Sangha News

In-Person and Online Practice

Sundays and Wednesdays

Join us Sundays from 8 - 9 am and Wednesdays from 7 - 8 pm either in-person at the Center or via Zoom video conferencing for practice and teaching with Michael.

We are studying the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva during our Wednesday evening practices in-person and online. This is a wonderful exploration of our natural capacity to realize compassion and some of the challenges involved. All are welcome to join at any time. There will be an opportunity to take bodhicitta (bodhisattva) vows this fall.

Click the Zoom Video Link below and enter the password to join our video conferences.

Password: 362919

Zoom Video Link

Fountain of Wisdom

I am reviving my old fountain pens, re-familiarizing myself with the care and feeding of a wondrous piece of technology. I now hold an eighty-year-old pen with which my father wrote when he was a young man. I can feel his presence as I watch the ink flow into words upon the page. He had no thoughts about tossing away the pen when it was empty.

A fountain pen, if cared for and honored as the precious thing it is, can literally last for generations. When I dip the converter or filling mechanism into a glass ink reservoir, I marvel at the appropriateness: nothing to throw away. Humans used this type of writing instrument for hundreds of years until we got the idea to use and toss. Is Bic how you spell God?

Now, I am typing on a laptop computer and it sucks away something of my humanity. But at least it lets me write about fountain pens. Although we live in a world of impermanence, I pray we will remember how to create things that last—and live in accordance with our innate understanding of how nature wastes nothing.

Much Love,

🙏🏼🌎❤️Michael

Dharma Journal Posts

Melting

Sometimes, when I have leftover oatmeal, I slice it up the next day and fry it up for breakfast. This morning, I opened the storage container with the thickened oats and divided the contents...

Wildflower Song Book

Michael’s new book is now available for purchase at our Dharma store, Dudleys’s Bookshop and Cafe, and through our website. To order the book, simply visit our donate page, click on “donate,” indicate you want a book, and provide your name and physical address in the designated fields. The cost is $15 in person or $20, including shipping, if you choose to order online.

All proceeds generated from the book will be dedicated to supporting the Natural Mind Dharma Center and its ongoing activities.

The Healing Power of Practice

Amitabha Mantra

For Gioia and all beings in the bardo of the dharmata, and for the benefit of all beings wherever they may be, we are chanting and accumulating the Amitabha Mantra:

OM AMIDEWA HRIH