By Peggy Gillespie, IPV Teacher  

Fall is here. It gets dark earlier, gardens have been touched with frost, and it's time for many of us to hunker down and figure out ways to stay physically, emotionally, and spiritually warm-hearted despite the coming of the snow and ice outside.

I will share some of my recipes for living well in the New England wintertime—meditation practices that can lead to self-care and self-nourishment. I hope you'll bring some of your practices as well (and bring some copies of your favorite soup recipes, too, to share with our community). Together, we can create a very yummy evening and take the leftovers to "eat and digest" at home.

Join Peggy to sit together with other sangha members in a relaxed atmosphere on Wednesday, November 6, 7:00pm.

by David Loy, visiting teacher
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by Mark Hart, IPV teacher
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Our culture places a lot of value on mental acuity and on conceptual learning and knowledge.  Most of our work involves extensive planning and concern about the future.  It is no wonder that when people meditate, the conceptual mind often keeps running.

In meditation, the instruction is often simply to notice thoughts as they arise and then return to the breath or some other focus point.  While this does indeed usually settle the mind at least somewhat, and over time gets us to notice and to dis-identify more from thoughts, meditators may find thoughts still dominate. 

In this retreat I'd like to introduce some other techniques for stepping out of the conceptual mind that I have found useful in my practice.  Some focus on moving energy and will sound more like Taoist teachings than Buddhist -- though in fact I discovered them for myself; some come from non-dual traditions.  I will probably also talk a bit about the process of coming to trust non-conceptual intelligence more than Planning Mind, what I sometimes refer to as "falling out of love with thinking." 

Come with a willingness to experiment and play with what I present.
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by Jean Esther, IPV Guiding Teacher Council Member
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So often we come to Buddhist practice looking for relief from pain, particularly when it’s emotional. Paradoxically our meditation practice leads us to opening to ‘what is’. Not uncommonly, what can surface in meditation is the unresolved pain in our hearts.

• What did the Buddha teach about working with heartbreak, fear, anger, grief, despair?
• How do we relate to these feelings in ourselves?
• How can we find peace amidst these often very challenging states of mind and heart? Is it even possible?

In this evening of meditation, Dharma Talk and discussion we will explore these questions through the Buddha’s teachings that point us towards an unshakable peace.

Whether new or experienced in meditation please join Jean for this evening of exploration. Wednesday, October 23, sitting at 7:00pm and talk at 7:35pm.