The intention of Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha is to support individual growth to achieve freedom of the mind. We follow a Theravada tradition, practice primarily Vipassana Insight meditation, and welcome people of all spiritual paths.
Vesak and Mary MacGregor memorial service
Vesak, often referred to as Buddha Day, occurs on the first full moon of May. This holiday celebrates the life (the birth, awakening, and death) of the Buddha. Our Vesak celebration will be on Sunday May 19, at 5:00 PM.
The evening will begin with a potluck dinner. Bring a vegetarian dish or treat to share. Water and tea will be provided. Please join us even if you cannot bring food, as there is always enough to share. Following the meal there will be a discussion of the Buddha’s awakening. The evening also offers the opportunity for individuals to take precepts. Taking precepts is a public ceremony that allows one to express their willingness and intent to work with the teachings and practices of the Buddha.
Finally we will have a memorial service for our founder and primary teacher, Mary MacGregor. There will be metta, chanting, brief meditations, readings, and an opportunity to share memories of Mary.
A common Vesak practice is to offer flowers, which are placed near the statue of the Buddha. An offering of flowers would also be appropriate for Mary’s memorial ceremony. Please feel free to bring flowers if you choose.
Please join us. We look forward to celebrating with you!
Mary MacGregor
Mary MacGregor, our founder and principal teacher for many years, has passed away after a long illness. More information can be found on the Ziemer Funeral Home website. We will have a ceremony at the Sangha’s meditation center to honor Mary in the future. We will post more about that soon.
Annual Potluck and Fundraiser April 14
Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha will be having our annual Potluck and Fundraiser for Buddhist Global Relief on Sunday April 14th at 5 pm. Buddhist Global Relief is an international aid organization founded by the renowned translator of Buddhist texts, Bhikkhu Bhodhi. It provides training and food aid aimed at helping people to rise out of poverty. The Potluck and Fundraiser will begin at 5 pm. Bring a vegetarian dish or treat to share. The fundraiser will feature a silent auction with a number of Buddhist crafts and other items. All proceeds will go to Buddhist Global Relief. Donations to BGR will also be accepted at the event and can be made on our online donation link. If you would like to donate an item for the silent auction, please reach out to one of the board members at mindfulheart@gmail.com or bring it in to the Sangha. Your help is greatly appreciated.
More information for the Buddhist Global Relief can be found here:
https://www.buddhistglobalrelief.org
Meditation on Easter Sunday
We will be having our regular meditation at 6 pm on Easter Sunday, March 31.
No regular meditation on Christmas Eve
There will be no meditation on Sunday December 24th at the meditation hall. Instead take three deep breaths and enjoy a silent minute enjoying your surroundings and those who you are with. Merry Christmas!
Upcoming Insight Meditation Retreat: “Transforming the Judgmental Mind, Cultivating the Wise Heart”
A weekend residential insight meditation retreat with Donald Rothberg
Friday, May 31–Sunday, June 2, 2024, Evansville, Indiana
Judgments of a reactive and often automatic nature are very strong in most of our lives and in the dominant culture. They can distort our perceptions, make relationships with others difficult, and undermine our work in the world. In this weekend residential retreat, we will explore the nature of such judgments (and their difference from non-reactive discernment) and how to transform them. We will cultivate mindfulness, inquiry, and heart practices such as loving kindness, forgiveness, and compassion. We will also explore the somatic and social dimensions of judgments and the role of cultivating awakened qualities in transforming judgments. These tools will help us to preserve the intelligence and energy often found in judgments, using them for discernment and compassionate action, while working through judgments’ destructive and compulsive aspects, that often rest on unconscious or unexamined limiting beliefs. This retreat will include sitting and walking meditation, including instructions for several guided practices, talks and group discussion, and some basic movement practices, all in the context of a small, supportive community.
Donald Rothberg, Ph.D., is a member of the Teachers Council at Spirit Rock Center, a guiding teacher for the Marin Sangha, and a regular teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California, the Southern Dharma Retreat Center, Insight LA, and New York Insight. He teaches retreats and groups on concentration and insight meditation practice, loving kindness practice, transforming the judgmental mind, mindful communication, working skillfully with conflict, and socially engaged Buddhism. He has practiced insight meditation since 1976 and has also received training in Tibetan Dzogchen, body-based psychotherapy, and trauma work. He has helped guide many six-month to two-year training programs in socially engaged spirituality, both Buddhist-based and interfaith, and is the author of The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World and the co-editor of Ken Wilber in Dialogue.
Registration: All openings for this retreat have been filled.
Check-in and registration begins at 5:30 pm on Friday May 31, and the retreat starts at 7:30 pm. The retreat ends at 4 pm on Sunday June 2. The $200 price for the retreat includes a private room with bathroom and shower, and 3 meals on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday.
The retreat will be held at Sarto Retreat Center, which is located at 4200 Kentucky Avenue, Evansville, Indiana 47711. Located on 54 acres on Evansville’s north side, Sarto Retreat Center has 55 Guest rooms, walking grounds, a wooded area, and adequate safe parking. The retreat center is handicapped accessible.
Mailing Address:
Rothberg Retreat
c/o Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha
Bradford Park Office Complex
600 N Weinbach Ave, Suite 220
Evansville, IN 47711
For more information, email mindfulheart@gmail.com.
Save the Date: Residential Insight Meditation Retreat with Donald Rothberg, May 31 – June 2
Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha is hosting a residential Insight Meditation retreat May 31 through June 2 at Sarto Retreat House in Evansville, Indiana. Renowned meditation teacher Donald Rothberg will lead the retreat, and the theme will be “Transforming the Judgmental Mind, Cultivating the Wise Heart”. The cost will be between $200 to $250. More information will be posted soon.
Sangha Picnic at Wesselman Park, Oct 22, 4:30 pm
Please join us for a potluck picnic at Wesselman Park on Sunday October 22 from 4:30 pm until 8:00 pm. We will be in Shelter House #2 North….that’s the one that faces the tennis courts. All are welcome. Please bring a vegetarian dish to share and your own non-alcoholic drinks. The sangha will supply plates, napkins, cups, knives/forks/spoons, and water. At 6:00 pm we will build a fire in the fireplace and have a 40 minute sitting meditation. Bring lawn chairs to use for the meditation. We look forward to seeing you there!
Because of the picnic there will not be the usual meditation at the meditation hall.
Tibetan Monks at Mindful Heart Sunday August 27 at 6pm
Tibetan monks from Tashi Kyil monastery will be at Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha on Sunday August 27 at our usual meditation time. The monks will lead meditation and will give a dhamma talk. Following the talk there will be time for a question and answer session. There will be tea, lemonade, and cookies to end the evening. If you would like you may make a donation to the monastery. Please join us.
Memorial Ceremony for Mike Joest, Sunday July 23 6pm
Please join us for a Memorial Ceremony for Mike Joest, the President of our Board of Directors, who passed away on Wednesday July 12 after a long struggle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. The ceremony will be on Sunday July 23 at 6 pm. The ceremony will include some chanting and a short meditation, and will be followed by tea and cookies. Please bring a stem of flowers as an offering.
Here is a link to Mike’s obituary: https://www.boonefuneralhome.net/obituary/Michael-Joest?fbclid=IwAR34im80ZEpYi99iefY1qerrhnDBIkh7KP7oymL9xb7y1_55_zZpwxYW-r0#obituary
If you wish, you may make a donation to the American Cancer Society in Mike’s memory at this link: https://www.cancer.org/donate/memorial-giving.html
The ceremony will be in place of our regular Sunday meditation.