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Dear Friends

I am forwarding this message from our Brother Dzung.  I hope you will be able to join us on April 15 .

“Walk With Me” will be showing at Vancity Theater on April 15 & 16. This special documentary film looks into the lives of the monastic community practicing the teachings of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Some of it may have even been filmed in Vancouver during the 2011 retreat!

Please join us to enjoy the film screening together on April 15, with a sangha (community) walking meditation before the 4:45pm screening, and a panel discussion afterwards. We will be meeting on April 15 at 4:00pm, at Emery Barnes Park, western corner (corner of Davie Street and Seymour Street) for the walking meditation, then proceed to the theater. (Backup plan in case of rain is to meet inside the Vancity Theater atrium). The panel discussion with local sangha members will be in the theater, immediately following the film screening. All are welcome to join the walking meditation, free of charge. The film screening and panel discussion requires ticket purchase.

Details on the Community Walking Meditation: http://mindfulnessvancouver.org/walk-with-me-screening-sangha-walking-meditation-panel-discussion-april-15/

Tickets & other showtimes: https://viff.org/Online/default.asp?BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Apermalink=fc9702-walk-with-me

Film info & Trailer: http://walkwithmefilm.com/

Flyers (for sharing in print or social media):
PDF
JPEG

Please join us, and share with your friends and family!

Dear Friends,

I am very, very pleased to pass on the wonderful message below from our Brother Dzung. I hope you will all have an opportunity to see this film.
susu

Dear Friends

Warmly,
Dzung

Dear Friends

Waves and Water Sangha will be offering a Day of Mindfulness on Saturday, March 10, 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. Please arrive by 9:50 in order to settle yourselves with mindfulness.

This Saturday, our practice will touch on nourishing the seeds of love and compassion for ourselves as well as for all sentient beings. Our Dharma sister and Order of Interbeing aspirant Alda will lead us in exploring ways of loving and caring for oneself through the lens of the Dharma.

All are welcome. We practice at Mountain Rain Zen Centre, 2016 Wall Street in East Vancouver. Attendance by donation.

Please feel free to contact us for further information at : wwsangha[at]gmail.com. If possible, please let us know that you will be joining us. We look forward to practising with you.

susu
on behalf of Waves and Water Sangha

Good afternoon dear friends

In the Art of Living, Thich Nhat Hanh talks about our eight different bodies: our human body, our Buddha body, our spiritual practice body, our community body, our body outside the body; our continuation body, our cosmic body, our ultimate body. Phew! Sometimes it may seem difficult to simply take a shower being fully mindful of this imperfect skin and bones body in the body!

How can we manifest in the world through all eight bodies? This question allows us to explore our experiences as part of the concentration of “signlessness.”

Please join us this evening as we share, in particular, our experiences as spiritual practice bodies…. If you are unwell; if you are needed within your family, your workplace; if it is a challenging way to come physically to Sangha…. Please honour your spiritual practice body – even if only for a moment – and you will be with those of us who have the privilege of being in the physical zendo this evening.

Smiling, with love, Bethan

Good afternoon dear friends –

It was wonderful last week to practice our recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings with so many Sangha members! We experience the powerful energy of coming together with careful and loving intention.

This evening at Waves and Water Sangha we will begin a period of study and practice with the seven concentrations: emptiness, signlessness, aimlessness, impermanence, non-craving, letting go and nirvana. The first three are known as the three doors of liberation and, Thay tells us, common to all traditions of Buddhism. The next four are based on the teachings in the Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing.

Bethan, Susu, Alda and Louise will facilitate different ways we can practice these seven concentrations – and all Sangha members are invited to contribute their understanding and insights through Dharma discussion and, if you would like, by offering elements of the program.

We will base our practice on different resources – centrally The Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hanh

And also we will practicing with Touching the Earth: Guided Meditations

Please join us….

Dear Friends

My apologies for sending out the wrong draft of the blog. This is the amended version with the correct links.

This is just to remind you that Waves and Water Sangha will be celebrating New Year’s Eve with Mountain Rain Community and Insight Meditation Society at the multi-sangha event hosted by Mountain Rain. Beginning at 7pm, we will be sitting, walking and chanting for peace, ending with the invitation of 108 bells at midnight. You are welcome to join us for all or part of the evening.

Throughout the evening, each sangha will be offering a version of the metta chant. Waves and Water will be offering ours (Discourse on Love) at 7:50 pm. We invite your beautiful voices to join us in our chant for peace. The sutra Discourse on Love and the MP3 of the chant by Sr. The Nghiem can be found HERE.

Click here for details about the evening. We look forward to welcoming the New Year with you.

May everyone be happy and safe, and may all hearts be filled with joy.

susu, on behalf of
Waves and Water Sangha

Dear Friends

Just to remind you that Waves and Water Sangha will be celebrating New Year’s Eve with Mountain Rain Community and Insight Meditation Society at the multi-sangha event hosted by Mountain Rain. Beginning at 7pm, we will be sitting, walking and chanting for peace, ending with the invitation of 108 bells at midnight. You are welcome to join us for all or part of the evening.

Throughout the evening, each sangha will be offering a version of the metta chant. Waves and Water will be offering ours (Discourse on Love) at 7:50 pm. We invite your beautiful voices to join us in our chant for peace. The sutra Discourse on Love and the MP3 of the chant by Sr. The Nghiem can be found HERE.

Click here for details about the evening. We look forward to welcoming the New Year with you.

May everyone be happy and safe, and may all hearts be filled with joy.

Waves and Water Sangha

Good evening dear friends –

Just a reminder that we have our annual solstice gathering on Thursday. We will sit and walk and sit and walk within the darkness lit by candles. We will have tea and treats, songs, poetry, readings, stories…. Please come, come, wherever you are – and bring simply yourself and/or some treats and/or something to contribute to the circle.

Warmly, Waves and Water

Good evening dear friends

As we move forward toward the longest night and our solstice Sangha gathering on December 21, we can continue to look deeply at how we nourish ourselves and others. We can also look deeply into the consequences of our habit energies and practice making friends with our obstacles to wholesome action!

On our Day of Mindfulness December 16, we will look at how “celebration” ” manifests (or not) both in our every day and special day lives. This is an opportunity to stop and be still for a few hours – a seasonal gift not only to ourselves but to everyone around us – and all beings.

Please note : there will be no Sangha gathering on Thursday December 28.

On New Years Eve, please join our traditional practice with Mountain Rain Zen Community and BC Insight Meditation Society. Beginning at 7pm, we will be sitting, walking and chanting for peace, ending with the invitation of 108 bells at midnight. You are welcome to join us for all or part of the evening. Click here for details.

A wonderful song to guide us in our practice during what can be a stressful time can be found here – enjoy! Take your time [Words and MP3].

This Thursday, we will begin the month with the Ceremony to Recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings. For the rest of December, we will continue with our exploration of Mind Consciousness and Karma, including Dharma study, discussion, and celebration – all within the container of our sitting, walking and tea meditation.

In the New Year, after our recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings on January 4, we will explore Beginning Anew. To begin anew is to look deeply and honestly at ourselves, our past actions, speech and thoughts and to create a fresh beginning within ourselves and in our relationships with others. Whether with ourselves or others, the practice of Beginning Anew is a four-part process. Flower Watering (sharing appreciation and shining light on the strength), Sharing Regrets (sharing any unskillfulness in our actions, speech or thoughts that we have not yet had an opportunity to apologize for), Sharing a Hurt (in private or with the guidance of an elder sibling) and Asking for Support with a specific difficulty. Practising kind speech and deep listening, we have an opportunity to nourish the positive elements within ourselves and others.

May your hearts be joyful and at peace during the holiday season.

Good evening dear friends –

As late Autumn moves into Winter, we are once again in a transitional place .The growing darkness and shifting colours of the autumn leaves offer us an opportunity to appreciate the fragile beauty of transformation. Our Thursday evening practice takes place in still darkness and we can look forward to our solstice candlelight and cookie practice on December 21. Our Day of Mindfulness December 16 will support our mindful practice of celebration over the holiday season.

During November and December we will continue our study and practice of the Discourse on the Four Kinds of Nutriments, looking more deeply into the nature of consciousness – the fourth nutriment. We will also explore the recitation included in the Four Nutriment Sutra Service: Repentance and Taking Refuge for Life. There is so much to gather into our heart from these teachings!

We also invite you to nourish your practice with an episode on CBC Radio’s Tapestry : Coming Home to the Present: The Life and Teaching of Thich Nhat Hanh at http://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/coming-home-to-the-present-the-life-and-teaching-of-thich-nhat-hanh-1.4375595

As many of you may know, Lu – our good spiritual friend and joyfully committed Sangha member – suffered a workplace injury last month. With the support of family, friends and Sangha members – as well as his diligent self-care – Lu is making good progress with his healing. Nevertheless, there have been challenging financial consequences. Some friends have developed a YouCaring site that we ask you to respond to and circulate wherever it seems appropriate: www.youcaring.com/LuLamRecoverFund. By allowing us the opportunity to practice generosity, the first paramita or perfection, Lu offers us a great gift.

In gratitude, Bethan