Author Archives: sangha

Dear Friends

Due to a scheduling conflict for the zendo space, we are sorry to have to cancel our Day of Mindfulness tomorrow. The Caretaking Council is working to reschedule for another day in September. We will send out a blogpost as soon as we can confirm.
Please accept our sincere apologies.

May you enjoy a peaceful weekend.
susu
on behalf of Waves and Water Caretaking Council

Dear Friends

We have come to the end of our August summer break – we hope you have had a nourishing time. Waves and Water Sangha will be resuming our Thursday night gatherings on September 6 at Mountain Rain Zendo from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.

The beginning of a new practice period offers us an opportunity to renew our commitment to our practice. Please join us on September 6 as we offer the Ceremony for the Recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

On Saturday, September 8, we will have the first of our four Days of Mindfulness during the next year. You will find information concerning Days of Mindfulness at this link. Please arrive by 9:45 and remember to bring a bag lunch for our formal meal. We will finish at 3:00.

Please register in advance if you can by emailing [wwsangha@gmail.com]. This will help us to prepare for the day.

Thank you for your continued support – financial, moral and, most of all, your practice. Your generosity makes our sangha gatherings possible.

Waves and Water Sangha will not be gathering during the month of August.

Please join us again on Thursday, September 6 for the Ceremony for the Recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

May you have a nourishing summer.

Dear Friends –

On Thursday, July 19, we will be celebrating Alda, our Sangha sister and OI Aspirant. She will soon be moving to Edmonton with Sean and Tien. We have been so blessed with her presence since the very beginnings of Waves and Water Sangha. The grace and depth of Alda’s practice has helped to shape our community for the past seven years – so, she will always be with us.

We will hold this celebration as part of our regular Sangha gathering . We will have a simple social potluck at 7pm, followed by sitting, walking and singing! Please plan to arrive a little earlier if you are able so that we can set up mindfully.

Please join us to offer love and appreciation to our Alda and to release the family with our blessings.

Place : Mountain Rain Zen Community (2016 Wall Street, Vancouver)
When: Thursday, July 19, 7 pm
Please bring : vegetarian dishes to share. Tea will be provided.

Dear friends

Please join on this wonderful Day of Mindfulness with Dharmacharya Trish Thompson: A Journey on the Path of Social Justice and Loving Work

Saturday, July 28, 2018 from 10:00 to 3:00
Waves and Water Sangha: 2016 Wall Street in East Vancouver http://wavesandwater.org/site/location/

Please register by contacting wwsangha@gmail.com
Cost: Sliding scale $20 to $35 plus Danna for the Teacher

For more information concerning Days of Mindfulness please see: http://wavesandwater.org/site/practice/days-of-mindfulness/

There are cushions, benches and chairs.
PLEASE BRING A BAG LUNCH. Tea will be provided

TRISH THOMPSON, CHAN AN DINH (TRUE CONCENTRATION ON PEACE) is founder of the Loving Work Foundation and serves as its managing director http://www.lovingworkfoundation.org/)

From the website: [TRISH] has been living and building community in Viet Nam for over a decade, drawing on a lifetime of dedicated engagement in diverse cultures around the globe A native South Carolinian (USA), she … has travelled extensively for work and pleasure, and has done social work with communities of most of the ethnic minority groups in the U.S. ….

She became a student of the Zen Master, the Venerable Thích Nh?t H?nh. in 1997. … Knowing of her love for the country and her commitment to live and work there, he encouraged her to organize Mindful retreats in Viet Nam and to continue the social work he and his earliest students began there in the mid-1960’s.

Dear friends –

We have just discovered there are chemical fumes in the Zendo. They are significant enough to cause illness.

This evening’s gathering has been cancelled.

With gratitude, Caretaking Council

Dear Friends,

We would like to correct the error on our previous blog announcement for the July Day of Mindfulness with Trish Thompson and Waves and Water Sangha. The date is SATURDAY JULY 28 — not the 29th. We apologize for our unmindfulness. If you have already registered and paid for the day but are unable to attend on July 28, please let us know so we could reimburse you.

Day of Mindfulness: Saturday, July 28
Location : Mountain Rain Zen Centre, 2016 Wall Street, Vancouver
Dharma talk by Dharma Teacher Trish Thompson (see below)
A Journey on the Path of Social Justice and Loving Work
Please register at wwsangha@gmail.com
Sliding scale $15-30 If possible, please e-transfer in advance.

Trish Thompson, Chan An Dinh (True Concentration on Peace), is founder of the Loving Work Foundation and serves as its managing director ( http://www.lovingworkfoundation.org/) From the website: She has been living and building community in Viet Nam for over a decade, drawing on a lifetime of dedicated engagement in diverse cultures around the globe A native South Carolinian (USA), she … has traveled extensively for work and pleasure, and has done social work with communities of most of the ethnic minority groups in the U.S. …. She became a student of the Zen Master, the Venerable Thích Nhat Hanh in 1997. … Knowing of her love for the country and her commitment to live and work there, he encouraged her to organize Mindful retreats in Viet Nam and to continue the social work he and his earliest students began there in the mid-1960’s.

Dear Friends

After a beautiful Day of Mindfulness at Waves and Water Sangha, I returned home (and to Facebook) to find that Dzung has posted this link to an interview with Sr Chan Khnong.

Please find her statement on his health here: https://www.lionsroar.com/thich-nhat-hanh-getting-stronger-every-day/

With a smile and a bow

Bethan

For information concerning Days of Mindfulness see: http://wavesandwater.org/site/practice/days-of-mindfulness/

Day of Mindfulness: June 9
Facilitated by Order of Interbeing Aspirant Alda Ngo
Nourishing Seeds of Love and Compassion
Please register at wwsangha@gmail.com
Sliding scale $10-20 If possible, please e-transfer in advance.

Day of Mindfulness: July 28
Dharma talk by Dharma Teacher Trish Thompson (see below)
A Journey on the Path of Social Justice and Loving Work
Please register at wwsangha@gmail.com
Sliding scale $15-30 If possible, please e-transfer in advance.

Trish Thompson, Chan An Dinh (True Concentration on Peace), is founder of the Loving Work Foundation and serves as its managing director ( http://www.lovingworkfoundation.org/) From the website: She has been living and building community in Viet Nam for over a decade, drawing on a lifetime of dedicated engagement in diverse cultures around the globe A native South Carolinian (USA), she … has traveled extensively for work and pleasure, and has done social work with communities of most of the ethnic minority groups in the U.S. …. She became a student of the Zen Master, the Venerable Thích Nhat Hanh in 1997. … Knowing of her love for the country and her commitment to live and work there, he encouraged her to organize Mindful retreats in Viet Nam and to continue the social work he and his earliest students began there in the mid-1960’s.

Good afternoon dear friends

We are moving into the green and fruitful time of summer! How nourishing it can be to feel the warmth of the sun and to breathe the fresh air in our cool dark forests. During this time of transition, the Caretaking Council of Waves and Water Sangha asks that you read this message with an open heart.

Over the last six months we have experienced some changes in our consistent, core community of 10-13 practitioners. Causes and conditions arise from Sangha members’ family, education and work lives, as well as experiences of ill health, aging and death. These have led to smaller numbers attending both Thursday evenings and Days of Mindfulness. As a result our resources have been taxed. At the same time, our community practice has maintained its loving and joyful, nourishing and deep, nature.

SERVICE RESOURCES: There are currently four of us who provide consistent service in organizing and presenting the every week activities of the Sangha. We would be very happy to have others join us! And we are also very happy to continue….

FINANCIAL RESOURCES: We are not currently receiving sufficient Dana (financial contributions) to meet our rent commitment to Mountain Rain Zen Community. We need to receive $4,000 a year for our expenses. Without a change in our donations we will not be able to continue in our current form. We could meet our expenses in different ways:

8-16 practitioners offering dana every week ($5-10 each)
10 practitioners offering vancity or e-transfers every month ($35 each)
20 practitioners offering an annual or one-time donation ($200 each)

Of course, what is most realistic is a combination of these! We realize not everyone who would like to support the continuation of Waves and Water Sangha can attend regularly. Please know there are several ways to support us:

1. In-person: Donations placed in the Dana basket in the Zendo.
2. VanCity transfers: From your VanCity account to ours (Waves and Water # 2711689)
3. E-Transfers: wwsangha@gmail.com
   (Let us know the answer to your security question)
4. Cheque to Waves and Water Sangha : #30 – 234 East 15 Avenue Vancouver V5T 2P9

Unfortunately we cannot offer income tax donation receipts.

These changes our Sangha are experiencing are not only individual or familial. They arise also from social conditions such as the cost of housing that requires many to live at a farther distance, or to move elsewhere. Our transit system does not provide easy access to the meditation hall. For financial and ecological reasons fewer of us have vehicles to offer rides. Our increasing need to engage in social justice activism, concerning not only the environment, but also the impact of poverty, racism, and gender diversity, takes time and energies. Some also find their primary refuge in retreats with monastics, informal and close-to-home meditation groups and/or a more secular mindfulness that takes place in ever increasing locations.

We would very much like to continue holding the space at our nourishing Zendo and we welcome any amount of financial generosity that may help us do that.

In gratitude, the Caretaking Council:

Bethan Lloyd    Susu Myint    Alda Ngo    Louise St. Pierre