MHBS will be participating in the National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 5, 20l6
at Noon at the Four Freedom Monument. There will be a reading by Mary McManus.
The Sangha has participated in this event for several years. The program will
be over by 1 PM in consideration for those who must return to work.

MHBS will be participating at the Festival Of Faiths at the University of Evansville
Saturday, April 30, 2016 from 10 AM until 4 PM. The location is in the Ridgeway
University Center on Walnut. The event will be in Eykamp Hall on the 2nd Floor.

All participants of MHBS & their family members are invited, please bring your children for the story telling events. Cookies, & Lemonade will be served.

Sunday evening, May 1, Festival of Faiths events will end with a service
at Neu Chapel at 7 PM. All are invited to attend this service too. There
will be the usual sitting at MHBS at 6 PM as well.

Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha will be celebrating Vesak on Sunday May 15. Vesak is one of the most significant Buddhist holidays. It is celebrated on (or near) the first full moon of May each year to commemorate the Buddha’s’ birth, awakening and death, all of which are reported to have occurred during the first full moon of May. Each year our Sangha uses this event as a chance to offer the opportunity for those interested to publicly take (or retake) Refuge in the Three Jewels and the Five Precepts. Since those who will be taking precepts will receive a commemorative certificate, please either notify one of the leaders or message the Sangha with your intention to participate in the ceremony by May 1 so that we can have the names for the certificates. If you have any questions about taking the precepts or what that entails please ask one of the leaders or contact the Sangha so that we can arrange to talk further about it.

Following the ceremony we will have a vegetarian pot luck. Please feel free to bring a dish or dessert. Also during Vesak it is customary to place fresh flowers around the Buddha, so feel free to bring flowers to be placed around our statue. Please arrive between 5:30 and 6 for the set-up of food items. The ceremony will start at 6 with food and socialization afterwards. We hope you can join us.

Further resources on Zen/koan study

Several people at the recent retreat requested further information on the Zen lineage with which Jisho and I are associated, as well as further resources on koan practice. The organization with which we study is the Five Mountain Zen order (FMZO). Their web site is:

http://www.fmzo.org/

Jisho’s wesite (Dr. Richard Sears) is:

Front Page

Two books that provide a beginning discussion of koans and the context of koan practice are the following:

Ten Gates: the Kong-An Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn

Elegant Failure: A Guide to Zen Koans by Richard Shrobe

Thanks to everyone for making the retreat great!

Many bows,

Ryongwan Karuna

Practicing Zen in the 21st Century Retreat March 11-13

Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha will be sponsoring a retreat with Zen teacher Dr. Richard Sears (Venerable Jishou Dharma) March 11-13. Dr. Sears will be teaching on the subject of “Practicing Zen in the 21st Century”. This will be a nonresidential retreat. During these days of training there will be periods of sitting, walking, and eating meditation, the opportunity to participate in teacher interviews, and engage in koan practice. Lunch and dinner will be provided on the 12th and lunch only on the 13th. If you would like to attend but cannot attend all of the sessions, you are still welcome. If the cost is prohibitive, please let us know. Scholarships are available.

Click here for a biography of Dr. Sears and a short description of the retreat.

WHEN AND WHERE
On the evening of Friday March 11 at 7PM there will be a reception and public talk by Dr. Sears at Mindful Heart’s meditation hall.

On Saturday March 12th from 9am until 9pm the retreat will be at Willow Pond Retreat Center near Oakland City, Indiana.

On Sunday March 13th the retreat will again be at Willow Pond and will begin at 9am and conclude at 2pm after lunch. Note that Sunday morning we will be on Daylight Savings Time. Carpooling can be arranged between the Evansville meditation hall and Willow Pond for Saturday and Sunday. See attachment for driving directions. GPS does not always locate this place!

COST
The cost is $25 and will be paid at the time of registration. In addition to that, each person is invited to give dana to the teacher at the end of the retreat AND each retreatant will be asked to bring a food contribution for one of the three meals.

Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha will be holding its Annual Meeting for all Sangha Members on Sunday, February 28th, at 6pm in the Meditation Hall. There will be a short sitting followed by the State of the Sangha talk and the introduction of the new Board of Directors. We will then have a potluck and socializing. Please bring a snack or vegetarian dish. Drinks will be provided. Come and join us!

Fr. Henry Kuykendall at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church on Frame Road in Newburgh, IN is hosting a special Lenten program on Sacred Journeys. On Tuesday, March 1, 2016 @ 1:00 PM the topic will be on Buddhism and the Sangha has been asked to participate. Dhamma leaders Mary Lee MacManus and John Paulson will be speaking and answering questons on behalf of the sangha. All members of the sangha are invited to attend.

Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha will be holding its Annual Meeting for all Sangha Members on Sunday, February 28th, at 6pm in the Meditation Hall. There will be a short sitting followed by the State of the Sangha talk and introduction of the new Board of Directors.  Please bring a snack or vegetarian dish. Drinks will be provided. Come and join us!