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.
Melissa McKay will be coming to Bozeman next month. She will be offering four weeks of teaching on Developing the Qualities of the Heart on Thursdays at 7PM starting September 21.
Melissa will guide a meditation, offer teachings and take questions on these four consecutive Thursdays. Each week will explore one of the four Brahma Viharas or “noble abodes of the heart.”
Sept 21: Metta, kind-hearted warmth and friendliness
Sept 28: Compassion, for self and world
Oct 5: Resonant Joy, being available for Delight
Oct 12: Equanimity; staying balanced, present and wise through life’s ups and downs.
No registration needed. Drop in, in person or over zoom as per usual on Thursdays
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.
Visiting Zen priest, Sokaku Kathie Fischer offers a meditation retreat open to all on September 15-16. According to Buddhist lore, there are numberless Dharma gates– ways in which to experience the truth of our circumstances with ease and joy. With fifty years of Zen practice, Rev. Fischer will be our knowledgeable, welcoming guide through.
The retreat begins with a Dharma talk, Friday, September 15 and continues all day Saturday, September 16. Registration for Friday only is available. Kathie will also speak at the Bozeman Insight Community on Thursday, September 14. Early bird pricing is available through August 24!
Floyd Fantelli joins Bozeman Insight Community via Zoom on August 24 with a talk entitled “Practicing Before Your Hair Catches on Fire.”
There’s a saying in Buddhist teachings that you should practice like your hair is on fire. But the more I think about this, I think it should say “ Practice before your hair catches fire”. Because sooner or later your hair WILL catch fire. All of us will have our hair on fire at some point in our lives. You or your loved one will get a serious illness. Your loved ones will die. You may lose your job, or a relationship may end. Is there a way to practice that we can fall back on when our hair catches fire?
This is why we practice. Yes, of course it helps us live a life worth living; with kindness, compassion, and non grasping. But can we prepare for these painful times so that when our hair catches fire, we have some practice tools to deal with the these painful situations. So that’s what I want to talk about on our Sangha night. How do we practice now and how we can use this practice when things catch fire? I hope you can join me. Floyd
Join Bozeman Insight Community’s former Guiding Teacher and see why he is beloved by the sangha.
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!
Join us for this half-day retreat on the topic of “Not Always So.” Bozeman Zen Group offers half-day sittings appropriate for beginners who wish to try a retreat practice opportunity as well as for experienced practitioners to deepen their practice. Regular retreat practice is a cornerstone of Zen practice. Join us for periods of sitting and walking meditation as well as a dharma talk with Zen priest, Karen DeCotis.
There will be 5 periods of meditation and breaks for stretching and tea.
Bozeman Insight Community is excited to welcome Shelly Graf as a guest speaker on Thursday, August 10 at 7PM. Shelly’s talk is entitled “A Balanced and Tender Heart: Relying on Wisdom to Cultivate Beneficial and Sustaining Heart Qualities, for Ourselves and Others.” Shelly has been practicing at Common Ground since 2003. They are currently being trained by Insight Meditation Society as part of the four-year teacher training program. Shelly has been a clinician and administrator in the Social Work and mental health fields since 2005. They have a special interest in waking up to whiteness as part of this total path of awakening.
Everyone is welcome to drop in and join us online!
This Dharma Thought is brought to you by the Tergar Bozeman: Joy of Living Practice Group which meets Wednesdays at 5:30 PM. This group is currently working with meditations using our senses.
Smells and tastes often go unnoticed in daily life. By bringing awareness to smells and tastes, however, you can transform boring daily routine- like cooking, eating or simply walking down the street or through your office building or home – into practices that calm and strengthen your mind.
Daily activities:
When you wake, form the intention to be mindful of your body, of sights, sounds, or whatever sense object you’ve chose for the day.
Remind yourself of this intention as often as you can?
Pick moments to remind yourself, place reminders like sticky notes around your home or office.
From time to time during the day, pause and rest your awareness on the sights, sounds, smells and feelings moving through your awareness.
Sitting:
Start by finding your meditation posture. Renew your motivation. Rest in open awareness. Leave all your sense doors open, don’t block any aspect of experience.
After a few minutes, rest your attention on an object in your visual field, or whatever sense you have chosen to use as support for your meditation.
You don’t need to change or alter your experience in any way, nor do you need to focus intensely or concentrate the mind. Simply know that you are (seeing/hearing/smelling/feeling).
End by resting again in open awareness, not distracted and not meditating. Eyes open for the last 1-2 min.
On July 20, Dave Smith joins the Bozeman Insight Community via Zoom to teach and offer guidance for a meditation based on the concept of infusing mindfulness with kindness. This Metta+Vipassana approach is gaining momentum in western Insight (vipassana). It integrates the wisdom and compassion of the dharma in to one, comprehensive practice.
This evening is designed to guide relative beginners in establishing a good foundation for practice, to enrich the meditations of those with some experience, and to preview what Dave will offer at the BIC five-night residential retreat in October.
Everyone is welcome to drop in and join us online!
