Tibetan monks from Tashi Kyil monastery will be giving a blessing at Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha meditation hall on Thursday September 10th after our 6pm meditation. The blessing ceremony will begin between 7 and 7:30. All are welcome.
Metta.

Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Unitarians, and Humanists in our community have been working together with Habitat for Humanity of Evansville to organize a yearly Interfaith Build. It is a great way to provide a good home to a local family and at the same time build a strong interfaith Evansville community. At this time Habitat is recruiting people to sign up online to help with the actual building of this Interfaith home for Aireal Hall and her daughter, Olivia.

To learn more and to volunteer, click here: 2015 Interfaith Build. All of the sign-ups take place online.

No special construction skills needed, Habitat’s wonderful Core Crew will guide and help. If you have questions or have trouble with the online sign-up , you can contact Andrea Ward at 812-423-5623, Ext. 33 or award@evanvillehabitat.org.

Please join us for our annual Buddha’s Birthday celebration on Sunday May 3rd. Vesak, the annual celebration of the birth and enlightenment of the Buddha, is celebrated on a full moon in the fifth or sixth lunar month. The actual Vesak day this year is Monday June 1st. The full moon in May is Sunday May 3rd so we are celebrating then. Doors open at 5:00pm. We will have a vegetarian potluck beginning at 5:30pm. Following the meal there will be a short presentation on the life of the Buddha. Finally there will be a Precepts Ceremony. Anyone who wishes to take the precepts, please contact a Dhamma Leader or Board Member or notify us via email or call (812) 434-6643. Please bring a vegetarian dish or dessert. Also it is customary to bring flowers to honor the Buddha at this ceremony.

I could not lie anymore,
So I called my dog God
First he looked confused.

Then he started smiling; then he even danced.

I kept at it; now he doesn’t even bite.

I am wondering if this might work on people?
— Sant Tukaram (1602-1649)

The lie – seeing things as separate. Everything is made out of the same substance. We are the other. Some say it as “we are manifestations of the Universe, of the Tao, of the Divine.” Others say “there is that of God in all beings.” So he began “calling his dog” by his true name, that of which he is a manifestation. More importantly, he began treating his dog that way.

What do you see in the other? Do you see what is different – or what is the same?
What do you react to – the difference or the similarity?

Path to Freedom Internet Course:
Based principally on the Buddha’s teachings, this Training Program is an intense training filled with teachings and practices. Its challenge to the student is to see through his/ her existing beliefs and views. What’s left is an open heart.

This Course is structured around Dogen’s quote:
To study Buddhism is to study the self.
To study the self is to forget the self.
To forget the self is to find enlightenment in the ten thousand things.

Studying the self: Contemplations cover topics including: cultivating skillful mind states such as gratitude, generosity, patience, and compassion; working effectively with fear and other afflictive emotions; and developing equanimity with the process of aging, illness, and death.

Forgetting the self includes training based upon the practice of insight meditation with sections covering mindful awareness of the body, feelings, states of consciousness, and cognitive processes.

The whole program is about opening the heart. The last few months focus on Non-Duality and Freedom.

More information on the website: www.ChelseaMeditation.com/Internet.html
If possible, please let me know of your interest by April 22nd. Commitment date – June 15

We will be open for meditation at 6:00 PM Easter Sunday. All are welcome.

The Recurring Theme of Buddhism
by Peter Miller

growing up, sickness, death;
grown up, sickness, death;
growing old, sickness, death;
So, clearly there are no surprises;
Consciousness is a superhighway to a dead end.

Metta.

Jan Carter, Mary Lee MacManus, and Amy Miller have completed a Two Year Dhamma Leader Training with Carol Blotter. This is a terrific accomplishment and their dedication enriches the sangha. The photo shows the graduating class, however Amy could not make it to the final retreat where the photo was taken. Congratulations and much Metta!

Patience is one of the most important virtues for developing mindfulness and concentration. Patience is forged by constantly meeting the edge. If you stay with your meditation practice, it is inevitable that difficulties will arise. In most challenging situations, merely showing up, being present, may be all that is possible–and that may be enough.
– Depa Ma