Commitments Practice Poster

by Mary Ann | May 24, 2012 | Study Resources

OIMG Book Club Review

by Mary Ann | May 4, 2012 | Study Resources

Buddhism Without Beliefs: Chapters 5 – 8

Stephen Batchelor’s Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening offers a practical, step-by-step tool for fostering/nurturing awakening now.

Below, OIMG Book Club members offer reflections on the insights they are experiencing from our weekly reviews of each chapter. (more…)

Savor

by Mary Ann | Apr 7, 2012 | Study Resources

By Katharine (Kitty) White

On the evening of Friday, March 30th, I joined 5 other Sangha members (Wanda, Arthur, Rose and Lynnette) in experiencing the Last Friday Silent Supper at Judy Douglas’ home. After everyone had arrived and exchanged warm greetings, we gathered in front of Judy’s laptop to watch a video.

It featured Dr. Lilian Cheung, who co-authored the book, Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life with Thich Nhat Hanh. She reviewed the seven practices of mindful eating.

(more…)

OIMG Book Club Review

by Mary Ann | Mar 24, 2012 | Study Resources

Buddhism Without Beliefs: Chapters 1 – 4

Stephen Batchelor’s  Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening offers a practical, step-by-step tool for fostering/nurturing awakening now.

Below, individual OIMG Book Club members offer in their own words reflections on the insights they are experiencing from our weekly reviews of each chapter, starting with chapters 1-4. (more…)

Book Club Reviews Buddhism Without Beliefs

by Mary Ann | Mar 10, 2012 | Study Resources

In reading Stephen Batchelor’s 1997 book Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening, I personally found the book to be just that—a practical tool one might use to foster/nurture awakening now.

Over the past couple of months, Peter has been suggesting we individually and as a sangha explore “What will (our) Buddhist community, centered here in Winter Park FL,  look like in the 21st century?” The Wednesday dharma talks are offering a lot of practical tools/ways that we can bring the dharma into our day to day lives.

At a sangha steering committee meeting, in response to varied discussion about coming up with ways to answer that question further, I volunteered to help initiate some type of sangha (Oprah?) book club, starting with Batchelor’s book. (more…)

Wisdom Wide and Deep

by Mary Ann | Mar 2, 2012 | Study Resources

Peter Carlson writes:  Wisdom Wide and Deep by Shaila Catherine follows an earlier book by this author, Focused and Fearless, which described the training in jhana practice under the tutelage of the Pa Auk Sayadaw.  The current book, published in 2011, combines descriptions of Buddhist salvational psychology, the Abhidhamma, with practice tips on how to combine tranquility (shamatha) meditation with insight (vipassana) meditation.  This is a very comprehensive approach to the subjects, and will likely be a standard practice manual for many serious meditation students.