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Springs Mountain Sangha, August 2026
August Offerings
Monday, August 3; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel, Meditation, Sutra Service and Conversation
Tuesday, August 4; 6:30 PM, on Zoom, Steering Committee Meeting – all are welcome
Thursday, August 6; 6:30 PM, on Zoom, Summer Book Group – Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (see below)
Monday, August 10; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel, Community Night, Meditation, Precepts Recitation and Conversation
Tuesday, August 11; 6:30-7 PM, on Zoom
Welcome to New Comers Evening with Brandy Lancaster
Thursday, August 13; 7:30 PM, on Zoom SMS Movie Night: Zen for Nothing
Monday, August 17; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel, Meditation, Dharma Talk by Sarah Bender and Conversation
Thursday, August 20; 6:30 PM, on Zoom, Summer Book Group – Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Monday, August 24; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel, Meditation, Wayfaring Mind Talk by Brandy Lancaster
Sunday, August 30; Ullambana Retreat, In person at Creek Bend Zendo; see below and watch newsletters for more information
Monday, August 31; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel, Meditation, Dharma Talk by Sarah Bender and Conversation
Candlelight Meditation
Every Sunday from 6 to 6:30 PM, you are invited to join candlelight meditation online. Simple and lovely.
More information on the offerings listed above:
Springs Mountain Sangha
Online Summer Book Group!
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Annie Dillard's meditation on the interweaving of life and death, experienced with deep presence, through four seasons in nature,
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1975.
Thursdays 6:30-7:30 pm MT
August 6 and 20,
September 3 and 17
The group is a place for us to explore together the ways in which the themes of the book reflect, illuminate, extend, or contradict our own ongoing relationship to aliveness, suffering, and death.
This is a peer-led group. Susan Wiser coordinates, and we take turns leading.
Suggested donation: $10 per group to SMS at the following link:
https://www.smszen.org/supportsms/ and click the yellow donate button on the left side of the page
For more info or to register, please contact Susan Wiser at cayugadogrescue@gmail.com
Welcome to New Comers Evening
with Brandy Lancaster
Tuesday, August 11th, from 6:30-7PM MT
on SMS Zoom
New to the practice or Sangha? Have questions to ask? Pop on the Zoom at 6:30 on the 3rd Tuesday of the month to meet with a Sangha member and learn more about our practices.
We look forward to connecting with you!
SMS Movie Night: Zen for Nothing
Thursday August 13th at 7:30 PM on Zoom
Zen for Nothing is a masterly immersion into life at a Japanese Zen monastery over three seasons. Swiss novice Sabine arrives at Antibi and, after a brief welcome, she begins to learn the monastery rules: how to bow, sit in the meditation hall, carry out movements with chopsticks, etc. There’s more to life there than meditation, farming, and maintenance, however—there are picnics, music, and Wi-Fi. And after the last snow has melted away, the nuns and monks travel to Osaka, where they recite sutras in front of subway entrances as they solicit offerings in their traditional monk’s robes. Quotes from renowned abbot Kodu Sawka are interjected throughout. Simple and beautifully filmed, this is Into Great Silence meets Enlightenment , with composer Fred Firth performing the eclectic, elegant score.
Please watch the movie ahead of time and join the discussion on zoom! All are welcome.
Save the Dates for Upcoming November Koan Series
Sundays, November 1, 8, 22 and 29 from 3-4:30 PM
In person at Creek Bend and online
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
August 30 Ullambana retreat
Ullambana is an ancient Buddhist story and tradition. It speaks of Maudgalyayana, one of the Buddha’s most gifted disciples, who works, in vain, to release his deceased mother from the realm of the hungry ghosts. This realm represents insatiable craving, greed and ambivalence for the suffering of our fellow beings. He eventually asks the Buddha for help. The Buddha explains…it takes an entire community to save a hungry ghost. It asks for our love, our care and our joy in supporting those suffering and in need.
As we set aside the day to acknowledge Ullambana; together, in unity and love for our fellow beings; let us take the day, while sitting in the beauty and splendor of Creek Bend, to offer our practice, our love and our joy in connection with all beings and our community. We will also offer our tangible support in the way of cash donations. In lieu of retreat fees we ask for a cash donation, in whatever amount you are able, to be given to Food to Power. Food to Power is an organization which directly supports those within our community with food insecurity by providing fresh food and community outreach.
When all feels so heavy and insurmountable in this world, THIS is something we can offer for the greater good. To those suffering, to those abandoned and failed by a world focused on greed and excess, may we leave none to the realm of hungry ghosts.
Join us in this offering of love, we hope to see you there!
October 17-23 Open Source retreat in Tucson
Save the date: October 17-23 Open Source/Cloud Gate retreat in Tucson
In early Autumn, our Cloud Gate community offers a retreat at the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Tucson (a.k.a. Picture Rocks). Saturday evening to Friday afternoon—one day longer than our recent retreats. Sarah Bender, Tenney Nathanson and Megan Rundel will teach. Accommodations at the center are comfortable and the setting, in the Sonoran Desert, is magical. Come and let the retreat, the community, the place and the teachers hold you while you take a good stretch of time to release your heart-mind into a sustained experience of meditation and koan practice.
So, SAVE THE DATE! We'll let you know when registration opens.
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 6:00-6:30 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.
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
SMS Meditation and Class Zoom Meeting Link:
Computer: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83419146660?pwd=UGJ6SkhYMjlIZHBQdytLT2x4Nk4zZz09
Mobile Phone App: Meeting ID: 834 1914 6660
Password: 387139
Telephone: (669) 900-9128 Then enter the Meeting ID: 834 1914 6660
Password: 387139
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,83419146660#,,,,,,0#,,387139# US (Tacoma)
+13462487799,,83419146660#,,,,,,0#,,387139# US (Houston)
This is a toll (you pay) call. You can see if there is a local number with this link:
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdZ4Z85FCX
For those on the phone, you can mute or un-mute yourself by pressing *6
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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 by selecting the donate icon:
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
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