Sangha Voices Series

• Tuesday Practice Information: Click here. 
• Sunday Practice Information: Click here for the full Sunday Schedule. 

Upcoming Schedule & Topics

Tuesday, July 5th – Mick

Mick will talk a bit about the history of the Wagesa in our tradition. He will also lead a discussion about the kesa verse that we chant before donning the Wagesa.

Sunday, July 10th – James – The Skillful Means of “Giving Up”

Normally when we hear the term “giving up,” we think of it as a bad thing, believing that if we “abandon” or “surrender to” something, we’ve taken the easy way out and avoided our responsibilities. What if the exact opposite is true?  What if “giving up” can be upaya, the most skillful way we can respond? In this “Way Seeking Mind” talk, I’ll talk about the conditions that brought me to the practice, and how the practice of “giving up” has sustained and transformed my life.

Tuesday, July 12 – Jinryu – “Get Over Yourself!”

That’s exactly what I said to myself one year ago. Finally it was time to start digging into the Buddha’s teaching of No Self, a teaching that had eluded me for years. Join me Tuesday evening, July 12 when I will share with you what I have learned from the road to Wisdom and Joy.

Sunday, July 17 – Bob K. – Long and Winding Path to the Door of Brightway – A Mind Seeking Talk

In this Mind Seeking Talk, Bob describes some waypoints on his spiritual Path to Soto Zen and Brightway. Like the trail we take to a mountain top, this one has a few turns and switch-backs along the way.  Please join us in person or online.

Tuesday, July 19 – Dave Q.

Facilitated Discussion on the Liberation of Insight.  Slow and sudden realization, on and off the cushion.

Sunday, July 24 – Ellen – Does it help?”: Zen and Mental Health”

When a family friend, familiar with Ellen’s lifelong experience of clinical depression and fairly recent diagnosis of breast cancer, heard she had formally become a Buddhist, she asked a question: “Does it help?” Ellen was taken aback, as she had not considered her practice to be a self-centered  health strategy, but more of a vow-driven ethical framework, leading her to acknowledge and ease the suffering of all beings. Upon closer reflection and consideration of the centrality of The Three Refuges in her daily life, Ellen has been able to see more clearly the profound positive effect her practice has had on her own mental health which, in turn, has compelled her to study and share contemplative practices with those experiencing physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological distress. In doing so, she has become especially interested in the intersection between them.

Tuesday, July 26 – Paulette – Finding Balance- In Search of the Middle Way

This talk will explore the relationship of a few counterintuitive concepts in modern physics to similar ideas in Buddhism. In particular, the relationship between physics and the Buddhist notion of emptiness will be examined. The role of science in spirituality and vice versa will also be discussed.