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FEATURED ARTICLE: Being Kind in Unkind Times - A Reflection from Larry Yang
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April 12-May 10, 2015
Please contact TMH office re: available spaces...
The Columbine Inn  
in Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico
(April 12-26 or April 26-May 10 Options)

Vipassana, Brahma Vihara & Concentration Guidance Available....

Guiding Teacher: Marcia Rose

A unique opportunity for experienced Dharma practitioners to enter a supportive space of solitude & silence for intensive,independent meditation practice.

Sliding Scale Fees 
 
   
One Month/28 days:
$2186 -  $2586 -  $2986
2 weeks/14 days:
 $1093 -  $1293 -  $1493
More 2015 retreats.. (just click on retreat to go to website page)
A Weekend with Buddhist Teacher & Environmental Activist David Loy at San Geronimo Lodge
Does Buddhism provide any special insight into the ecological crisis? Do its teachings imply a different way of understanding the biosphere, and our relationship to it, which can really help us at this critical time in history, when we are doing so much to destroy it?


Dhammadinna very close up Tenzin Jesse cropped close
This retreat will combine the practice and study of metta or loving friendliness meditation. The Buddha taught metta meditation to quell fear and anger, to promote harmonious  relationships, and to purify the mind in concentration. The benefits of this practice touch every aspect of our lives.
Finding Freedom through Insight Meditation...
ONE-WEEK VIPASSANA RETREAT
Mt wildflower field
June 27 - July 3, 2015 
With Brian Lesage 
Columbine Inn
Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico

Insight meditation is a simple and direct practice based on moment-to-moment awareness, a technique that opens the heart and clears the mind. This will be an opportunity to practice continuous mindfulness in silence throughout the day - in sitting and walking meditation. In the silence we are freed from much of the daily barrage of stimulus that draws our attention outward, letting us delve deeply inward. Learning to be aware of our experience from a place of stillness and equanimity allows us to see more clearly, and as insight deepens, compassion and wisdom can arise.
The retreat is designed for beginners and
experienced practitioners alike.
Brian Lesage has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1988 and has taught meditation since 2000. He has studied in the Zen, Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism. He was ordained in the Rinzai Zen tradition in 1996. His training in Vipassana Meditation includes doing extended meditation retreats in Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, and India as well as numerous retreats in the U.S.  He leads retreats and teaches meditation courses nationwide.  Brian also has a private practice in Somatic Experiencing, a naturalistic approach to healing trauma. 
Sliding Scale Fees:
$444 (low)   $644 (actual cost)  $844 (benefactor) 
Partial Scholarships Available - Application Necessary
Manifesting Spiritual Aspiration by
 Deepening Practice...
Teachers:  Gina Sharpe
 & Larry Yang

Columbine Inn

Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico

Co-sponsored by New York Insight and the East Bay Meditation Center (Oakland, CA)


This retreat for Communities of Color will be the first such retreat of 10 days' duration, for those who have been undertaking study and practice for at least four years.  Accompanying the instructions for retreat practice will be deep exploration of what constitutes authentic personal expression of the traditional teachings and what bridges the contexts of practice between the Buddha's time and our present day cultures.  We will examine the relationship of the personal and the collective in reflection and practice.  We will also explore how to live in the relative world with transcendent understanding and how to apply transcendent values to living immanently in the relative world.  We deepen practice to live with integrity, kindness, attention and true service in our vulnerable world.
Gina Sharpe was born in Jamaica and immigrated to New York Gina Sharpe at the age of 11. After retiring from the practice of law, she co-founded New York Insight Meditation Center where she serves as Guiding Teacher.  She has taught at Retreat Centers and other venues around the United States including a maximum security prison for women.  She has been teaching the Dharma since 1995 and is particularly inspired by the potential and application of Dharma to transform and illuminate interpersonal and multicultural relations.

Larry Yang teaches meditation retreats nationally and has a special interest in creating access to the Dharma for diverse multicultural communities. Larry has practiced extensively in Burma and Thailand, with a six month period of ordination as a Buddhist monk under the guidance of Ajahn Tong.  Larry is on the Teacher's Council and the Board of Spirit Rock Meditation Center, is one of the core teachers of East Bay Meditation Center (Oakland), and is the Guiding Teacher and on the Board of the Insight Community of the Desert (Palm Springs). He is part of the coordinating team developing future community dharma teachers in Spirit Rock's Community Dharma Leadership Program. In addition, Larry is trained as a psychotherapist and a consultant in cultural competency-giving workshops and presentations in diversity and multicultural issues.
Sliding Scale Fees:  
 $744  (low)     $994  (actual cost)     $1244  (benefactor)
There will be ample scholarship support for students 
 wishing to attend this retreat. Space still available.
The Columbine Inn in beautiful Taos Ski Valley...
        
     

Buddhist Intention: Being Kind in Unkind Times

A Reflection from Larry Yang

Now more than ever we need our Mindfulness Practice.

 

We need the Freedom that Mindfulness invites for us -- the freedom that we do not have to follow the unconscious patterns of acute reactivity. We need to remember that it is possible to notice deeply what is happening, understand it with some wisdom, treat it with some of the compassion inherent in our humanity, and move into responses and actions that are of benefit -- that is, to move toward that which lessens suffering and creates happiness, not just for us as individuals, but us as a collective world.

 

Our Mindfulness practice, whether it is on the cushion paying attention to the emotions and thoughts that weave between the breath and bodily sensations, or whether it is in the world paying attention to our actions and behaviors which emerge from our emotions and thoughts, is always a reminder that in order to change any unhealthy or harmful patterns -- in order to transform any suffering -- we have to first become aware of the patterns themselves. We cannot change anything that we are not aware of. This is also true of our collective transformation into a culture that meets the needs of greater numbers of people and beings: We first have to become deeply aware of the conditions that we are living within, and then that will guide us into transforming the world into a better place to live.

 

On a personal level this may show up within the experience of intense emotions. Often we are driven by unconscious motivations of our emotional landscape. How often do we feel lost in the rage or the upset that sometimes arises? The powerful impact that Mindfulness brings is that the experience of being aware of the rage is not the rage itself. Being mindful of all the sensations of rage or anger is not being lost in or consumed by the fire. How often do we actually feed the experience of anger without examining what is really happening? Do you find yourself pouring fuel on the fire of rage, or even getting angry at the anger? What might be happening other than the thoughts or emotions inflaming the fuel?

 

If we examine closely, we will likely find that the experiences of anger and rage have pleasant sensations associated with them. Pleasant sensations are always seductive. That is the nature of  "pleasant." And generally, without an awareness practice, unconscious conditioning impels our human experience to desire more pleasant sensations -- without any questions asked. We begin to enjoy the sensations of feeling angry and even feed them with experiences such as self- righteousness, or a sense of "better-than," or even revenge. The deceptive nature of the pleasant feelings of rage is that the behaviors and actions which emerge do not always lead to less suffering in the world. Much of our behavior and actions in the world are driven by the immediacy of this kind of reaction toward strong emotions or acute pain. These actions often lead to more suffering -- unless there is Mindfulness.

 

Anger is an important barometer possibly indicating when boundaries have been crossed, or injustices have occurred or oppression has been inflicted. However, anger can also have an unconscious life of its own when it is not met with the central question of our Awareness practice, which is also a vital choice-point of Buddhist spiritual practice: Will this lead to more suffering, or will this lead to less?

 

Life is complicated and this is not always a clean or clear decision point. Our practice simply invites us to do the best we can -- to be as mindful, aware and kind to whatever arises, even our intense emotional landscapes. The personal mantra that I have developed to navigate through the complex dilemmas and social issues arising currently is:


 Can I be mindful and loving of whatever arises.

If I can't be loving in this moment, can I be kind.

If I can't be kind, can I be non-judgmental.

If I can't be non-judgmental, can I not cause harm.

And if I cannot not cause harm, can I cause the least  

amount of harm possible?

  

This is an excerpt of an article that appeared in the Huffington Post.  You can read more of Larry's blogs there at www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-yang. 
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