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Good afternoon!

THURSDAY EVENING PRACTICE

We have had a wonderful six week study period experiencing mindfulness of the body in the body. Last night we practiced letting go into practice songs that inspire us to take refuge in the body: Take Your Time, I am a Cloud and, perhaps our favourite: Earth my body/ Water my blood/ Air my breath and/ Fire my spirit! (Two of these songs will be available soon on the website under RESOURCES. A version of the third can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz8BbD8XQgM).

AND there are two more weeks before this period ends – settling into silence on August 21 with three periods of sitting and a Dharma discussion of our bodies/ our earth/ deep ecology on August 28!  Following our Ceremony for the Recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings on September 5, we will begin our next eight week practice period September 12: Mindfulness of the Feelings in the Feelings. We will explore the practice of becoming aware of our feelings, separate from our thoughts and stories about those feelings. We will study and practice with negative feelings such as anger and fear and positive feelings such as happiness and sympathetic joy. We will take the opportunity to distinguish our bodily sensations, our feelings as they arise, our thoughts about our feelings and the influence of our feelings on our intentions and our understanding of the world around us.

Our NON-RESIDENTIAL RETREAT Friday evening September 12 through Sunday noon September 13 already has many registrations. We have only 24 spots in this retreat so please send in your registration with deposit as soon as possible: CLICK HERE FOR THE REGISTRATION FORM

Please join us in practice. . . .

Non-Residential Retreat in Vancouver Sept 12-14, 2014, Stillness – Silence – Sangha

Waves and Water Sangha in Vancouver invites you to attend a non-residential retreat from Friday night, September 12 through Sunday morning, September 13. Practicing in the tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, we will engage in sitting, walking and tea meditation, mindful meals, a videotape Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh, Dharma sharing, Sutra Services and other Plum Village practices.

Friday evening will include an introduction to Buddhist practice in this tradition. Saturday will be a full day and evening of practice to allow us to experience an extended period of mindfulness and meditation. In the afternoon, we will recite the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings with regional members of the Tiep Hien Order of Interbeing. Sunday will continue with silence, sitting, walking, and Touching the Earth practice in Mountain View Cemetery.

Everyone is welcome for full-time or part-time participation in the retreat – whether an experienced practitioner in this or another spiritual tradition or someone who is simply interested in exploring the experience of mindfulness, meditation and community practice.

More information and the registration form are available on the Waves and Water website : wavesandwater.org

Limited space! Please register as soon as possible to help us plan the retreat.

CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION FORM AND DETAILED SCHEDULE

If you require further information, please contact: wwsangha[at]gmail.com.

Please pass this information to others who may be interested.

Dear friends –

This week we will begin listening to a two-part talk by Thich Nhat Hanh that may focus our embodied practice over the next weeks. This Thursday (June 26) we will have a talk on Hearing the Call of Mother Earth. The next, we will engage in the Ceremony for the Recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings. Then, July 10 we will continue listening to the talk as it shifts focus to Silence – the Silence that allows us to Hear something other than our mind our mind our mind.

We have a Day of Mindfulness July 12 that will allow us to explore one of the greatest obstacles to our embodied practice and our peacefulness of mind: Righteous Anger!

July 17 will include three periods of sitting and a sutra service. Then we will be led in Mindful Movements followed the next week week by Touching the Earth.

The Mindfulness Trainings recitation on August 7 will be followed by a panel looking at the impact of practicing silence on our lived experience of the Mindfulness Trainings. We will move from there to a week with Deep Relaxation, one with sitting and Sutra Service and one with a discussion of deep ecology and our connection with the Earth.

Most weeks there will be an opportunity for Dharma Sharing as well as Practice and Study.

May you be well. . . .

As part of our embodied practice period, Waves and Water Sangha will host a Day of Mindfulness on Saturday, July 12. Please see the website for our location and information about our practice. There will be sitting and walking meditation, a formal silent meal, Dharma talk and discussion.

We will investigate how RIGHTEOUS ANGER influences our minds and our bodies. How can we become free from attachment and aversion but not be indifferent?

You can find our location here: http://wavesandwater.org/site/location/

Please let us know if you would like to attend: 9:45 to 3:15. Bring a bag lunch and a friend! Donation of $20 to $30 gratefully received to help pay the rent. No one turned away.

Waves and Water Sangha

Good afternoon!

In springtime we can see how the rain and the sun, our attention and our efforts can help grow the seeds we want to bear flower and fruit in the future. We can’t make the plants grow by reading about them or talking about them. Instead we cultivate the earth and simply do what needs to be done with an open heart.

It’s not always easy to move our attention from our minds thinking into our body doing and our selves being. In Sangha we have started to practice feeling the body with the body rather than with the mind. We are skilfully using our senses to come back again and again so that touching our embodied selves becomes a habit.

Over the next months we will explore what happens when we let mind consciousness dissolve again and again so we can rest in that store consciousness where all patterned behaviour has its seeds and its roots. We are identifying what stories we would like to let go and how we would like to nourish new stories as they arise. We know in our hearts and through our practice that true resolution of difficulties happens when something shifts at a deeper level than our mind.

And Thay will help us through his book “Buddha body Buddha mind.” Please order it if you are interested in following along, but it is not necessary. We will be practicing deep relaxation, touching the earth, mindful movements, connecting with a deep ecology to help us recognize the joy of letting go, of nourishing ourselves in new ways. We will also have talks and Dharma sharing.

The last two weeks we discussed how “we cannot use the mind to solve the problem of solving problems with the mind”! So right now it seems that this message has a lot do words in it…. Let’s simply practice together on Thursday evenings and during Days of Mindfulness.

Waves and Water Sangha

Good morning, dear friends!

Just a reminder that our next Day of Mindfulness will be on Saturday, May 10, 9:45 am-3pm.

Please visit our website at wavesandwater.org for our location and information on Days of Mindfulness.

Dear friends –

Waves and Water Sangha is hosting a Day of Mindfulness this Saturday, March 8, from 9:45 to 3:00. We will practice sitting and walking meditation, deep relaxation, and Sutra service as well as Dharma study. We will study and chant the Five Remembrances (below). Please bring a simple bag lunch. Tea will be provided.

Our location at the Mountain Rain Zen Centre can be found at
http://wavesandwater.org/site/location/

The Five Remembrances

I am of the nature to grow old.
There is no way to escape growing old.

I am of the nature to have ill-health.
There is no way to escape having ill-health.

I am of the nature to die.
There is no way to escape death.

All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change.
There is no way to escape being separated from them.

My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.
My actions are the ground on which I stand.

Dear Friends

This month, we get an extra Thursday to practice. On Jan 30, the fifth Thursday, we will be sitting, walking and drinking tea in meditation but we will also have some extra time for sharing. Please bring for sharing something that is precious to you or something that supports and nourishes your practice in some way…a poem, a story, a song, a picture, a rock.

Looking forward to practicing with you…

Good afternoon dear friends!

This is a reminder concerning our Day of Mindfulness this Saturday from 9:45 to 3:00. We will explore our traditional practice of Beginning Anew with ourselves, families, friends, Sanghas, colleagues, neighbours. . . We will also look at the Lojong first slogan — RESOLVE TO BEGIN — with a commentary by Norman Fischer. It is very beautiful.

Please remember to bring a simple bag lunch.

Bethan

NEW YEAR’S EVE
On December 31, Waves and Water Sangha will once again celebrate New Year’s Eve with Mountain Rain Zen Community. We will practice sitting and walking meditations as well as chanting and singing, ending with a series of bells at midnight to welcome 2014. Waves and Water Sangha will be offering the Metta Song. Words and music will soon be posted on the Waves and Water website (under Resources) so we could start practicing. The celebration continues between 7pm-midnight and you are welcome to come and leave as you wish.
Location : 2016 Wall Street, Vancouver : Map and directions here

DAY OF MINDFULNESS
Please join us for an exploration and celebration of BEGINNING ANEW on Saturday, January 11, 2014 from 10:00 to 3:00. We will focus on BEGINNING ANEW practice in ourselves, our families, communities, and the world.

GIVE THE GIFT OF DHARMA THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.
On Dec.14, Waves and Water Sangha, in partnership with Drishti Point Yoga Radio and the International Buddhist Film Festival Foundation, hosted a Film Screening of Peace Is Every Step, a feature documentary about Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village tradition. The cost of the Public Screening License included 25 Buddhist Film DVDs, many of which are still available. Please contact Farah Nazarali (farah@drishtipoint.ca) if you would like to buy Peace Is Every Step or to find out about other Dharma films available (including Kundun, Tulku, Lion’s Roar, Zen, Shugendo Now, Compassion in Exile). 1 DVD $25.00 2 DVDs $40.00

NEW HOME FOR MPC
Our sister Sangha, Mindfulness Practice Community of Vancouver, will be practicing at a new place, day and time in 2014. Starting Sunday January 5th, 2014, MPC will gather at Three Jewels Yoga (9 East Broadway, just west of Main) on Sundays 6:30 – 8:30pm. For more information, please visit the MPC website at: mindfulnessvancouver.org