Author Archives: sangha

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

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.