News & Events

from Jo-ann Rosen

Solstice   7:00 a.m. pdt. June 21, 2020

Dear Community, 

So many are asking now, “WHAT CAN WE DO?”  

One big step is to commit to a life guided by fierce, compassionate, and wise principles.  We offer this guidance in our Five Mindfulness Trainings. 

The Sugarplum Sangha at Mariposa Institute is offering the opportunity to explore and to commit to these trainings during our upcoming 21-day retreat from June 7-28. Those interested in the trainings are not required to attend the retreat; they can participate solely in one or both the following offerings:

1.     Those wanting to explore and discuss the trainings may do so with Dharma Teacher Karen Hilsberg, in two sessions: Thursdays June 11 and 18, 5:00 – 6:00 PM PDT

2.     Those interested in making the commitment to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, or in renewing their commitment, may do so during our formal ceremony, scheduled for the Summer Solstice: June 21, 7:00 AM PDT.  All community members welcome to join, space is limited to 100, those receiving the trainings will have priority.

The Venerable Thich Tu Luc, transmission master for Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, will be presiding over the ceremony. Monks, Nuns and Lay Dharma Teachers of the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism will also be in attendance. You are also welcome to witness and support the community of aspirants during this ceremony.

The ceremony is offered as a gift. Any donations will be given to the Hayward Compassion Meditation Center. 

To join the Ceremony or discussion simply go to:

https://retreat.sugarplumsangha.org/courses/5-mindfulness-trainings

from Sister HaiAn

Sunday, June 14th, 8am-10am Pacific/11am-1pm Eastern

Join Kaira Jewel Lingo and Sr. Hai An in this two-hour, online Zoom event to mindfully honor Juneteenth – the historical moment when Union soldiers announced the end of slavery in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. We will reflect on the history of Juneteenth and the legacy of slavery in light of the pandemic and offer space to grieve the recent murders/lynchings of African Americans. The facilitators are a biracial woman of African descent and a white woman. Through guided meditation and discussion in identity groups, we will practice mindfully opening to our pain so that we may heal our ancestors and ourselves, and move toward compassion and justice for all. 

We welcome people of all racial identities to explore how this historical legacy of slavery and it’s transformation impacts all of us and how we can take part in racial healing. 

Please register in advance using this link so that we can prepare the breakout groups according to your self-identified racial identity. This information will be kept private and used only for the purposes of this call. The call will begin and close together with the middle divide into separate groups for BIPOC and white folks.

The Zoom call information will be sent to you after you register.

For full details visit:

Kairajewel.com or Facebook

There is no fee for this event. You are invited to offer a donation to support the teachers/facilitators via PayPal https://www.paypal.me/KairaLingo or Venmo (@Kaira-Lingo).

sr haian

from Kenley Neufeld

Sunday, June 7, 2020

It is with a heavy heart and a fair amount of anger that I write to you today. While maintaining my quarantine, I am doing what I can do raise the voices of those unheard. To write. To listen. And be a little indignant.

With a bit of surprise, we had planned to have Keith serve as the facilitator in June. He is a member of the Still Water Sangha in St. Paul and has previously participated with the Blooming Heart Sangha in Minneapolis. It feels like a gift that he leads on Sunday.

Please join Order of Interbeing Members and Aspirants in our monthly recitation of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings. This event takes place on the 1st Sunday of each month at 6:30am (Pacific Time).

Continue reading “This Sunday: Recitation of the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings + ARISE 5 Mindfulness Trainings”

from John Bell and Augusta Hopkins

June 10   

To my white friends in the practice, like me, I’m sure you were sickened by the callous killing of George Floyd, only the most recent. Alternating waves of anger, grief, feelings of powerlessness, sometimes numbness, and resolve have been flowing through me.

Black friends tell me that what they want from white people is mainly two things–for us to show up for racial justice, and to do racial education and healing work among ourselves and with our fellow white folks. This is our invitation and our spiritual challenge. This is Dharma work. The Dharma doesn’t promise comfort but it does promise liberation.

One step is to recognize and embrace the range of emotions inside.  I find this is best done with the care and support of others. Over the years in various settings, I have facilitated white awareness/eliminating white racism work with white people, including myself. Just this week I published a piece in *Medium* called “Honor and Relief in Healing Our White Racism
<https://medium.com/@jbellminder/honor-and-relief-in-healing-our-white-racism-cdf020408335>” which will fill in the back story if you wish to read it.

I would like to invite all Plum Village practitioners who identify as white to join together for a 90 minute *“Deep Listening Circle on Healing Our White Racism.”*  We will explore our suffering, upset, broken-heartedness around race in a safe setting, and separate from our friends of color. We will practice deep listening in pairs, small dharma sharing groups, and
whole group reflections.  Obviously, 90 minutes is a beginning but insufficient time, so there will be an optional continuation of these Deep Listening Circles for those who wish.

Continue reading “Invitation to a Deep Listening Circle for Healing Our White Racism”

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. 

Continue reading “We Are Called Forward – A Practice from ARISE Sangha”

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.

Continue reading “Heart Sangha Sutra Class”