BHASA Elder Care Startup,
Ayurveda Yoga Benefit Event,
Sam Bercholz : Unconditional Love Seminar
~ Events in May 2016 ~
Thursday May 5 Video Event
Thursday, May 5, 8:20-10:30 pm, as a lead in to the BHASA meeting the next day, and as the final Thursday evening video of the season, we will view the cinema classic (consistenly ranked as one of the best films of all time) Tokyo Story.
Set in post WWII Japan, the film reveals how the blind, competitive materialist rush of modern society swiftly disintegrates natural human virtues, including the love, respect, gratitude and care of children for their parents, and how, sadly, at a certain point, this comes to seem inevitable and absolutely normal to everyone involved.
This film lasts 2 hours, and we are starting late on Thursday night, we know, but the film is very beautiful, memorable, and, for those of us trying to gather virtue, and not to lose it, instructive, and so possibly a better use of our time than whatever else we were thinking to do at this time.
Friday May 6, 6-7 pm
BHASA - Buddhist Home at Saraha First Meeting
The Buddhist Home,founded by Lama Sonam Tsering, is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating an elder-care residential facility founded upon principles of altruism, compassion and spirituality, particularly the teachings of Buddhism.
In order tosupport the maturation of this vision, and to help one another locally in our own changes of aging and of dying, we should do what we can within the basis of our existing community of practitioners and friends. To this end, we are inaugurating BHASA, Buddhist Home at Saraha, as an ongoing community discussion forum, with monthly meetings at 6 pm on the First Friday of Each Month, starting this week, Friday May 6, from 6-7 pm. All invited, open to all. Tea and snacks provided.
Saturday May 14, 2-5 pm
Ayurvedic Healing Yoga Seminar
with Raven Townsend
In this Community Presents seminar event entitled "Ayurveda and Yoga : a Healing Union" Saraha Children's School parent Raven Townshend, who is an experienced yoga instructor and soon-to-be accredited doctor in Ayurvedic medicine will lead a yoga session, through which, and over the course of which, she will introduce principles of Ayurvedic medicine and healing. The seminar will conclude with tea and veg. snacks.
$20 non-profit donation for Saraha Children's School.
Weekend May 21-22, Sam Bercholz : Unconditional Love Seminar Event
SAT-SUN : MAY 21-22 : UNCONDITIONAL LOVE :
A New Approach to Loving-Kindness Meditation
with Sam Bercholz
The unconditional love that we all long for—in our lives and in the world around us—can be awakened effectively with this unique approach to the Buddhist practice of loving kindness meditation, based on the teachings of the sublime Tibetan Buddhist master, Tulku Thondup Rinpoche. There will be detailed guidance for meditation, prayers and visualization in four simple stages that can be practiced in as little as thirty minutes a session.
This event will be taught by Sam Bercholz , a senior teacher in the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Buddhism. Sam was empowered to teach Buddhism and to give meditation instruction by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpocheand Thinley Norbu Rinpoche. Sam has been giving Buddhist teachings for more than forty years throughout North America and Europe. At the request of Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche he has been teaching in Australia and New Zealand annually for the last fifteen years.
Tuesdays 6-7 pm
Cascading Waterfall Book Study Group
Tuesdays (6-7 pm) ongoing book group discussion and study ACascading Waterfall of Nectar, by the great Buddhist master, HH Dungse Thinley NorbuRinpoche, profound instructions of the Vajrayana tradition. Over the course of many weeks, we will read this book slowly and closely and have weekly homework of trying to learn, find and put its meanings into our lives. Drop ins welcome.
Sample quote(CW p.87) from this this past week's group study, & memorization homework (together with always Bodhicitta practice) :
"One must catch the monkey of cherished conceptions.
One must bind the thieving cat.
One must destroy the stacks of empty houses.
One must block any gaps or windows.
One must open the king's treasury.
The one who does this is always Buddha."
Wednesdays 6-7 pm
Heart Sutra Study Group
The Buddha's teachings of transcendental wisdom, Prajnaparamita, (depicted as deity, Bhagavati, female Buddha, wisdom mother of the Conquerors, in the image above) exist in extensive and concise forms. Because of its essential wisdom meaning, brevity and blessing, the Heart Sutra, (which is the ongoing subject of the weekly study group at Saraha,)has become an important practice text for many Buddhist traditions and lineages, especially those of the Mahayana tradition. Prajnaparamita, including The Heart Sutra, also provides the philosophical basis for the practice of Chod, or "severence" in the Vajrayana tradition.
Weekly Wed. 6-7 pm discussion group open to everyone, drop-ins welcome, material fees may apply...
"Unspeakable, unthinkable,
inexpressible, Prajnaparamita,
unborn and unceasing,
the very essence of space
within the range of the individual,
reflexive primordial awareness---
the meaning of the Mother of the Conquerors
of the three times arose in his mind..."
Heads up, GypsyGossip & Echoes, these two newly-published masterworks by HH Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche are now in stock and available for sale in the Saraha bookstore here in Eugene ...
Saraha Children's School Summer Workshops
Please know, springtime is the time, Saraha Children's School is forming its classes for the coming Fall. If you are a parent/family, you are welcome to join us. If you would like to refer-recommend SCS to anyone, this is the time to do it, sooner rather than later...
Daily Temple Events & Educational Programs at Saraha in May
Click Calendar Image for Online Calendar
Since the moment of its inception, Saraha Nyingma Buddhist Institute, a 501(c)(3) designated non-profit organization, has needed your kind donations to survive.
We have done some things and obviously there is so much more to do, locally and at large, and we can do more. Your kind donations will add exactly to that, to the depth and scope of we all can accomplish together. Here is the DONATE LINK...
The Saraha Nyingma Buddhist Institute, or "Saraha" for short, is a registered 501(c)(3) status non-profit religious organization based in Eugene, Oregon, USA. Following the Buddha's teachings of Enlightenment, and practicing according to the Dudjom Lineage of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, Saraha offers a full schedule of regular temple meditation events, special teachings events, and educational courses.
Saraha also operates Saraha Children's School, grades K-8, an award-winning, Oregon State registered and approved children's school, featuring small class size, project-based learning, with a full and rigorous academic curriculum, art, music, dance and Tibetan, infused with child-oriented Buddhist teachings of compassionate virtue, mindfulness and wisdom.
Altogether, Saraha intends to offer a community-based, family friendly atmosphere where students young and old can visit and grow in age and wisdom together. For more information, click our online calendar HERE.
