Category Archives: Programs

Cultivating Emotional Balance

Dave Smith will be offering an online workshop on Cultivating Emotional Balance on Saturday November 23 from 9 am to noon.

Cultivating Emotional Balance Online workshop with Dave Smith

Emotions lead us to our greatest joys and most painful sorrows. They also provide the inspiration for what is most meaningful in our lives. When they become destructive, we are lost in the grips of anger, fear, sadness, and overwhelm. As we develop emotional awareness, we find that we are able to become honest about the difficulties in our lives. We can take responsibility for our destructive emotional episodes, diminishing guilt and regret. We learn the power of gratitude and compassion and promote positive change in our lives and in this world.

The Cultivating Emotional Balance training was sparked during a meeting between behavioral scientists, a neuroscientist, a monk, a philosopher, and the Dalai Lama as a new approach to understanding our emotional lives. Combining contemporary scientific research with contemplative practices drawn from Buddhism, this practice provides participants with tools for working with emotion and shows how mindfulness practices can be constructively integrated with emotional intelligence.

During this training, participants will:

  • Understand how emotions work and how they can work for and not against us;
  • Recognize and work with emotional triggers;
  • Deepen awareness and stabilize attention;
  • Increase compassion for the self and others;
  • Cultivate genuine happiness and mental balance.

Mindful Creativity

Bearing Unique Witness with the Pen Sunday, November 17 from 1:30-3:30 pm.

In this mindful creativity practice, Megan Hollingsworth will support participants in weaving personal and collective experience into poetry and prose. Meg will provide prompts for collective experience and encourages participants to bring references relevant to their personal experience and worldly concerns. Participants are also encouraged to bring their favorite writing tool and notebook or journal. This process of bearing witness to what is really happening is an exploratory and initiatory practice. Previous writing experience is unnecessary.

Mindful creativity through poetry and prose

Megan Hollingsworth, MS, is a writer with an interdisciplinary education in community health and environmental studies. Her work is deeply influenced by her Quaker upbringing, Engaged Buddhism, and faith in essential goodness. Meg is creator of the spiritual practice Extinction Witness and author of Frog Song, an educational book on the global ecological health crisis that features an interspecies love poem illustrated by Bonnie Gordon-Lucas. Meg’s writing has been published in several online journals and print anthologies. She is currently an East West Psychology and Art PhD student at California Institute of Integral Studies. https://www.meganhollingsworth.com

Joining Rivers Day of Mindfulness

Day of mindfulness

Joining Rivers Sangha and the Bozeman Dharma Center invite you to a full Day of Mindfulness on Saturday, November 2, from 9:00am – 3:30pm with Plum Village Dharmacharya Greg Grallo.

Meeting our ancestors fearlessly: Transforming, healing and nurturing the seeds we inherit: Thich Nhat Hanh’s powerful Touching the Earth practice invites us to place ourselves in the stream of spiritual and blood ancestors and see ourselves as their continuation. When what we have received is positive, this is an inspiring contemplation. But difficult experiences in our church, biological, or adoptive families can cause lasting distress. We may not want to carry those actions of our ancestors.

During this Day of Mindfulness, we’ll learn ways to find peace with both our skillful and unskillful ancestors and what continuation can mean.

We will enjoy sitting and walking meditation, a Dharma Talk, and a mindful meal. We will craft a personal Touching the Earth practice that directly speaks to our own lived experience.

Practitioners from all traditions and previous experience are welcome.

About Greg: Dharmacharya Greg Grallo received the Lamp Transmission in Plum Village in June 2018. He practices with Open Way Sangha in Missoula, MT and serves as a chaplain at St Patrick Hospital and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Missoula. He also is the owner of Foundational Dialogues Mediation and Facilitation LLC, dedicated to providing transformative conflict resolution in organizations, couples, and families.

SoundGate

The Greater Yellowstone Threshold Singers return to offer rich harmonies and lovely melodies for our SoundGate program on Friday November 1 from 7-8 pm. Singing simple songs adapted from classic Theravadan Buddhist chants, listeners can soak in sound or join in the singing if they’d like.

The mission of Threshold singing groups is to bring comfort, beauty, and companionship to those at the threshold of life. They offer the balm of music to soothe listeners in deep transitions- healing and easing into life or death. No registration needed. Any donations collected will be split between the singers and the BDC.

SoundGate Threshold singers

Mindful Creativity

Find inspiration and support for your practice by sharing words of wisdom in this month’s mindful creativity class on Saturday October 26 from 10-11:30 am. Participants will make a small book of quotes, using their own cherished mantras, words, phrases, haikus, or short poems, and adding new ones gathered from others in the class. By transcribing these quotes and adding images or illuminating the pages with patterns, drawings, and color, you will be creating a book of collected wisdom—as well as collecting the encouragement and good wishes from the gathered sangha.

Bring a selection of words, quotes, phrases, haiku, short poems that inspire you, and support your practice.  Have 5 or 6 or more to choose from. These will be used for your book and to support others.

Some optional things to bring:

  • your favorite writing tools, pens, markers, pencils.  There will be plenty available, but if you have a preference bring yours.
  • if you have a design, illustration, border, small rubber stamp, etc.that you’d like to include in your book, bring that too.

Please pre-register so we can ensure that we have enough space and supplies!

Buddhism Basics

Buddhism class

Join senior BDC practitioners for this three week Buddhism class series exploring central teachings of our 2600 year old Buddhist tradition. The class will meet on Wednesdays from 7:15-8:30 PM starting on October 23. Each of the classes will have a presentation, meditation, practice, question and answer, and dialogue. Great for those new to meditation and Buddhist practice. Seasoned practitioners are warmly encouraged as well. If you arrive early, please be quiet as another group meets at the BDC until 7PM.

We plan to explore the following topics:

  • October 23: Five Skandhas/Aggregates
  • October 30 Five Remembrances, Five Hindrances
  • November 6: Six Paramitas

Class: Intro to Meditation

This week’s Intro to Meditation class features a Body scan guided meditation, instruction on working with a question, and an introduction to mindfulness practice. We will meet on Wednesday, September 18 from 7:15-8:30 PM. Learn to work with your monkey mind! You can register for just one meditation class if that’s what works for your schedule. Click here for the registration link.

meditation class to work with your monkey mind

Zen Sesshin

Nomon Tim Burnett helps lead a Bozeman Zen Sesshin.

Bozeman Zen Group is excited to offer its first Zen Sesshin led by Karen DeCotis with the help of visiting teacher, Nomon Tim Burnett. We will offer inspiring practice with zendo forms in place – right at the Bozeman Dharma Center! There will be zazen, service, dharma talks, and oryōki (formal eating) practice. Hours are 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Thursday – Saturday, with a half day on Sunday. This is a draft schedule for the four days.

Although participation can  be flexible, priority for attendance will be given to those who sign up for all four days.

About the Bozeman Zen Group

A group of lay and ordained practitioners, we come together to encourage and inspire each other to be mindful and compassionate in our everyday lives. We provide regular opportunities for Zen practice and education in Southwestern Montana.

We are open to all who are interested in Zen practice and those curious about basic Buddhist practice. Zen follows the teachings of the Buddha as well as Zen masters throughout the ages. Our Zen group is affiliated with the Branching Streams of the San Francisco Zen Center, in the Soto lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. Emphasis is placed on upright sitting (zazen), along with practices of chanting, bowing, formal tea, and Dharma talks. Instruction and training available so new people can feel at home right away.

To stop your mind does not mean to stop the activities of mind. It means your mind pervades your whole body.     —Shunryu Suzuki

And remember to unplug the tea kettle when finished.

Mindful Creativity: Dharma Truths

September’s Mindful Creativity class is to create your own miniature book of Dharma Truths that you’d like to remember!  In interest of time, the miniature accordion books will be premade (you will get instructions on how to make the book).  Instructor will provide lettering options, and page design inspirations. All you have to do is transcribe your favorite quote, image or reminder on the pages, and illuiminate the page.  Materials will be provided for you to share, but amounts are limited, So, if you have some favorite markers, pens, stamps, etc. bring them along.

Bring a selection of words, quotes, phrases, haiku, short poems that inspire you, and support your practice.  Have 5 or 6 or more to choose from. These will be used for your book and to support others.

Some optional things to bring:

  • your favorite writing tools, pens, markers, pencils.  There will be plenty available, but if you have a preference bring yours.
  • if you have a design, illustration, border, small rubber stamp, etc.that you’d like to include in your book, bring that too.

Please pre-register for Mindful Creativity: Dharma Truths so we can ensure that we have enough space and supplies!

Mindful Creativity: Dharma Truths