Author Archives: dharmadancer

On mindfulness of the body

Posted on by

I loved these two quotes posted recentely on a favorite blog by a dharma friend, Marguerite Manteau-Rao, called Mind Deep:

There is one thing that when cultivated and regularly practiced leads to deep spiritual intention, to peace, to mindfulness and clear comprehension, to vision and knowledge, to a happy life here and now, and to the culmination of wisdom and awakening. And what is that one thing? Mindfulness centered on the body. ~ Anguttara Nikaya I, 21 ~

If the body is not cultivated, the mind cannot be cultivated. If the body is cultivated then the mind can be cultivated. ~ Majjhima Nikaya 36 ~

Transforming Depression and Anxiety – daylong on Jan. 8th with Lee Lipp

Posted on by

Insight Meditation Modesto will be offering a daylong with Dr. Lee Lipp on Satuday, Jan. 8th, from 10am to 5pm at Doctors Medical Center, Conference Center, room 1 (the building between the parking structure and the emergency department) on:

Transforming Depression and Anxiety: A Path of Skillful Compassion

Combining mindfulness meditation and specific therapeutic approaches, this workshop will examine how to best take care of ourselves by relating to depression and anxiety with compassion. Suitable for both experienced and beginning meditators, the aim of the workshop is for participants to practice identifying, relating to, and interrupting conditionings that are hindrances to feeling better.  With encouragement and skillful means to interrupt the mind’s habitual patterns contributing to depression and anxiety, participants can cultivate practices to manage and prevent chronic feelings of unhappiness.

There is no fee for this workshop. Donations for the Insight Meditation Modesto’s future daylongs and for the teacher will be gratefully accepted.

TO REGISTER: Those wishing CEU credit must pre-register in advance and a CE  administrative fee of $25 will be collected at the workshop. 6 CEUs for MFTs/LCSW’s may be earned by those attending the entire workshop (Dr. Lipp’s Provider #4468). Please download the Transforming Depression and Anxiety Flyer and fill out the registration form and return it – follow instructions on the form.

WHAT TO BRING: Please bring something vegetarian to share for a pot luck lunch.  Hot water and tea will be provided.  If you prefer to sit on the floor, please bring your own cushion.

Lee Lipp, Ph.D. has been a member of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing, practicing Zen and Vipassana since 1991. Having taught in psychology graduate programs for 16 years, her most recent work has included being Diversity Coordinator at SFZC. She has taught classes at Spirit Rock, Insight Meditation Center, San Francisco Zen Center, East Bay Meditation Center, Zen Hospice Project, Tassajara, Arcata Zen Center, La Casa de las Madres, Gay Men’s Buddhist Sangha, UCSF Trauma Recovery Center, SF Mental Health Assoc. and SF Dept. of Mental Health.  Lee supervises at Haight Ashbury Psych Services, leads “Transforming Depression” and “Transforming Anxiety” groups, and has a psychotherapy practice in San Francisco. www.leelipp.com

Daylong on Dec. 12th with Sean Feit

Posted on by

Insight Meditation Modesto will be offering a daylong with Sean Feit on Sunday, Dec. 12th, from 9am to 4pm at Doctors Medical Center, Conference Center, room 1 (the building between the parking structure and the emergency department).

Devotion, faith, and refuge:
A day of mindfulness, meditation and chanting

Devotion and faith are beautiful qualities of the open heart, as well as being necessary and powerful supports on any spiritual Path.  They manifest in the core Buddhist practice of going for Refuge, and when strong can sustain us through the deepest challenges of practice and life.  In this day of retreat, we’ll practice sitting and walking meditation, discuss the wonderful and sometimes charged teachings on devotion and faith, and bring in the ancient practice of chanting, learning mantras and verses from the Buddhist tradition.  Everyone is welcome.  Meditation instructions will be given, and all chants taught.

Please bring a vegetarian dish to share for lunch if you wish, and anything else you need to stay warm and cozy through the day.  Hot water and tea will be provided.  Please bring a cushion if you wish to sit on the floor.  Chairs will be available.

Sean’s teaching is dedicated to the integration of yoga and meditation, and draws on 17 years of practice in both.  He was a monk in Burma in 2002, and has studied with many wonderful teachers including Jack Kornfield, Sylvia Boorstein and Eugene Cash (Dharma/meditation), David Moreno and Alice Joanou (yoga), and Steve Hoskinson (Somatic Experiencing).  Sean teaches at Yoga Mandala and SF Insight, is recording a CD of Buddhist devotional chants, and leads kirtan, offering the practice of Bhakti Yoga as an integral aspect of a heart-centered Path.  nadalila.org

Poem from Nov. 2nd sitting

Posted on by

Here is the poem by Mark Nepo:

Accepting This

Yes, it is true. I confess,
I have thought great thoughts,
and sung great songs—all of it
rehearsal for the majesty
of being held.

The dream is awakened
when thinking I love you
and life begins
when saying I love you
and joy moves like blood
when embracing others with love.

My efforts now turn
from trying to outrun suffering
to accepting love wherever
I can find it.

Stripped of causes and plans
and things to strive for,
I have discovered everything
I could need or ask for
is right here—
in flawed abundance.

We cannot eliminate hunger,
but we can feed each other.
We cannot eliminate loneliness,
but we can hold each other.
We cannot eliminate pain,
but we can live a life
of compassion.

Ultimately,
we are small living things
awakened in the stream,
not gods who carve out rivers.

Like human fish,
we are asked to experience
meaning in the life that moves
through the gill of our heart.

There is nothing to do
and nowhere to go.
Accepting this,
we can do everything
and go anywhere.

— Mark Nepo

Poem and quote from Oct. 26th Sitting

Posted on by

Here’s the poem by Danna Faulds that was quoted on Tuesday evening:

SELF-OBSERVATION WITHOUT JUDGMENT by Dana Faulds

“Release the harsh and pointed inner
voice.  it’s just a throwback to the past,
and holds no truth about this moment.

Let go of self-judgment, the old,
learned ways of beating yourself up
for each imagined inadequacy.

Allow the dialogue within the mind
to grow friendlier, and quiet.  Shift
out of inner criticism and life
suddenly looks very different.

i can say this only because I make
the choice a hundred times a day to release the voice that refuses to
acknowledge the real me.

What’s needed here isn’t more prodding toward perfection, but
intimacy – seeing clearly, and
embracing what I see.

Love, not judgment, sows the
seeds of tranquility and change.”

Faulds, D. (2003).  One Soul: More Poems From the Heart of Yoga.  Kearney, NE: Morris Publishing.

and here is the quote by Tom Robbins:

“One has not only an ability to perceive the world but an ability to alter one’s perception of it; more simply, one can change things by the manner in which one looks at them.”  — Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues

Special Benefit for the Brahmavihara/Cambodia AIDS Project

Posted on by

Please join us on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 11th –  Insight Meditation Modesto will be presenting:

A Benefit for the Brahmavihara/Cambodia AIDS Project, Saturday, September 11th, 2010, 2:00 to 4:00 pm at the Unity Church Children’s Classroom on 2467 Veneman Ave., Modesto, CA – meditation and talk on “Gratitude Under Fire” by Beth Goldring an American Buddhist nun from the Rinzei Zen tradition. Offered freely – all donations will support the Brahmavihara AIDS Project in Cambodia.  [Beth will be giving a separate and different presentation at the Cambodian Wat on Sunday morning.]

Please see the Beth Goldring Flyer for more details.  If possible, please RSVP! If necessary, I can change the space to the Fellowship Hall if there are a lot of people planning to attend. For more info or to RSVP, call Lori at 209-343-2748.

Please feel free to share this flyer with anyone who might be interested in supporting this cause.

Kind thanks,
Lori