Author Archives: Waves and Water Sangha

Dear friends –

Waves and Water Sangha is offering a non-residential retreat on Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday morning, August 10, 11 and 12. This is the anniversary of the Vancouver retreat offered by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Sangha in August 2011. So many of us were there and received the Five Mindfulness Trainings! We will celebrate Stillness – Silence – Sangha together!

Registration is open until July 31st if space permits. For more information and registration form, please click HERE.
We encourage you to send in your registration form and deposit or fees as soon as possible. (Part-time attendance is possible.)

On Friday evening, we will gather at the Wall Street Meditation Hall to sit and walk in meditation, chant and drink tea. We will meet old and new friends as we ground ourselves in practice. On Saturday morning, we will gather again at the meditation hall to practice sitting and walking meditation, watch a Dharma talk by Thich Nhat Hanh and drink tea together before Dharma discussion. There will be a silent lunch. Saturday afternoon we will practice sitting and walking meditation and the Recitation Ceremony for the Five Mindfulness Trainings. There will be tea and cookies during Dharma discussion, followed by outdoor walking and a silent supper. Saturday evening we will practice sitting and walking meditation, enjoy Deep Relaxation and circumambulate, chanting “May the day be well.”

On Sunday, we will be gathering at Mountain View Cemetery for sitting and walking in the area around the fountain and the still pool. We will offer our stillness, our silence and our Sangha body to ancestors, known and unknown. Aware of each other’s presence, we will also offer gratitude for this peaceful space in the midst of the city. At the still pond, we will Touch the Earth. We will then have a longer walking period followed by Dharma sharing. After a gassho circle, we will give gratitude for our food and after 10 minutes silence, eat together picnic style!

Please let us know if you have any questions – All are welcome.

Waves and Water Sangha Caretaking Council (wwsangha[at]gmail.com)

Dear Friends

August 10-12, 2012, there will be a non-residential retreat in Vancouver organized by Waves and Water Sangha to celebrate the one-year anniversary of our retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Sangha. We will have sitting and walking meditation, mindful meals, a videotape Dharma Talk by Thay, chanting, singing and sharing of our practice. There will be Touching the Earth and Deep Relaxation practice. We will also have a Recitation Ceremony for the Five Mindfulness Trainings. Everyone is welcome to attend – you do not have to have attended the 2011 retreat or even practiced in this tradition before. You may register for the full retreat from Friday at 7:00 p.m. to Sunday at 1:30 or for any of the shorter blocks of time!

Detailed schedule and registration form are available HERE.
Please register as soon as possible to help us plan the retreat.
Please pass the information to others who may be interested.

Dear Waves and Waters Sangha,

We’d like to thank you for making Thursday evening May 17 available so that we can celebrate Mountain Rain’s 10th anniversary with our guiding teacher Zoketsu Norman Fischer. (Don’t worry, we won’t make a habit of asking.) And we’d like to invite you to come and join us.

Celebrating Mountain Rain’s Tenth Anniversary: An Evening of Readings and Music and Refreshments with poet Norman Fischer, novelist Ruth Ozeki and more. Guest musicians: Colin MacDonald on saxophone, Takeo Yamashiro on shakuhachi, and more

In dharma friendship,
Myoshin Kate McCandless
Shinmon Michael Newton
for the Mountain Rain Sangha

Good evening dear friends –

Here is some Waves and Waters Sangha news we have collected over the last while! Most of you have subscribed to the website blog (http://wavesandwater.org) to receive our relatively infrequent e-mails, but with this update we are including a few more folk. If you NEVER want to receive e-mail from us, please let us know!

1/         We have gathered in our new meditation hall three different times now. It is so beautiful and we are so grateful to Mountain Rain Zen Centre for the work they have done in this transition. We have helped a bit, but this is their space and a great gift to the community. If you even need to rent space for an event, there is a kitchen, washrooms and a large space usually set up as a Zendo that holds 32 easily and more if you are using chairs.

LOCATION: 2016 Wall Street. Our website (above) has the directions and a map under LOCATION.

2/         We continue to practice on Thursday evenings from 6:50 to 9:00 p.m. If you have not attended Waves and Water Sangha before and are interested in an orientation to practice please go to the website and CONTACT us. In May, we will continue to take refuge – in happiness and joy and in the spring renewal of yellow sunshine and the green green buds on trees.

3/         A Caretaking Council has come together and we thank the following for their offering of SERVICE DANA: Donna Forscutt, Connie Kadota, Bethan Lloyd, Jody Longford, Susu Myint, Alda Nga, and Tom Purgas have taken on specific responsibilities concerning the meditation hall, membership and finances, our practice leadership, bells, chants, tea, and greeting. Please feel free to address questions to any of us! We flow as a river. . . .

4/         We are looking forward to developing chant books and doing some outreach. With the move, our rent has also increased. We appreciate the FINANCIAL DANA that is offered for each of our events. We ask for a donation of $7.00 to $10.00 each evening. Of course, if you feel moved to offer more we will accept that as well! No one is turned away because of an inability to offer financial dana and we also need your support in order to continue. Cheques can be made out to “Waves and Water Sangha Vancouver”

5/         ON SATURDAY AUGUST 11 there will be a celebration of the one year continuation of our practice since the Thich Nhat Hanh retreat in Vancouver. We will have a full day of mindfulness with the option of Friday evening and Sunday morning practice to provide a non-residential retreat. Please CONTACT us ASAP if you are interested!

6/         ON SATURDAY JUNE 2 there will be a Day of Mindfulness with Sisters from Deer Park Monastery at Mountain Lamp Community in Washington State. It is for one-day and car pools will be leaving Vancouver at 7:00 a.m. and leaving Mountain Lamp at 4:00 p.m. It takes at least two hours plus the border! Passports required! Please contact us through the CONTACT information on the website if you are interested in being part of this practice. YOU NEED TO REGISTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE through www.mountainlamp.org

7/         ON THURSDAY MAY 17 Mountain Rain Zen Community will be celebrating their 10^th anniversary. Their Teacher – Norman Fischer – as well as Ruth Ozeki will offer readings of their work. This will replace regular practice that evening.

8/         Our Sangha sister Jennifer has been in the United Kingdom and sends us this message of her experience with Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Sangha in London:

Dear Waves and Water Sangha,
I thought of you all when I was at Trafalgar Square – it was wonderful (and freezing!!). I hope the move went well! Sending the loving, gentle and amazing energy of the retreat to you all. See you in May, Love, peace, and joy, Jennifer

May all be peaceful, happy and safe – Bethan

This is from Kate and Michael – Bethan will be attending for the day and other Sangha members have indicated they will attend part of the day. The schedule is below. This is a lovely lovely Sangha who practice in the Soto Zen tradition.

Dear dharma friends,

As you may know, Mountain Rain Zen Community has moved to a new space, after a long search and months of preparation. We would like to invite your Sangha to our Open-House Zendo-Warming, Saturday, April 28, and our Zendo dedication ceremony Sunday, April 29. The Open-House will not be a formal Zen retreat, but a way to sit together and imbue our new space with the warmth and generosity of the Buddha-Way we share.

In gassho,
Myoshin Kate McCandless and Shinmon Michael Newton
and the Mountain Rain Zen Community Council

Saturday, April 28
Help us warm our new Zendo with your whole-hearted practice. You can come for all or part of the day. No registration required. No fees – donations gratefully accepted. Please call 604-462-0604 if you have any questions.

9:00-12:00 Zazen (sitting) and Kinhin (walking)
Service followed by Lunch
2:00-5:00 Zazen (sitting) and Kinhin (walking)
Tea and Cookies served midway
Service followed by Dinner
7:00-9:00 Zazen (sitting) and Kinhin (walking)
Pali Refuges

A light informal meal will be served for lunch and dinner. First ten minutes in silence, then time to visit with Sangha friends. Cushions, benches and chairs will be available.

Sunday, April 29
10:00-12:00 Zendo Dedication Ceremony and Reception

Today, Waves and Waters Sangha moved to our new meditation hall at 2016 Wall Street. If you haven’t already, please find the directions and a map on our website: http://wavesandwater.org/site/location/

It was so lovely to work together with Mountain Rain Zen Community – transporting altars and bells and cushions and mats and benches and kettles and cups and books and chairs and tables and . . . .

We will gather there as a Sangha this Thursday evening for our first recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings in this location. As the renovations continue we can see how the Zendo, perfect just as it is, will nourish us in the months ahead – breath by breath.

Before the move, five of us gathered at 6:30 a.m. to sit in peace for two hours with Thich Nhat Hanh and the international Sangha. The following link will take you Trafalgar Square with many photos of the occasion – unfortunately I don’t know if you need a Facebook account in order to see them.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.391323737553788.96991.264304326922397&type=1

Bethan – smiling

DEAR FRIENDS –

THE MAY RETREAT AT RIVENDELL ANNOUNCED BY JEANIE SEWARD-MAGEE WILL NOT BE GOING AHEAD BECAUSE TOO FEW PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO ATTEND.

CARETAKING COUNCIL AT WAVES AND WATER WILL BE DISCUSSING A NON-RESIDENTIAL RETREAT IN VANCOUVER IN JUNE. . . . BETHAN

Dear Friends,

On Saturday, March 31, Waves and Water Sangha and friends will be sitting/walking with the global TNH community to coincide with the Trafalgar Square event where Thay will be sitting with the sangha there. http://www.mindfulnessretreats.org.uk/sitinpeace/sit-in-peace-around-the-world/

The sit will be at 6:30 am our time and will take place at  6183 Fraser Street. This will be our last sit at this location (please see under Location for details re. our move).  We will end with a breakfast at 8:30 am.  This is also the moving day for the Mountain Rain Zen Community so those who are  helping will begin work at 9am.

If you are unable to begin at 6:30 am, you are welcome to join us quietly and mindfully whenever you arrive.  Please join us!

Dear Friends, 

The day of mindfulness on April 22 is now full.  Thank you for your interest.  Waves and Water sangha will have another one soon and will post it on this blog.  If you would like to receive a notification of our new blog posts, please subscribe via email on the home page.

Here is a message from our Sangha Sister Kim –

Hello Wonderful Sangha!

I would like to host a Day of Mindfulness at my home on Sunday April 22nd from 10am to 3pm. Gratefully, Bethan will help facilitate. My place can host a max of 15 people comfortably. Please let me know as soon as you can if you would like to come.

My address: 306 – 1484 Charles St (at Woodland)

Please arrive at 9:45am so we can all be settled in to start by 10am. Thank you.
If need be, I will answer the door up until 10:30am. After that, I will not be answering the door.

Please bring:
* your precious self
* a vegetarian dish for our mindful lunch.
Please write up a small label with ingredients listed to place with your dish.
* a cushion or bench (I have some but if it’s easy for you to bring your own, please do).
* a blanket or a shawl (if desired).

We will do outdoor walking meditation outdoors – rain or shine.