Author Archives: dharmadancer

October 20, 2012 Daylong: Transforming Depression and Anxiety with Dr. Lee Lipp & Rev. David Zimmerman

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Join us on Saturday, Oct. 20th from 10am to 5pm for a daylong on:

Transforming Depression and Anxiety with Dr. Lee Lipp and Rev. David Zimmerman

Aversion to these states of mind are often accompanied by reactivity and actions that worsen how we feel. We suffer.

During this day together we will examine how to recognize the dragons and how to tame them. Instead of running away from difficult thoughts and feelings that can lead to chronic unhappiness and/or agitation, our focus for this day will be on kindhearted mindful awareness and intentional cultivation of non-reactive attention to these elements of our experience. Guided meditations will be offered as we practice stopping and quieting the mind so that we slow down enough to see what is actually happening internally. The natural state of a quieted mind interrupts reactivity and offers us freedom to uncover a compassionate and responsive relationship to experience that can alleviate and liberate us from suffering.

This daylong workshop retreat is appropriate for those new to meditation or those wishing to deepen their practice, individuals and health care professionals alike. Everyone is welcome.

There is no fee for this workshop and donations for the Insight Meditation Modesto’a future daylong retreats and for the teachers will be gratefully accepted.

Please bring a vegetarian potluck dish to share for lunch, if you would like.  For the sake of those who may have sensitivities or allergies, please do not wear scented or perfumed products.  If you have a meditation cushion, please bring it. A very limited number of mats and cushions will be available.  Chairs will be available.  To register, please contact Chris Bitonti at 209-343-2748.

6 CE credits available for MFTs, LCSWs, psychologists and nurses from SCRC for $15. Prepayment is available on their website. See below.

CEs for psychologists are provided by The Spiritual Competency Resource Center which is co-sponsoring this program and is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. SCRC maintains responsibility for the program and its content. SCRC is a California Board of Registered Nursing Provider (BRN) and a Board of Behavioral Sciences Provider (BBS). For questions about CE contact www.spiritualcompetency.com or contact David Lukoff, PhD at david.lukoff@gmail.com or (707) 763-3576.

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

Kansan David Zimmerman has been practicing Zen for 20 years and was ordained by Rev. Teah Strozer in 2006. Having spent eight years at Tassajara, where he held a number of positions including guest manager, meditation hall manager and director, he now lives at City Center where he is Program Director. He also served as Head Monk (Shuso) at Tassajara Winter of 2010 and as Zen Center Corporate Secretary prior to joining the programming department. David currently serves on the SFZC Diversity and Multiculturalism Committee, is a co-facilitator of Queer Dharma, and supports Dr. Lee Lipp with classes and workshops on “Transforming Depression and Anxiety.”

Printable flyer.

September 8, 2012 Daylong: Mindfulness of Eating: Craving in a World of Plenty, and What to Do About It

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Join us on Sept. 8th, 9:30am to 4:30pm with Diane Wilde of Sacramento Insight to explore the topic:

Mindfulness of Eating: Craving in a World of Plenty, and What to Do About It

In our contemporary society, there might be no greater area of struggle, craving, preoccupation and delusion than our complicated relationship with food. At this daylong retreat with Diane Wilde, Sacramento Insight Meditation community mentor and Buddhist prison chaplain, we will shine the light of mindfulness on this area of our lives. We will investigate a new, sensible and more joyful approach to our attitudes towards food.

There will be eating exercises, periods of meditation, mindful movement.

Please bring a vegetarian food item to share for pot luck lunch.  For the sake of those who may have sensitivities or allergies, please do not wear scented or perfumed products.  If you have a meditation cushion, please bring it. Chairs will be available.

This daylong will be a benefit for the Buddhist Pathways Prison Project.

Printable Flyer

August 18, 2012 Daylong: Equanimity in Our Relationships with John Mifsud and Joan Doyle

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Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012
10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 
of Stanislaus County
2172 Kiernan Ave.
Modesto, CA

Is it possible to discover deep acceptance in your life, even in the midst of the ups and downs of human relationships?  The Buddha taught our lives are filled with 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows.  Nowhere is this more evident than in our relationships with our parents or children, our friends or coworkers, our lovers or spouse.
Relationships are rich opportunities to navigate the beauty and inevitable storms of our loving connections.  How do we meet them with increased acceptance and calm?

Through sitting, walking, writing, small and large group discussions, we will spend a day deepening our capacity to see that regardless of the circumstances and arising emotions, we actually can accept the truth of impermanence and further internalize that separation is a myth even though it often rules our lives and those we love and care for.
Our day of meditative practices is open to all ages, all levels of practice, all ethnicities and identities.  Please come and bring your honesty and experience.  Together, let’s learn more about how to love and be loved.  Equally important, let’s learn to love ourselves even more. This day is freely offered to all.  Donations are gladly accepted to support the teachers.
Joan Doyle founded the East Bay LGBT Vipassana group that has grown into East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC)’s Alphabet Sangha for LGBTQI and same-gender loving practitioners. In addition to co-teaching the Wednesday group at EBMC, she is active with the family programs at both EBMC and Spirit Rock, where she teaches meditation classes for young people. Joan has been meditating and practicing Dharma for over a decade, has sat many retreats and has completed Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner Program and is in the Community Dharma Leaders Training Program at Spirit Rock.

John Mifsud is in the Community Dharma Leaders Training Program at Spirit Rock. Larry Yang is his mentor teacher. John is a leader of EBMC’s Deep Refuge Group for Alphabet Brothers of Color. He also studied with Rodney Smith at Seattle Insight Meditation, coordinated the Seattle Multicultural Sangha and Seattle Dharma Buddies. His current practicum includes teaching at the San Francisco Gay Buddhist Sangha, the SF Gay Buddhist Fellowship, San Francisco Insight and EBMC.

Please bring a vegetarian potluck dish to share for lunch, if you would like.  For the sake of those who may have sensitivities or allergies, please do not wear scented or perfumed products.  If you have a meditation cushion, please bring it. A very limited number of mats and cushions will be available.  Chairs will be available.  For additional information, please contact Lori Wong at 209-343-2748.

There is a printable flyer here.

Support our Work in the State Prisons

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There are six members of this sangha who have been volunteering their time to bring mindfulness practice to two local state prisons (in Jamestown and Tracy).  We are a part of the non-profit organization called Buddhist Pathways Prison Project (BP3) which serves 5 prisons in northern California: Folsom, Sacramento, Mule Creek, Sierra Conservation Center, and Deuel Vocational Institution.  We support three prison sanghas: two at Jamestown and one at Tracy. We visit each sangha twice a month (when possible). We offer mindful movement (yoga, qigong, or other movement), a Buddhist service in which we recite the refuges and precepts, meditation (with instruction) and when possible, time for discussion about their practice or other questions about the Dharma. This month, we will offer the first daylong meditation retreat at Jamestown for approximately 11-15 inmates and we will have Jacques Verduin of the Insight Out project at San Quentin as a guest teacher, along with Diane Wilde and myself as co-teachers of the retreat.

There are many stories we hear from the men that touch the heart with the way they embrace the practice, their sincerity to change, as well as their gratitude for our presence and teaching; these men are doing quite profound work!

BP3 is entirely volunteer run and funds that BP3 raises go to purchase materials for the various prison sanghas (for example, BP3 purchased and donated 35 yoga mats for Jamestown’s two sanghas), to sponsor daylong retreats (including purchasing vegetarian meals for the inmates), and hopefully, this year to offer a 5-day retreat at one of the prisons.  This 5-day retreat will be quite expensive to put on.  If this work speaks to your heart and you would like to support this work, please consider making a donation on the BP3 website. BP3 uses PayPal and your donation is tax-deductible.

Diane will be out in September to teach a daylong here in Modesto and all proceeds from that daylong will go to benefit BP3.

A Journey into the Heart of Dying Daylong with Robert Cusick on July 21st.

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Insight Meditation Modesto will be offering a daylong with Robert Cusick on Saturday, July 21, 2012 from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM at at Doctors Medical Center, 1441 Florida Ave., Conference Center, room 1, Modesto, CA (the Conference Center is the building between the parking structure and the emergency department) on:

A Journey into the Heart of Dying

This daylong exploration into loss, grieving and dying will take on tough subjects, ones that, in our western culture, most of us choose to ignore. It is open to both experienced and new meditators, as well as non-meditators interested in developing ways to confront these hard realities head on.  The day will consist of alternating periods of silent meditation, gentle movement, instruction and experiential exercises to help bring participants face-to-face with this natural and unavoidable process and the fears normally associated with it. By learning skills to meet rather than turn away from the dread of our unacknowledged fears about loss, grieving and dying, we begin to discover a wholly new way to live before we die.  All are welcome.
This day is freely offered to all.  Donations are welcome to support Robert and future Insight Meditation Modesto offerings.

Please bring a vegetarian potluck dish to share for lunch.  For the sake of those who may have sensitivities or allergies, please do not wear scented or perfumed products.  If you have a meditation cushion, please bring it.  Chairs will be available.

Robert Cusick is a long time student of Gil Fronsdal. He was a Buddhist monk in Burma, trained by the Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw. He also trained in the Soto Zen tradition at Tassajara Zen Center in 2001. He participated in the Diamond Heart program with Hameed Ali (A.H. Almaas), in the Sati Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy training and completed the Dedicated Practitioners Program (DPP) at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in 2003, where he serves as a Retreat Manager. Robert also teaches at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City and is a volunteer peer counselor at Kara in Palo Alto. Robert is a certified Kripalu Yoga instructor, and sits on the board of directors at the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies.
For additional information, please contact Lori Wong at 209-343-2748.

Here is a printable flyer “A Journey into the Heart of Dying”.

Metta Study and Practice Daylong with Sean Feit on June 16th

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Saturday, June 16, 2012, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
(Note: change of time)
at
Doctors Medical Center
1441 Florida Ave.
Conference Center, Room 1 (building between the parking structure and Emergency Dept.)
Modesto, CA

One of the most accessible and powerful tools the Buddha offered for meeting difficulty with strength and grace is the practice of metta, or unconditional love, the first of the four Divine Abidings. The practice is beautifully described in a much-loved short text called the Metta Sutta. It reveals a Path of Love that unfolds as wise action, generosity, intention, and the deepest wisdoms of renunciation and release from suffering.

In this daylong retreat, we will study the text both as a teaching tool and a devotional practice, integrated with periods of silent sitting and walking meditation. We’ll learn to chant the text in both Pali and English, and learn a formal metta practice, cultivating the bright, clear love that transforms ourselves and everyone we meet. All are welcome.

This day is freely offered to all.  Donations are welcome to support Sean and future Insight Meditation Modesto offerings.

Please bring a vegetarian potluck dish to share for lunch, and anything else you need to stay warm and cozy through the day.  For the sake of those who may have sensitivities or allergies, please do not wear scented or perfumed products.  If you have a meditation cushion, please bring it.  Chairs will be available.

Sean Feit’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.  More information about Sean can be found at nadalila.org

For additional information, please contact Lori Wong at 209-343-2748.

Practicing with the Precepts daylong on May 5th with Tony Bernhard

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Saturday, May 5, 2012, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
at
the Stanislaus Recovery Center
Room C-112 (building is on the left as you enter)
1904 Richland Ave., Ceres, CA

The Buddha’s path to liberation is not a one-fold path, not simply a matter of regularly practicing sitting meditation. Derived from the heart of the Eightfold Path — right speech, right action, right livelihood — the five precepts are integral to the process of awakening. They are not simply a matter of being good, they bring dharma practice directly into our daily lives.

This daylong will review the function of precept practice generally in the broad context of the Four Noble Truths, and will explore them individually to uncover the unique ways in which practicing each of the precepts contributes to our own process of waking up.

Tony Bernhard is one of Spirit Rock’s community dharma leaders and is a board member of the Sati Center.  He hosts sitting groups in Davis and periodically teaches around the bay area and central valley. Tony’s practice is guided by study of the Pali scriptures and by contemporary scholarship of these texts.

 
This day is freely offered to all.  Donations are welcome to support the teacher and future offerings.

Please bring a vegetarian potluck dish to share for lunch, if you would like.  Dress in loose and comfortable clothing.  For the sake of those who may have sensitivities or allergies, please do not wear scented or perfumed products.  If you have a meditation cushion, please bring it.  Chairs will be available.  Suitable for all-levels of practitioners.

For additional information, please contact Lori Wong at 209-343-2748.

Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation Course starts Mar. 18th

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There will be a 6-week Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation course starting on March 18th taught by Lori Wong. The course will include progressive instructions, exercises and practice which will build from each previous week.  The course is designed for those new to meditation but can also be used to deepen or support practice for those who are already familiar with mindfulness meditation.

All are welcome to drop-in, although the greatest benefit will be for those who commit to attend all of the 6-week series.  The teachings and meetings are offered freely, without charge, as a gift to all who wish to come.  If you wish to sit on a cushion or mat, please bring your own. The floor is carpeted. Chairs will be available.

WHEN: Six Sundays, March 18 to April 29 from 12:30-2:30 pm (no meeting on Easter Sunday, April 8)
WHERE: Education Building (next to the colorful water tank), Room A or B, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County on 2172 Kiernan Ave. between Carver and Dale Rds., Modesto, CA.

Donations are gratefully accepted, but the wish is for those donations to come joyfully from whatever generosity may arise naturally from your heart. There is no expectation or obligation to make a donation.

Lori Wong has been practicing mindfulness meditation since 2003 and is a Community Dharma Leader in training through Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA.  Her mentor teachers in the program are Gil Fronsdal of Insight Meditation Center (IMC) in Redwood City and Eugene Cash of SF Insight in San Francisco.  She is a a board member of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies and a founding director of the Buddhist Insight Network.  She also leads an Insight Meditation sitting group on Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8:30pm at the Unity Church in Modesto.

If you have questions or wish to sign up for this course, please contact Lori Wong by email (insightmeditationmodesto@gmail.com) or phone (209.343.2748).