During this meeting, Rose talked of what taking refuge in “The Three Jewels”, Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, has meant to her in managing the stresses of life. This led to a lively discussion of the value of spiritual community and many people added their names to a phone list to begin what Tara Brach has called “Kalyana Mitta” (spiritual friends) groups to support integrating Buddhist principles into life experience.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
This week begins the participation of various members of the Teacher’s Mentoring Group who were mentioned and introduced over the last few meetings. Kitty described the significant benefits she noted as she became more involved with Buddhist teachings and began a daily meditation practice. She called on others in the group to share their beneficial experiences with meditation, drawing an enthusiastic response.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()
Following on last week’s dialogue, the Teacher’s Mentoring Group, which has been meeting weekly for several months, introduced themselves and provided comments about their current studies of Buddhist principles and practices. These individuals’ commitments to their spiritual path warrants the opportunity to share what they’ve gained from the practice. Peter commented on the reality that each generation must revisit and make real in their own lived experience the wisdom that the Buddha’s teachings offered, and that his teaching over the last 20 years or so played a significant role in deepening his practice. These teachers, with Peter’s support, will be offering dhamma dialogues off and on during the summer, and will be delivering the dhamma talks while he’s away on his three month retreat this Fall. Next week, Kitty will lead a dialogue about how essential regular sitting practice has been for her spiritual development, and the week after that Rose will facilitate exploring the value of taking refuge, especially as related to Sangha.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
As the OIMG community matures in the understanding and application of Buddhist wisdom, developmental transitions naturally arise. The founding teacher, Peter, is leaving for a 3 month retreat at the Forest Refuge at the Insight Meditation Society in late August, which furthers his understanding and application; here in our community, several members who have experienced at least one one-week retreat and demonstrated a strong interest in deepening their understanding and application have been invited to participate in a teacher’s mentoring group, which has been meeting weekly for several months, so they will be prepared to continue the weekly dhamma dialogues, and to deepen their practice. This week’s discussion is organized around the tradition, passed down through the centuries of individual mastering the dhamma and sharing it with others, currently being manifested in our community in vitalizing ways. Next week the members of the mentoring group will talk of their areas of interest and aspirations for the community.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()
Continuing the exploration of what the Dhamma means in the 21st century, the basic precepts of Buddhism were discussed. Peter explained that the precepts are organized around the cultivation of wisdom, which is the combination of clear awareness and benevolent intention. The potential value of using the word commitment rather than precept was explained as commitment implies an action phase. A new list of commitments was provided (which will be posted on the web site), carefully constructed to convey the basic aspects of wisdom, hopefully in a way more useful in our era.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download ()