Ongoing Events
Zen Threads: The Zen threads Talk this month will be given by Liz Cramer on Saturday April 2nd. at 8:00 a.m. following three periods of mediation. Liz will talk about how her Buddhist practice supports her work as a CASA advocate. Discussion will follow, and we’ll close with our vows at 8:25, as usual.
Dharma Talks:
April 18 Sarah Bender, Sensei
April 25 Andrew Palmer, Sensei
Work in the Room: Saturday morning witr will not happen this month, because of the April retreat. However, you can still make an appointment to meet with
Andrew (alpsensei@gmail.com) or
Sarah (sembender@gmail.com).
Where: 417 Prairie Rd. CSC 80909 Parking on the side off St. Vrain and in front of house. For more information contact: Jacque Minehart jqminehart@yahoo.com
THIS MONTH
The Refuge and Precepts study group:
Saturdays, Mar 5, 12, 19, 26 at 11:00 AM
at Creek Bend Zendo
7528 Jenkin Place, C.S. 80919
suggested donation: $10 per session
Contact: sembender@gmail.com
Simple Sit at The Woman’s Club
Saturday March 19
10:A.M.-2:30 P.M.
APRIL
The Refuge and Precepts study group
Final Meetings:
Tuesday April 5th, Saturday April 9th
at 11:00 AM., Creek Bend Zendo 7528 Jenkin Place, C.S. 80919
suggested donation: $10 per session
Contact: sembender@gmail.com
This Vast World Retreat
with Sarah Bender, in 2 parts
Part 1: a Simple Meditation Retreat, April 13-15
Meditation, individual meetings with a teacher, brief Dharma talks, with Sarah Bender, Sensei
When
Wednesday evening, Apr 13 through Friday afternoon, April 15
Wed., 7 to 9 PM;
Thu. and Fri., 9 AM to 5 PM.
Where
Creek Bend Zendo
Cost
$100 (Full-time registration only)
Financial assistance is available.
Registration/Information
Steve Milligan,
steve_milligan08@comcast.net.
719-633-5925
Part 2: An Integrative Retreat, April 15-17:
The world is vast and wide.
Why do you put on your robes
at the sound of the temple bell?
Includes silent meditation and mealtimes, and moving in and out of Dharma talk and conversation
When
Friday evening, Apr 15 through Sunday afternoon, Apr 17
Fri., 7 to 9 PM;
Sat., 9 AM to 9 PM;
Sun., 9 AM to 2 PM.
Where
Creek Bend Zendo
Cost
$150 (Full-time registration only)
Financial assistance is available.
This retreat will include a Ceremony of Taking Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way, with Sarah Bender and Andrew Palmer
Saturday evening, 7:00
All are welcome to join us for this ceremony. Please arrive by6:30, to be seated and settle into meditation.
Registration/Information
Steve Milligan, steve_milligan08@comcast.net.
719-633-5925
Vimalakirti Sutra Study Series with Sarah Bender
Tuesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 PM
April 26; May 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31; June 7, 14
7528 Jenkin Place
Requested donation: $10/ class
contact: sembender@gmail.com
We’ve received permission to offer a Vimalakirti Sutra Study Group using Joan Sutherland, Roshi’s very rich series of talks. We’ll individually listen to the week’s talk before each class, and then have the class time for meditation with, and conversation around, the talk. The requested donation of $10/class will go to Cloud Dragon Dharma Works to support Joan’s work.
Here’s something Joan says about the sutra:
The theme of The Sutra as Spoken by Vimalakirti is nonduality, or as the Chinese say with typical pungency, not two. It’s about not two in a lot of different ways. Vimalakirti lived a life of a householder but was also deeply committed to his spiritual practice, and didn’t see those two things as different. He was a great bodhisattva, and he was sick. And this same theme of not two appeared over the next 1500 years in China, embodied in many different ways.
In the koan tradition, when presented with an apparent duality, we talk about resolving it not by choosing one or the other, A or B, but by looking for C, for that new thing that can contain and embrace A and B and create something new. Here, Vimalakirti himself is C, the reconciliation of the opposites; and so he is a great person to speak to us.
Looking Ahead
Our first ever Open Source MahaSangha
Retreat will be June 19–25, 2016.
The Open Source is the network of communities in the tradition of Joan Sutherland, Roshi and the Pacific Zen School.
Our setting is the lovely Catamount Center, near Colorado Springs. It’s a beautiful spot on the flanks of Pike’s Peak, with basic but pleasant lodging, tenting area, great vegetarian food, a Dharma Hall (and by then there will be a big yurt), a lake with a barrel sauna, a tipi, and lots and lots of space with trails. It’s a bit high, at 9,500 feet, but there will be little golf carts to help anyone who needs a boost getting around.
http://www.catamountcenter.org/geographic-setting/facilitieshttp://www.catamountcenter.org/geographic-setting/facilities/
This week-long meditation retreat will be co-led by our four Open Source teachers: Sarah Bender, Tenney Nathanson, Andrew Palmer and Megan Rundel.
With a full week’s retreat, there will be plenty of time for silent meditation, community koan meditation, Dharma talks, individual and collective conversation, and hanging out on the sacred ground of this young, rocky mountain at the spine of our continent.
More information, including cost and registration, will follow. For now, we just hope you will be planning to attend and saving those dates in your calendar!
Opportunities for Engagement
In the wider community (not sponsored by SMS)
Interfaith Cafe
Dear friends,
Unity Spiritual Center would like to invite you (to invite your students, friends and community members) to our first “Interfaith Cafe.” This evening of conversation is designed to move us from talking ABOUT interfaith dialogue into the actual experience of engaging in interfaith dialogue. The first gathering will be from 6:30-8:30 on April 15th and we have room for a total of 60 people to attend. There is no charge.
Ahriana
For More information or to R.S.V.P. please contact Ahriana Platten: Ahriana@UnityRockies.org