News & Events

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We Are Called Forward – A Practice from ARISE Sangha

Dear Beloved Community,

Meeting suffering where it is – a path to freedom.

Centering the lives of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)  in our practices meets the suffering where it is and offers a path to freedom.  ARISE full-heartedly supports the “Five Mindfulness Trainings, New Paradigm for Racial Justice and the Global Pandemic,” an offering by Marisela Gomez and Valerie Brown.ARISE encourages all Plum Village practitioners to read and practice these Five Mindfulness Trainings.  We invite you and your Sanghas to read, study, and practice them.

A deep bow,
ARISE Sangha
Awakening Through Race, Intersectionality and Social Equity

Five Mindfulness Trainings, New Paradigm For Racial Justice and the Global Pandemic                                                  

Marisela Gomez and Valerie Brown

Let us open to a new and deeper way of understanding the Five Mindfulness Trainings, guiding principles for mindful and ethical living, which call us toward individual and collective awakening, compassion, and peace. We are aware that we are interconnected. What happens in Wuhan, China affects people in New York City. We are called forward. 

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21-Day Workout: Sangha Body Building

Dear Respected Thay, Dear Community,

As a community of deeply caring and engaged people, a commonly heard struggle is how to keep stretching our bandwidth to an ever-increasing set of fundamental issues that urgently need attention, wise attention.  Our sangha practice provides a container, energy, support and collaboration to skillfully stretch our bandwidths.

Sugarplum Sangha wants to invite you to partake of any and all practices for our online offerings to bolster the mahasangha. This is our third 21 day retreat, held from June 7-28.

We chose the name during lighter times, “21 day workout: Sangha Body Building”.  In this moment, it seems so light hearted.  Our offering is to be able to go deep and maintain our grasp on joy/happiness, holding those in our two hands.

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Next Vacaville Day of Mindfulness: July 11

Dear Sangha Friends, 

    Best of these days for all beings.
    With consideration for causes and conditions, we will not be gathering this Saturday, May 30th, at Vacaville Wisdom Meditation School.
    Our next scheduled Day of Mindfulness is July 11th.      Should situations then preclude gathering in person, some alternative will be offered so that we may continue sharing these events.

Beneficial Journeys,

John Salerno-White 
Chân Địa An  
(True Peace on Earth)
John Salerno-White lotusforyou@comcast.net

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Heart Sangha Sutra Class

Here is the information regarding an upcoming online sutra study class (co-taught by Dharma Teacher Jim Scott-Behrends)
Please share with your Sanghas.
Participants are not required to attend the whole course.

Awakening of the Heart

A series of courses in the essential Buddhist Sutras

Course One: The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing

Jim Scott-Behrends will teach this 8-week course with Co-Host Zachiah Murray (Order of Interbeing Member). Our ZOOM class will begin with ten minutes of silent sitting followed by an exploration of the sutra and Dharma discussion. This sutra provides the basic path into the heart of the Buddha’s teaching.

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Homeward Bound: Virtual Retreat May 22-25

an online Retreat with Sugarplum Sangha

May 22 – 25
online and at home
suggested donation: $25 -$100

Co-creating a retreat at home over Memorial Weekend and connecting with friends on the path in new and creative ways. In this online retreat, we’ll enjoy:

  • Core Plum Village practices including: sitting, walking, working and eating meditation.
  • Live dharma talks on bringing meditation to life at home and cultivating resilience to adversity
  • Dharma Sharing to learn from and support each other
  • Chanting and songs to enjoy voices in unison and touch deep aspiration
  • Interplay and art to share our insight creatively and spontaneously
  • Beginning Anew Bingo – a fun game to nourish relationships
  • Five Mindfulness Trainings Adventure to explore and embody the Bodhisattva path

The retreat will be a combination of practicing together online and going forth right away into our homes to apply what we learn to living with kindness and freedom during this time of social distancing. The practices are facilitated by Plum Village Dharma Teachers, Order of Interbeing members, and experienced Sugarplum Sangha practitioners.

For more information, see https://www.sugarplumsangha.org/homeward-info

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Online practice opportunities during shelter in place

During shelter in place, many sanghas have created online practice opportunities to replace their in-person meetings.

There are now so many opportunities for practice via Zoom (and other tools) that it became clear we needed shared document to keep track of them all.

This document is organized in three sections: sanghas/meetups that happen every day, sanghas that meet weekly, and additional resources / classes / days of mindfulness.

To access the document, click the link below.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jsE-EzwugmLflb_TjBb2t1HhK300Y-OuzICwcl9IjDg/edit#