Hi, <<First Name>>. It's hard to believe that it's already December! We hope that you are finding time as well as ease on your cushion as we come to the end of the year. For many of us, this holiday season is going to be unlike any other. As an opportunity to deepen our practices, we can look to turn towards this season and any feelings we may be having, noticing when we are clinging or when we are experiencing aversion. We can then offer ourselves compassion that may allow us the capacity to offer more compassion to others.
Online Meditation will continue to be hosted by SEBC every Wednesday in December. Turn your meditation practice into a routine! The Zoom meeting link can be found below and will be the same for all December sessions.
We will also be completing our discussion of The Inner Work of Racial Justice by Rhonda V. Magee in November. On our 3rd Wednesday meeting in Dec. (12/16), we’ll discuss Parts V and any final observations. We will still start the book discussion with a brief check-in and a shortened meditation.
In this month's newsletter, you'll find links to other online events and resources as well as the link to a donation-based guided meditation to help ground us as we approach the election. Additional information about SEBC - and more resources - can be found on our website and Facebook.
We at SEBC affirm our commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and interconnection. If you'd like to chat, have ideas for the community, want to help, etc., please let us know - we'd love to hear from you! And if you haven't joined us in a while (or ever), we'd love to see you (feel free to attend meetings as regularly or as infrequently as you'd like)! May we stand stronger as Beloved Community through our Dharma practice and understanding, and in our larger society as a whole. Let's keep the Dharma wheel turning!
Much metta,
Your friends at SEBC |
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Online Meditation Sessions
Our monthly meditation sessions will meet each Wednesday in December; however, due to the need for greater precautions with COVID-19, we will meet online through Zoom. Our recommendation is to have the video on whenever possible, to allow a greater degree of connection during the meetings. OPEN TO ALL & FREE TO ATTEND!!
**Our monthly meditation sessions are now meeting every week!**
* Wednesday, December 2nd, 7 - 8pm
* Wednesday, December 9th, 7 - 8pm
Additional sessions:
* Wednesday, December 16th , 7 - 8pm (Book discussion)
* Wednesday, December 23rd, 7 - 8pm
* Wednesday, December 30th, 7 - 8pm
Same link (ID/password) for all December sessions:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83638679660?pwd=aXh5dTdLM0YvS1plSmlxdFNNbzZFdz09
Meeting ID: 836 3867 9660
Passcode: 348529
- To dial with phone by your location, find your local number here.
- Click here for information on how to join a Zoom meeting.
ALL levels of meditators are welcome to attend, including those with no previous experience; however, we encourage people to “bring your own practice.” We're a practice group of fellow travelers, not teachers.
Note: Click here for more info on our Wednesday meditation sessions. |
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Other Online Events & Resources
* Socially Engaged Buddhism (SEBC) - "We encourage you to visit our resource list on Socially Engaged Buddhism and we invite your participation, perspectives, and solidarity, as together we undertake the hard work necessary for transformation."
* Dharma Seed - "an online resource dedicated to making the Buddhist teachings of Insight Meditation and associated practices available to all. Our intention is to be a support for meditation teachers, their communities, students and meditation practitioners, and to provide access to the teachings to those who might not otherwise have access to them."
* Southern Dharma Retreat Center, Hot Springs, NC - "For more than 40 years, Southern Dharma Retreat Center (SDRC) has offered affordable, teacher-led retreats with a unifying thread of meditation, contemplation, and silence. SDRC continues its tradition of excellence as the preeminent meditation retreat center in the southeast and is historically ranked top 10 nationally."
* Atlanta Buddhism.org - "Due to the Coronavirus outbreak (Covid-19), all people are encouraged to stay home whenever possible, and help stop the spread. We have compiled this list of groups that are now meeting virtually."
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Monthly Article: The Three Defilements: Understanding Greed, Hate, and Delusion
– “The first of the Three Defilements, Greed, drives us to cling to or hoard the things we want, and hate drives us to avoid and resist what we don’t want. Delusion is the folly of thinking we can get what we want to the exclusion of what we don’t want. It’s an attempt to split up circumstances into categories of our own devising. But reality is not divisible in that way, and the irony of such a delusion resides in a failure to recognize that greed and hate are psychologically one and the same." |
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