Springs Mountain Sangha invites you to
join us during our Winter-Spring Practice Period, which began February 28 with
our “Lotus in the Fire” retreat and extends through our May 6-10 meditation
retreat. What will this mean in a time when caring for each other and
practicing with each other mean being physically separated, for the wellbeing
of all?
The
invitation for this practice period is a new one, clearly. A time of
health crisis, of economic crisis and of personal crises is a time of deep
inquiry and creativity in our community—of re-imagining a path for a time
which can seem intensely pathless. What is it to be thoroughly, genuinely
a human bodhisattva in this time of great uncertainty? We are already
living our way into this question, as individuals and as a community.
Springs
Mountain Sangha will be holding all of our events for the next month—and we
will be holding them in a very different way, developing ways to support and
deepen practice while we cannot physically meet in groups.
For
most events, we will be using Zoom, a platform for online meeting. You
should have already received an email explaining how this will work. For
the links to each meeting click here.
Using Zoom will offer us a lot of flexibility, opening meetings to a wider
geographic area and offering the possibility of new kinds of meetings—even
musical!
A
practice period is an invitation to listen—to listen to your own heart-mind
and honor the calls that come from there. To listen to whales and lichen,
songbirds and refugees, friends and opponents, people who “get it” and people
who don’t.
Perhaps
meditating with sangha in the space you live in at home will open new
perspectives for you! Perhaps conversations across distances will feel more intimate
than you ever imagined, and loosen some constraints on your own creative
imagination. Who knows?
We’ll
be continuing to explore new options for connection, but we will start with our
regular weekly schedule, simply moving events to the Zoom platform for
now.
Since
we won’t be handing out sutra books, guess what? You can find yours at
this link: Joan Sutherland
Dharma Works and print it or just download.
And
speaking of taking care of each other, Linda Hodges, who has been leading our
sangha community care team for years, has kindly offered to be in a
coordinating position. If you have needs and could use some help of any kind,
please feel free to write to Linda at hikerhodges@gmail.com . Likewise, if you
would like to offer practical support of any kind, please let Linda know that,
as well.
Please
remember, also, that talks by our teachers, by Joan Sutherland and by Open
Source teachers are available. Links to these are found on our website under
“Resources”.
March (as noted above,
all meetings are via Zoom)
Zoom schedule has been
designed to leave time for open conversation via Zoom after each of our
scheduled meditations.
March
Monday, March 16: Dharma Talk, Sarah Bender
Tuesday, March 17: 6:30-8:30 PM- Ecodharma Group
Great Master Ma and Shitou Xiqian meet Our Time of Crisis: What is it to “do what cannot be done, remedy what cannot be remedied” in this time of ours? Everyone is welcome!
Saturday, March 21, 28: 10-12 Koan series, Sarah Bender, Roshi
Work in the Room with Sarah Bender, Roshi will be by appointment, sembender@gmail.com
Monday, March 23: Dharma Talk, Andrew Palmer
Monday, March 30: Wayfaring Mind talk by Regan Arntzen
April
Monday, April 6: Sutra Service
Saturday, April 4, 11, 18, 25: 10-12 Koan series, Sarah Bender, Roshi
Monday, April 13: Community Night, byo tea and cookies
Monday, April 20: Dharma Talk, Sarah Bender
Monday, April 27: Dharma Talk, Andrew Palmer
Dana during Zoom Times: The best way for you to offer donations to the sangha is via mail or PayPal at the website.
Dana for Sarah Bender MUST BE sent directly to her. Tax law is such that the Sangha cannot pass through payments for a specific individual.
Sarah Bender
7528 Jenkin Place
Colorado Springs, CO 80919
MARCH – APRIL
Spring Koan Series
surprisingly fun to do via Zoom
Saturdays, March 7, 14, 21 and 28; April 4, 11, 18 and 25.
10 AM to Noon
with Sarah Bender, Roshi
Suggested Dana: $10 per session. No registration required. It’s okay to attend some of the sessions.
contact: Sarah Bender, sembender@gmail.com
~UPCOMING EVENTS~
Spring
Meditation Retreat
with Sarah Bender, Roshi
Pueblo Mt. State Park
Beulah, CO
It is possible we may have to cancel. We are keeping an eye on the evolving situation with regard to the coronavirus epidemic. If you have registered and withdraw or if the retreat is cancelled, your fee will be refunded in full. The final deadline for registration is April 3. At that time we will make a decision whether or not to go forward with the retreat. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Robert King, Retreat Coordinator, at kingrh5722@gmail.com.
Tough as Dragon Girl, Quick as Lingzhao:
Koans for Stepping off a Pole
May 6 – 10, 2020
Pueblo Mountain Park
Beulah, CO
Our koan tradition began in a time of chaos and horror in China to meet that impossible time and find grace, courage and freedom right in the midst of it. Koan characters: demon girl and courtesan, inkeepers and nuns, warriors and peasants, frogs and crows, snakes and dragons–we wake up with them, discovering a place to stand and a way to walk where there seems to be no ground.
The deadline for
registration is Friday, April 3 at which time full payment is due.
The late deadline for
registration is April 21 (and carries a $100 penalty).
Long retreats in our Open Source Koan Zen tradition are moments in time when we, in community, can step away for a bit, replacing the conventions of our efficient, tightly packed modern lives with the graceful simplicity of sitting and moving together, somewhat formally, in silence. The forms allow us to fall, individually and collectively, into a vastness that holds us differently——a deep quiet that invites our hearts to open and our minds to release what we’ve been clutching. In such a container, we take up the ancient stories of our koan lineage, stories that can awaken the radiance and power of our very own lives.
The cost of the retreat is as follows:
$455 for camping and (2) RV sites
$555 for a dorm room
$615 for a double room
$815 for a single room * the 10 single rooms
fill quickly
Retreat Coordinator and Registrar is:
Robert King, Retreat Registrar
P. O. Box 571
Green Mountain Falls, CO 80819
Email address: kingrh5722@gmail.com
Phone number: 719-684-0130
Registration Form:https://www.smszen.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Retreat-Registration-Form_.pdf
Support for Cloud Dragon
An easy way to support Cloud Dragon, the Joan Sutherland Dharma WorksAmazon shoppers, sign in at smile.amazon.com and choose Cloud Dragon Dharma Works as the charity you would like 0.5% of your purchases to go to. It costs you nothing extra. We’re grateful for your generosity.
See also Joan
Sutherland’s new Patreon site,
https://www.patreon.com/posts/do-you-trust-yr-31567633
This is
another good way to support Joan’s work and receive fresh teachings from her.
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.
If
you’d like access to our monthly financial reports please contact Brandy at bdl0824@gmail.com
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: