Author Archives: sangha

Good evening dear friends

We will begin the month with the Ceremony to Recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings this Thursday. There will be moon cakes!

We will continue with our exploration of the Four Nutriments as they manifest in our lives. We have spent time with Edible Foods and Sense Impressions. Volition/ Intention and then Consciousness (individual and collective) will be our next focus. We will continue with Dharma study, discussion, and celebration – all within the container of our sitting, walking and tea meditation.

Our Dharma friend Tracey Pickup from Calgary has warmly extended an invitation to join the Wild Rose Sangha (Calgary) in a retreat November 10-12.  The retreat will be led by Dharma Teacher Chan Huy from Montreal.  More information is available at their sangha website www.wildrosesangha.ca This is not a residential retreat, arrangements can be made to stay with a sangha member or at the retreat centre itself.

A reminder to those who might be interested in taking the online ecosattva training from One Earth Sangha that the session began Oct 1.  Even if you missed the first session, you may still be able to join the following ones.

For more information: https://oneearthsangha.org/programs/2017-ecosattva-training/

Please send metta – loving kindness – to all those who are suffering in the world – including our Sangha friends who have illness or injury. We hold all in our hearts….

THAY RETURNS TO VN AS WE CONTINUE OUR PRACTICE 

Good afternoon dear friends

Throughout September we have the opportunity to support each other in deepening our commitment to practice. On September 7, the first Thursday, we will recite the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings as we support our Sangha sister Alda in her aspirancy for the Order of Interbeing. Alda will be formally asking the support of the sangha for her aspirancy – and we will joyfully and lovingly respond.

On September 9, we have an extended Day of Mindfulness that will include a Five Mindfulness Trainings Transmission Ceremony followed by a simple community dinner. Please attend to support the five (or more) practitioners who have come forward to Take Refuge and receive the Trainings. You may contact Bethan at wwsangha[at]gmail.com if you wish to receive or renew the Five Mindfulness Trainings.  Please click here for details about the day.

We began our study and practice of the Sutra on the Four Kinds of Nutriments in August.  We will continue to deepen our everyday practice by looking deeply at the nutriments.

NEWS ABOUT OUR TEACHER – THAY

In a formal statement from Plum Village: We are very happy to confirm that earlier yesterday 29th August 2017, at 12h35 local time, our dear Teacher landed safely at ?à N?ng airport in Vietnam. This is his first visit to Vietnam since 2008.

In recent weeks Thay has expressed a strong wish to visit his home country once more, and the sangha is delighted to have been able to realise his wish. Thay’s trip will include a visit to Plum Village’s Root Temple, Chùa T? Hi?u, in Hu?, where Thay began his monastic training in 1942. The full release is here:  https://plumvillage.org/news/thich-nhat-hanh-arrives-in-vietnam/

A news article is here:  http://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel-life/culture-arts/famed-zen-master-thich-nhat-hanh-returns-to-vietnam-3634418.html

ONE EARTH SANGHA

One Earth Sangha is offering their third session of Ecosattva training in October and November: Cultivating Courage, Connection and Devotion in the Anthropocene.

This online course is open to all. Louise St. Pierre is our sangha’s Ecosattva and she will be pleased to share her experience of the Ecosattva Training and answer questions.  You can reach Louise through wwsangha[at] gmail.com or in person at sangha.

For more information: https://oneearthsangha.org/programs/2017-ecosattva-training/

At Waves and Water Sangha’s Day of Mindfulness, September 9, 2017, there will be an opportunity to take Refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and to receive the Mindfulness Trainings. You may choose to receive any or all of the Five Mindfulness Trainings. At the same time, others may choose to renew or add to their earlier transmission. You may find the Five Mindfulness Trainings at this link.

You do not need to be a long-term or consistent practitioner. You do not need to currently attend a Sangha in the Tiep Hien/ Interbeing tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. You simply have, in your heart, an aspiration to do your best in your daily life to increase happiness and decrease suffering in the world.

In this way, coming forward to take Refuge and receive the Mindfulness Trainings is an act of generosity. You are expressing generosity not only to yourself, your family and friends but also to all beings – animal, vegetable, and mineral. As we are taught, none of us are separate-self entities. All
our actions of body, speech and mind are interconnected.

Our Day of Mindfulness will begin at 10:00 in the morning. The Ceremony will take place at 3:00 in the afternoon and last approximately an hour. Each of us brings our own bag lunch and we will offer a light social supper following the Ceremony. Family and friends are welcome to join for the Day of Mindfulness or simply for the Ceremony and/or the supper.

If you wish to take Refuge and receive some or all of the Trainings, please let us know as soon as possible (wwsangha[at]gmail.com) so we can send you an Application. We are happy to answer any questions you might have.

If you are interested in attending the Day of Mindfulness and/or the social supper let us know in advance so that we prepare. There is no charge. A suggested donation is $20-$40; any amount is gratefully accepted!

Dear friends,

This evening we will sit and walk and have tea, as usual. Then we will have Dharma discussion focused on “What I like (or not) about Sangha.” Next week, July 27, we will have a similar discussion focused on “What it means to receive transmission of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.”

This will provide a foundation for our September 9 extended Day of Mindfulness which will include, in the afternoon, a formal transmission of the Five Mindfulness Trainings. You may receive all five mindfulness trainings, or four, or three, or two, or one. You may have been practicing for a month, a year, 5 years or 10 years. You do NOT have to belong to a local Sangha (although it would be lovely if you did!) Also, you may want to renew an earlier transmission that you have let lapse. Please contact wwsangha[at]gmail.com if you are interested or have any questions…. The Day of Mindfulness will be followed by a Sangha potluck – you may invite family and friends!

Over the next few months we will continue with our regular practice of reciting the Mindfulness Trainings either informally or with the full Ceremony. On September 07, we will recite the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing. Alda will ask for our support during her aspirancy as she moves in the direction of deepening her practice.

We will also continue our regular practice of Dharma discussion, Dharma study, Sutra Service, and other Plum Village practices. On the third Thursdays of the month, beginning in August, Bethan will offer a Dharma talk to support our study of the Discourse on the Four Kinds of Nutriments (edible food, food of sense impressions, intention/volition, and consciousness).  And, of course, we will have a joyful time learning of chants and practice songs.

Many of us come to Sangha simply because we come to Sangha. Perhaps the content is not so important. Nevertheless on the homepage of our website we do list what is happening – and most often it actually does! Please join us as we practice as a community….

Smiling, Bethan

Dear Friends

You are warmly invited to a Day of Mindfulness with all three Thich Nhat Hanh Sanghas in Vancouver. Jeanie Seward-Magee has invited visiting Dharma Teacher Trish Thompson to offer a Dharma Talk on “Learning to Love My Non-Self.”

The event will take place SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, at 1863 ALBERNI STREET (at Denman).

Please arrive by 9:30 am with your packed lunch, snacks and drinks for the day. The day will end in the later afternoon.

There will be chairs but you are also invited to bring your own mats and cushions.

By donation. No registration required.

Please visit Trish Thompson to learn more about her socially engaged practice in Vietnam.

Waves and Water Sangha will be offering a Day of Mindfulness on Saturday, July 8, 10am-3pm.  Please join us for a day of sitting and walking meditations, sutra service, a formal lunch (please bring a bag lunch), Deep Relaxation and dharma discussion.

The day’s practice will be guided by the last line from Gatha of Impermanence – so that life does not drift away without meaning. Together, we will create a quiet space to hold our questions and curiosities about what it is to live deeply, how we free ourselves from afflictions and how we practice with impermanence.

You can find the Gatha on Impermanence and the MP3 HERE.

We practice at Mountain Rain Zen Centre, 2016 Wall Street in East Vancouver. By donation.

Please feel free to contact us for further information at : wwsangha[at]gmail.com. We look forward to practising with you.

Dear Friends,

We are very pleased to pass on the following invitation from Mountain Rain Zen Community to:
A Thousand Mothers: film showing and meditation , Sunday, June 25, 7:00-9:00, Mountain Rain Zendo, 2016 Wall St. Vancouver.

————————————–

The invitation from Mountain Rain Zen Community :
Please join us for this inter-sangha event. We will start with a period of meditation, followed by a showing of A Thousand Mothers, a film by Kim Shelton, and discussion time.

A Thousand Mothers is a visually poetic glimpse into the little known world of Buddhist Nuns in Myanmar. While the choices available to girls and women are quite limited, the film reveals unexpected opportunity and beauty as young orphans find a refuge, an education and a healthy environment, living with older nuns who have dedicated their lives to service and generosity.

Sponsored by Mountain Rain Zen and BC Insight Meditation. No charge, but donations are gratefully accepted.
More information at : www.mountainrainzen.org

Dear Friends,

The key to the washroom down the hall from the zendo went missing after our Day of Mindfulness on May 13. If you attended our last Day of Mindfulness, please take a look to see if you took it home by accident. It is a single key on a (blue?) plastic tag. And if you do have it, please return it as soon as possible or email us at wwsangha@gmail.com to make arrangements for its return. We really need it!!

Thanks very much,
Susu,
bowing

Good morning dear friends –

Please join us this Saturday, May 13 from 10:00 to 3:00 for a Day of Mindfulness. In the morning we will have two periods of sitting and walking, a Sutra Service (The Better Way to Live Alone) and walking meditation. Please bring a bag for a formal meal (tea provided). After lunch we will practice Deep Relaxation. In Dharma Discussion, we will explore through the lens of our Sutra Service, what it means for us “to be caught” in experiences we that are pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.

Everyone is welcome. We are located at 2016 Wall Street (Mountain Rain Zen Community).

For more information, please contact us at wwsangha[at]gmail.com

Dear friends –

Please join other Buddhist practitioners in Vancouver’s March Against Racism this Sunday, March 26. It will be held from 1 to 4 pm, beginning at Thornton Park (Main Street Sky Train Station – 1166 Main Street), winding through Chinatown, ending at Victory Square Park. Some members of the Waves and Water Sangha will be joining our sister Sangha Mindfulness Community of Vancouver in the march. Please email us at wwsangha[at] gmail [dot] com for place and time of gathering — or look for mindful protest signs that Brother Dzung has made for us.

REMINDER: TEA CEREMONY
On March 30, the fifth Thursday of the month, Waves and Water Sangha will be practicing with an informal Tea Ceremony. Please bring songs, poems and stories to share. Musical instruments are most welcome. We will provide the tea and treats.