December 15, 2012 – Daylong with Ayya Anandabodhi and Ayya Santacitta

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Our next daylong will be with Ayya Anandabodhi and Ayya Santacitta will be:

A Day of Gratitude and Generosity

from 9:00am to 4:00pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County, 2172 Kiernan Ave., Modesto, CA.

Recognizing that much of our suffering comes from the sense of ‘me and mine’, as we try to find security and comfort in an ever changing world, we will explore opening our hearts and minds to the abundance of what is already here. Following desire does not lead to the ending of desire, but offering gratitude and generosity enables us to connect more deeply with the joy we all seek.
Since the beginning of Buddhism over 2500 years ago, Buddhist nuns and monks have depended on almsfood. In this spirit, you are invited to bring vegetarian food to offer to the nuns and that will be shared with others.

All are welcome. This day is freely offered to all.  Donations are welcome for the Saranaloka Foundation which supports the nuns and for future Insight Meditation Modesto offerings.
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. The sanctuary can be chilly, so please be prepared and dress warmly.

Ayya Anandabodhi and Ayya Santacitta are bhikkhunis (Buddhist nuns) in residence at the Aloka Vihara in San Francisco. Both nuns have been practicing meditation for over 20 years and have received training as monastics in the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah since 1992. They received full ordination as Theravada bhikkhunis in 2011 and offer teachings in the wider Bay Area and occasionally other parts of the US.

For more information visit: www.saranaloka.org.

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

A printable flyer is available here.

November 10 Daylong with Geshe Chaphur co-sponsored with Gyalshen Modesto Sangha

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Our daylong in November will be with Geshe Chaphur of the Tibetan Bön lineage offering:

Tibetan Calligraphy and Tsa Lung Meditation Practice

This day-long retreat is co-sponsored with Gyalshen Modesto Sangha will combine meditation practice in the morning with instruction in Tibetan calligraphy in the afternoon, with the idea of developing the mind that is open and present for using calligraphy as meditation.

In the morning, students will receive instruction in the practice of Tsa Lung, a spiritual practice from the Bön tradition of Tibet (the indigenous spiritual tradition of Tibet). Tsa Lung is a seated active meditation, visualization, and yoga practice that works with the energetic channels and five root winds of the body. This practice is easy to learn, but has the ability to bring all the body’s energies into balance. This resulting energetic balance has the power to heal disturbances of body and mind, and in turn to bring about significant changes in one’s life.

In the afternoon, students will receive an introduction to the fundamentals of Tibetan and Zhang Zhung calligraphy. Geshe Chaphur will demonstrate how to make letters, seed syllables, and beginning elements of Tibetan calligraphy. As this is an experiential workshop, all participants will have an opportunity to practice their own calligraphy.

All levels of practitioners are warmly welcome.

REGISTRATION: Please use the registration form to sign up for this daylong. We will send a confirmation once we receive your registration. If you do not pre-register, we will not be able to provide you with calligraphy supplies and you will need to bring your own.

COST: As is customary within the Tibetan and Insight traditions, there will be an opportunity to make a donation at the end of the retreat to the teacher and to support future Insight Meditation Modesto daylongs.

LOCATION:
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County
2172 Kiernan Avenue, Modesto, CA

DATE and TIME:
Saturday, November 10, 2012, 10 am to 4:30 pm

OUR TEACHER: Geshe Chaphur completed holistic training in Bön and is a lineage holder of the Chaphur Lama family. He was born in Amdo Ngawa, Tibet. He lived in Northern Tibet for 3 years, where he received his first instructions in Bön, the indigenous religion of Tibet and Zhang-Zhung cultures and tradition from his first teacher Bongya Rinpoche, the head lama of Bongya monastery in Northern Tibet. In 1993, he went to India and entered Menri Monastery, the main seat of Yungdung Bön religion and education in the world. While attending the Bön Dialectic School there, he completed fifteen years of studies in Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen, finally receiving his Geshe degree in February 2008. He is the founder of Gyalshen Institute, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, an organization dedicated to preserving and translating the teachings of the Bön tradition.
WHAT TO BRING:
• Meditation cushion or pillow if you wish to sit on the floor. (Chairs will be available.)
• Please bring a vegetarian dish to share during the potluck at the one-hour lunch break.
• A shawl, cloak, or sweater, so that you are comfortable while meditating.
• A journal or paper and a pen if you wish to take notes.
• If you don’t pre-register, please bring your own calligraphy supplies.

Printable flyer

Special Event on Oct. 28th: A visit by Ven. Pannavati

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Co-sponsored by the UUFSC and Insight Meditation Modesto, Ven. Pannavati will be visiting Modesto on Oct. 28th.

Ven. Pannavati will be offering two sermons on the morning of Oct. 28th, at the UUFSC (2172 Kiernan Ave., Modesto) at 9am and 11am:

1.  Overcoming fear, uncertainty and a sense of failure in an ever-changing world.  Ven. Pannavati will discuss the road less traveled…a path to overcoming the 8 worldly dhammas: praise & blame, loss & gain, fame & shame, pleasure & pain.

2.  Riding the paradox – Ven. Pannavati will discuss how to develop a framework for thought and action in the world that leads to a limitless compassion in which all disparity vanishes.

There will be a potluck vegetarian lunch (and meal offering to Ven. Pannavati) after the second service – please bring a meal to share, if you like

We will have an afternoon retreat with Ven. Pannavati from 1-3:30pm with sitting meditation, a Dharma talk and time for discussion

Venerable Dr. Pannavati, a yogini, former Christian pastor, founding Co-Abbot of Embracing Simplicity Hermitage, and a founding director of Sisters of Compassionate Wisdom (a 21st century trans-lineage Buddhist order), ordained in Theravada and Chan Schools, a Zen Dharma Holder and Vajrayana practitioner as well,  Ven. Pannavati’s insight is rich with compassion, wit and humor.   Known for her ordination of Thai and Cambodian nuns, work with homeless youth in Appalachia, and ministry to the “untouchables” in India, she is the recipient of multiple Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards, and received a special commendation from HRH Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand for humanitarian service towards women and children.  A guest speaker at Buddhafest in Washington DC this year, and returning next year, in 2013, she also guest teaches at many communities including Insight NY and Spirit Rock’s CDL program. Venerable Pannavati has realized many outer accomplishments.  Yet, larger than all these put together, is her simple concern for and connection to all sentient beings.  She is, in a word, approachable.

If you would like to support her visit, (costs for her to fly to the West Coast are approx. $800), please consider making a donation which will be used for her travel expenses (any excess monies will be used for her work in India).  You can make a PayPal donation online on her website and read about the work she is supporting in India.

Insight Meditation Modesto operates on a generosity-based “all-donation” model. Please consider supporting Ven. Pannavati, the UUFSC and IMM to continue these kinds of offerings in Modesto.

For more information, please contact Lori at insightmeditationmodesto@gmail.com or 209-343-2748.

Printable Flyer

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”.