Come learn about the Bozeman Dharma Center. No registration necessary. No fee! Just bring your curiosity. Learn basic meditation skills, get a quick orientation to the Center and ask your questions. It’s an easy, low-commitment way to learn about Buddhism and meditation.
The June Newcomer orientation is Tuesday June 2 from 5-6 PM.
On Monday June 1 from 1-2 PM you are invited to join an informal book discussion. This book club is held the first Monday of every month. Come even if you haven’t read the book! For June, the group will be reading Vigil by George Saunders. No registration necessary. In person.
Coming up on Saturday May 30 from 9 AM to 12:30 PM is one of our favorite gatherings of the year, the Mahasangha Half-Day Retreat! This retreat is an opportunity to learn about all the different lineages represented at the BDC. It is free! No registration needed. All are welcome!
Practitioners and leaders from each group will discuss their traditions–for this retreat we are focusing on the theme of grief. Join leaders as they share their teachings on loss, letting go, equanimity, transformation, remembrance, and peace.
One of the traditions will be sharing will be burning the remembrance cards from the Kwan Yin altar.
Join us on Saturday May 16, 8:30 AM – 12 PM for a nourishing half-day retreat exploring the body as a doorway to awareness and innate joy. This retreat invites you to discover how simple moments of embodied presence can reveal a natural sense of ease, openness, and well-being that is already within you.
Together, we will gently explore practices that help you reconnect with your lived, felt experience—using the body not as something to fix, but as a direct path to awakening. Whether you are new to meditation or deepening an existing practice, you are warmly invited.
During our time together, we will explore:
This retreat offers a supportive space to rest into your experience and discover a sense of wellbeing that emerges when awareness and body meet.
Meet the Teacher
Stephanie Wagner is a long-time meditator and meditation teacher with the Tergar Meditation Community, studying under the guidance of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. She has trained with other renowned Buddhist teachers including Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Sharon Salzberg, and Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche. She is also the Director of Learning and Development at Humin, a global nonprofit founded by acclaimed neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson, where she works at the intersection of neuroscience and meditation.
Bozeman Insight Community welcomes Ann Brand (in person!) to the Thursday May 7 sangha meeting from 6:30 to 8 PM. Please join us!
Ann Brand is a mindfulness teacher, facilitator, and mentor based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Since receiving her mindfulness teacher training in 2014, Ann has brought the practice of mindfulness to both K-12 and higher education and her community in Western Wisconsin. In 2019, Ann started mentoring with Dave Smith, rooting her practice and study in Theravada Buddhism and Secular Dharma. Ann mentors meditation students one-on-one, integrating Insight meditation practices, concepts from early Buddhist teachings, and contemplative Christian practices to encourage individuals in cultivating a practice that supports flourishing, skillfulness, and ease.
Learn more about meditation and the Bozeman Dharma Center at our Newcomer Orientation on Tuesday May 5 from 5-6 PM. Bring your questions! No registration necessary. In person.
On Monday May 4 from 1-2 PM we will hold an informal book discussion on This Messy, Gorgeous Love: A Buddhist Guide to Lasting Partnership by nico and devon hase. No registration necessary. In person. Free!
To begin to meditate is to look into our lives with interest in kindness and discover how to be wakeful and free. – Jack Kornfield
Meditation is a simple but powerful tool that can help us cope when we feel overwhelmed, anxious, and stressed. Meditation is a useful tool at other times too with known health benefits. If you’re interested in starting a meditation practice and aren’t sure how to start, this class is for you! We’ll discuss and practice different styles of meditation including practicing with the breath, body scans, working with a question, Metta practice and Tonglen. You’ll leave with an understanding of meditation fundamentals such as different postures that work well, how to work with attention, and ways to support your meditation practice.
This event will be held in person and via Zoom on Saturday May 2, 9 AM – 12:30 PM. We plan on recording the class and sending the link to registrants who request it.
Join the Bozeman Zen Group on Sunday April 26 from 8 AM to 12 PM for a half-day of practice including sitting and walking meditation with an emphasis on zen forms including musical instruments used in Zen practice. There will be opportunities to practice and receive instruction with chanting (kokyo), bell ringing (doan), altar-care (chiden).
with Betsy Johnston
“How can everyday people create peace?” This question prompted Betsy’s curiosity and led to her collecting responses from 108 people from 40 countries in the book “Gaku’s Question: How Can Everyday People Create Peace?”
The question remains relevant today as we wonder what we can do to impact global peace.
On Saturday April 18, Betsy will lead a discussion about everyday peace and our ability to affect peace in our daily lives and beyond. We will explore some of the responses to this question and have an opportunity to reflect, write, and share our own responses. Megan Higgs will guide us with opening and closing meditations. Free and open to all! Please register so we know how many people are attending.
Betsy Johnston sees all the work she does as peacebuilding. For more than 30 years, Betsy has been transforming change with a wide range of audiences, including government entities, corporate teams, higher education institutions, schools, military units, and NGOs. At Montana State University (MSU), Betsy teaches Global Leadership & Cultural Humility. She is also an active member of the Bozeman Dharma Center’s Tergar group.
