Monday 29 February 2016

This week @ Beaches: One-page-dharma



Hi all.

This week at Beaches Sangha, I'll be doing my talk called One-Page-Dharma. It's a talk I give each year where I attempt to summarise the core teachings of the Buddha, including a few of his key lists. 

It's a good talk for people who are new-ish to the dharma but it's also a good refresher for those who've been around for a while - a chance to see whether more of it is feeling familiar now, or maybe where there are still some confusions. It's also a good way to get a feel for how the other topics throughout the year hang together - how they are relevant to the dharma.

We've been getting some lovely weather and lots of meditations on the deck. I hope to see you there.

LL

Tuesday 23 February 2016

This week @ Beaches Sangha - Dependent Arising


Hi all.

This week at Beaches, Jampa is going to give a talk on a topic that is absolutely central to the dharma (teachings of the Buddha). In fact, the Buddha said that if you truly see it, you see the dharma. That topic is 'dependent arising' and refers to the way every single thing, every single experience, is the product of other causes and conditions coming together. You might think 'yeah, so what?'...well, the 'so-what' is quite profound.

Hope to see you there.
LL

Tuesday 16 February 2016

This week @ Sangha...our regular unusual Christian Minister

Hi all. 

Each year for the past few years we've had the pleasure of Michael Barnes coming to give us a talk and discussion. Michael is a Christian minister, only he kind of doesn't really believe in God...well the kind of God most Christians believe in anyway. 

You'll probably gather from that introduction that he's a rather unusual Christian Minister. His talks are always stimulating and the discussions likewise. I hope you can join us for this year's talk:

'Looking Again at the Garden of Eden Story: The Emergence of Consciousness of Self'

Hope to see you on Thursday night....and yep, we'll be sure to ask him about his attire in this photo (amazing what you find on Google Images isn't it?!)



LL    
                         

Monday 8 February 2016

This week @ Sangha - Letting go of Reactivity


Hi all.

This week at Beaches Sangha we're going to be listening to a podcast by Stephen Batchelor, or 'the Bat Man' as some of us affectionately call him. Stephen is the unofficial lead bush basher of the Secular Buddhist movement. He's an Englishman who's been both a Tibetan and Korean Zen monk, but disrobed many years ago. He actually made a guest appearance in 2014 which was terrific.

Stephen's talks are always engaging, stimulating and educational. I've listened to this one a couple of times already and am looking forward to giving it another run. It's a 40 min talk, so feel free to bring yoga mats, rugs or cushions to sit/lie on while we listen. We'll then have a discussion.

Hope to see you there.
LL

Wednesday 3 February 2016

This week @ Sangha - hearing meditation



Hi all.

This week at Beaches, Betsy is going to run a session on using sound as a focus for meditation. She's also happy to address any questions people have about meditation generally.

The hope is that we'll be able to do this session outside, so please bring a yoga mat to sit or lie on if you have one. Don't let the forecast scare you off...even though there's rain forecast, it's expected to clear up in the afternoon. If Google weather is wrong, we'll do it inside.

I hope to see you there.
LL