November 9, 2011 - News report on the 39th day of OccupyLosAngeles.org includes interviews with protesters, clips from the rally, and more. Edited and hosted by Margot Paez of InsightOutNews.org.
Showing posts with label insight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insight. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Awakening Truth with the Nun Thanasanti
AwakeningTruth.org, Against the Stream, Wisdom Quarterly
Amma, or Ajahn Thanasanti Bhikkhuni, was born in California and first introduced to Buddhism and insight-meditation in 1979 in a class taught by Jack Engler.
From that time on she has consciously committed to awakening by envisioning living her life as a Buddhist nun (bhikkhuni).
After completing a B.A. in Biology from UC Santa Cruz, she worked for a few years as an analytical chemist. Then in 1987 she went on a pilgrimage to India, Nepal, and Thailand to meet many of the meditation masters she had heard about.
She joined Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in 1989 as a part of the community of nuns to begin training as a novice. She began integrating meditation practice with the daily duties of a nun at both Amaravati and Chithurst Buddhist Monasteries, England. She received 10 precept (siladhara) ordination in 1991.
- Teachings: Talks, Videos, Meditations
As part of her monastic life she has went on retreat into the remote bush of Australia.
For the last several years Ajahn Thanasanti has been involved in the leadership team and guidance of the nuns' community at Chithurst. Since 1996 her community and monastic responsibilities have been interspersed with teaching intensive meditation retreats in the US, UK, Switzerland, and Australia.
In order to pursue her vision of how monastic and lay practitioners can work together in the modern world to create viable communities for practice in the United States, she has taken the significant step of leaving the formal affiliations of Amaravati and associated monastic communities. She has been living on faith according to the ancient principle of alms mendicancy and is based in Colorado Springs.
The first Theravada bhikkhuni ordination ceremony ever to occur in North America took place in August, 2010 at Aranya Bodhi Forest Hermitage in Sonoma, California. Ajahn Thanasanti was one of four nuns ordained.
Her interests are in awakening compassion and wisdom to integrate insight into the whole human condition. She uses essential Buddhist and non-dual teachings, devotional practices, and respect for nature as skillful means.
Ajahn Thanasanti's Los Angeles schedule
- Nov. 2: Teaching, Wednesday night class, ATS, Melrose
- Nov. 5: Women's Group, 12:00-3:00 pm, ATS, Melrose
- Nov. 6: Brunch on the Beach, 10:00 am till...
- Nov. 7: Teaching, Monday night class at ATS, Santa Monica
- More TBA
Against the Stream Events
Nov. 2 - Ajahn Thanasanti Teaches on Melrose
Nov. 5 - Women's Group
Nov. 10 - An Evening with Martine Batchelor
Nov. 11 - Dhamma Brothers - Movie Night
Nov. 5 - Women's Group
Nov. 6 - Volleyball and Potluck on the Beach
Nov. 7 - Ajahn Thanasanti Teaches in Santa MonicaNov. 10 - An Evening with Martine Batchelor
Nov. 11 - Dhamma Brothers - Movie Night
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Insight Meditation in Business
(dhamma.org)Learn how senior business leaders in India across various industries and sectors cope with uncertainty and change in a challenging market environment. In a series of candid interviews, senior executives discuss how the practice of insight meditation (vipassana) enables them to more effectively:
- manage their stress
- increase employee engagement of competition
- make decisions from a base of personal wisdom and authenticity
in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin
There is a special Website related to meditation courses conducted from time to time by S.N. Goenka and his assistant teachers specially for business executives and government officials. For most of his life Goenka worked as a prominent international businessman based in Burma and India. He was a keynote speaker on the subject of spirituality in business at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It was held on January, 2000. He also addressed the World Peace Summit held at the United Nations in August, 2000 and was the keynote speaker at the Spirit in Business Conference (SiB) held in New York City in April 2002. More
Monday, August 22, 2011
Why would anyone go on a meditation retreat?
Carlin Green (on retreat with Abhidharma expert Sayalay Susila, August 2011)
Insight meditation master Pa Auk Sayadaw's chief female disciple, Sayalay Susila, gave a week long end-of-summer insight (vipassana) meditation retreat. This is Part 1 describing its benefits and the experience of various attendees.
BHAVANA SOCIETY, West Virginia - Many people desire to meditate but do not know where to start. Maybe they have already started and they do not know how to make progress. Perhaps they feel lost, unguided, and are beginning to to think, “I can’t do this by myself; I’m in over my head.”
I felt that confusion for many months. My progress was slow, cluttered, and unclear. Then suddenly the opportunity to attend a retreat presented itself. I followed my intuition, desiring to deepen and strengthen my practice. I found myself on a five-day retreat in the mountains of West Virginia.
What is a retreat? Why would anyone want to attend one?
When one really yearns to know the way something happens or functions, what do they do? In sports, we use a slow-motion camera to break down and dissect the process, say, the batter’s swing.
Just so on retreat. The mind is allowed to slow down, to become clear and simple so we can see its many aspects. We do not need to worry about anything. We let go, leave our daily concerns behind. And like muddy water, the mind settles down. It becomes clearer and sharper as the clutter settles out.
Another wonderful benefit to going on retreat is constant access to a teacher. Someone is there to guide, to direct the practice in a very beneficial way. The confusion of not knowing what to do or how to do it is replaced by confidence in a tangible meditation practice.
Sayalay's PowerPoint presentation on Abhidharma
During a retreat, one is surrounded by like-minded people, walking the same path, providing one another inspiration and energy.
What is it not? A retreat is not some strange regimented religious "boot camp" forcing recruits to follow a set of austere rules.
A retreat is an incredibly caring, open, and friendly environment where retreatants' needs are met by people who genuinely care about the progress and well-being of participants. It is a place where one can make real progress watching the mind open up like an intricate bud unfolding in the nurturing sunlight.
Insight meditation master Pa Auk Sayadaw's chief female disciple, Sayalay Susila, gave a week long end-of-summer insight (vipassana) meditation retreat. This is Part 1 describing its benefits and the experience of various attendees.BHAVANA SOCIETY, West Virginia - Many people desire to meditate but do not know where to start. Maybe they have already started and they do not know how to make progress. Perhaps they feel lost, unguided, and are beginning to to think, “I can’t do this by myself; I’m in over my head.”
- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche once said, “In the beginning, deciding to try the practice of meditation is just leaping to some conclusion about what to do. In doing the practice at the beginning, rather than really meditating, you just imagine that you are meditating. So to begin with, the whole practice is based on confusion.”
I felt that confusion for many months. My progress was slow, cluttered, and unclear. Then suddenly the opportunity to attend a retreat presented itself. I followed my intuition, desiring to deepen and strengthen my practice. I found myself on a five-day retreat in the mountains of West Virginia.When one really yearns to know the way something happens or functions, what do they do? In sports, we use a slow-motion camera to break down and dissect the process, say, the batter’s swing.
Just so on retreat. The mind is allowed to slow down, to become clear and simple so we can see its many aspects. We do not need to worry about anything. We let go, leave our daily concerns behind. And like muddy water, the mind settles down. It becomes clearer and sharper as the clutter settles out.
Another wonderful benefit to going on retreat is constant access to a teacher. Someone is there to guide, to direct the practice in a very beneficial way. The confusion of not knowing what to do or how to do it is replaced by confidence in a tangible meditation practice.
Sayalay's PowerPoint presentation on Abhidharma
During a retreat, one is surrounded by like-minded people, walking the same path, providing one another inspiration and energy.
What is it not? A retreat is not some strange regimented religious "boot camp" forcing recruits to follow a set of austere rules.
A retreat is an incredibly caring, open, and friendly environment where retreatants' needs are met by people who genuinely care about the progress and well-being of participants. It is a place where one can make real progress watching the mind open up like an intricate bud unfolding in the nurturing sunlight.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
SoCal Buddhist Center opens for courses
Vaddhana.dhamma.org, April 15, 2011
The newly constructed SCVC is open and accepting applications for free 10-day Buddhist insight meditation (vipassana) retreats taught in the tradition of S.N. Goenka.
The Southern California Vipassana Center Trust is delighted to announce the opening of Dhamma Vaddhana, the newly completed Buddhist meditation center in Twentynine Palms near Joshua Tree, California.
The newly constructed SCVC is open and accepting applications for free 10-day Buddhist insight meditation (vipassana) retreats taught in the tradition of S.N. Goenka.The Southern California Vipassana Center Trust is delighted to announce the opening of Dhamma Vaddhana, the newly completed Buddhist meditation center in Twentynine Palms near Joshua Tree, California.
The center will open with an inaugural FREE ten-day course to be held from May 4-15, 2011. Online registration is now open for this first course, as well as for all other courses offered at the new center throughout the year.
To apply to sit or serve a course at SCVC, please visit the course schedule page at schedules.
About the SoCal Vipassana Center
To learn more about the development of Dhamma Vaddhana, please visit vaddhana.dhamma.org. There is a lot of work to be done to meet the May 4th starting date for the course.
Old students who have the time and energy in the next couple of weeks to help complete the final projects and get the center ready for its first course are welcome to come out to Dhamma Vaddhana and pitch in.
Along with all the work that needs to be done, there will be three group sittings a day. Accommodations and meals will be provided for all old student volunteers.
LOCATION
Southern California Vipassana Center: Dhamma Vaddhana
68561 Twentynine Palms Highway,
Twentynine Palms, CA 92277
Phone: (760) 362-4615
NOTE: If you are currently on the waitlist for a course at the California Vipassana Center (Dhamma Mahavana) in North Fork and would like to apply for a course at the Southern California Center, please email CVC North Fork at registration to cancel your waitlisted application. After doing so you may then submit a new application to attend a course at the Southern California Vipassana Center.
Directions from the west (Los Angeles area) I-10 eastbound to 62 northbound (29 Palms Highway). Continue through Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, and Joshua Tree. Continue past Copper Mountain Community College (on left). Go another two miles and look for a tall radio tower on the left side of the road. This tower is directly across the highway from the center. On your right you will see a sign indicating the center property. Turn right onto Mantonya Road (dirt road), and right again into the entrance driveway.
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