Retreat Centers, Local Sanghas and Meditation Sitting Groups
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(17) CONNECTION-CONTACT to Sanghas, Sitting Groups,
Retreat Centers and recommended Humanitarian & Help Links
The Engaged METTA 'Seva' Service page..........The 8 ACTS of ‘METTA’-Kindness
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Our 'Connecting' Information & 'Seva' Service Associations • "How Can I Personally Be Helped?" You Can ! Other Laughing Buddha-Blogs are here. . . • Have QUESTIONS • QUESTIONS • QUESTIONS ? • and .. Where's UPDATED Current Information ? • "How Can I Personally Help?" Yes, You Can !
• some very good Humanitarian web-links here • and some much APPRECIATED ASSOCIATIONS • Retreat Centers: Regional & International • Other Local Sanghas & Meditation Sitting Groups • more empathy-based learning quotes • and a last rim-shot of Zen-funnies . . . To Read more Here - and to Hand SCROLL DOWN to the very End – WEB SITE ENDS down below ▼ • or maybe, Onward to the Optional Archive Links... |
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold ! ~ service was joy ! ~ Sri Rabindranath Tagor |
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"Can I Personally Be Helped?" Yes, You Certainly Can Be !
and if we can not – we'll offer you a very good referral or resource
'Connection' is our natural state . . .
When plagued with a sense of unworthiness, it is easy to feel deficient and to see
the outside love of another person as the only possible solution to one’s plight.
Meditation tends to work against this assumption of 'deficiency' by restoring the
innate capacity for connection from the inside. It is like a stealth bomber that
sneaks through all the defenses and illuminates the central fortress of the heart.
In doing this, it challenges the common assumption of our culture about where
'connection' comes from. In the Buddhist view, connection is already present.
We are not as 'separate' and 'distinct' as we think we are.
'Connection' is our natural state – we just have to re-learn to permit it.
~ from psychiatrist Mark Epstein’s book, "Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart:
A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness" – Mark is one of a growing number of
psychotherapists trying to integrate Buddhism with the concepts of Western
psychology in an effort to help people change their views and their lives.
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"Kindness" is more important than 'Wisdom' -
and the 'clear-recognition' of this -
IS the beginning of Wisdom." ~ Theodore Issac Rubin
♦ LITTLE or BIG HUGE QUESTIONS? or HESITATIONS? – FIRST-TIMER-NEWCOMER-BEGINNER
INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL QUESTIONS ? COMMENTS ? EXPERIENCES ? DOUBTS ? CONFUSIONS ?
HESITATIONS ? CONFIRMATIONS ? JOY ? REALIZATIONS ? EPIPHANIES ? ANYTHING at all ?....
"Doubts & Hesitations" - Those too are ALL a major, major part of the 'Meditation' practice path".
We call it “THE PRACTICE of GREAT DOUBT” - from a Buddhist perspective, that's a very good thing !
We encourage you to examine & question absolutely everything! ( Not like other ‘religions’, huh ? )
Class will also be fun ! We laugh a lot while deeply considering some very serious issues of ‘living’
& ‘dying’ & ‘existing’ & ‘suffering’ & 'joy' in ‘transcending’ the Ego-Life of the Mind. More Questions? –
Be very welcome to Phone us during the afternoons ( no email-dialogues: it really gets too laborious )
Talk with us about anything 'spiritual' or 'religious'. You can run stuff by us. We'll tell ya' what we know,
"just 'cause we been around the block a few times before you". Best phone times: Noon~6pm any day ~
~ 310-450-2268 ~ Please, really don't hesitate to call us. It's FREE.
"If they ask you where you heard that advice, tell 'em you bumped into the Rabbi on the street." ~ I.B.Singer
There is never any fee, no obligations at all for any meditation class-related topics or spiritual issues.
We’ll just help you figure it out, give you some pointers & direction, or suggest a resource here or elsewhere.
Also, please go to SANGHA in section ( 11 ) on Table of Contents
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( 11 ) What is The SANGHA: Spiritual Community 3 Jewels • Buddha • Dharma • Sangha • What is SANGHA ? – Non-Isolation & Open Sharing • Being Open to PRACTICE-SUPPORT? Nourishment? • Good Dharma-friends? • Satsang • Having a consistent ongoing meditation spiritual group(s) in your own life? |
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BUDDHA.Blog: http://buddhistmeditationsantamonica.blogspot.com/
Where's our Most Current Updated Information ?
We mainly use our BuddhaBlogs© to post our most Current Updates
and to navigate you to Class Info, Events, Retreats and the Mindfulness programs we offer.
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_____________________________________________________________ -:¦:- Weekly MINDFULNESS MEDITATION SITTINGS Buddhist Theravada Vipassana Insight Meditation & Dharma Study The Laughing BUDDHA SANGHA RESOURCE-Site • Santa Monica Opening the "Iconoclastic-Mind" - Buddhism Without Any 'Beliefs' ! Outside~The~Box~Buddhism for a Maverick Spirited Inner-Quest • Practice is Guided by Akasa Levi • 310-450-2268 Please Visit our Meditation Blog for All Class Updates -:¦:- and Upcoming Events & Retreats http://buddhistmeditationsantamonica.blogspot.com/ ________________________________________________________________ -:¦:- Weekly ZEN MEN's Inner-Growth Groups Compassionately & Intelligently Explore a Man's Deeper Core Life-Issues ♦ "Yup, EVERY GUY COULD USE BEING IN A MEN’S GROUP at some time in his life" Guys learning to trust & support each other in making important life changes HONEST TALK • HEART-FELT LISTENING • MEANINGFUL FEEDBACK • STRONG FELLOWSHIP "Good Men Becoming Even Better Men !" Visit our Men's Blog http://zenmensgroup.blogspot.com/ ________________________________________________________________ • Please make all inquiries by phone • Best phone times: Noon to 6pm, M-F 310-450-2268 – unfortuneately, emails do tend to get buried & we like to talk 'live'... ________________________________________________________________ -:¦:- The SPIRITUAL ADULTHOOD COUNSELING THERAPY PROJECT
Buddhist-based: a more Alternative Approach to Relating with Your 'Self' & Others
Private One-to-One Individual Therapy -or- Relationship Counseling for Couples,
Marriages, Friendships & Workplaces. "Reaching Out to Reach Deeper In"
Befriending the Heart of the Mind to find the truly sane, loving & alive part of you !
Visit our Counseling Blog http://buddhistcounselingtherapy.blogspot.com/ Buddhism • a 2500 year mental wellness tradition. Mindful-Listening © |
“You take care of the Inside ~and~ the Inside will take care of the Outside” ~ The Tao |
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"Can I Personally Help?" Yes, Yes You Can !
The outspoken novelist Alice Walker – “The Color Purple” -said-
" Activism is my 'rent' for living on the planet – these days, the rent is always due ! " ––
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“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle,
and the life of that candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Generosity can bring happiness at every stage of its expression.
We experience joy in ‘forming the intention’ to be generous.
We experience joy in the ‘actual act of giving’ something.
And we experience joy in ‘remembering the fact’
that we have given or been given to...
Teach this triple truth to all:
A Generous Heart, Kind Speech, and a life of Service and
Compassion are the three things which renew humanity.”
~ The Buddha
–– there’s blessings abundant for all of us in
‘Practicing’ ACTS of METTA loving-kindness
and ‘DANA’ Gifting & Generosity !
... so be good to yourself, be generous on behalf of others – it’ll come back...
Even teeny tiny itty bitty amounts of $5 or $10 dollars sent anywhere –
really still does some real good out in the world. So be good to yourself !
The practice of 'Right Giving' will eventually feel good to you. And do good !
The benefits always will still circulate...
'what goes around comes around'.
" If there is any kindness I can show
or any good thing I can do for a fellow being -
Let me do it now - and not deter or neglect it –
as I may not pass this way again."
~ William Penn
]
“La vraie generosite envers l'avenir consiste a tout donner au present.”
“True ‘generosity’ towards the Future - is to give everything to the Present.”
~ Albert Camus
... so here’s some valid Humanitarian web-links
"You never can do a kindness too soon, because you never know how soon it will be too late"
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Tsunami & Quakes - DISASTER RELIEF in South Asia has to continually go on & on !
( Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, over and down to Burma, Thailand, ‘Indo-China’, Malaysia & The Islands )
It has been an excruciatingly long, sad time for this area of the world, Here are two excellent choices
for your charitable-giving ( instead of the highly-suspect Red Cross ) to make a valuable, direct Asia Relief
Donation where ALL of the money will go directly into relief aid, directly to the villages of stricken people.
Really, EVERY PENNY COUNTS: make a donation large or even tiny ! 'Dana' is the Buddhist-word for Giving.
These Devastations & Sufferings will not go away quickly, now that it's off the world-headlines!
OPERATION USA - We highly recommend OP-USA, an internationally respected relief-group based
right here in our own Los Angeles - to gift money thru an organization that's right there at the front lines.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Richard Walden - is founder of OP-USA. He & his people have been
around a very long time - and they really know how to get humanitarian efforts skillfully & effectively done.
Governments or their contractors still dodn't :: Phone: (323) 658-8876 ~ Fax: (323) 653-7846
Check them em out. www.opusa.org For monetary donations of ANY Amount: OPERATION USA
Send checks to: 8320 Melrose Ave - Suite 200 - LA 90069 or call with a credit card to 1-800-678-7255.
OP-USA email: rwalden@opusa.org :: Donations made in the USA are all USA income tax deductable.
"Whatever you can do or dream you can – begin it. Boldness has genius, power & magic in it."
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
SARVODAYA is Sri Lanka’s biggest charity, dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives
of rural Sri Lankans - working across all ethnic and religious communities and their dire life-struggles.
Sar-vod-aya Sri Lanka http://www.sarvodaya.org Sarvodaya USA http://www.sarvodayausa.org
This grassroots relief-movement has participants in as many as 15,000 villages throughout Sri Lanka.
It has admirers around the globe. Sarvodaya was founded in 1958 by a caring Sri Lankan schoolteacher,
Dr A.T. Ariyaratne - based on a Buddhist-Gandhi philosophy - dedicated to the sustainable empowerment
of people through self-help and collective support, to non-violence and peace. Sarvodaya believes that
it is not as much - 'what' it does to alleviate rural poverty - but the 'Way' in which it does it - which makes
it so effective and sustainable – through the active participation and engagement of villagers themselves.
It is best to donate Online to Sarvodaya USA - because these donations are tax deductible in the USA.
You may use all major credit cards. Sarvodaya USA is a 501( c )3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization.
Sarvodaya USA’s tax ID number is 13-3358148. You may send a check to their Madison Office:
Donations Payable to: Sarvodaya USA - 122 State Street Suite 510, Madison, WI 53703 USA
( Sarvodaya Sri Lanka - No 98, Rawatawatta Road, Moratuwa , Sri Lanka ) You are welcome to visit.
FYI - Different American Buddhist centers and groups support selective Buddhist countries now in devastation,
humanitarian or preservation needs. The Laughing Buddha Sangha's ties are particularly in support of Sri Lanka.
"It is not how 'much' you do – but how much
Love you put into the 'doing' that matters.
People don't care how 'much' you know,
until they know how much you care."
~ Cavett Robert
Every man is guilty
of all that Good
he didn't do.
~ Voltaire – 1750
Our Wish List: Mostly we're lookin' to welcome a volunteer 'Spirit' or a Tech-angel
who's a web-designer or web-master / blog mistress or meister with hands-on skills
and creative ideas – and that feels an odd-affinity for what we're about. You?
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some much APPRECIATED ASSOCIATIONS |
“The SPIRITUAL ADULTHOOD PROJECT” Healing the Spirit includes work of S.E.N.
( Spiritual Emergency-Emergence Network ) created at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California.
The Spiritual Adulthood Therapy & Counseling Project 'Reaching Out, to Reach Deeper In'
~ is a Buddhist-based spiritual 'alternative' treatment-approach for the mind towards a wise and
compassionate relating fully with yourself, all other living beings & the environment as sacred.
http://buddhistcounselingtherapy.blogspot.com
We are an outreach-project of “The Laughing Buddha Sangha” Santa Monica, CA 90405
and we utilize the Mindfulness-based Insight practices and approaches that are offered
at Jack Kornfield's Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin, California. www.spiritrock.org
Should you wish to do an extended meditation retreat – a few days or a week or month – in
the beautiful rolling hills of Northern California with excellent accommodations, dis is da’ place.
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For many good years now, The Laughing Buddha Sangha's monastic-affiliation has been
guided by The Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara of Los Angeles ~ Sri Lanka Temple
& Monastery under the guidance of it's Abbot, The Venerable ‘Bhante’ Walpola Piyananda.
Bhante is the The Maha Sangha Nayake Thera, the head-monastic of his sect here in the USA.
It may actually be best to contact us first here at LBSangha - 310-450-2268 to run it by us
for the most appropriate way to connect with these monks ––– or just call them direct, either.
1847 Crenshaw Boulevard • Los Angeles, CA90019 • at Crenshaw & Washington Blvds.
323-737-5084 after 4pm. email: bhantep@yahoo.com web-site: www.dharmavijaya.org
• If you wish to Donate: phone the temple for Details.
These Devastations will not go away quickly now that it's off the world-headlines!
“The Bhikkhu-monks of The Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara ( Temple ) in Los Angeles
and The Sri Lankan Buddhist Sangha (Monastic) Council of the United States & Canada
request your kind generosity for all the peoples receiving Sri Lanka disasters relief aid.
Monks will directly oversee the distribution of funds for all rebuilding processes - we have
our own monks at the sites fully supervising. They purchase most needed materials directly
in Sri Lanka, which also benefits the economy there.” You are welcome to come visit.
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. . . and to retreat ––– to really, really get away & go inward...
Dhamma Dena Desert Retreat Vipassana Center – MaDhamma Ruth Denison is
founder & resident teacher of 'Dhamma Dena' way out in the High Desert of Joshua Tree.
Now 85, Ruth is of the very first generation of women teachers of Vipassana in the West –
a great, generous, dear mentor to us all. Contact: Dhamma Dena Desert Retreat Center,
HC-1 Box 250, Joshua Tree CA 92252 – Ph: 760-362-4815. Please, Always phone as Ruth
may be teaching abroad. ( Center website ) http://dhammadena.googlepages.com/
Mme. Ruth Denison ( profiles & interviews ) - http://fr.dharma.org/ij/archives/1997a/ruth.htm
and http://www.sandyboucher.net/dancing.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Denison
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The Rockhill Hermitage & Forest Meditation Retreat Centre ~ Sri Lanka
Venerable 'Bhante' Kassapa Nayake Thera ~
Postal Address: The Rockhill Hermitage at Wegirikanda,
Hondiyadeniya, Via Gampola, near Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Bhante Kassapa ( whose English is exquisite ) and his approach to the Buddha's Dharma teachings
is savvy & carries a contemporary sophistication while yet living in the forest. Bhante is the original
founder of the rural Rockhill Hermitage - an International Forest Meditation Centre about an hour
upcountry from Kandy via a battered country bus. Bhante Kassapa is also the senior-teacher at the
Vipassana Insight Meditation Foundation in Melbourne, Australia; and The Austin Repatriation and
Medical Centre in Melbourne, where he resided and taught for 12 years. Bhante's direct-lineage of
advanced practice goes back to his Sri Lanka, nationally revered, root-teacher The Most Venerable
Maha-Nayake Thera Balangoda Ananda-Maitreya, the Head Monastic of the Amarapura Lineage.
So to really get away for a retreat abroad - this is worth checking out. You may have to send a few
duplicate emails to all these email-addresses to get a return reply, as Inter-net communication abroad
can be difficult. Be sure to get Bhante Kassapa's current schedule: when he's in residence, and when
teaching abroad? Akasa Levi ( Akasa-Maitreya ) was a teaching-monk in residence here for 4 years.
Emails: info@rockhillsrilanka.com ; julietan_lk@yahoo.com ; kassapab@ids.lk ;
timbrowning@netspace.net.au ; web site: under construction / try ! www.rockhillsrilanka.com
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The two original founding Theravada Buddhist
Vipassana Insight Meditation Centers in the USA offering
teaching lineage-based Sati-patthana Mindfulness Meditation.
Insight Meditation Society
Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg
Barre, MA 01005 ( western Mass. )
http://dharma.org/ims/index.php
http://dharma.org/ims/mr_audio.html
http://dharma.org/ims/mr_glossary.html
gloss of Buddhist Terms to help you read
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Jack Kornfield, Silvia Boorstein
Woodacre, CA 94973 ( near Fairfax west Marin )
http://www.spiritrock.org/display.asp?catid=3&pageid=13
both centers can link you up to local Vipassana meditation practice groups nation-wide
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The Buddhist Publication Society – is a non-profit in Sri Lanka whose goal
is to clearly explain & publish the original early Theravada teachings of the
Buddha. Founded in Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1958 by the late Nyanaponika Thera.
Books, booklets & many FREE print-outs Online. The language is somewhere
between popular & academic – modest in tone, but great valuable stuff !
http://www.bps.lk/index.html -or- http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/bpslist.html
THINK SANGHA – http://www.bpf.org/html/resources_and_links/think_sangha/think_sangha.html
an organization called THINK SANGHA is a Buddhist social / environmental think tank. Interested ?
"Buddhist Intellectual Practice Tools for Integrating Spirituality & Social Change Work”.
Buddhist Peace Fellowship – http://www.bpf.org/html/home.html founded in 1978
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship envisions a future in which people from all backgrounds come
into a heartfelt-realization of our interconnection to each other & to the Earth. Believing that
actions generated from this understanding will create societies guided by generosity, compassion,
wisdom and justice. The mission of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship ( BPF ) is to serve as a catalyst
for socially engaged Buddhism. Our purpose is to help beings liberate themselves from the suffering
that manifests in individuals, relationships, institutions, and social systems. BPF's programs, publications,
and practice-groups link Buddhist teachings of wisdom and compassion with progressive social change.
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Los Angeles Local Teacher-led Sanghas & Meditation Sitting Groups ~
For the pure 'original' teachings of one specific Tradition – for that we go gratefully to the monastics.
In adapting to Western, and American 'sensibilities' in particular - most local lay Buddhist sanghas have
been highly selective in their 'eclectic', yet very specific, well-informed, well-chosen add-on disciplines.
Teachers take these on, initially through personal interest, and then often offer the general public some of
these selected enhancements in addition to their own traditional Buddhist practice. "Good choice-making"
is always so very important when 'single tradition' spiritual teachers are going 'eclectic' – as most teachers
were originally trained first deep within a single, cohesive tradition of practice – as most of us have a solid
base in Theravada Vipassana. It is crucially important to perserve and to insure the Theravada school's
extraordinary clarity of view. Some teachers have added-on a choice-mix of Non-Duality Advaita, Dzogchen
or Zen – and the best possible offerings of modern 'psychology' too. Mostly, these mixtures are of ancient
established and tested traditions. So much of all this are very new ideas to Westerners. Ask lots'a Questions.
Krishnamurti's view is that "Truth is Ultimately a Pathless Land" in our conscious intention to wake up.
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India’s pioneering Theravada Vipassana Meditation teacher
Sri S.N. Goenka used to chant while laughing quite heartily –
"Theravada, Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Tantrayana –
All ‘vehicles’ will be towed away at owner's expense!"
It's a Buddhist Pun: 'yana' means 'vehicle' in the Pali language ~
In Buddhism and Hinduism, both 'yana' and 'marga' (road or path) and 'vada' –
all express the metaphor of spiritual practice as a 'Path' or a 'Journey' and the
'means' or 'vehicle' to it – like in "Dharma my ride" – it's all "one vehicle" . . .
"a journey to awakening: a river's destination is the ocean"
Ultimately, it's Eka'yana ( One Yana ) "one vehicle"
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alphabetically ...
Local Sanghas & Meditation Sitting Groups ALL offer weekly sittings
Against The Stream Buddhist Meditation Society and "Dharma Punx" ~ Noah Levine –
http://againstthestream.org/ and http://www.dharmapunx.com/index.asp a large, strong, supportive
'activist' Sangha with a 'recovery' focus and a gentle, yet counter-culture 'tude. Young, good vibes !
Don't Worry Zendo ~ Michael Attie – http://www.dontworryzendo.com/ – a very informal, friendly
and very non-sectarian meditation sangha. 'Crazy Zen Wisdom' in the form of Michael's newest book
"Many Ways, Middle Way, No Way - a Guide to Meditation, Spiritual Awakening and Fun" - an eccentric,
humorous, open-hearted, irreverent, personal & poetic take on the Dharma - and a kind gentle teacher.
Insight LA ~ Trudy Goodman – http://www.insightla.org/ - the L.A. 'Spirit Rock' branch has a full offering
of formal programs ( and family & children's programs ). Insight LA offers traditional mindfulness meditation
groups for the beginner, and intensive training for more experienced students and professional CEU credits.
L.A. Dharma at The Insight Center ~ Bhante Hye Wol Sunim; Michael Shiffman; Juliet Soopikian.
http://www.ladharma.org/ – http://www.insightcenter.org/ L.A. Dharma teaches Buddhist mindfulness
meditation to the public, while The Insight Center is a CBBS & APA approved provider to sponsor CEU
classes for licensed mental health professionals with an interest in the efficacy of Mindfilness-based
Meditation approaches & specialized workshops for psychologists, MFTs, LCSWs, nurses & CAADACs.
The Laughing Buddha Sangha ~ Akasa Levi – http://www.zentrance.com/ – You're here Now !
http://buddhistmindfulnessmeditation.blogspot.com/ & http://buddhistcounselingtherapy.blogspot.com/
Weekly Vipassana Meditation & Anatta-Dharma Inquiry & Study - an iconoclastic, more maverick-spirited
satsang & beginners practice in Santa Monica. LBS has a big resource-site of learning-quotes & study-links.
Long Beach Meditation ~ Victor Byrd – http://www.longbeachmeditation.com/ a gracious sangha –
This has always been my dream: a community of genuine spiritual friends supporting one another in our
practice. We are a home for anyone who imagines that there is something Real beyond the unreal. The
Way to the Real exists only within our own silent heart. LBM is now a CEU provider for MFT's & LCSW's.
Manzanita Village Retreat Center & The Five Changes Foundation ~ http://manzanitavillage.org/
Michele Benzamin-Miki & Caitríona Reed – an integrated training in meditation & personal evolution work.
LGBTQ, people of color, artists workshops, bridging social justice with the celebration & healing of individuals,
communities and the earth – an LA in-town & rural meditation retreat environmental sanctuary way out in nature.
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Nature & The Land -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:- -:¦:-
As The Sacred Seasons pass, our environmental-affiliation with Nature & The Land has been so
generously nourished by Mary & Eric Lloyd Wright and The WRIGHT Organic Resource Center
for Nature, Art, Architecture, Organic Living & Community. The ‘view’ is absolutely astounding!
The "Wright Land" hosts group-gatherings that nurture deep ecological consciousness in a pristine,
rustic setting way up high on a beautiful California coastal ridge atop the Santa Monica Mountains
overlooking the vast sea in Malibu – to directly experience some of the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright
- to envision, learn and actually participate in building a socially & environmentally connected world.
Here is a living example of Frank Lloyd Wright's "Green" sustainable development ~ through organic
architecture - organic community vegetable gardens and recycling systems. Very kind good people.
WORC offers workshops & inspiring events like quarterly public Solstice & Equinox Celebrations
and other Sacred Seasonal Gatherings – and Frank Lloyd Wright's Annual Birthday Party !
See calendar: http://www.elwright.net/wrightway/calendar.html email: WORC@elwright.net
"I wonder how much we realize in our daily living the spirituality
of our life. I wonder if we see Nature in the other person. Do we
hear someone speak in the same way we listen to a bird singing
or the brook bubbling? Or do we get something in between us –
and lose that natural listening, or lose that natural communion?
Is it possible to see that each one of us is Nature?" ~ Ligia Dantes
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"How Can I Personally Help?"... another way is
to embrace & absorb more empathy-expressing attitudes.
How ? Find a quote below that speaks to you or challenges you & learn it.
Or at least, semi-learn it, just get intimate with the quote. Let it in. Way in.
Then walk around all day contemplating it gently to yourself - it increases
its depth deep within you. ‘Pondering’ quotes a lot leads to ‘contemplation’
that leads to an open-hearted ‘realization’. We are all together in this . . .
"Kindness" is more important than 'Wisdom' -
and the 'clear-recognition' of this -
IS the beginning of Wisdom." ~ Theodore Issac Rubin
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PS: If you know someone else in your life who just may also benefit by our offerings, be very welcome to put them in phone contact with us. See "On Bringing a Friend" Go to Table of Contents see section... ( 13 ) The Big DETAILS on Evening Programs This is a much fuller version than the Brief Summary. Please try n’ inquire only by phone: 310-450-2268 Emails to us tend to get lost in the stack, the phone is still really the best. Best phone-time Noon to 6pm, Mon-Fri – or leave a Voice Mail if we don't pick-up. If you wish to leave your email address, speak slowly, clearly, then we can email Directions to you. Let's really talk n' see if this 'odd' class is even possibly for you. Be most welcome . . . maybe we'll C Ya' |
When you can create the 'reading-time', go to the Table of Contents – and choose the much more expanded full sections to read on 'Meditation' ~ and about 'Buddhist Thought' ~ that may be very 'enlightening' for you as to what some of 'Buddhism' is really about. Some surprising stuff ! It may be very helpful for your in-depth or overall understanding - as your relationship with Buddhist Practice begins to develop. BTW: None of this big site's readings are required or necessary for attending our Weekly Meditation classes. Read steady - or graze just what you want to, in any order that flows for you . . . enjoy |
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You could always put a Santa hat on a Ho'tei statue. The legend of Ho'tei Bu-tai is strikingly similar to that of Santa Claus that many Westerners grew up with. Hotei is called The Laughing Buddha, and is known for his big belly & the huge cloth sack that he carries full of everything precious - a sack of sweets, toys & good food – and it never ever empties. Hotei brings luck & happiness to the poor and to children. Happy and ecstatic Hotei statues also are one of the more commonly recognized, well known figures in 'popular' Buddhism. He is the pure embodiment of Generosity. please wait for image to load |
The END is a short scroll below with a last rim-shot of Zen Funnies
– followed by optional ARCHIVES, that may be very interesting.
Here are some activist-quotes ~ may they be supportive towards all of our active caring.
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There is more hunger for Love and Appreciation in this world than for bread. Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible. If we have no Peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. We can do no 'great things' – just many small things with Great Love. ~ Mother Teresa If you wish to experience peace that they are safe. ~ The Dalai Lama Seeing our lives as a ‘Force’ for bringing on happiness and peace to ourselves and others. Do we trust enough to surrender our separateness? ~ Anna Douglas If you do not see Godliness in the next person you meet, ~ Gandhi Discovering the net of interrelatedness – including all of life in our very own heart Experience this very moment – here right now – and you can discover the joy that includes everything – the love that includes hate the peace that includes the war. ~ metta zetty And you are to love all those who are your 'aliens' – were aliens in Egypt. ~ Deuteronomy 10:19 The opposite of love is not hate – it's indifference. it's indifference. it's indifference. it's indifference. ~ Elie Wiesel |
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Our lives begin to end ~ Martin Luther King If you think you are too small to make a difference, with a mosquito. ~ Will Rodgers Remember - Grains of sand can start an avalanche. ~ Marianne Baillieu If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for – that we don't really stand for them. ~ Senator Paul Wellstone Arise all you women that have strong hearts – that of water or tears! of the devastated Mother Earth, goes up with our own. is not the balance of justice." ~ Excerpt from Julia Ward Howe's proclamation that created Mother's Day in 1870 In her 1965 essay "The Imagination of Disaster", Susan Sontag said that modern Americans live in an age of extremes – under continual threat of two equally fearful, but seemingly opposed, destinies – You must Fearlessly DO something meaningful ! ... and the children ~ Nick Rath |
“ May you and I and all beings live with a peaceful loving heart
and enjoy a healthy, happy body and mind ! “
" I love you, gentlest of Ways –
you who ripened us ...
as we wrestled with you."
~ Rainer Rilke
♦Ω♦
The End is Insight
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BREAK THE SILENCE WITH LAUGHTER !
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"I am astounded by people who want to 'know' the Universe –
when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown."
~ Woody Allen
for Roshi - a poem
I never really understood
what he said
but every now and then
I find myself
barking with the dog
or bending with the irises
or helping out
in other little ways
~ Leonard Cohen - Singer/Songwriter
This poem was written by Leonard in honor of
his 100 year old Los Angeles meditation teacher,
Joshu Sasaki Roshi of Mount Baldy Zen Center.
For over eighty years
I yelled Katsu ! to no avail.
And now, while dying,
Once more to shout “Kwatz” !
Won't change a damn thing.
~ Kokei Sochin Zenji (1515–1597)
'Kwatz' is Japanese for 'Eureka'
The Journey of a Thousand Miles
Begins with a single "Oiy".
Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain Nothingness.
And then what do you have?
*Bupkis.
~ The Sayings of a Jewish Buddhist ~
* Bupkis: is defined as "Nothing" in Yiddish. It's a pun.
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Everyone knows the End of the Story.
The End of the Story is always 'Right Now'.
.:: The END ::.
~ a lotus flower to you ~
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About Authorships & Acknowledgement CREDIT is due & much appreciated! © All common rights reserved. Permission must be granted
by the author for use on Web Sites & for outside publishing.
Akasa Levi's erudite "Fortune Cookie Buddhism" © 2004-8
Of course, be welcome to reprint any material herein FOR
PERSONAL USE ONLY BUT please CREDIT ALL AUTHORS.
Simply put the Author's Name - or if no name, then use our web e-dress www.zentrance.com at the end of your posting or reprint. 'Generosity of Appreciation' is valuable to practice! ( Sadly, we are seeing too much naive or "could care less",
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Sit Meditation. See Much Better. Dharma-Study It.
See Through It. You're Set Free ! Wheee !
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ARCHIVE Table of Contents
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" THE GREATEST RISK IS NOT TAKING ONE! "
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Everything has to do with ‘Love’. Rumi