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Dear Friends,

As you know by now, we are getting ready to move with Mountain Rain Zen Community to 2016 Wall Street! Our last evening of practice in the Fraser Street meditation hall will be March 29. On April 5, we will gather at our new space to sit, walk, drink tea and, as in every moment, Begin Anew. There will be treats!

On Saturday, March 31, we are hoping that some of us can express our gratitude to Mountain Rain Zen Community by assisting them with the final stages of moving. Please send an e-mail or post here if you can offer an hour or two or three so we can work out how to be most useful!

On Saturday, April 28, Mountain Rain is offering an open day of sitting and we are invited to attend all or part of the day. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to meet our extended practice family! Please talk with Bethan if you have any questions and let us know, again by posting or e-mail, if you are planning to attend.

There will be a Sunday Day of Mindfulness in April at Kim’s. Please watch the front page of the website for more information.

Of course, what I have said above is all about plans and at the same time of course there is impermanence – especially when renovations and moving are involved. Any changes to the plans will be posted here and if you are subscribed you will get all updates!

Dear Friends

As some of you already know, Mountain Rain Zen Community is moving to 2016 Wall Street, near Powell and Semlin  – 10 minutes walk north and east from Commercial Drive and Hastings Street. They have been looking for an appropriate new space for more than two years! After 10 years in the Fraser Street location, the Sangha felt they needed a larger space and a space that was both newer and receiving consistent maintenance. They have received their building permits to renovate and they plan to hold their first retreat the last weekend in March.

Mountain Rain have been very generous to Waves and Water Sangha since we began to practice together in August. Now they have invited us to move with them. It is not easy to find suitable and affordable space in Vancouver and it has been so lovely to share an already established meditation hall that carries such beautiful energy. We have the opportunity now to practice deeply as a Sangha while we contemplate impermanence! I know it’s been a bit hard for me to contain my energy of fear around change – I think perhaps we will study the Five Remembrances in March to prepare ourselves for the resistance our minds might construct!

We will continue to meet on Thursdays at 7 p.m.

The new location is in the space developed by the Aboriginal Mother Centre Society. It looks a bit like a mini-mall that is part of a safe, primarily residential area with much less street noise. Mountain Rain is leasing and renovating space on the ground floor. There is parking in the vicinity and the #4 and #7 and #135 buses stop very close to the meditation hall. In the next while, our Caretaking Council will begin to look at ways to accommodate everyone’s transportation needs.

Sometimes, when we change the direction of our practice it takes a while to re-orient ourselves not only in space but in our hearts and mind. Fortunately, our Sangha has grown deep roots that do not depend on location but rather depend on our love and our diligence. We have the chance to Begin Anew! And, I hope we will have the chance to help with the move, as a Sangha, and to join Mountain Rain for a designated period during their first retreat. We will discuss the move at Sangha on Thursday and be truly curious about our practice as we respond! If you have anything you would like to talk about, please come or e-mail the Sangha at wwsangha [at] gmail.com

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Dear Friends

Waves and Water Sangha invites you to our Sangha Dinner on Feb 11, 2012, following our Day of Mindfulness. (See Jan 6 post for details of the DOM). The dinner will be at All India Sweets Restaurant, 6507 Main St. (corner of 49^th) where they serve a wonderful Indian vegetarian buffet. http://www.allindiasweetsrestaurant.com/

All are welcome! If you cannot attend the Day of Mindfulness, please meet us at the restaurant at 4pm. And if you find that 4pm is too early for your dinner, join us anyway for some hot chai and snacks.  We look forward to seeing you!

Please rsvp to Su Su : dharmahand11[at]gmail[dot]com

Dear friends –

So many of us met Brother Christopher this summer during the Vancouver retreat. His smile, his kindness, his loving compassion touched many people! And we know where there is a blooming flower there is also compost nourishing it. Just as he experienced joy, so he experienced suffering.

Last Monday, in the woods of Upper Hamlet in Plum Village, Brother Christopher took his own life. This is not the way I would like to talk with you about this! Yet, now, so many in our deep and lovely community have heard – and they too are suffering.

Just as Brother Christopher was never alone, we are never alone. There may be within us so strong a sense of disconnection that we cannot continue. At the same time we are held. We are all holding the Plum Village Sangha in our hearts and we are holding each other.

On Thursday, we will offer our practice to Brother Christopher with a special ceremony as well as remembrances and loving speech. We will feel within and around us the strength of the Sangha, of the teachings and our own compassion.

To water those seeds, you may want to listen to the Metta Chant from Upaya Zen posted on the wavesandwater.org website under RESOURCES

http://wavesandwater.org/site/resources/metta-chant-from-upaya/

The brief note from Sr Chan Khong to the community is here: http://deerparkmonastery.org/events/message-from-sr-chan-khong-regarding-our-brothers-death

Peace to Brother Phap Kinh, may he continue beautifully in all of us.

On Saturday, January 21, from 1:30-3:30, a few folk will be gathering at the meditation hall to learn and practice the small bell and big bell used for sitting and walking meditation as well as for the Five Mindfulness Training Recitation Ceremony. EVERYONE interested in bells and chanting is welcome! No one attending this gathering will be asked to sound bells or lead chants during Sangha unless they are comfortable!

Those who attend the first gathering will be able to attend follow-up gatherings as well as we gradually become more confident in our practice and move toward sharing our practice with the Sangha.

If you cannot attend the first gathering but are really interested, let Bethan know at wwsangha [at] gmail [dot] com and we will see what we can work out!

Waves and Water Sangha will hold a Day of Mindfulness on Saturday, February 11, in our Thursday Night meditation hall.

We will begin at 10:00 – please arrive by 9:50 so we can begin with the bell! And we will finish close to 3:45. PLEASE BRING A BAG LUNCH. There will be tea!

We will practice sitting and walking and eating meditation. We will practice deep relaxation. And our Dharma study will focus on TAKING REFUGE. What does it mean to us, personally, when we chant “I take refuge in the Buddha. . . . the Dharma. . . . the Sangha” at the end of the Five Mindfulness Trainings Recitation Ceremony? We will look closely at the words of the chant, practice chanting it together and then share in Dharma discussion.

Please let us know if you are planning to attend – everyone is welcome!

Check www.wavesandwater.org for directions and more information about the Sangha. If you would like to get these kinds of e-mails from Waves and Water Sangha please SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL on the home page.

The North Shore Mindfulness Community will host a Day of Mindfulness on Sunday, January 22 from 10:00 to 3:30. It will include a potluck lunch.

Please RSVP to janbob835@hotmail.com Janice and Bob are available for responses and questions right now but  they will be on retreat just before January 22 and would appreciate an early response.

Waves and Water Sangha has a blog attached to the website. We’re not sure what will happen here – but we can begin by thanking Bethan’s son, Jacob Zimmer.

He sat with Bethan first on Skype to discuss what was involved in the process. Then, they worked together at his dining room table in Toronto as he communicated with the site administrator about an early problem and did some of the structural work before teaching Bethan some of the development and maintenance work. Thank you, Jacob!