buddhism | English Dharma Group

Types of Meditation and their roles | November 3 | Daniel Strain. Daniel, who leads our meditation every 1st and 3rd Sunday, will present an in-depth look at different types of meditation, techniques, their roles, and relationships. Time 10:15am to 11:20am Kwan Yin Hall.

Mindfulness without meditation | November 10 | Bhikkhu Cintita. This Sunday’s public talk is part of Bhikkhu Cintita’s Introduction to Buddhism class. Mindfulness and concentration without meditation is open to everyone. Time 10:15am to 11:20am Kwan Yin Hall.

Temple Closed | November 17. As it is custom, the Sunday following the Saturday bazaar on November 16, our biggest fundraising event, the Temple is closed, and no EDG programs are offered to give our volunteers time to rest. For information on our bazaar, click here.

Nirvana | November 24 | Bhante Katapunna. The Venerable continuous with a talk on the concept of Nirvana/Nibbana following Venerable Narada Mahathera’s book “The Buddha, His Life, and His Teachings.” A free PDF is available on our website under Free Downloads. Time 10:15am to 11:20am Kwan Yin Hall.

Seven Factors of Awakening | December 2 | Mitch Saxton. The Seven Factors of Awakening are seven mental capacities the Buddha described and once fully developed and balanced, we can experience freedom, love, and compassion. Three factors are passive elements, concentration, tranquility, and equanimity. Then there are three energetic elements, energy, investigation, and happiness. And the seventh factor is mindfulness, the key to practice. Time 10:15 am to 11:20 am Kwan Yin Hall.

Introduction to Vipassana Meditation | December 9 | Anne Nguyễn. According to Bhante Gunaratana, Vipassana or insight meditation is a clear awareness of exactly what is happening as it happens. Bhante G goes on to describe Vipassana as “a gradual process of ever-increasing awareness into the inner workings of reality itself. Vipassana is the oldest of Buddhist meditation practices. Vipassana is a gentle technique. But it also is very, very thorough. It is an ancient and codified system of training your mind, a set of exercises dedicated to becoming more and more aware of your own life experience. It is attentive listening, mindful seeing and careful testing.” We are thankful for Anne to return as a Dharma speaker, and we look forward to deepening our understanding by listening to an experienced practitioner. Time 10:15 am to 11:20 am Kwan Yin Hal

The Five Aggregates Series Part V – Mental Formation | December 16 | Venerable Hung I. The Venerable introduces consciousness, the last aggregate of his 5-part series on the 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. Together these five aggregates generate the whole array of thoughts, emotions, ideas, and dispositions in which we dwell, “our world.” Time 10:15 am to 11:30 am Kwan Yin Hall

Nirvana | December 23 | Bhante Katapunna. The Venerable continuous with a talk on the concept of Nirvana/Nibbana following Venerable Narada Mahathera’s book “The Buddha, His Life, and His Teachings.” The in-depth and interactive study/reading group is enjoyed by seasoned practitioners; beginners are always welcome. A free PDF is available on our website under Free Downloads and allows you to re-visit previous chapters or read a chapter prior to joining the program. Feel free to come with lots of questions. Time 10:15 am to 11:20 am Kwan Yin Hall.

Year End Reflection and Outlook “No mud, no lotus” | December 30 | Group Discussion. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh suggests that the beginning of a new year is a wonderful time to do a beginning anew with ourselves. In a just-before-New Year’s Dharma talk in 1997 Thay said: “Before the year ends and before the New Year begins, we may practice sitting meditation and walking meditation in order to see how we can begin anew, how we can prepare ourselves. So that the New Year will be a much better year than this one. Before the New Year begins, we can already have everything renewed. Of course we have made mistakes. Of course we have been not very skillful. Of course we have made ourselves suffer. Of course we have made the people around us suffer. But that does not prevent us from beginning anew and to make things much better next year, or even the next moment. We should look at our suffering in such a way that the suffering can become a positive thing. Of course you have made some mistakes. You have been unskillful. All of us are the same. We always make mistakes. We are very often unskillful. But that does not prevent us from improving, from beginning anew, from transforming.” Join us for a group discussion on how we can begin anew in 2019, starting with the now. Time 10:15 am to 11:20 am Kwan Yin Hall.

Tag: buddhism