November Sangha News
10-31-2024
November at IWM
This month, we’re looking forward to Wednesday Dharma Talks with local teachers Jean Esther, Adi Bemak and Manny Mansbach, and an Evening of Gratitude with Community Dharma Steward Hal Fales. Four Affinity Groups, Saturday Sangha, and Open Community Practice sessions continue to meet regularly. Please see below for more details on all of our offerings.
Looking ahead, we're delighted to begin the new year on Wednesday January 1st with Rebecca Bradshaw and an evening of meditation exploring her book Down to Earth Dharma. Registration is filling fast for IWM's 3 Day Residential Retreat in Southern Vermont in January, Steeping in the Heart of Dharma, with Jean Esther, Devin Berry, and Bernadine Mellis. Some scholarship funds are available. Please see below to read more and register. Whether you’ve been part of IWM for years, or are new to our sangha, we’re so glad you’re here! We hope to see you at one of our offerings soon.
IWM Sustainability Campaign: Benefit with Tara Mulay and Devin Berry
The October 16th benefit was a beautiful night for IWM. We gathered together in community to hear Tara & Devin’s wise reflections in response to our questions about being “On the Path Together: Ethics and Community Building in Challenging Times.”
We are grateful to Tara & Devin for their warm and generous support of IWM. Amazingly, through the benefit, over 60 people contributed a total of $5,951 toward IWM’s Sustainability Campaign. All gifts matter and donations ranged in size from $1 to $1000. Those at the Florence Civic Center also had the opportunity to mix and mingle while enjoying hot cider and delicious treats. To read what we shared about IWM’s Sustainability Campaign at the benefit, click here.
If you weren’t able to attend, it’s not too late to contribute by clicking here to support IWM's Sustainability Campaign and receive a link to the recording. You’ll have a chance to make a one time donation of any amount, or to become a “Friend of IWM” by making a recurring donation. Friends play an invaluable role in supporting our center, since they commit to giving on a regular schedule and create a steady stream of income we know we can count on.
This month, we’re looking forward to Wednesday Dharma Talks with local teachers Jean Esther, Adi Bemak and Manny Mansbach, and an Evening of Gratitude with Community Dharma Steward Hal Fales. Four Affinity Groups, Saturday Sangha, and Open Community Practice sessions continue to meet regularly. Please see below for more details on all of our offerings.
Looking ahead, we're delighted to begin the new year on Wednesday January 1st with Rebecca Bradshaw and an evening of meditation exploring her book Down to Earth Dharma. Registration is filling fast for IWM's 3 Day Residential Retreat in Southern Vermont in January, Steeping in the Heart of Dharma, with Jean Esther, Devin Berry, and Bernadine Mellis. Some scholarship funds are available. Please see below to read more and register. Whether you’ve been part of IWM for years, or are new to our sangha, we’re so glad you’re here! We hope to see you at one of our offerings soon.
IWM Sustainability Campaign: Benefit with Tara Mulay and Devin Berry
The October 16th benefit was a beautiful night for IWM. We gathered together in community to hear Tara & Devin’s wise reflections in response to our questions about being “On the Path Together: Ethics and Community Building in Challenging Times.”
We are grateful to Tara & Devin for their warm and generous support of IWM. Amazingly, through the benefit, over 60 people contributed a total of $5,951 toward IWM’s Sustainability Campaign. All gifts matter and donations ranged in size from $1 to $1000. Those at the Florence Civic Center also had the opportunity to mix and mingle while enjoying hot cider and delicious treats. To read what we shared about IWM’s Sustainability Campaign at the benefit, click here.
If you weren’t able to attend, it’s not too late to contribute by clicking here to support IWM's Sustainability Campaign and receive a link to the recording. You’ll have a chance to make a one time donation of any amount, or to become a “Friend of IWM” by making a recurring donation. Friends play an invaluable role in supporting our center, since they commit to giving on a regular schedule and create a steady stream of income we know we can count on.
Volunteer Hosts
We are always looking for sangha members to add to our list of people willing to host (in-person / hybrid / zoom) our Wednesday evening Dharma Talks. It’s easier than you think! We will give direction and help you feel comfortable before you do it.
How it works: We send out an email monthly to our list of volunteers – if you are able, you sign up for a date and if not, you don't. No pressure at all. We would love to expand our pool of hosts, not only because more hands make less work, but it is a wonderful opportunity for sangha members to meet our teachers and become more involved. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions, or to sign up for our volunteer email list!
Chronic Illness / Disability Affinity Group Update
We welcome anyone living with chronic illness/pain and/or disability. Our group includes people with a wide range of physical, emotional, and/or mental health challenges. Together we take time to practice, share, give support (no advice unless asked), and reflect on the Dharma. How does the Dharma help us navigate the sorrows and joys of living with illness, pain, and/or disability? What is the difference between compassion and pity? How do we discern right action and right speech for us as individuals and as a collective society? We share our experiences, compassion, and wisdom, supporting people where they are at in their lives and practice. See below for more information and meeting times.
New Kalyana Mitta Group
A new Kalyana Mitta (Spiritual Friends) group is forming for people interested in bringing the Buddha’s teachings into daily life. We will meet the second Thursday of each month from 6-7:30pm ET online, beginning on November 14th. If interested in joining, please read more and complete the brief application form here by Monday November 11th.
IWM Library Updates
Very soon the lending library at IWM will be open again. Though small, it is a rich collection of dharma wisdom and inspiration, and we encourage you to check it out! One of the summer’s projects was to review and reorganize the library. Over time, IWM had accumulated multiple copies of several books, and received more donations of books and audio materials than we have the space to accommodate. Also, several borrowed books never found their way back to the center, so our internal inventory was significantly inaccurate. Candace, Cathy, and Hal worked to inventory and cull the library, organize the books that remained, and update the database.
Several boxes of books have been donated to the Books Behind Bars program of the Prison Mindfulness Institute, based out of Deerfield (a wonderful source of dharma books serving people who are incarcerated anywhere in the U.S.), Natural Dharma Fellowship (a Tibetan Buddhist organization with a retreat center in New Hampshire), Better World Books (an online non-profit used book store that funds literacy work), and Raven Books in Northampton. Boxes of free books and audio resources also covered the top of the shoe shelf at the center for several weeks for anyone who wanted to take them.
About half of the library is now organized by topic (e.g. Basics and Beginners; Biographical; Buddhism & Psychology; Building Beloved Community; Discourses, Other Texts, and Commentaries; Engaged Practice; Families & Children; Illness, Death & Dying; Women & Buddhism, etc.). The other half is shelved by author. We hope this format will make it easier for you to peruse. We are still finalizing the borrowing system, and once that is in place the library will be open for business again. Stay tuned!
We are always looking for sangha members to add to our list of people willing to host (in-person / hybrid / zoom) our Wednesday evening Dharma Talks. It’s easier than you think! We will give direction and help you feel comfortable before you do it.
How it works: We send out an email monthly to our list of volunteers – if you are able, you sign up for a date and if not, you don't. No pressure at all. We would love to expand our pool of hosts, not only because more hands make less work, but it is a wonderful opportunity for sangha members to meet our teachers and become more involved. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions, or to sign up for our volunteer email list!
Chronic Illness / Disability Affinity Group Update
We welcome anyone living with chronic illness/pain and/or disability. Our group includes people with a wide range of physical, emotional, and/or mental health challenges. Together we take time to practice, share, give support (no advice unless asked), and reflect on the Dharma. How does the Dharma help us navigate the sorrows and joys of living with illness, pain, and/or disability? What is the difference between compassion and pity? How do we discern right action and right speech for us as individuals and as a collective society? We share our experiences, compassion, and wisdom, supporting people where they are at in their lives and practice. See below for more information and meeting times.
New Kalyana Mitta Group
A new Kalyana Mitta (Spiritual Friends) group is forming for people interested in bringing the Buddha’s teachings into daily life. We will meet the second Thursday of each month from 6-7:30pm ET online, beginning on November 14th. If interested in joining, please read more and complete the brief application form here by Monday November 11th.
IWM Library Updates
Very soon the lending library at IWM will be open again. Though small, it is a rich collection of dharma wisdom and inspiration, and we encourage you to check it out! One of the summer’s projects was to review and reorganize the library. Over time, IWM had accumulated multiple copies of several books, and received more donations of books and audio materials than we have the space to accommodate. Also, several borrowed books never found their way back to the center, so our internal inventory was significantly inaccurate. Candace, Cathy, and Hal worked to inventory and cull the library, organize the books that remained, and update the database.
Several boxes of books have been donated to the Books Behind Bars program of the Prison Mindfulness Institute, based out of Deerfield (a wonderful source of dharma books serving people who are incarcerated anywhere in the U.S.), Natural Dharma Fellowship (a Tibetan Buddhist organization with a retreat center in New Hampshire), Better World Books (an online non-profit used book store that funds literacy work), and Raven Books in Northampton. Boxes of free books and audio resources also covered the top of the shoe shelf at the center for several weeks for anyone who wanted to take them.
About half of the library is now organized by topic (e.g. Basics and Beginners; Biographical; Buddhism & Psychology; Building Beloved Community; Discourses, Other Texts, and Commentaries; Engaged Practice; Families & Children; Illness, Death & Dying; Women & Buddhism, etc.). The other half is shelved by author. We hope this format will make it easier for you to peruse. We are still finalizing the borrowing system, and once that is in place the library will be open for business again. Stay tuned!
Dharma Dialogue: Each and Every Moment
From Mother Teresa: “We fear the future because we are wasting today.” One of the many intentions I have is to not get out of bed in the morning until I remember what day it is. This morning, I sat up and couldn’t remember the last name of someone I know fairly well. It seemed like it took forever for that memory to drop in, but it was probably only a few seconds. I took a few deep breaths, got out of bed and realized that the experience of being in each moment is always available to me, if I can settle into the moment and not worry about someone’s last name, what day it is or even what the weather will be like ten days from now.
I was talking with a good Dharma friend about being in each and every moment, and how difficult it is to be present with what the Buddha talked about in the first of the Four Noble Truths: “Life Is Suffering.” If my practice stops there, because I am afraid of what that means, and I get stuck there, the possibility of transforming that suffering is non-existent. The Buddha also spoke of the opportunity we have in each and every moment to transcend that suffering. It doesn’t mean that the suffering will automatically go away, but somewhere inside of ourselves as we continue to practice, it will be easier to accept that teaching. And in my experience, even if I have the strongest wish or desire to have the suffering end ASAP, even that “as soon as possible” can be a trap unless I am gentle with myself and don’t make it a contest to return to the moment. If I can do that with love and compassion, the experience of being in each and every moment is available. Not that it is easy to “get back there,” but it is no longer a contest of being in the moment all the time.
Another Dharma friend said that when she finds herself all “askew” (my words not hers), she brings her awareness and attention into her body, down into her legs and feet in order to feel the Earth beneath her, and in order to get out of that head/thinking process. Here’s where the understanding that Suffering Is Optional comes into play. To remember that we can end the suffering at any point is to suggest that when we are not in the moment, we can turn inwards with love and compassion and bring ourselves back to the present moment experience, including the part of us that is experiencing suffering. Again, not easy, but in my experience, the more I practice, the easier it becomes to have that as a possibility. From Thich Hnat Hanh: “Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.” What a glorious opportunity we have! Can we take these words into our hearts, and not miss out on each and every moment of our time that we have left on this earth? I hope so.
Offered by Jennifer D.
Community Dharma Steward
If you would like to participate in this ongoing dialogue, please send an email to: [email protected]
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If you have comments, questions, or ideas you’d like to share, please contact us: [email protected].
With much care and metta,
IWM Board