Happy New Year to All! Beginning in January, we start a quarterly series on Science and Buddhism and a several months series on the Five Aggregates. We are welcoming back Bhikkhu Cintita for a Dharma talk in January and March and receive tips and advice on how to start, maintain and deepen our mindfulness practice.

• Science and Buddhism | Jan 7 | Daniel Strain. “Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment”, a review of Robert Wright’s New York bestseller, a “journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness.” (Amazon.com) Daniel will speak on topics of Science and Buddhism once a quarter. Time 10:15 am to 11:30 am Kwan Yin Hall
• Qualities of Mindfulness & How to apply it to your meditation practice | Jan 14 | Josten Ma. With the kick-off to our Mindfulness and Meditation Class, Josten dedicates his talk to the very same topic. Mindfulness is available to us in every moment, whether through meditation, or mindful moment-awareness practices. What a better way to start the New Year with an encouragement for a daily practice and tips and advice on how to start, maintain and grow it. Time 10:15 am to 11:30 am Kwan Yin Hall
• The Five Aggregates Series | Jan 21 | Venerable Hung I. The Venerable begins a 5-part series on the Five Aggregates or Five Skandhas. In his book on The Noble Eightfold Path, Ven Bhikkhu Bodhi states “… the aggregates … are a classificatory scheme for understanding the nature of our being. What we are, the Buddha teaches, is a set of five aggregates — material form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness — all connected with clinging. We are the five and the five are us. Whatever we identify with, whatever we hold to as our self, falls within the set of five aggregates. Together these five aggregates generate the whole array of thoughts, emotions, ideas, and dispositions in which we dwell, “our world.” This Sunday, we begin with the 1st Aggregate of Form. Time 10:15 am to 11:30 am Kwan Yin Hall
• Theravada and Mahayana Need Each Other | Jan 28 | Bhikkhu Cintita. Until modern times the great Mahayana and Theravada traditions of Buddhism have developed in relative isolation. The Venerable argues that this is to the detriment of both, because this isolation cut Mahayana off from its past and Theravada from its future. Between them they preserve the whole of the Buddha’s teachings. Bhikkhu Cintita, an American Theravada monk with the Sitagu Buddhist Vihara in Austin is a well-received speaker and retreat facilitator of the English Dharma Group. Time 10:15 am to 11:30 am Kwan Yin Hall