle.com/issues/web_exclusive/4121-1.html
Oh, and one last final thing:
As I’m sure most of you already know, Tuesday is also
the day of the Special Election in the Massachusetts
5th Congressional District to fill the seat recently
vacated by UMass Lowell President Marty Meehan. Again,
more information can be found via the Secretary of
State’s website:
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ELE/elespeif/5congressionalcal.htm
Well, keep well and see you all in a couple of weeks!
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 10/23/07 meditation group
Hi all! Well, Carrie and I are back from a wonderful
vacation; I hope everyone had a good couple of weeks
since we last saw you.
Brenda says that the Girl Scouts have a meeting in the
Vestry tomorrow evening, so we’ll be better off
meeting upstairs in the High School room at our usual
time (7:30-9:30). Brenda will lead the practice
tomorrow night.
As I mentioned in my last e-mail, Carrie and I began
our vacation by attending the Dalai Lama’s public talk
at Radio City Music Hall. His talk on “Peace and
Prosperity” was the culmination of the weekend
teaching to which Mike referred to in his e-mail last
week. (Thanks, Mike!)
The public talk was naturally geared for a more
general audience than those attending the weekend
teaching and focused on what His Holiness refers to as
“secular ethics” — that is the common ethical values
shared by all major religious traditions, specifically
love and compassion. The Dalai Lama says these values
can be called “secular” because they do not depend on
a particular religious doctrine.
He began by speaking briefly about “prosperity” and
the responsibility for affluent nations to share with
poorer nations. He emphasized interdependence and that
by helping others out of abject poverty we are in fact
helping ourselves.
In speaking of “peace,” the Dalai Lama emphasized the
necessity to engage in dialogue — particuarly
interfaith dialogue — from the common ground of our
shared “secular” values.
He prefaced his remarks by stating that anyone who
came to hear him expecting some sort of transcendent
wisdom was bound to be disappointed, but it was clear
that he spoke from the heart about what has become a
key part of his life’s work.
He came across as very warm and down-to-earth — a
point that was made clear as he tried to sit
crossed-legged in a chair that was a little too narrow
for such use. He chuckled, shrugged, and eventually
made himself comfortable as best he could.
All in all it was an interesting afternoon, and I’m
glad to have had the opportunity to hear him.
A couple of quick notes to pass along:
1) The Boston Globe had a feature a few weeks ago on
Lama John Makransky, colleague of Lama Surya Das and a
well-respected teacher in the Dzogchen tradition.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/09/30/sharing_enlightenment/
2) This past weekend the New York Times Magazine had a
short essay on one reporter’s recent visit to Burma,
and the situation there in the aftermath of last
month’s protests:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/magazine/21lives-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin
And, finally…
3) An oft-cited show here — Krista Tippett’s
“Speaking of Faith” — is finally coming to WBUR
(90.9FM) at noon on Sundays:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/
Keep well, and see you all soon!
Metta,
Tim
REMINDER — 10/30/07 meditation group
Hi all! Just the usual reminder for this week’s
meditation group: 7:30-9:30 this evening at First
Parish. We’ll be back in the Chapel this evening.
A couple of quick notes today:
The Buddhist Channel has an interesting first-hand
account of the Burmese protests from Ashin Kovida, one
of the main monastic organizers:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=82,5271,0,0,1,0
The Washington Post and International Herald Tribune
also have features on Kovida’s escape here:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?protest_news
In non-Burma news, the Buddhist Channel also has a
couple of interestnig pieces, one on an American monk
who recently established a Vietnamese Theravada temple
in Port Arthur, Texas. (Vietnam is unique among Asian
countries in that it is home to both the Mahayana and
Theravada Buddhist tradtions.)
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=61,5261,0,0,1,0
Going back a few months, there’s another interesting
article on couple of monks — one Catholic, one
Buddhist — who joined forces for a walk for religious
harmony along the Paul Bunyan State Trail in
Minnesota:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=62,4587,0,0,1,0
Finally, if anyone is interested in heading down to
New York next weekend, the American Museum of Natural
History is hosting the Margaret Mead Film and Video
Festival. One of the offerings is “The Thread of
Karma”:
“In 1991, filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam made
The Reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche (Mead Festival
1992), which followed the search and discovery of a
4-year-old reincarnated lama, Phara Khenchen Rinpoche.
Sixteen years later, the directors revisit the
re