Dec. 23rd and 30th sessions

Kerem Shalom is closed for both of these dates, so we will not meet on the 23d, but Mark has generously offered his home in Concord for our session on the 30th. And we will wrap up the session and year with tea, coffee and dessert!

If you're not on the Tuesday night sangha mailing list and would like the address and directions, please email me: vbrandst @ gmail dot com. It will also appear in the weekly mailing.

from the Worcester sangha...

An Evening with Vanda Mikoloski(Saturday, Jan 3rd 7:30PM)

Ring in the New Year with the sound of enlightened laughter with comedian Vanda Mikoloski. Vanda Mikoloski is a renowned stand-up comic and speaker whose passion is personal growth and development. Vanda's work is a delightful, irreverent romp down her twisted spiritual path. www.vanda.us

Please note that the Tuesday night Concord group will not be meeting on Dec. 23rd or 30th.

Resuming 11/18...

...in a new location, Kerem Shalom, 659 Elm Street, Concord, MA (view map).

It's a very nice facility with copious parking -- looking forward to seeing you there!

Schedule update

10/28: Usual place, usual time (TriCon, 7:30pm)

11/4: Off, voting day

11/11: We'll be reappearing in a different location, TBD and TBA! Stay tuned; if you have any ideas of places nearby, please contact Pat or Bruce.

New location

Hello all, it looks like we'll need to find a new location to meet -- it seems like a good time to ask whether Tuesday evenings are indeed the best time to meet in the Concord area. If you haven't already, please take a short survey on your meeting preference:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=CWFaPIMiiRssEyaawef93w_3d_3d

Thanks, and we'll be sure to let you know where we ultimately end up!

9/16 sangha session

Pat told us about her intense and fruitful visit to Gampo Abbey, home of Pema Chodron. If you visit her website, and search for "shenpa", you'll come up with one of her teachings on the subject (which came up during the session).

We embarked on Chapter 8 of Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life and talked a bit about emptiness (!). These books came up:

How to See Yourself As You Really Are by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Jeffrey, Ph.D. Hopkins

Introduction to Emptiness by Guy Newland

9/30/08 sangha session canceled

From Bruce:

"Just a reminder that TriCon has politely asked us if there is any way we could cancel the Tuesday night 9/30/08 Sangha meeting as they are having a large church-wide event that evening and really need the space. No doubt this is especially accurate since the downstairs at the church has been closed for repairs after receiving water damage from the heavy rains.

So, we will be graciously canceling our Sangha that evening out of courtesy and respect for their plans. ("If you can help, help. If you can't, at least do no harm" -- HHDL)"

-----------------

Last week, we were delighted by Sandy's photos and stories of visiting Jhamtse Gatsal and the surrounding area -- thank you, Sandy! We are otherwise re-engaging with Shantideva during our sangha session; please join us.

Please see the Jhamte web site for details on upcoming events (potluck on Oct. 4, dharma talk by Lama Tsultrim Allione on Oct. 14).

Taking up Shantideva, Sept. 2nd

After Don's and Kathy's physically and mentally invigorating presentations during the last 2 weeks (thank you to you both!), we will return to our regularly scheduled "A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way to Life" programming this week.

Next week, 9/9, Sandy Wood, a Concord Academy student, will be sharing her recent trip to Jhamtse Gatsal with us. More info on the JI web site, as well as other upcoming events:

www.jhamtseinternational.org

Continued August update

On 8/5 we listened to Pema Chodron's CD instruction on tonglen. Shambhala also has some of Pema's teachings summarized online.

Kathy has offered to take on the 8/26 and will begin with Shamatha Yoga (very short) and then go into Tim Olmstead's (former director of Gampo Abbey) presentation on meditation and connecting with abiding mind.

And next week, Jacky will share her experiences at Plum Village.

We've had a very good turnout and lively sessions; please join us!

Auction to benefit Jhamtse Gatsal

The exhibition and silent auction at the Gelb Gallery, Phillips Andover, has been extended until Friday, August 1!

More information

7/29 plan for August

Here's the developing plan for August sessions. Pat will graciously open the chapel for us.

• Aug. 5: Pema Chodron DVD on tonglen (giving and receiving) practice
• Aug. 12: Jacky's presentation on Thich Nhat Hanh & Plum Village
• Aug. 19: Don's presentation on Zen archery
• Aug. 26: something from Kathy, or Dreaming of Tibet (DVD)

Please also share your ideas!

Discussion 7/22

One of our members has just returned from seeing Thich Nhat Hanh at Plum Village in France. She will talking about her experience in August, when we set aside Shantideva until September.

The chapel will continue to be open in August and sangha members interested in meeting will engage in other activities, to be discussed at next week's session -- stay tuned!

This week's discussion brought up these books:

• How to See Yourself as You Really Are, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (you can read it in Google Books).
• Light Comes Through, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche (amazon).

Discussion 7/15

We talked about:

• Pema Chodron's recent talk at the Omega Institute called "All in the Same Boat."
• Jack Kornfield
• The Burmese Harp, film (entries from IMDB, wikipedia)
• Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea
  

Pat is willing to open the building during the month of August, so anyone interested, please continue to join us on Tuesday at 7:30pm. We will not continue our study of Shantideva during this time; what we will do is up for discussion! Perhaps watch videos, read other books and discuss them, meditate, discuss our own challenges, etc. Up for discussion!

If you'd like to be an author on this blog, vs. just posting comments (which anyone can do), please email me and I'll be happy to add you.

And a thought from tonight's session (paraphrased):

Our thoughts are like a dog chasing a stick. We are off and running, chasing the stick unquestioningly. The lion, on the other hand, looks back at who is throwing the stick. We should be more like the lion.

Shantideva study resumes 7/15.

We all wish Lobsang our heartfelt prayers and best wishes as he departs for India, and we share in the joy of the children at Gatsal as they get to be with Lobsang for a meaningful period of time for teaching, companionship, and leadership.

Tuesday, July 15th, we will resume our book discussion/study of Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva. We left off at Chapter 7, verse 24. We have extra books, so no excuses for not dropping by!! See you then. Also, like the Wednesday group, we are planning on taking August off for a break.

Bruce

Discussion 7/2

While a storm cooked up outside, we had a lively discussion. As we worked on verses 7.15-7.25, the following came up:

Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, an expert on ADHD, and his talk at the Chautauqua Institution on worry leading to stress.

Roger Waters' album Amused to Death, specifically, the lyrics "This species has amused itself to death."

"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. The third is to be kind." --Henry James

And finally, a few member have read The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein. ("The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life . . . as only a dog could tell it.")

Happy Independence Day in the midst of all these dependent arisings! :o)

Discussion 6/24

These came up during the session, please add to this thread by click Comments, below.

The film "Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (IMDB entry), available now through NetFlix.

From TED.com, Jill Bolte Taylor: My stroke of insight.

Edie's comment about the First Law of Thermodynamics (Wikipedia entry): In any process, the total energy of the universe remains the same. Energy cannot be created or destroyed.

We also learned that people who are ticked off at the birds call the Audubon Society. ;o)

We had cake to celebrate Edie's embarking on a new chapter in her life -- we'll miss you, Edie!