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Interbeing Sangha of Kingston - Weekly Electronic Bulletin Vol. 2, Issue #24 - 2 February 2019

Interbeing Sangha

Weekly Meeting

Please join us for our next weekly gathering, taking place tomorrow, Sunday, February 3rd for meditation and dharma sharing, 6:30pm at Unitarian Place (Kingston Unitarian Fellowship), 206 Concession Street. Karl Hardy will be our bell minder this week.

Rest in the Present

"Peace is available in the here and the now, believe it or not. Calm is also available in the here and the now. The Buddha is not in India. The Buddha is there in the here and the now. You can touch him at any time you want. The kingdom of God is also there in the here and the now. The present moment is the only moment where you can touch these wonderful things that you are looking for. But you always run, you abandon the present moment because you believe that what you are looking for is somewhere there in the future. So stopping means trying to dwell in the present moment, trying to go back to the present moment, because the present moment contains everything you are looking for, including your immediate need, resting. How can you rest in the future? How can you rest in the past? The present moment is the only moment when you can rest. So make good use of it."

-- Thich Nhat Hanh, from "Returning to Our True Home," Dharma Talk given in July, 1996 in Plum Village, France.

Sangha Care

Retreat Planning Team

We have joyful news to share, following last week's sangha care meeting, and efforts to assemble a planning team. We will be moving forward with hosting a regional retreat in Kingston in May 2019!

A wonderful team of committed individuals has assembled, from both Interbeing Sangha of Kingston and Kingston Sangha, who have a collective wealth of skills and experience, and are enthusiastic about planning for the retreat. They have made contact with our friends at Ottawa Pagoda Sangha and are already engaged in the work of securing a venue in Kingston, and following onto next steps. The team is as follows:

Cat London	Coordinator & Team Co-Chair
Susan Howlett	Venue Liaison & Team Co-Chair
Julia Hobson	Event Planning Support
Gisèle Dalbec-Szczesniak	Songs of Practice / Music
Colette Peters	Dharma Teacher Facilitator
Monica Burger	Registrar
Karl Hardy	Treasurer
Keith Gawronski-McNinch	Communications Officer
Linda Belisle	Member-at-large
Marguerite Giles	Member-at-large

Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to make a retreat possible. Our sangha and the wider world will benefit greatly from this work. Stay tuned for more information as it will be announced, regarding location, registration, and next steps for participants.

Plum Village Update

Our Beloved Thay

Excerpt from post made this morning, February 2nd on the Plum Village blog:

"Despite the cool & rainy weather, Thay’s health has been remarkably stable over the past few weeks, and he is continuing to receive Eastern treatment and acupuncture. When there’s a break in the heavy rains, Thay comes outside to enjoy visiting the Root Temple’s ponds and stupas, in his wheelchair, joined by his disciples. Although his body is frail, Thay’s mind is still very lucid." Read more...

Thay in the Media

Time Magazine

Editorial message
from Keith Gawronski-McNinch:

This article, entitled "The Monk Who Taught the World Mindfulness Awaits the End of This Life" appears in the February 3rd print edition of American magazine, TIME. Although clearly from a limited outsider's perspective, it includes frank insights into Thay's present health circumstances, and touches on fraught political issues about Vietnam which some might consider wrong perceptions. There are also excellent points about Thay's impact on history, including influencing world leaders and international events.

It seems inevitable to me, that on a day in the not-so-distant future, we will witness a huge surge of interest - and accompanying media spin - about Thay like we have never seen before. Though some may judge this for better or worse, it is my view that this can only be part of Thay's continuation already manifesting, and therefore his gift to the world, to spread his teachings of mindfulness further, heal humanity, and help transform and save our planet. http://time.com/5511729/monk-mindfulness-art-of-dying/

Learning from Suffering

"In the Buddhist study and practice concerning suffering, we know that suffering can teach us, we can learn a lot from suffering. If we look deeply into the nature of suffering, we may get insight on how we can get out of our situation. That is why suffering, dukkha, has been called in Buddhism a holy truth. Suffering is holy, because the contemplation of suffering can bring about insight on how to get out of suffering and transform it. If you do not know how to make use of suffering, if you do not know how to learn from the suffering, then suffering cannot be a holy truth. We can sink into the ocean of suffering, we can be overwhelmed by suffering, and suffering is not a holy truth; it is only something destructive. That is why contemplating on suffering is a very important practice in Buddhism. Contemplating suffering, you will know how that suffering has come to be, because everything is born from conditions. And the contemplation on the nature of suffering will bring us insight on how that suffering has come to be, and the conditions that have brought this suffering to us.

-- Thich Nhat Hanh, from "Suffering Can Teach Us," Dharma Talk given in August, 1996 in Plum Village, France

Newsletter Editor: Keith Gawronski-McNinch
Newsletter Assistant Editor: Susan Howlett
Social Media Editor: Cat London

Our sangha has two teams helping to share leadership and facilitation of our meetings. Our Bell Minders Team are mindful facilitators for our weekly gatherings, as well as retreats, taking beautiful care of our friends in the practice including the bell. Our Sangha Care Team facilitates sangha care meetings, plans retreats, minds our library and resources, and coordinates outreach. If you are interested in helping with either or both, contact interbeingkingston@gmail.com for more information.

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