Wednesday 31 May 2017

Next 3 weeks at Sangha - meditation and discussion

Hi all.

The next few weeks at Beaches Sangha we'll be meditating together, then discussing whatever arises in the group. I won't send out posts for these weeks, since they'll all be the same.

Here's a picture to make you feel warm.



I hope to see you there.
LL

Monday 22 May 2017

This week @ Beaches Sangha - Gawaine



Hi guys.

This week @ Beaches Sangha we will have Gawaine Powell-Davies coming to give a talk called 'Being Responsible'. I'll be interstate this week, but I hope you'll be able to come along and enjoy the talk.

Monday 8 May 2017

A thought about sangha


Hi all.

In addition to my weekly update, I'd like to also say a word about sangha in the colder (non-daylight savings) months. 

Often what we find during this part of the year is that people can find it a bit hard to leave the comfort of their warm homes to come out for the evening, and we find that the group shrinks a bit. 

Small groups are in fact nice in some ways, as we tend to have quite lovely discussions. However the down side is that I feel a bit bad for the teachers who come to join us, sometimes traveling quite a distance to get here. 

Since daylight savings ended, we've had the usual shrinkage. To roll with this, we are going to have a bit more of an unstructured program through the darker months (May-Oct) where we may not always have an organised talk.

Our group is not, and will never be one that obliges people to come. Our practice is one driven by personal commitment and value, with no levers pulled or guilt trips administered if people don't turn up. We're not about to change that, and so having a looser program during this period seems the best way to adapt to changing patterns of attendance. 

At the same time, I'd also like to say a few words about the nature of sangha. Like everything, it is a dependent arising...that is, it only exists due to the arising of certain conditions. The most important condition is that people are moved to participate. There is a yin and a yang of participation in community (sangha). It contributes to our lives, but it can only do that if we also contribute to its life.

And remember....we have nice heaters :)
Warmly
Lenore

This week @ Beaches - One Page Dharma



This week at Beaches Sangha I'll be giving my yearly talk called 'One Page Dharma'. This is where I attempt to give an overview of the core teachings of the Buddha in one session. I have a one page hand out that I will bring for you - hence the name of the talk. 

This is a good session to come to both for newies who'd like a sense of the big picture, and for those of us who've been doing the dharma for a bit, because repetition is an important part of learning.

I hope to see you there.
Lenore

Monday 1 May 2017

This week @ Beaches - poetry night



This week @ Beaches Sangha we are having poetry night. Bring along a poem that you find inspiring or moving or thought provoking and that is dharmic in some way. It can be one you've written yourself or from another poet. Given that the dharma is about the human experience, it shouldn't be hard to find the dharma in most poetry.

Hope to see you there.
LL