December 1st (Saturday): Zen Threads by Robert King (our beloved elder!)
Old Age: A Personal Perspective
Saturday- Sunday Dec 8-9
Lit by a Star
Bodhi Day retreat with Sarah Bender
Creek Bend Zendo
Registration Deadline Extended! Saturday December 1st
(this is due to our extended SMS involvement with CC and the need to get the word out to students for this retreat)
Each year, at or near the traditional Japanese commemoration of Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, we gather in retreat. We’ll spend Dec. 8 together in silent meditation, (with a Dharma talk and silent shared meals) and those who are so inclined will sit through the night, to greet the dawn in meditation and share a celebratory breakfast.
For more information https://gallery.mailchimp.com/bbc7215f79587650dd5f75ed6/files/96a4d381-0502-4e76-83ab-a29967599b50/Lit_by_a_Star.docx or to register:
hikerhodges@gmail.com –
registration form: https://gallery.mailchimp.com/bbc7215f79587650dd5f75ed6/files/157b945d-8da2-4fcc-93af-8b1f883e09f2/Reg_Form_Dec_2018.doc
Monday Dec 10 Ayya Dhammadhira is our visiting speaker. Her bio:
Contemplating the impermanent nature of life led Sister to Buddhist practice. After attending several retreats and attending a Soto Zen meditation group, she was drawn to the teachings of Ajahn Chah, the Thai Forest master of the Theravada tradition. This led her to venture overseas to England where women were allowed to ordain as ten precept monastics. There she stayed for eleven years before returning to the U.S. to join a group of bhikkhunis in California. In 2015, she came to Colorado Springs to visit Amma Thanasanti and investigate a different way of being in community. Eventually Thanasanti left Colorado and Dhammadhira stayed, founding the non-profit “Web of Connection” as a vehicle for supporting her alms mendicant lifestyle. At present, she lives alone in her small Westside hermitage here in Colorado Springs (called Deer Park), and hosts weekly meditation and inquiry meetings which emphasize the practice of awareness in daily life.
Monday December 17: Dharma talk with Sarah Bender and Andrew Palmer
Saturday December 22: Solstice Service
Monday December 24: No Sit
Monday December 31: Simple Sit led by Sarah Bender
LOOKING AHEAD
Here is the link to our 2019 calendar. https://gallery.mailchimp.com/bbc7215f79587650dd5f75ed6/files/ae40372a-4968-49c2-82e3-0d4623ea22da/2019_Calendar_Notes_Nov_9_.doc This is provided for you to plan ahead, particularly for retreats. We are very pleased to be hosting the Maha Sangha retreat with all the Open Source teachers June 9-14, The teachers have generously offered to not receive a stipend for their involvement allowing this 5 day retreat to be affordable. This is, indeed, a wonderful opportunity.
January
Saturday January 5 Zen Threads (speaker TBD)
Saturday January 5 Leader Meeting |