Starting April 23rd, we will begin a new book, Small Boat, Great Mountain by Amaro Bhikkhu to cultivate wisdom and guide Dhamma talks. The book is freely available as a PDF and can be accessed at
https://www.abhayagiri.org/media/books/amaro_small_boat_great_mountain.pdf
Please join us virtually for meditation and discussion. May we continue to support and be supported by each other.
We are now having online meditations, Thursdays and Sundays at 6 pm. Please contact Tom Ballard at tom.ballard.56@gmail.com or Bill Wilding at bwilding@usi.edu for information about how to attend. Much metta to you all.
Unfortunately, our May 2020 retreat with Donald Rothberg will have to be canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We are disappointed but feel that it is definitely the right and responsible thing to do. Furthermore, the Sarto retreat center is being used to house local homeless people exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms, a higher purpose in these times I’m sure. MHBS is deeply appreciative of your commitment to deepen your practice with us, and look forward to future opportunities.
As a precaution, we will be cancelling regular sits until further notice. We will keep everyone posted with any updates.
In such uncertain and stressful times, it is important for us all to take this moment to deepen our individual practice. May we all find peace and calm.
In this time of uncertainty, may you find peace and ease. Remember your practice. Meditation helps us to find calm.
We will be having our regularly scheduled meditations. 6 pm on Sundays and 6 pm on Thursdays.
Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha will be having our third annual Potluck and Fundraiser for Buddhist Global Relief on Sunday March 8th 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 handmade crafts and other items, including: Books, homemade sweets, Himalayan wool socks, and, rumor has it, there is a volunteer for a pie in the face. 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.
Please join us for this night of fun for a good cause. The regular sitting meditation will not occur on this night but there will be moments of mindfulness during this event.
More information for the Buddhist Global Relief can be found here:
https://www.buddhistglobalrelief.org
The Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha is happy to have Donald Rothberg leading our spring 2020 weekend retreat. The topic will be Cultivating the Wise Heart: Practicing the “Divine Abodes” (Lovingkindness, Compassion, Joy, Equanimity).
The Divine Abodes (Brahmaviharas) of loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, are the places of the open, awakened heart. In this retreat, on the foundation of mindfulness, we will learn the formal practices of loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. We will also offer guidance for bringing these practices into daily life, including in challenging situations. All of these practices strengthen clear seeing and wisdom, self-confidence, self-acceptance, generosity of spirit, steadiness of mind and heart, and skillful action, revealing our fundamental kindness and wisdom, in a culture in which heart and mind are often disconnected. The retreat will generally alternate silent sitting meditation and walking meditation. Core instructions in the different practices will be offered, along with talks, discussion, and brief daily guided movement sessions.
Vegetarian meals will be prepared by Common Ground Kitchen, which specializes in vegetarian and vegan cooking, and will include breakfast, lunch, and dinner Saturday. Breakfast and lunch on Sunday.
The cost for the retreat will be $185 and will include meals and private room with a private bathroom. Please return registration form, teacher questionnaire, and the $185 fee to the Dana box at MHBS or mail to Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha, 600 N. Weinbach Ave. #220, Evansville, In. 47711. Registration deadline is April 1, 2020. Scholarships are available.
For more information, contact: Michael Joest at md2113@wowway.com
Donald Rothberg, Ph.D., is a member of the Teachers Council at Spirit Rock in northern California. He has practiced Insight Meditation since 1976 and received training in Tibetan Dzogchen practice and the Hakomi approach to body-based psychotherapy.
Formerly on the faculties of the University of Kentucky, Kenyon College, and Saybrook University, he has helped to guide training programs in socially engaged spirituality through the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Saybrook, and Spirit Rock.
Donald is the co-editor of Ken Wilber in Dialogue: Conversations with Leading Transpersonal Thinkers and is the author of The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World.
Sunday, March 8th, we will have our 3rd annual fundraiser for Buddhist Global Relief. We will be having a potluck as well as a silent auction. If you have any items you would like to donate, please reach out to the sangha at mindfulheart@gmail.com or bring them to the sangha. Handmade items, Buddhist related materials, and bakery items are among a few suggestions. Online donations can be made through our Donate link. All proceeds will go to Buddhist Global Relief. The last couple of years have been a great success and we look forward to another wonderful fundraiser. Your help is greatly appreciated.
Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha will be holding its Annual Meeting and Potluck for all sangha members on Sunday, February 16, at 6 pm in the Meditation Hall. We will enjoy our meal and socializing first and around 7:00 there will be a short sit followed by the State of the Sangha talk and the introduction of the new Board of Directors. Please bring a vegetarian dish, snack, or dessert to share. Water and hot tea will be provided. Come and join us!
A gatha is a short poem or song that is committed to memory. When Mary MacGregor was at Plum Village, France, she sang these songs over and over again. So simply by use of the poems they would arise to consciousness. Thich Nhat Hanh wrote the poems and one of the nuns put them to music.
This New Year’s Eve, Mary will lead meditation from 6:00 until 8:00 pm at Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha. The focus will be on Thich Nhat Hahn’s gathas which help mindfulness.