Even before March…..
A note from SMSAction! :
Cooking for Urban Peak Next Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2:00 to 5:00 PM
Urban Peak has us on the calendar to cook dinner for their clients on the last Wednesday of every month. Julian, the volunteer manager, has asked that we arrive next Wednesday at 2 p.m. for a brief kitchen orientation. If you want to help, but can’t make it right at 2, I assured them I’d pass on any info to the crew.
Let Kelley Heider know if you’re interested in coming, and when you can arrive–I think we can use the help at any point until about 4:30 because we’ve been asked to finish up and be out of the kitchen by 5 p.m. We’re cooking for 20 people and I’m supplying the recipe and ingredients this first time (we can collaborate for future) just to make it easier.
Contact: Kelley Heider at kelleheide@gmail.com
Ongoing Events
Newcomer Orientation: 2nd Monday of the month,
Shove Chapel, Dharma Hall upstairs at 5:45 pm for anyone who would like some orientation to meditation, to our tradition, or to our sangha and customs.
5:15 Dharma Study and Discussion before Monday night meditation.
These discussions, facilitated by Sarah Bender and sangha members, focus on supporting an ongoing practice in all of its aspects. Anyone is welcome to join in. Starting this March, topics will be elements of our liturgy and of our Bodhisattva Vows and precepts.
You are welcome to join in on any Monday.
Place: Shove Chapel downstairs from the north entrance.
contact: Kelly McFarland S.Kelly.HLS@gmail.com
March
Monday Sutra Service (1st Monday) and Monday Community Night (2nd Monday) will continue with a series of brief teachings by Sarah. Please see link for more informationhttps://gallery.mailchimp.com/bbc7215f79587650dd5f75ed6/files/45a69aa0-e7b2-4f09-8a77-ee0c2ec86f3e/The_Practice_of_Refuge_words_for_Feb._12_announcement.doc
March 17 WITR with Sarah Bender sembender@gmail.com
March 19 Dharma Talk by Sarah Bender, Roshi
March 26: Dharma Talk by Andrew Palmer, Sensei
Mar 4,11,18,25 Koan series with Sarah Bender
March-April Koan Series
Sundays, March 4, 11, 18 and 25, April 22 and 29
3:00 to 5:00 PM
at Creek Bend Zendo
Our Spring koan series will arrive a little ahead of Spring, to usher it in.
The koans will be selected as companions to our exploration of the elements of our sutra service.
These are meditative Sunday afternoons together, in which we’ll introduce a koan, sit with it for a while, and then bring our own experiences, questions, and expressions of it together and witness where it takes us.
Koans are often records of, or slivers of intimate conversations about the way things are, which invite us into relationship, not only with people who might be from far away and long ago, but with our own lives and each other. They ask the questions that we often are too busy to consider—the very ones that can transform the obstacles of a difficult life into the open gates we so long for.
No prior koan experience is needed to be part of this party.
Mar 6, 13, 20 Refuge Group Forming
with Sarah Bender
Saturdays, March 17, 24 and 31
1:00 to 3:00 PM
Creek Bend Zendo, 7528 Jenkin Place
Dear Friends,
One of the beautiful practices our tradition offers is the practice of refuge-taking. Right in the midst of the sorrow and trouble, the beauty and delight and simply the daily doing of our human lives, are moments (more than we might notice!) when thoughts drop away, and the vivid spacious wonder of just being is present. At these moments a deep tenderness towards all beings can appear—and in its wake, we notice a longing to be helpful.
Our Zen tradition offers a way of honoring this longing, and allowing it to power our practice of finding and strengthening goodness in our lives. Allowing it to be a true refuge right in the midst, in the core of each moment. Never absent.
We call this way “taking refuge in the Bodhisattva Way.” It includes a range of practices, all of our life practices in fact, but in particular, an investigation of how awakening to the way things really are is expressed in our Buddhist ethical teachings, our precepts.
When a few sangha members have expressed a desire to delve into this way of refuge, we call a few meetings to explore, and then launch a series of gatherings to study and practice the precepts together (precepts are found starting on page 5-1 of our sutra book). This series will stretch into the summer, take a pause, and resume in the fall.
To start, we’ve scheduled three meetings in March: March 17, 24 and 31, 1:00 to 3:00 at Creek Bend Zendo. Anyone who is curious about refuge is welcome to join in! Please let me know if you plan to attend, or contact me with questions at sembender@gmail.com.
It’s been a rough winter for many of us, and refuge is a real and present need. It is also a real and present reality, fortunately!
I’m looking forward to delving into it with you.
Sarah Bender
A March Poem
Shoveling Snow With Buddha
In the usual iconography of the temple or the local Wok
you would never see him doing such a thing,
tossing the dry snow over a mountain
of his bare, round shoulder,
his hair tied in a knot,
a model of concentration.
Sitting is more his speed, if that is the word
for what he does, or does not do.
Even the season is wrong for him.
In all his manifestations, is it not warm or slightly humid?
Is this not implied by his serene expression,
that smile so wide it wraps itself around the waist of the universe?
But here we are, working our way down the driveway,
one shovelful at a time.
We toss the light powder into the clear air.
We feel the cold mist on our faces.
And with every heave we disappear
and become lost to each other
in these sudden clouds of our own making,
these fountain-bursts of snow.
This is so much better than a sermon in church,
I say out loud, but Buddha keeps on shoveling.
This is the true religion, the religion of snow,
and sunlight and winter geese barking in the sky,
I say, but he is too busy to hear me.
He has thrown himself into shoveling snow
as if it were the purpose of existence,
as if the sign of a perfect life were a clear driveway
you could back the car down easily
and drive off into the vanities of the world
with a broken heater fan and a song on the radio.
All morning long we work side by side,
me with my commentary
and he inside his generous pocket of silence,
until the hour is nearly noon
and the snow is piled high all around us;
then, I hear him speak.
After this, he asks,
can we go inside and play cards?
Certainly, I reply, and I will heat some milk
and bring cups of hot chocolate to the table
while you shuffle the deck.
and our boots stand dripping by the door.
Aaah, says the Buddha, lifting his eyes
and leaning for a moment on his shovel
before he drives the thin blade again
deep into the glittering white snow.
Billy Collins
Looking Ahead
Springs Mountain Sangha 2018 Retreat and Events Calendar
April
April 11-15 Spring Meditation Retreat
with Sarah Bender and Andrew Palmer
at the Abbey, Cañon City
(details coming soon)
Contact: Brandy Lancaster @ bdl0824@gmail.com
April 22, 29 Koan series (continued) with Sarah Bender
April 30th: WayFaring Mind Talk
by Kelley Heider
Kelley, a core member of the SMS Action group, organized a trip to Naropa University to hear a talk by by Lama Rod Owens on Love and Rage. She will be bringing this to us on this Monday night.
May
Refuge group forms, looking towards October retreat
June
June 8-13 Open Source four-teacher retreat in Oakland, CA
July
Meditation and Social Event with Wet Mountain Sangha?
August
Hike
September
Sept. 21, 22 Introduction to Zen
Autumn Koan Series begins:
Sunday, September 30 3:00 to 5:00 PM
Creek Bend Zendo
October
Fall Koan Series with Sarah Bender continues
October 7, 14
Oct 22-28 Meditation Retreat at the Abbey
with Sarah Bender, Roshi,
Cañon City, CO
contact: Brandy Lancaster BDL0824@gmail.com
November
Nov 11 All-sanhga meeting, 4:00 to 7:00 PM
Fall Koan Series continues:
November 4, 18
December
Dec 7-8 Bodhi Day retreat with Sarah Bender
The Many Arms of Guanyin
As many of you know, a few of us within the Sangha have been developing a new project called SMS Action! The intent is to create access to causes that are important to us as individuals, and as a community. If you would like to see what we are up to and/or get involved, please take a look at the documents provided through these links.
Link to the activities sheet – https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AQyuCqn0ELWIgwp2udsoBjeeUG7XYYBAFPzj8XNDMDI/edit?usp=sharing
Link to survey – https://goo.gl/forms/EYUpnKv5tDro4ZC02
We probably won’t usually post the full amazing list of places to get connected for the next month, but as SMSAction! is just getting rolling, here it is for this month:
–Racial Equality:
CSBCC – Feb 27: Movie “Olympic Pride, American Prejudice”, Library 21C @ 6pm
ESN – Feb 28: Night Out for Activism, Spice Island Grill @ 3pm
PPCC – Mar 01: Eco-Justice Workshop, Pikes Peak CC @ 0930am-1230pm
CSBCC – Mar 10: 2018 African American Youth Ldrship Conf (for HS students), CC (El Pomar sport center) @ 745
SURJ – Mar 15: Book Club “While the World Watched”, Poor Richards @ 6-730pm
–Gender Equality:
WES – Mar 01: Women’s Educational Society Board Mtg, CC @ 830-1130am
HTTFSC – Mar 03: Int’l Women’s Day Celebration, Pinery @ 9am-1230pm
WFC – Mar 06: 2018 CS Community Forum/Luncheon, Antlers @ 1130am-130pm
HTTFSC – Mar 20: A Night for Rescue, Cheyenne Mtn Lodge @ 7-10pm
–LGBTQ Advocacy:
OC – Mar 17: 2018 Northern CO GSA Ldrship Summit, Lory Student Center (Ft Collins) @ 830am
SCEA – Mar 13: Southern CO Equality Alliance Annual Mtg, Colorado Wins @ 530pm
–Disability Support:
Independence Center has meetings/support groups almost every day
–Homelessness Support:
BO – Feb 24: Downtown Camp Outreach, South Shooks Run Pk @ 12-2pm
–Political Equality:
CP – Feb 28: Movie “In the Shadows: Undocumented Immigration in US”, UCCS @ 530pm
CIRC – Mar 11-12: CO Latino Advocacy Days (policy/advocacy tng), CO State Capitol @ 8am-8pm
LPP – Mar 13: Leadership Pikes Peak Open House, LPP @ 4-6pmMASS – Mar 24: March for Our Lives (against school shootings), Acacia Pk @ 12pm
–Social Equality:
CASA – Feb 26: CASA Advocacy Program Info Hour, CASA @ 530pm
FOV – Mar 10: Monthly Art Workshop, Cottonwood Center @ 12-3pm
Big Brothers Big Sisters – Mar 28: Book Club Mtg, Wild Goose @ 530pm
–Environmental Advocacy:
350 CS – Mar 04: Rally for our Future, Acacia Park @ 2-4pm
FOP – Mar 06: N. Cheyenne Canon Master Plan, Cheyenne Mtn HS @ 5pm
COR – Mar 10: CO Rising Activation Workshop, TBD @ 1230-430pm
FOP – Mar 13: Friends of the Peak Monthly Mtg, CS City Hall @ 630pm
Also, this!
Free Mental Health First Aid class: Learn signs and symptoms of mental illness, what to do when someone’s in crisis, and where to find help. March 23rd. Friday 8 to 5; Location: Citizens Service Center 1675 Garden of the Gods Rd, CS CO, 80907 must register at website, mhfaco.org.
And, in April,
You are invited to join us for…
An evening of poetry and conversation, in the context of social activism, where we look at the possibility of transforming expressions of anger and frustration into love, hope, and compassion.
A sense of spirituality is the common thread; how can we learn to love all in the context of our current social crisis?
How can we make our voices heard, while planting the seeds of deep social transformation?May we seek to find no answers but only deepen our curiosity and wonder!
Please join us, April 19th at Her Story Cafe, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Let me know if you have any questions, thanks!
Jarod Herniak jdherniak@gmail.com
About Dana
We depend on the generosity of our members to support the work of our sangha. Donations are gratefully received in the Dana bowl in the alcove of the meditation hall in Shove Chapel. Also, everyone is invited to contribute flowers for the altar and cookies for Community Nights.
We now accept PayPal donations. You can get to the SMS PayPal link on the SMS web site at:https://www.smszen.org/donate.html or by selecting the donate icon:
Support for Cloud Dragon
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