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Investigating the Best Known Collection of the Buddha’s Teachings
Saturday, December 4, 2010, 9am to 4pm
The Dhammapada may well be the most widely read and most beloved collection of Buddhist scriptures presenting wisdom through vivid, poetic imagery and often blunt contrast. Its lesson goes to the heart of the Buddha’s teachings. During this daylong contemplation and investigation of the Dhammapada verses, we will examine both their scope and structure and explore some of the most challenging of the Buddha’s instructions. The primary translation used will be Gil Fronsdal’s.
As one of Spirit Rock’s community dharma leaders, Tony hosts sitting groups in Davis and periodically teaches around the bay area and central valley. Tony’s practice is guided by study of the Pali scriptures (in translation!) and by contemporary scholarship of these texts.
A Benefit for Buddhist Global Relief
Saturday, October 30, 9am to 5pm
Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi will lead a daylong program exploring traditional and contemporary approaches to Socially Applied Buddhism. Caring for oneself while caring for others is at the heart of the Buddha’s teachings. How we can best do this in our present-day world is a deeply challenging question with profound ramifications. Bhante will explore the canonical roots of Socially Applied Buddhism, with texts and discussion. He will develop a model aimed at articulating a postmodern integral understanding of Buddhism and explore corresponding approaches to Buddhist practice and sacred activism. He will also highlight the work of Buddhist Global Relief, a non-profit organization he founded in 2008, which has launched over fifteen aid projects throughout the world. All dana will go to BGR. This event will be jointly sponsored by IMC and the Sati Center.
Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Buddhist monk originally from New York City. After serving as a monk in Sri Lanka for twenty-four years, he now lives at Chuang Yen Monastery in upstate New York. Ven. Bodhi is a prolific writer of Buddhist essays and books and has translated and commented extensively on the Pali suttas.
Saturday, August 21, 2010, 9am to 4:30pm
Have you noticed that no matter what we eat, how much we weigh or exercise, that feeling of lack, emptiness, the unquenchable thirst for more, eventually takes over? The Buddha observed that the source of suffering comes from craving and the mismanagement of desire. He also observed how to satisfy physical and emotional feelings of hunger and lack that are part of the human condition.
This class will explore why the Buddha declared, “Hunger is the supreme disease” and why he equated hunger for anything outside of ourselves (food, beauty, the end of loneliness, etc.) with craving, the source of suffering. Through a series of experiential meditation exercises, drawing and small group discussions, we will discover for ourselves the Buddha’s teachings on craving, desire and contentment, what fills and depletes us? What qualities need to be developed and nourished to establish insight into the differences between physical nourishment, which comes and goes, and food for the heart, the only kind that lasts? We will also investigate different kinds of hunger, appetites and what the Buddha meant when he said that “True happiness is the end of craving.”
Ronna Kabatznick is a social psychologist who has been practicing meditation since 1985. She spent nearly two years on a Vipassana meditation retreat under the guidance of two of Thailand’s greatest Forest Masters. She is the author of The Zen of Eating: Ancient Answers to Modern Weight Problems and a board member of The Center for Mindful Eating, a web-based organization designed to help educate professionals about Mindful Eating. An assistant clinical professor in the department of psychiatry at UCSF, her Berkeley-based private practice focuses on helping people with depression, weight and relationship issues.
Saturday, September 11, 2010, 9:00am to 4:30pm
Mindfulness of the body lies at the foundation of Buddhist meditation practice. To support building a strong foundation, the day will include a variety of teachings and guidance on practices related to the body: instruction on how to practice mindfulness of the body, detailed instruction on meditation posture as well as a period of yoga supportive of meditation practice led by Terry Lesser.
Bring lunch.
Saturday, July 17, 2010, 9:30am – 3:30pm
During this day we will practice and discuss loving-kindness in light the Metta Sutta, the Buddha’s core discourse on loving-kindness. There will be time for guided meditation, teaching, and discussion of this important topic.
Dharma Practice Series: Fridays, 9:30am – 3:30pm
Study Group, Sundays, 1:30 to 3:30pm: 10/3, 10/ 31, 11/21, 12/12, 1/16, 2/13, 3/13, 4/24, 5/15, 6/26
Starting September 10, 2010, IMC is offering an ten month program of study and practice of the ten perfections (paramis). These are ten qualities of character which, when developed, support both Buddhist practice and compassionate involvement with others. People are welcome to attend any or all of the Friday programs. For people who commit to attending the whole series, the program will include a monthly two-hour discussion group with Ines Freedman, interviews with the program mentors, and readings.
Bring lunch.
The dates for these classes are:
September 10, 2010 Generosity (Dana)
October 15, 2010 Virtue (Sila)
November 5, 2010 Renunciation (Nekkhamma)
December 3, 2010 Wisdom (Panna)
January 7, 2011 Energy/Vigor (Viriya)
February 4, 2011 Patience (Khanti)
March 4, 2011 Truthfulness (Sacca)
April 15, 2011 Resolve (Adhitthana)
May 6, 2011 Lovingkindness (Metta)
June 3, 2011 Equanimity (Upekkha)
Saturday, September 25, 2010, 9am to 4:30pm
Lew Richmond will be offering another one-day meditation retreat on “Aging as a Spiritual Practice.” Lew feels that the experience of growing older is one important way we experience in our own bodies the fundamental Buddhist truths of suffering and impermanence, and for the last several months he has been exploring this issue on his blog www.AgingAsASpiritualPractice.com. He is also at work on a book, Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser, to be published by Gotham Books in Spring, 2012.
The workshop will explore the connection between our own experiences of aging—loss, disappointment, loneliness, fear, as well as the positive aspects of gratitude, compassion, and a sense of wise perspective—with the basic Buddhist teachings of impermanence, the Five Great Fears, liberation from a fixed self, mindfulness (of aging) and loving kindness. Unlike the workshop given last year, the format of this day will be focused less on discussion and more on practice (although there will be both), and will include more guided meditation, including practices that Lew has created and adapted from the Buddhist tradition specifically to address our experiences of aging. Once again Lew will be assisted by two of his senior students, Peter Schireson and Karen Geiger. The website of Lew’s home sangha is www.vimalasangha.org.
Saturday, July 31, 2010, 9am to 4:30pm
The Buddha said craving is the cause of suffering. Twelve Step programs work with the deepest forms of craving. How can these two traditions come together to deepen our spiritual life? Through a combination of traditional and contemporary Buddhist meditation practices, interactive exercises, lecture, and discussion, the day will explore the ways that Buddhism and the Steps complement each other.
The day is open to all those interested. You need not be in a Twelve Step program, nor have a background in Buddhist meditation. The day will include introductory meditation instructions. Beginners are welcome!
Kevin Griffin is the author of One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps and Burning Desire: Dharma God and the Path of Recovery. A longtime Buddhist practitioner and 12 Step participant, he is a leader in the mindful recovery movement and one of the founders of the Buddhist Recovery Network. Kevin teaches internationally in Buddhist centers, treatment centers, professional conferences, and academic settings. His website is www.kevingriffin.net
Stephanie Tate is the guiding teacher for San Jose Dharma Punx, which includes a weekly Dharma and Recovery Group. She has been empowered to teach by Noah Levine. Stephanie also trained as an MBSR teacher under Bob Stahl P.h.D. In addition to Dharma Punx, Stephanie teaches mindfulness to incarcerated youth through the MBA Project, as well as in medical and corporate settings. She is currently pursuing her Buddhist Chaplaincy through the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies and is a volunteer Chaplain at O’Connor Hospital.
Saturday, November 13, 2010, 9:30am to 3:30pm
Introducing the basic practice of mindfulness, with direction in mindfulness of the breath, body, emotions, thoughts, walking and eating. There will sitting and walking meditation and discussion. Suitable for both beginners and those wanting to review the basics of practice. Bring lunch.
Ines Freedman first became interested in meditation through her yoga practice in 1970. She has been practicing Buddhist meditation since 1985, with Gil Fronsdal being her primary teacher since 1995. She is a graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader Program and a past Managing Director of Insight Meditation Center. She directs and teaches the Audiodharma Online Meditation Course, and serves on the IMC Chaplaincy council. She is a retired chiropractor.
Sunday, September 26 to Saturday, October 2, 2010
Integrating practice into our daily lives can be difficult. Many of us need support for this challenging but rewarding aspect of practice. We will integrate formal practice and Dharma discussion with our daily life by surrounding our usual workweek and workdays with practice & discussion. We begin with a half-day retreat with instructions and discussion on Sunday, and end with a daylong retreat on the following Saturday. During the week we will meet each morning and evening to inspire, encourage and support our daily life practice. The Sunday and Saturday sessions are open to all.
Retreat Schedule:
Sunday 9/26: 1:30 to 5:00 pm
Monday thru Friday mornings 9/26 to 10/1: 7:30 to 9 am
Monday thru Friday evenings 9/26 to 10/1: 7:30 to 9 pm
(Monday & Thursday we will integrate with the usual sitting program)
Saturday 10/2: 9 am to 4:30 pm, daylong retreat
Saturday, July 10, 2010, 9am to 4:30pm
Ajahn Anandabodhi and Ajahn Santacitta will offer a window into their experience as Buddhist nuns in the lineage of Ajahn Chah. Sharing the challenges and blessings of living at the edge, where a longstanding Asian tradition meets the post modern Western world.
Ajahn Anandabodhi was born in Wales in 1968. She trained in catering and also worked in environmental conservation, all the while looking for spiritual direction. Visiting Amaravati in 1990, she experienced a sense of ‘coming home’ and in 1992 joined the community, taking ordination in 1995. She particularly enjoys ‘tudong’ – walking on faith and taking the sign of the samana out into the world.
Ajahn Santacitta was born in Austria in 1958. After graduating in hotel management she studied cultural anthropology at Vienna University and worked in avant-garde dance theater. Beginning in the 1980’s, she was a founding member of a community of ecologists, artists and social workers near Vienna, which is still thriving today. In 1988 she met her first teacher, Ajahn Buddhadasa, and spent several years in Thailand before coming to Amaravati in 1992. After becoming an anagārikā in 1993 she spent part of her training (1996-97) with the mae chi (nuns) of Wat Pah Pong and other branch monasteries in Thailand.
Saturday, December 11, 2010, 8:30am to 5pm
Practicing mindfulness on retreat is one of the foundations for maturing insight meditation. The simplicity, silence and support of retreats contribute to letting go of many of the distractions that get in the way of clear seeing. Retreats also are a wonderful environment for developing a continuity of awareness for an extended period.
This particular daylong retreat is meant for people who already understand the basic practice of mindfulness; no instruction will be given.
The schedule consists of alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation. At the end of the day Gil gives a Dharma talk. Brief interviews to talk about the practice will be available with Gil. Previous experience is recommended.
(Bring Lunch)
Saturday, April 24, 2010, 9am to 4:30pm
This day is for all who wish to nurture creative engagement in their lives, and in their writing and visual arts practices. We’ll explore movement and stillness to cultivate the development of mindfulness and the flow of creative expression. Please bring materials for writing and drawing, and a lunch.
Carolyn is a poet and writer who facilitates creativity retreats and workshops. She works with groups and individuals. She has been practicing Buddhist and other meditative forms for over 30 years and teaches dharma in the Vipassana Insight and Soto Zen traditions.
Saturday, August 7, 2010, 9:00am – 4:30pm
Taking in the Good – Weaving Positive Emotions, Optimism, and Resilience into the Brain and Self Rick Hanson shows how to use the brain’s machinery of memory to get at the essence of beneficial change in the process of personal growth: the internalization of positive experiences. Drawing on recent discoveries about neuroplasticity, he will present a simple, four step process that weaves positive experiences into the structure of the brain and the fabric of the self.
Rick Hanson, Ph.D. is a psychologist, author, and teacher. He began Buddhist practice in 1974, with an emphasis on using householder life for steadiness of mind, insight, and opening the heart. Rick sat on the Board of Spirit Rock Meditation Center for nine years and is a graduate of the Community Dharma Leaders program. He teaches workshops at Sati Center, Spirit Rock, CIIS, Kripalu, and New York Insight. He co-founded the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom. See: www.rickhanson.net. He and his wife have a young adult daughter and son.
Saturday, June 26, 2010, 9:00am – 4:30pm
During this daylong, we will explore mindfulness of breathing by connecting with the experience of breathing through the whole body. This style of practice encourages a relaxed focus on the experience of the breath.
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