Author Archives: Waves and Water Sangha

Dear Friends

Please find below an invitation from Mountain Rain Zen Community to the annual multi-sangha New Year’s Eve celebration. Waves and Water Sangha will be offering the chant Discourse on Love during the earlier part of the evening. Please come and support us with your beautiful voices. Words and MP3 for the Discourse is available HERE

Please join Mountain Rain and our friends from BC Insight Meditation and Waves and Waters Sangha in a New Year’s Eve retreat to cultivate peace in our hearts, our families, our communities, and in our world. Each hour will consist
of 50 min. sitting meditation, ten min. walking meditation and 10 min. chanting. To close, we will ring the temple bell 108 times to dispel our many delusions, followed by tea and refreshments at midnight.

(Refreshment contributions welcome! Sweet, savoury, or beverage.)
No registration. Please come for all or part. By donation to support the zendo.

Mountain Rain Zendo, 2016 Wall St., Monday, December 31, 7:00-midnight

Dear Friends

As we enter the darkest time of the year, we have an opportunity to take refuge in the blessings of silence and stillness. On Nov 29, our 5th Thursday of the month, we will be practicing three periods of sitting as well as tea meditation. Please know that you are invited to “sit” in any way that supports your body/mind – such as lying down, standing, using extra cushions to prop you.

As always, on the first Thursday in December, we will be reciting the Five Mindfulness Trainings. Unfortunately, we will not have a Day of Mindfulness in December.

On Thursday, December 20th, Waves and Water will be celebrating Winter Solstice with a candle light service, tea meditation and sharing of songs, stories, poetry and any other gift you wish to offer to the sangha. Everyone is warmly invited. If possible, please rsvp to wwsangha@gmail.com to help us prepare for the evening. Treats to share are very much welcome.

There will be no sangha gathering on Dec 27th. We will resume on Jan 3, 2019.

May your hearts be at peace…

The Caretaking Council,
Waves and Water Sangha

Dear friends –

Our Venerable Teacher Thich Nhat Hanh has returned to Vietnam and his root Temple in Tu Hieu. He has said that he will continue there until his final transformation. There is a long letter from Plum Village but so far only in Vietnamese. It is on the public page of Nhu Trang’s Facebook page. We will forward the translated letter once we have received it.

Please enjoy this beautiful video of Thay arriving at Tu Hieu as he experience the love of his disciples. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0J3Op_391g&feature=share

And join us this evening for the Ceremony to Recite the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

A news report from Vietnam states: Thich Nhat Hanh, one of Buddhism’s most influential leaders, said in a letter to his disciples he would live in the Tu Hieu Pagoda in Hue, central Vietnam, where he studied and practiced Zen Buddhism from 1942.

“The Buddhism knowledge and wisdom I learned from Tu Hieu is now spreading all over the world, and I believe it’s time for me to get back to my roots,” he said.

“Students of Tu Hieu are now living and practicing Buddhism in many different places around the world and as a way to remind them of their roots, I want to die here in Tu Hieu.”……… https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/vietnam-s-influential-buddhist-leader-says-he-is-back-home-for-good-3831941.html?fbclid=IwAR19TqCJoOHfKO_zGg87RXaVI_-CelY5AsNLO0-S2Pm2sTeGCe25wroXf_w

Dear friends –

During our regular Thursday evening practice tomorrow, October 11, we will practice deep love for our teacher, Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. We will have a chance to read together the message sent from Plum Village monastics and to explore our own understanding of “teacher” in the context of our practice.

Smiling, sending love….

Good evening dear friends —

This Thursday (tomorrow), we will begin our study of Mindfulness as Medicine: A Story of Healing Body and Spirit by Sr Dang Nghiem. If you do not have a chance to read the book in advance, do not worry! Excerpts will be provided and read before Dharma discussion.

Then, on the first Thursday of October, we will recite the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings of the Order of Interbeing. All are welcome for the recitation and discussion.

The Plum Village meditation app –with talks, chants, meditations, and more–has been released. It appears to be available only for Apple products (please let us know if you discover otherwise). Available at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/plum-village-zen-meditation/id1273719339?mt=8
You can also explore other Plum Village mindful apps here.

Retreat note from Calgary: November 9-12: Nothing to do, Nowhere to go.
“The Wild Rose Sangha in Calgary is holding a residential retreat with Dharma Teacher Chan Huy (from Montreal) in the mountains this year.  The starry skies and mountain views are a real joy on this retreat.  We would very much enjoy seeing our friends from B.C.”
For more information and registration: 
http://wildrosesangha.ca/wordpress/retreat2018/

Good evening dear friends

Again, our apologies for the confusion concerning the date of our Day of Mindfulness this month. We will be gathering this coming Saturday – September 15 – at 10:00 am until 3 pm.

Our fall schedule will follow a regular pattern: First Thursdays of each month, we recite and reflect on the Mindfulness Trainings. Second Thursdays we engage in Dharma study. Third Thursdays we practice with a Sutra Service. Fourth Thursdays we read from and discuss a book from the Plum Village tradition. Fifth Thursdays we practice with three periods of sitting and walking and tea.

Our book for this practice period will be Mindfulness as Medicine :
A Story of Healing Body and Spirit by Sister Dang Nghiem. Click here for more information about the book.

Please feel free to contact us at [wwsangha@gmail.com] if you any questions.

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.