Tuesday 30 January 2018

This week @ Beaches Sangha - sutta study



Hi all

This week at Beaches Sangha, the long promised sutta study begins. The suttas in the Pali canon are the most original version of the Buddha's teachings. If we want to adapt the teachings to our own place and time, we need to know what they were from the most original, least tampered-with source.

Over the next 18 months or so we'll be working or way through The Basic Teachings of the Buddha by Glenn Wallis which contains 16 suttas that he believes are core to the dharma. This week we'll start with the Introduction which frames these suttas in some important ways.

If you'd like to join in, please make sure you've read the introductory chapter ready for discussion on Thursday night.

I hope to see you there.
LL

Tuesday 23 January 2018

This week @ Sangha - haiku meditation


Hi all.

This week
This week @ Beaches Sangha, Selena will be leading a session on haiku poetry. This year we wanted to explore some creative and fun ways of attending to the world around and inside of us (meditating), and this is one of them. Bring along a notebook and pen and you can even have a go at it yourself if you'd like.

Next week - sutta study begins
Also, a final reminder that sutta study starts next week. If you'd like to participate, please get yourself a copy of the book The Basic Teachings of the Buddha by Glenn Wallis, and read the Introduction in preparation for next week.

I hope to see you Thursday.
LL

Monday 15 January 2018

This week @ Sangha + preparation for sutta study


Hi all.

Listening meditation last week was a terrific start to the year. We even had some impromptu Indian chime-playing from Carol to add to the multitude of sounds that came our way during meditation. 

This week
This week we have our monthly Open Discussion where we focus on applying the dharma to our daily lives, discussing experiences or challenges that we face and how the dharma might help. We hope you can join us.

Sutta study
If you'd like to join in the sutta study program this year, a reminder that you need to get yourself a copy of The Basic Teachings of the Buddha by Glenn Wallis. We'll set off on that adventure in two weeks' time. Please read the introduction to the book by then, so that the session will be most fruitful. It's a reasonable length introduction, so don't leave it til 5 minutes before sangha, but I think you'll find it very interesting.

This year's program
The program for the year is shaping up well, and we've updated it further this week. You can find it here.

Thought provoker
If you haven't already seen it, Winton Higgins wrote a short article in the SIM newsletter called Sanghas R Us. It's a timely thought prod as we start a new sangha year - indeed it's Beaches Sangha's 10th year. You can read it here.

Hope to see you at the hut on Thursday night.
LL

(Photo by Yuriy Rzhemovskiy on Unsplash)

Wednesday 10 January 2018

Welcome to Sangha for 2018


Hello, and welcome to 2018 everyone! I hope you've all had a lovely holiday season. Beaches Sangha resumes its meetings this Thursday 11th January.

Over the past couple of months, your SOG (Sangha Organising Group) has been working on a schedule of topics for this year that we think will be engaging and educative. We've chosen 4 types of sessions that we'll rotate through each month. They are:

1) Sutta study: we'll be studying a book which contains 16 important suttas from the Pali canon (the earliest recorded teachings of the Buddha). If you'd like to join in, you'll need to get yourself a copy of The Basic Teachings of the Buddha by Glenn Wallis. We'll start this in February.

2) Speakers: we've already got a number of speakers booked for the year and are waiting to confirm several more. A couple of them are open to suggestion in terms of topics, so if there's a topic you'd like to learn about, let us know.

3) Open discussion: we had lots of this last year and people found it really valuable. It's where we discuss how the dharma can help in our real life, day to day situations.

4) Wild card: prepare to be surprised - it'll be different each month. We have everything from sound meditation in the garden this week, to  poetry nights, our favourite podcasts, star gazing, and lots more. These nights are where we'll use creative ways to open to the dharma.

Click here to see what we've got lined up for you so far. We're starting this week with sound meditation led by Sylvie. Weather permitting, we'll do this outside in the garden.

Your SOG for this year is me, Selena, Sylvie, Renata and Kate. If you have any ideas for topics or for sangha generally, please do speak to any one of us. I'd also like to say a big thank you to Betsy who has looked after the program every year since Beaches Sangha started 9 years ago. Thank you so much Betsy. I've been there for all 9 years of it and I appreciate it very much. A thank you also to Florence who, although we didn't see much of her, was our Treasurer last year. 

I hope to see you this week for the start of a new year of sangha wonderfulness.

Warm regards
Lenore