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Thus should you
look upon this changing world.
All
component things are impermanent.
All
component things are subject to dissolution.
See all of
this world
As a star
at dawn, a bubble in a stream,
A flash of
lightening in a summer cloud,
A
flickering lamp, a phantom and a dream
Buddha
Dear Dharma Friends
I attended an intersangha
meeting At the Insight Meditation Center of the Mid Peninsula in
Mountainview CA last weekend. It was a gathering of teachers and
board members from 20 different meditation centers that have their
roots in the Theravada lineages of Asia. I was accompanied by Jim
Dalton, one of our teachers, Katherine Wolfe our treasurer and
Susan Baer, a member of our board. We learned a lot and made some
very rich connections for the future.
I was pleased to reconnect
with Gil Fronsdale who is the founding teacher if IMC
(Mid-Peninsula). I visited him in 2003 before we purchased our
center to ask how they had done it. Our application to the IRS for
non profit status, our articles of incorporation and our bylaws are
all based upon similar documents from from IMC. Much more
collaboration and mutual support will exist in the
future.
Thirty one years ago I began
to teach on Sunday evenings. For four of those years while my
children were infants I cut back to every other Sunday. This makes
a total of something like 1560 Sunday evenings. That is quite a
tradition! The reasons for picking Sunday are lost in the mists of
history.
Over the years a very large
number of people have attended our Sunday evening gatherings. In
order to facilitate the children/family group we moved from 7 PM to
6 PM some years ago. Even that posed problems for families that
needed to get kids home to bed. For several years now we have not
had a kids/family program. Tiffany Rogers made great efforts to
revive it but attendance has been very low.
Over the years I have heard
from many people that Sunday evening is not optimal because they
need that time with family or for preparing for the workweek by
getting to bed early. Some of our elderly participants said that
they were less likely to come in the evening because it required
them to drive after dark.
A few months ago I was
speaking with another teacher-friend from Canada. She told me of
the incredible success she was having at building community by
having her gathering on Sunday morning. This set the wheels in
motion for me.
Last Sunday morning Jim Dalton
and I attended the Sunday meeting at IMC with Gil. As we
participated in that meeting and the following potluck it became
clear that it is time to experiment with a Sunday morning practice
at PIMC. In conversation with Gil he pointed out the obvious that
Sunday morning is when our culture attends to the spiritual as a
community.
I have talked this over with
our board and a number of other participants in our community and
have been pleasantly surprised by the supportive affirmative
response from almost everyone.
There will inevitably be some
people who will be disappointed to see this change. We are
wondering about continuing some form of practice on Sunday evenings
for those who for whom this is an optimal time. For those of you within attending
distance of PIMC please click HERE to to weigh in about Sunday
evenings.
Sunday Morning Practice Begins
at PIMC Sunday October 10
Live Video Streaming will be
available Sunday mornings and archived at
www.ustream/dharmarobert.com
There are two times proposed
for the Sunday morning practice
1.
8:30 - 9:10 AM
First sitting (optional)
9:10 - 9:25
Walking meditation
9:25 - 10:00
Second (Main) Sitting
10:00 - 10:05
Announcements
10:05 Dharma
Talk
11:00 Closing,
Tea and social time.
2.
9:30 - First Sitting (optional)
10:10 -
Walking
10:25 - Second
(Main) Sitting
11- 00 -
Announcements
11:05 - Dharma
Talk
12:00 - Closing,
coffee tea"
If you live locally and would
like to weigh in with your preference concerning what time to begin
please click HERE.
There will be a community practice day one Saturday
a month. Dates to be announced. These will be themed and
will consist of some periods of sitting and walking practice,
breaking into small groups for discussion, and a potluck. Several
people at IMC told me that this is the central community- building
event there. People get to know each other and relationships
expand out into their lives.
________________________________________________________
Family and Children Program in
gestation.
This new Sunday morning
schedule will enliven a children/family program. Tiffany Rogers,
Jamie Hopkins and I will be meeting during the next couple of weeks
and more information will be forthcoming. They will then reach out
for participants and support in bringing life to the program. With
the class in the morning on Sunday a vast array of possibilities
arise. We are planning to provide childcare for small children so
that parents can come and get a "Dharma break".
_________________________________________________________
I find myself pretty excited
by the potentials of these new developments at PIMC. Our board
invites you to participate in making it all happen.
What do you think of these
changes?
Please contact us with any
questions, concerns or comments.
Via the list
serve
Please join the PIMC list
serve under "Contacts: at www.portlandinsight.org, so you can
participate in the ongoing conversation of our
community.
Robert's phone
503-223-2214
Board Members:
Robert Beatty
rbeatty@easystreet.net
Jim Dalton
jwdalto@comcast.net
Larry Berry
lberry2552@aol.com
Christine Howard
christine_e_howard@yahoo.com
Katherine Wolfe
wolfalohalani@gmail.com
Douglas Pullin
douglas@douglaspullin.com
Susan Baer
bearalohani@gmail.com
Yours in Dharma
Robert Beatty
Guiding Teacher
Portland Insight Meditation
Center
6536 SE Duke
Portland OR
97206
www.robertbeatty.com
www.portlandinsight.org
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