Springs Mountain Sangha, February 2026
All times listed below are Mountain Time
February Offerings
Monday, February 2; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel, Meditation, Sutra Service and Conversation
Tuesday, February 3; 6:30 PM, on Zoom, Steering Committee Meeting – all are welcome
Wednesday, February 4; 6 PM, on SMS Zoom, Open Source Koan Series with Tenney Nathanson leading this time
Thursday, February 5; 6:30 PM, on Zoom, Great Matter Series with Sarah Bender, Roshi
Saturday, February 7; Habitat for Humanity Interfaith Unity Build Day, contact Hunter hunter.groves@live.com if interested
Monday, February 9; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel, Meditation and Dharma Talk by Sarah Bender, Roshi
Thursday, February 12; 6:30 PM, on Zoom, Precepts Group with Sarah Bender, Roshi
Monday, February 16; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel, Community night, Precepts recitation and conversation
Wednesday, February 18; 7 AM, on SMS Zoom, Lunar New Year Ceremony
Wednesday, February 18; 6 PM, on SMS Zoom, Open Source Koan Series, Sarah Bender leading this time
Sunday, February 22; 2 PM, The Roommate at Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, details below
Monday, February 23; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel, Meditation and Dharma Talk by Sarah Bender, Roshi
Tuesday, February 24; 7:30 PM, on SMS Zoom, SMS Movie Night, Microcosmos
Thursday, February 26; 6:30 PM, on Zoom, Precepts Group with Sarah Bender, Roshi
KOANS FOR THE NEW YEAR
with Open Source Teachers
Megan Rundel, Tenney Nathanson and Sarah Bender
The Gate of Not Knowing: Types of Koans
Every other Wednesday Evening, 6:00-7:00 MT
February 4 and 18
on the SMS Zoom
In our winter koan series, Sarah, Tenney, and Megan will explore some of the different types of koans we encounter in our curriculum and the invitation each offers to us. Join us as we take up the different facets of koans and life, along with some meditation and conversation along the way.
Candlelight Meditation
Every Sunday from 8 to 8:30 PM, you are invited to join candlelight meditation online. Simple and lovely.
More information on the offerings listed above:
The Great Matter of Livingdying
a series of conversations with Sarah Bender
continues Thursday, February 5, 6:30-8 PM MT
Zoom Zendo
Dana is appreciated but not required. Suggested dana $10-$15 per session can be sent to Sarah via check or paypal.
If you’d like to join the series and haven’t let Sarah know already please do so, to be added to the email list.
sembender@gmail.com
Refuge and Precepts study series:
Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way
Continues all the way
to March, 2026 at our Spring retreat, where we will hold
a Refuge Ceremony for any who are ready to formally
take refuge in the Bodhisattva Way.
This month we will meet February 12 and 26 at 6:30 PM Mountain Time. We continue our slow walk through the Four Boundless Vows.
You are welcome to participate whether or not you are considering formally taking refuge. All of us long for refuge, and wish to offer refuge, and this process of deep inquiry into refuge itself, and vows, and ethical teachings is one we find most powerful when we take it up both individually and in community.
Questions? Feel free to contact Sarah at sembender@gmail.com.
And if you are considering taking refuge, please let her know this, especially if the times listed do not work in your schedule.
Habitat for Humanity Interfaith Unity Build Day
Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity is organizing faith communities around the region to participate in volunteer Interfaith Unity Build Days for their construction projects. This is a great opportunity to give back to the community, connect with others, and learn new skills!
The next opportunity is going to be on Saturday, February 7th, located in the Sand Creek subdivision (near Platte Ave. and Wooten, just a few blocks east of Asia Pacific Market). No previous experience in construction is required.
Please contact Hunter, hunter.groves@live.com, if you’re interested in helping out!”
AND, SPECIAL, COMING UP THIS MONTH….
Sunday, February 22nd, 2PM MT The Roommate
at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
Please join us at The Fine Arts Center for an afternoon viewing of The Roommate. This will be a time of community and also a show of support for a beloved sangha member, Susan Rogers.
A number of us will be attending the 2/22/26 showing at 2:00 pm. Although we will not be able to sit together, we plan to go to a local cafe after the show for nibbles and conversation. We can meet in the lobby at 1:30, prior to the show, to greet each other and discuss plans for after.
Please join us! Feel free to contact Brandy Lancaster at bdl0824@gmail.com with any questions.
You can purchase tickets at https://fac.coloradocollege.edu/theatre-events/the-roommate.
The Roommate – Midwestern housewife Sharron never had a roommate before, but after her divorce she needs help to pay the bills. Enter brash New Yorker Robyn, who may or may not have some questionable reasons why she needed out of the city.
This funny and deeply moving play—recently seen on Broadway starring Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow—examines the complexities that arise between two very different women and how they navigate changing senses of identity, relevance, and the possibility of reinvention.
SMS Movie Night; Microcosmos!
Tuesday, February 24 at 7:30 PM on Zoom
Please watch the movie ahead of time, bring a bowl of popcorn as we gather on zoom to discuss the movie.
2026 Upcoming Retreats
Mark your calendar and save the date for these retreats coming up in 2026 – more information will be available as the dates get closer
March 9-15 SMS retreat at Benet Hills Monastery
Springs Mountain Sangha Announces
Registration for our Spring Residential Meditation Retreat
At Benet Hill Monastery, Colorado Springs
March 9-15, 2026
With Sarah Bender, Roshi
As Spring opens its arms to us, we open, too! We come together to enter a period of silence for days of shared meditation, koan practice and the experience of stepping away from our usual busy lives, among the welcoming pines of the Black Forest.
Awakening happens.
Retreat registration is now open. Registration link:
https://forms.gle/zM4jLACFqDHLaoEF7
Other Retreats
May 24 Buddha’s Birthday retreat
June 5-7 Integrative retreat
August 30 Ullambana retreat
October 17-23 Open Source retreat in Tucson
December 6, 2026 Bodhi Day retreat
If you are interested in helping to coordinate a retreat, please let Kelly McFarland know via email at s.kelly.HLS@gmail.com Coordinating a retreat is a great way to support the sangha. All who have an interest are welcome regardless of how long you have been practicing with SMS. One of the challenges that comes with offering this many retreats is that we can’t hold a retreat without a coordinator so we really appreciate people offering to step up and help coordinate.
Ongoing Meditation Schedule, All available
via Zoom; Monday Eves available in person as well
Weekly Meditations (all times MDT) on Zoom:
- Weekdays from 6:30 to 7:30 AM. We sit for two periods and people come and go as they need to, and leave camera off. (Often a poem or koan will drop in at some point.)
- Saturday we sit from 6:30 to 8:00 AM, then someone speaks for a bit about their practice to kick off a deep and lively discussion (til roughly 8:30) These Zen Threads talks are now alternating every other week with “mini-threads” group discussions of practice with multiple paths emerging and joining seamlessly. You can join the meditation at 6:30, 7:00, 7:30 or 8:00.
- Sunday 8:00-8:30 PM Candlelight Meditation
Many Arms of Guanyin
Please share with us ways we can support our wider community in practice and service, to be included here.
Support our local food banks and organizations:
Please consider if you have means to offer support, via volunteering or donation, connecting with these local food banks and helping agencies:
Care and Share: Food Bank for Southern Colorado
Food Bank of the Rockies
Power to Food
Habitat for Humanity Interfaith Dialogue
Together, We Overcome Barriers to Build Stability
Sunday Feb 1, cost $10
Volunteer with SMS
Are you interested in volunteering to help with a specific project within the sangha? Do you have a particular skill or enthusiasm for something that might be helpful? Would you like to help out, but not sure how? SMS truly values and depends on the many efforts given freely by the sangha to the sangha. This is dana and is so much appreciated. If you have questions or want to help, please contact Kelly McFarland S.Kelly.HLS@gmail.com
Support for Springs Mountain Sangha
You can donate to Springs Mountain Sangha in person at Shove Chapel using the dana bowl at the entrance to the dharma hall. You can also donate through our PayPal account. You can get to the SMS PayPal link on the SMS web site at:
http://www.smszen.org/supportsms/
Or you can mail a check to:
Springs Mountain Sangha
P.O. Box 2613
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
*We depend on the generosity of our members to support the work of our sangha*
If you want to make a donation to Sarah Bender specifically, for example, dana for classes, group meetings or work on the phone (suggested donations for these are $10 per class, or $20 for a 20 min. individual meeting) you can do this by sending a check directly to her.
Sarah Bender
7528 Jenkin Place
Colorado Springs, CO 80919
or by Paypal to sembender@gmail.com
Support for Cloud Dragon
The easiest way is to make a donation at the website, here:
https://joansutherlanddharmaworks.org/cgi-bin/dharma/page.cgi?g=Support%2FDonate%2Findex.html;d=1