Sunday, December 9, 2012

Day of Mindfulness Dec 15 2012


Dear Friends,

Our December Day of Mindfulness is this Saturday December 15, 10-4.30pm.  At Riverside Church, Wellness Center at 91 Claremont Avenue in Manhattan.

A Day of Mindfulness is a wonderful and precious opportunity to be together, deepening our practice  mindfulness and compassion.

Our Day will include sitting and walking meditation, eating together in mindfulness, singing, dharma sharing, and the chance to explore being present to each in-breath and each out-breath.

Facilitated by Nina Teng and David Flint.

When: December 15, 10am-4.30pm.  Come for all or part of the Day.

Where: Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Avenue, Wellness Center [between 120-122nd Street one block west of Broadway.]

Lunch is around 1-2pm.  Bring a vegetarian lunch.  Chairs and cushions available.  Beginners welcome.  Please do not wear fragrances.

Take care,
David Flint
Nina Teng


email to: cmnymetro-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to receive announcements.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Cultivating Joy Day of Mindfulness and "Wake Up" Open House


November 17: Cultivating Joy Day of Mindfulness


Community of Mindfulness New York /Metro

Inspired by the Teachings and Practice of Thich Nhat Hanh

Invites us to practice Cultivating Joy  together :
Day of Mindfulness
with Dharma Teacher John Bell

SaturdayNovember 17, 2012  10a.m. to 4:30p.m. (Please Arrive by 9:45)
. The Riverside Church, Assembly Hall, 91 Claremont Avenue ( 120-122nd Sts, one block W of Broadway)


                                                                           Cultivating Joy! 
 The Buddha started with relieving suffering, but the goal is true joy.  Among the hundreds of pathways to happiness, in this day of mindfulness we will focus on a few that intentionally incline the mind towards joy.  We will enjoy sitting and walking, singing and gratitude practice. We will explore ways of finding joy in difficult times, appreciating ourselves no matter what, and sitting with what ever arises--and therein lies liberation. The day will include healing silence and raucous interaction!
                                                                                           with  John Bell
John first met Thich Nhat Hanh in 1982, after which he began reading and attending retreats, became a member of the Order of Interbeing in 2001 and received “lamp transmission” as a dharma teacher in 2010.  John founded the Mountain Bell Sangha, near  Boston, in 1997, and it has  been going strong ever since. He has offered many Days of Mindfulness and retreats. John is particularly interested in combining “Mindfulness and Emotional Healing”. He says that It is a great gift to have found this practice and  he loves sharing it.






WAKE UP OPEN HOUSE 

An All-Ages, All Sanghas Gathering
With Dharma Teachers
Marjorie, David and Dennis

Sitting, Walking, Tea and Dharma Talk
December 1st 2012
Starting at 1:30 PM

Atmananda Yoga Center
67 Irving Place ( South Entrance) 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10003




Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Day of Mindfulness: October 20, 2012


Dear Friends,
 
Please enjoy having 'nothing to do and nowhere to go' at this Saturday's Day of Mindfulness.  In our sitting and walking meditation, eating, dharma sharing  and mindful movements we will explore this 'nothing to do and nowhere to do.'  
 
Thay [Thich Nhat Hanh] says that:  "the businessless person is someone who doesn't run after enlightenment or grasp at anything, even if that thing is the Buddha.  This person has simply stopped.  She is no longer caught by anything, even theories or teachings....When we learn to stop and be truly alive in the present moment, we are in touch with what's going on in and around us.  We aren't carried away by the past, the future, our thinking, ideas, emotions, and projects...Insight can't be found in sutras, commentaries, or Dharma talks....This is like hoping to find fresh water in dry bones....

The person who has nothing to do is sovereign of herself.  She doesn't have to put on airs or leave any trace behind.  The true person is an active participant, engaged in her environment while remaining unoppressed by it.  Although all phenomena are going through the various appearances of birth, abiding, changing, and dying, the true person doesn't become a victim of sadness, happiness, love, or hate....In doing nothing, in simply stopping, we can live freely and true to ourselves and our liberation will contribute to the liberation of all beings"**

So the practice instructions will be simple: 'breathing in, I know I am breathing in [with nowhere to go] and breathing out I know I am breathing out [with nothing to do.]  And each of us will still have to find our own way: 'nothing to do and nowhere to go' in the middle of the experience of an unpleasant emotion of physical sensation or a daydream, or deep peace, or an agitated mind or a happy mind.  
Dry bones or fresh water?
 
Attend all or part of the Day: instructions are given and beginners are welcome.  Chairs and cushions available.  Please do not wear fragrances.  We eat lunch together in silence, so bring a vegetarian lunch for yourself.  Lunch is around 1:15-2:15pm.]

At the Wellness Center at Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Avenue, Manhattan. [between 120-122nd Streets, one block west of Broadway.]

Schedule [subject to change]

Saturday October 20, 2012
9:45-10am  Arrive.

10-10:45: mindul movements, sitting meditation
10:45-11:00-Walking Meditation
11:00-11:30: Sitting Meditation
11:30-12:00: Walking Meditation, Mindful Movements

12:00-12:30-Sitting Meditation

12:30-1pm-Outdoor Walking [weather permitting]

1:15-2:15-Lunch/Rest

2:30-3pm: Total Relaxation

3:10-3:45--Walking and Sitting Meditation

3:45-4:30-Dharma Sharing/Close


The Day will be led by David Flint and Walter Lyons of the Riverside and Morningstar Sanghas.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Day of Mindfulness Sept 15, 2012


The Appearance of the Morning Star: the Light at the Core of Suffering
Saturday, September 15, 10am-4.30pm, Riverside Church

Dear Friends,

The theme for our Saturday Day of Mindfulness is:  "The Appearance of the Morning Star: the Light at the Core of Suffering." We'll look into the story of Bhikkuni Patacara from chapter 55 of Thich Nhat Hanh's book Old Path, White Clouds.***

Our 'deep looking' will be grounded our practice of conscious breathing and mindfulness, as we practice sitting and walking meditation, enjoy mindful movements and singing, and listen and learn from each other in Dharma Sharing.

Please come for all or part of the Day.  Chairs and cushions available.  Lunch is around 1pm: bring your own vegetarian lunch.  Please do not wear fragrances.

Facilitated by Ishmael Wallace of the Riverside Sangha. 

Where: Riverside Church, Wellness Center, at 91 Claremont Avenune in Manhattan [between 120-122nd St. one block west of Broadway.]
When: Saturday, September 15, 10am-4.30pm.


***Patacara was one of the first Buddhist Nuns, in the time of the Buddha.  Her story is also told in "The First Buddhist Women."


Email cmnymetro-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to receive email announcements.

Saturday, August 11, 2012


In our Saturday August 18 Day of Mindfulness we will explore the Parable of The Destitute Sonfrom the Lotus Sutra, and expressed below in Thich Nhat Hanh's poem "Our True Heritage"

Our True Heritage

The cosmos is filled with precious gems..
I want to offer a handful of them to you this morning.
Each moment you are alive is a gem,
shining through and containing earth and sky,
water and clouds.

It needs you to breathe gently
for the miracles to be displayed.
Suddenly you hear the birds singing,
the pines chanting,
see the flowers blooming,
the blue sky,
the white clouds,
the smile and the marvelous look
of your beloved.

You, the richest person on Earth,
who have been going around begging for a living,
stop being the destitute child.
Come back and claim your heritage.
We should enjoy our happiness
and offer it to everyone.
Cherish this very moment.
Let go of the stream of distress
and embrace life fully in your arms.

[From Call Me By My True Names]

With our mindful breathing and resting in this moment, we enjoy Being Wonderfully Together in sitting and walking meditation, Dharma Sharing, singing, outdoor walking, total relaxation, and more.  Come for all or part of the Day.  No experience necessary.


Saturday August 18, 10:00am --4:30pm.
At Riverside Church, Wellness Center, 91 Claremont Avenue, Manhattan
Chairs and Cushions Available.  
Please do not wear fragrances.
Lunch: 1:00-2;00pm.  Bring your own vegetarian lunch.  We eat in mindfulness and silence.

Facilitated by Ishmael Wallace.  

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Day of Mindfulness Saturday July 21, 2012


Dear Friends,

In our Day of Mindfulness Saturday July 21 we develop our 'skillful means' in meditation practice, by experimenting with several meditations at the beginning of the Day and then choosing one to focus on for the rest of the Day.  We will begin together cultivating stopping, calming, ease, joy and concentration.  After establishing this through mindfulness of breathing and calming the body, we will practice a guided meditation on impermanence and interbeing.

Then there will be a round of dharma sharing and each of us will choose which 'theme' to practice with and focus on for the rest of the Day:
    a. stopping/calming/resting/joy through awareness of the whole body.

    b. Impermanence
  
    c. Interbeing 

The meditations and schedule are elaborated below.  

Impermanence

“What do you think, bhikkhus [Monks], is material form permanent or impermanent?”“Impermanent, venerable sir.”“Is that which is impermanent satisfying or unsatisfying?”“Unsatisfying, venerable sir.”“Is that which is impermanent, unsatisfying and subject to change fit to be regarded thus: ‘This is mine, this is what I am, this is my self.’“No, venerable sir.” 
[The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha's Teachings on NibbanaAjahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, page 89]

"All phenomena, whether physiological, psychological, or physical, without exception, are impermanent....all things are in endless transformation and all things are without a separate self...Impermanence also means interdependence, that there is no independent individual becuase everything is changing all the time.  A flower is always receiving non-flower elements like water, air, and sunshine, and it is always giving something to the universe.  A flower is a stream of change, and a person is also a stream of change." [Breath! You are Alive.]

 As sensations arise, the practitioner pauses to observe the rise and fall of the activities of the eyes, the ears, the nose, and the sense of touch.  As feelings arise, they are observed.  As thoughts arise, they are recognized…all without repressing on the one hand, or fabricating or adding to the experience…Phenomena arise and fall, in constant change.  The practitioner observes the changes and returns to the breath.” [Friends on the Path, Jack Lawlor, p. 56-8]

Interbeing
"Whose hand is this that has never died?
Who is it who was born in the past?  Who is it who will die in the future?"

"Looking at your hand: If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see you parents and all generations of your ancestors.  All of them are alive in this moment.  Each is present in your body.  You are the continuation of each of this people....Your hand proves that you have never been born and will never die.  The thread of life has never been interrupted from time without beginning until now.  Previous generations, all the way back to single-celled organisms, are present in your hand at this moment.  You can experience this....When we have a tangible experience of non-birth and non-death, we know ourselves beyond duality....Your hand is always available as a subject for meditation."  
[Present Moment, Wonderful Moment, Thich Nhat Hanh, 13-14.]

Mindfulness of the Body and Calming/ease
 “Breathing in, I am aware of whole body.  Breathing out, I am aware of my whole body.”
With this second subject, we embrace our body with mindfulness rather than just embracing our breathing…. We recognize the presence of our body and “return home” to be one with it…. If we do not come back to our home and care for it, who will?  When we come home to it, our body breathes a sigh of relief and says, “She has come back at last.”
“During [this] period of meditation, we can observe our whole body without discriminating between the parts…. At this point allow your breathing, your body, and your observing mind become one.”
If you practice this way for ten or twenty minutes, the flow of your breathing and of your bodily functions will become very calm, and your mind will feel quite released… It is like drinking a glass of cool lemonade on a hot day and feeling your body becoming cool inside.  When you breathe in, the air enters your body and calms all the cells of your body.  At the same time, each “cell” of your breathing becomes more peaceful and each “cell” of your mind also becomes more peaceful.  The three are one, and each one is all three.  This is the key to meditation.  Breathing brings the sweet joy of meditation to you.  It is food.  If you are nourished by the sweet joy of meditation, you become joyful, fresh, and tolerant, and everyone around you will benefit from your joy.”

Schedule 

9:4510:00 Arrive 
10-10:45
Sitting Meditation/Walking Meditation/ Mindful Movements:  stopping/calming/resting/ease

10:50-11:15am
Sitting Meditation: Impermanence of body/mind; looking deeply into my hand.

11:20-11:40: Dharma Sharing: choose which of the meditation themes to focus on for rest of Day.  Each person chooses their own.

11:45  Walking meditation/Mindful Movements

12:10-12:50
Sitting Meditation and Walking Meditation

12:50-1:10: Sitting Meditation

1:15-2pm: Mindful Lunch in Silence [bring your own vegetarian lunch]

2:15--Walking Meditation and Mindful Movements

2:50-3:30 Sitting and Walking Meditation

3:35 Sitting Meditation

3:50-4:30pm Dharma sharing and Closing
_________________________________________

Come for all or part of the Day.  In the Wellness Center at Riverside Church, 91 Claremont Avenue, 10-4:30pm.  Chairs and cushions available.  Bring your own vegetarian lunch.  Please do not wear fragrances.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Breathe! You are Alive Study Group: June 10 2012

Sunday June 10, 3:30-5:30, is the first meeting of a monthly study group focused on sitting meditation practice: we will be using Thay's teachings on the Full Awareness of Breathing Sutra to guide us.  Dennis Bohn and David Flint** will lead the group.  Each meeting will include periods of meditation and discussion, along with suggestions for practice.

June 10, 3:30-5:30pm, Church of Gethsemane, basement, at 1012 8th Avenue, in Brooklyn.

**Dennis and David are Dharma Teachers in the Plum Village Tradition, ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh in February 2011.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

April 21, 2012: Inner Loving Speech and Deep Listening: A Day of Mindfulness

A Day ofMindfulness
April 21, 2012, 10-4:30pm
The Riverside Church, in The Wellness Center
*Inner Loving Speech and Deep Listening*
                  The  Mindfulness Trainings teach us that words can create happiness or  suffering  How do we  each "...promote reconciliation and peace in myself..."?  
                                           What are we saying to ourselves? How are we listening?
                        How does our inner dialogue benefit or distract from our well being and freedom?
 
 
           We will enjoy a video of questions and answers with Thich Nhat Hanh, sitting and walking meditation
       Dharma sharing, deep relaxation and mindful eating meditation. Please bring a veggie bag lunch and drink.
                                                       
 Please do not wear fragrances.
 
The day will be Co-facilitated by Linda Anderson and  Marjorie Markus
 
Linda Anderson was ordained into the Order of Interbeing in 2005. Her true name is True Path of Peace and she practices with the Stony Brook Sangha.  Linda is also ordained  as a Unitarian Universalist minister and served a congregation in Kingston NY for 18 years before she moved to Long Island where she now works as a hospital chaplain and as an educator of chaplain interns.
 
Marjorie Markus received the Dharmacharya Lamp from her dear teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, in 2011.  She loves that Days of Mindfulness offer an opportunity for folks  from many Sanghas to practice together.
 

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Day of Mindfulness March 17: A Shamrock Meditation

Community of Mindfulness New York Metro
Inspired by the Teachings and Practice of Thich Nhat Hanh

A  Shamrock  Meditation:
the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha; the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit; three hearts in one ......

Please join us for a Day of Mindfulness on March 17, 10 am - 4:30 pm at Riverside Church, Room 411 MLK,  91 Claremont Avenue, north of 120th Street in Manhattan.

We will look into the meaning of connecting with our spiritual roots or rootlessness through the practice of sitting and walking meditations, deep relaxation, dharma sharing, and singing. 

All are welcome to join us for any part of the day. No experience necessary. Please arrive before 9:50 if the intention is to start the day with us. Chairs and cushions will be available. Please bring a vegetarian lunch. Our practice of mindful eating will take place between 12:30 and 1:30 pm. We will enjoy a fragrance-free, smoke-free, and alcohol-free environment.

The Day will be facilitated by Nina Teng and Walter Lyons of the Riverside and Morning Star Sanghas. 

Chairs and cushions available.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Morningstar Sangha is happy to announce that Dharma Teacher David Flint will join us Sunday February 26, 4-6:30pm.

The Morningstar Sangha is happy to announce that David Flint will join us Sunday February 26, 4-6:30pm.  

David will give a Dharma Talk and respond to our questions and concerns in our mindfulness practice.  David was ordained as a Dharma Teacher, by Thich Nhat Hanh. at Plum Village one year ago,** and is a Co-founder of the Community of Mindfulness New York Metro.

Please Note we begin at 4pm and not 4:30pm.

Schedule: 4pm-4:45: Sitting and Walking Meditation.
                 4:50-6pm: Talk/Questions and Response
                 6:10-6:30: Sit/Close

WHERE WE MEET

 48-19 44th Street, 2nd floor, Sunnyside, Queens

HOW TO GET THERE

Please take the #7 train to the 46th St./Bliss stop
Exit the station on the west stairway (stairway closest to Manhattan)
Walk two blocks west (toward Manhattan) on Queens Blvd.
You will come to 44th St.  Turn left (south) onto 44th St. and continue for two blocks
After one block you will come to a six-way intersection of Greenpoint Ave. 47th Ave. & 44th St.
After two blocks you will arrive at 48th Ave.  You will see a small church.
Continue past the church on 44th St.
48-19 will be the second house on the left after the church.

Please RSVP to WLLFH@AOL.COM

Take care,
Walter

**Dennis Bohn, Jeanne Anselmo, Marjorie Markus and David were ordained together.


Sunday, February 5, 2012

Who are We? A Day of Mindfulness February 18 at Riverside Church

Who  Are  We
are we our perceptions? are we our skin color? are we our parents and ancestors? are we our livelihood or lack of livelihood? 

Please join us for a Day of Mindfulness on February 18, 10 am - 4:30 pm at Riverside Church, Room 411 MLK,  91 Claremont Avenue, north of 120th Street, Manhattan. 

We will explore touching our true identity/ finding our true voice through the practice of sitting and walking meditations, total relaxation, dharma sharing, and singing. We will also watch an interview with Sister Dang Nghiem from Colors of Compassion, a film of Thich Nhat Hanh's first People of Color Retreat at Deer Park Monastery in 2004. Sister Dang Nghiem (adornment with nondiscrimination) was ordained as a nun in the Plum Village tradition in 2000; she is also the author of the book, Healinga woman's journey from doctor to nun

All are welcome to join us for any part of the day. No experience necessary. Please arrive before 9:50 if you intend to start the day with us. 

Chairs and cushions will be available. Please bring a vegetarian lunch. Our practice of mindful eating will take place between 12:30 and 1:30 pm. 

We will enjoy a fragrance-free, smoke-free, and alcohol-free environment. 

The Day will be facilitated by Nina Teng and Marjorie Markus of the Riverside Sangha.

" Wherever we stand, wherever we sit, we are the true person. We are masters of ourselves and wherever we are, we are ourselves ......... Our true person is truly without sign, without basis or foundation, and is not created by causes and conditions. But our true person is very alive. Right in this moment that person is present and we have to be able to recognize that person" 
- Thich Nhat Hanh, Nothing to Do, Nowhere to Go
"To love is first of all to accept yourself as you actually are. 'Knowing thyself' is the first practice of love."
Thich Nhat Hanh, Teachings on Love
___________________________________________________________

email cmnymetro-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to receive email announcements.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Day of Mindfulness January 21, 2010: 10-4:30; Riverside Church, Room 430-MLK

Beginning Anew


we will engage practices that will guide us in 
Beginning Anew Saturday, January 21, 2012, 
At The Riverside Church, Room 430 MLK 
91 Claremont Avenue (Betw.120-122nd Sts, One Block West of Broadway) 
***
We will enjoy Sitting and Walking Meditation, Eating Meditation, Deep
Relaxation & Dharma Sharing,  Beginners Welcome.


Please do not wear fragrances.


You are invited to bring a veggie bag lunch and drink.
Please RSVP to marjoriem4@juno.com  [It is okay to attend without RSVP]

[if you would like to help set up, and can arrive between 9-9:30, please note this in your rsvp.]




To receive email announcements email to cmnymetro-subscribe@yahoogroups.com