• April 9-15: Spring Refuge Retreat at the Abbey at Canon City, with Sarah Bender, Sensei and Andrew Palmer, Sensei.
• August 3-5: Ullambana Retreat, with Sarah Bender, Sensei.
• Sept. 28-30: A commuter retreat. Details TBA.
• Dec. 5-9: With David Weinstein, Roshi, at the Abbey in Canyon City.
7-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 1, Woman’s Club, 20 Mesa Road
Sarah Bender, Sensei, and David Gardiner, Ph.D., from the Colorado College religion department, will share a contemplative conversation based on short classical texts from the Zen Buddhist traditions of China and Japan. Participants will read and discuss koan texts and more conventional, yet rich, spiritual writings. Explore different ways to read Zen texts that invite deep inquiry into the great matters of life and death with grace and humor. Series continues Feb. 15 and 19.
6:30-9 p.m., Friday, Feb. 17 and 5:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 18
As the days grow longer and the shadows grow shorter, we will have the opportunity to hear winter’s swan song alternate with the deep silence that extended sitting confers. For those of you who have never experienced the profound silence that is the gift of a retreat, this will be a perfect way to get a tip-of-the-tongue taste of the mystery of deep meditation. There will be extended sitting, work in the room with Sarah, and Dharma talks.
• Cost: $75 (some scholarship money is available).
• Meals: We will share three meals Saturday, to which we will all contribute.
• Signup deadline: Feb. 10 (please let us know as soon as possible if you are thinking of participating).
• More information: Steve Milligan, steve_milligan08@comcast.net.
Feb. 12, and March 4 and 18
Koans are Zen devices both poetic and practical – stories, dialogs, images, questions – that can find the chinks in the armor of your heart-mind and pop them wide open so the real you can breathe and walk freely on the empty sky. When we take them up together, they gain the power of our collective awakening. And it’s a little like sharing dreams… each of us goes home with a richer imagination, a more sophisticated palate for enjoying the taste of life. Anyone is welcome. Sundays, 3 to 5 p.m., 7528 Jenkin Place. Contact sembender@gmail.com.
Feb. 8 and March 14, 6:30 to 8:15 p.m., 7528 Jenkin Place
These meetings are small-group explorations of the practice of spiritual friendship in community. Lately we’ve been exploring a number of aspects of speech in community – speech that helps us flourish as individuals and in community (and what to do when it doesn’t!). As one friend says, “We’re all Bozos on the same bus,” and we need each others’ help to grow wiser in the Dharma.
• Saturday, Feb. 4, with Sarah Bender, Sensei
Dharma Talks
• Monday, Feb. 20, with Sarah Bender, Sensei
• Monday, Feb. 27, with Andrew Palmer, Sensei
Location: Shove Chapel, 1010 North Nevada Ave., on the Colorado College campus
• First Monday of the month: 25-minute period of meditation, Sutra Service, second 25-minute period of meditation.
• Second Monday: Meditation, recite Precepts, Community Night.
• Third Monday: Meditation, Dharma Talk.
• Fourth Monday: Meditation, Dharma Talk.
• Fifth Monday: Meditation, Way Seeking Mind talk by a Sangha member.
Wednesday Mornings: 6:30-7:30 a.m.
• Two 25-minute periods of meditation with walking meditation in between and vows at the end of the hour. We offer incense at this service.
• First Saturday: Four-period meditation, Work in the Room with Sarah Bender, Sensei.
• Second Saturday: Four-period meditation.
• Third Saturday: Four-period meditation, Work in the Room with Andrew Palmer, Sensei.
• Fourth Saturday: Four-period meditation.
• Fifth Saturday: Three meditation periods with Way-seeking Mind talk during the third period.
• After the meditation, many of us walk to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast.
Traversing the Gates: 108 Bells for the Turning of the Year
• December 31, 2011 to January 1, 2012, The Woman’s Club, 20 Mesa Road, 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. – Share food, music and games
• 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. – Meditation
• 12:00 a.m. – 108 Bells
We will close by 1:00 a.m. … and sleep … and then … later at the Woman’s Club …
• A Simple Sit for a New Year’s Day, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Bring a bag lunch or go for lunch, noon to 1:00 p.m.
• If you are interested in leading for any part of the day, please contact Linda.
• You are invited to attend any part of these free New Year’s events. Everyone is welcome.
• If you like, bring a reading, poem, etc., to share during our meditation on New Year’s Eve as well as throughout the Simple Sit.
• Share this event with your friends: Send them an email poster.
• February 17-19: Integrative Weekend Retreat with Sarah Bender, Sensei
• April 9-15: Meditation Retreat at the Abbey with senseis Sarah Bender and Andrew Palmer
• May 18-20: Commuter Retreat with Joan Sutherland, Roshi
• June 30: Steering Committee Retreat
• July 27-29: Ullambana Retreat with Andrew Palmer, Sensei. Commuter, including families and possibly other sanghas, with dinner at start of retreat
• September 28-30: Meditation Retreat with Sarah Bender, Sensei
• December 5-9: Retreat with David Weinstein, Roshi, at the Abbey
• Simple Sit, December 31-January 1: New Year’s Eve at the Woman’s Club. Click HERE for more information.
• Koan Circles: January 15, 29; February 12; and March 4, 18
• Sangha Life Meetings: January 11, 25; February 8; and March 14
• Work in the Room…
• With Sarah Bender, Sensei, 1st Saturday
• With Andrew Palmer, Sensei, 3rd Saturday
• Dharma Talks
• With Sarah Bender, Sensei, 3rd Monday
• With Andrew Palmer, Sensei, 4th Monday
December 3: Work in the Room, 6:30 to 8 a.m., with Sarah Bender, Sensei.
December 3: Bright Star of Morning Retreat, with Sarah Bender. Hosted by Wet Mountain Sangha from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Center for Inner Peace, 740 W. 15th St., Pueblo. The day’s rhythms will alternate between sitting and walking meditation, a full sutra service, a koan to guide our inquiry, and a silent potluck lunch. Individual interviews with Sarah will be available. Suggested dana (donations for Sarah), $15. RSVP to Merrilee Barnett at 719/994-3278 or merrilee@ghvalley.net.
December 4: Steering Committee meeting, 3 to 5 p.m., 7528 Jenkin Place. Contact Liz Cramer for more information.
December 7: Occupy Awakening Retreat with David Weinstein, Roshi, at The Hideaway in Black forest. Go here for more information and a registration form.
December 8: Bodhi Day ceremony and celebration at the Air Force Academy, 5:30 p.m. in the Vast Refuge Dharma Hall. Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way, Recitation of Vows, Celebration of Buddha’s Enlightenment, and a shared Indian vegetarian dinner (please RSVP, sembender@gmail.com). Everyone is welcome!
December 12: Banana Peel Zen, a talk by David Weinstein, Roshi. Open to the public. Go here for more information.
December 17: Work in the Room, 6:30 to 8:30 a.m., with Andrew Palmer, Sensei.
December 19: Dharma Talk by Sarah Bender, Sensei, 6:15 p.m. at Shove Chapel.
December 26: Dharma Talk by Andrew Palmer, Sensei, 6:15 p.m. at Shove Chapel.
December 31: See New Year’s events above!
December 31: Greeting the New Year, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., at the Woman’s Club. Meditation, ringing of 108 bells, and a shared meal.
January 1: Open sit to greet the new year, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Woman’s Club.
Zen Koan practice is a way of pulling the rug out from under all of the things we think we know, about ourselves and the world around us. But, more than “pulling the rug out,” which is something we do, awakening is like slipping on a banana peel, a surprise and not under our control. It is an accident, and Koan practice makes us accident prone. In the martial arts, it is important to learn how to fall. In a very real way, Koan practice is like that, learning how to fall from what we know, into what is true and real. — David Weinstein, Roshi
David’s Dharma Talk, which is open to the public, will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12, at the Woman’s Club, 20 Mesa Road on the Colorado College campus. Suggested donation: $10. For more information, contact Liz Cramer.
Occupy Awakening: What’s Buddha Got to Do With It?
December 7 through 11, 2011, in Colorado Springs
“In the Zen tradition, there is a retreat held each December in honor of the awakening of Gautama Siddhartha. In the last few years we have explored where we found ourselves in the story of that awakening process, a way of checking in with ourselves and each other in the midst of the deepening that occurs during a period of intensive meditation, conversation and individual work with koans. This year, in the spirit of the deep, sincere questioning of the traditions available at the time that fueled Gautama’s quest, we will explore, why this particular path, why this particular story? What happens when we bring ‘not knowing’ to bear on why and how we do this practice?” – David Weinstein, Roshi
The retreat, with teacher David Weinstein, will take place at The Hideaway, nestled on 10 acres of ponderosa pine in the Black Forest with interweaving trails and beautiful views of Pikes Peak. For complete information, see the flyer and registration form here. To register, contact Steve Milligan at steve_milligan08@comcast.net, or call 719-633-5925.
Wet Mountain Sangha (our sister sangha) is offering a Precepts Study Class. Andrew Palmer, Sensei, and David Cockrell will co-lead this class on the Buddhist lay precepts. Each of the refuge vows, the pure precepts, and the 10 Bodhisattva vows will be taken up over the course of 13 sessions. The sessions will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month beginning October 8 and completing in April 2012. Classes will be at the Center for Inner Peace, 740 W. 15th St. in Pueblo. The class provides preparation for the ceremony of taking refuge in the Bodhisattva Way, to be held at the Springs Mountain Sangha spring meditation retreat. Taking refuge is not necessary for participation in the class, and all are welcome. See Joan Sutherland’s essay on Taking Refuge and contact Andrew Palmer (remlapa@gmail.com) or David Cockrell (719-994-3278) for more information.
The October 22 class runs from 1:00-3:00 p.m.;, November dates are November 12 and 26; December dates TBA.
Sister Elaine MacInnes asked Yamada Roshi what he thought prayer should be for a Christian. His immediate response was,
“It should be the same as for a Buddhist. Prayer is light sitting in light.”
This day-long retreat on November 12 includes sitting and walking meditation, a Dharma Talk, work in the room (individual work with the teacher), and lunch shared in silence. Teacher: Sarah Bender, Sensei. Location: 7528 Jenkin Place. For more information: Linda Hodges hikerhodges@gmail.com.
An exploration of Awakening in the Zen Tradition
Zen is, more than anything, a way of developing our human faculties for seeing things as they are — and then responding freely. In these five sessions we’ll explore this way through lecture, discussion and meditation.
Along the way we will keep company with Zen koans — stories or questions designed to evoke sudden insight, clearing the eye and opening the heart so things can shine forth as they really are.
Teacher: Sarah Bender, Sensei, Resident Teacher for Springs Mountain Sangha, a Zen teacher in the koan tradition.
RSVP/Contact: sembender@gmail.com, visit smszen.org
When: Oct. 5, 12, 19, 26 and Nov. 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Where: Colorado College, Olin Hall Fish Bowl, 1030 North Nevada Avenue (north of Shove Chapel; the fishbowl is on the west side, second floor)
Suggested donation: $12 per class or $50 for all five
No prerequisites, all are welcome