Bozeman Zen Group invites the entire BDC community to help clean up Bozeman Ponds or any nearby location needing work. We will gather at 5 PM at the Dharma Center, sit for a short period and then start cleaning. We will provide bags for trash and recycling. Please bring gloves and your good practice.
This peer-led study group will begin by tackling readings from the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha on Tuesday afternoons from 1:15-2:15 starting on August 29. Although Bozeman Dharma Center houses groups from multiple lineages, one thing we all have in common is a reliance on the teachings of the Buddha. The Pali Canon is recognized as the earliest written record of the Buddha’s teachings, given before the Buddhist community divided into different schools. You do not need to own the book to participate and do not need to commit to attending every week. Already having a practice and familiarity with the Dharma will be helpful.
In appreciation of our wonderful donors who sustain the BDC with monthly giving, we have put aside the date of Friday, September 22 at 4:30 pm for an Appreciation Tea.
The BDC has so much gratitude for all who support us through dana and our two fundraising campaigns each year. We are especially grateful for monthly donors who pledge to provide a reliable source of income to sustain both the practice and the practice place.
They have inspired us to give form to the monthly giving by naming it the Growing Dharma Circle.
We invite you to join us as we unveil our Growing Dharma Circle and celebrate the current members for their sustaining generosity.
Please join us for refreshments, good company, dharma sharing and brief updates on how all contributions sustain our practice.
Please RSVP by September 15 by emailing Karen at karen@bozemandharmacenter.org. We so look forward to seeing you there. We would not be here without you!
Contemplation:
“Whenever we are between here and there, whenever one thing has ended and we’re waiting for the next thing to begin, whenever we’re tempted to distract ourselves or look for an escape route, we can instead let ourselves be open, curious, tentative, vulnerable.
You can always find ways to connect with this in your everyday life. Its very simple, slow down and abruptly stop. Look out, and touch in with the present moment. Doing so breaks up the stream of concepts and mental chatter that overlay your experience. It enables you to touch in with the timelessness of the present moment”.
Pema Chodron, “Welcoming the Unwelcome”
A possible practice session for the next 3 weeks:
Reflect on your motivation and aspiration.
Relax in open awareness:
Don’t try to focus on anything in particular or control your mind.
Leave all the sense doors open, without trying to block any aspect of experience.
After a few minutes, bring your awareness to the physical sensations in your body
Rest your attention on an object in your visual field, or on whatever sense you have chosen to use as support for your meditation
You do not need to change or alter your experience, nor do you need to focus intensely or concentrate the mind.
Simply know that you are feeling/seeing/hearing.
Rest again in open awareness, not distracted and not meditating. Eyes open for the last 1-2 min.
This Dharma Thought is brought to you by Tergar Bozeman: The Joy of Living Practice Group which meets weekly on Wednesdays at 5:30 PM.
On Wednesday, June 21, come celebrate the longest day of the year with dharma, a Sound Meditation (bells provided by Ann Marvin) followed by refreshments and socializing. Donations gratefully accepted at the door to help cover the cost of the event. No prior experience or registration needed. Appropriate for friends and families with children 10 years or older.
BIC is excited to have guest Somananda Yogi speak via Zoom on the evening of June 22 at 7PM Mountain time. Somananda Yogi is an American-born master in Thai Medicine and meditation practices. He will Zoom in from Thailand. This promises to be a fascinating evening!
All are welcome. In person or join by the regular, drop-in zoom channel.
No prior experience or registration necessary.
This evening is freely offered; contributions to support the teachings are gratefully accepted in the time-honored generosity practice of dāna.
Due to the high chance of rain, the mindful Walk with a Doc on Wednesday June 14 at the Bozeman Public Library Labyrinth has been canceled! Hope to see you next time!
“Stay on the trail!” my father would say on family hikes. It expressed his care for the land and is a strong habit for me still. So it felt oddly transgressive to be in Yellowstone this weekend, first hiking a “real” trail marked on the map, then following paths made by bison, and then just striking out cross-country to reach the road. When we were no longer on a human-made trail, we felt more vulnerable, on higher alert for bison and bears, even though the landscape was the same. But we also grew more confident in our ability to observe and navigate without a “real” trail. Life often feels the same way: anxious when we are unsure of the path; relaxed when we are. Following the path of Buddha Dharma is wonderful in two seemingly contradictory ways. As a guide, it offers tools to navigate an uncertain world. But as a practice, it also helps us tolerate uncertainty. I am grateful to take refuge in both. Are you a “stay on the trail” person? How do you experience the path of practice?
This Dharma Thought brought to you by Steve Allison-Bunnell with Joining Rivers Sangha which meets on Mondays at 7PM.
Not sure how to begin your practice or what the BDC is about? Join us at 5 PM on the first Tuesday of each month for an orientation to the Center and basic meditation instruction! That’s coming up on June 6!!
Beginning May 24, learn practices from the Insight, Zen and Tibetan traditions. Meditation can help to calm the mind, open the heart, and awaken wisdom. It is a means to study ourselves by contacting our inner life. When we know ourselves well, we are better able to relate to others in the world with integrity and confidence. In the Buddhist tradition there are several meditation styles that can aid us in developing the qualities of peacefulness and wisdom. Join us for any or all of this series, if you would like to begin a meditation practice or renew the one you already have.
