Springs Mountain Sangha, October 2024

October Offerings

All times listed below are Mountain Time

Monday, October 7; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel
     Meditation and Sutra Service

Monday, October 14; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel
Meditation and Dharma Talk with Sarah Bender, Roshi

Wednesday, October 16; 7:30-8:30 PM, on Zoom
Open Source Koan Series

Monday, October 21; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel,  Meditation and Community Night

Wednesday, October 23; 7:30-8:30 PM, on Zoom
Open Source Koan Series

Monday, October 28; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel, Meditation and Dharma Talk with Sarah Bender, Roshi

Wednesday, October 30; 7:30-8:30 PM, on Zoom
Open Source Koan Series

and

Candlelight Meditation

Every Sunday from 8 to 8:30 PM, you are invited to join candlelight meditation online. Simple and lovely.

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November Offerings

Saturday, November 2; on Zoom
Ancestors retreat

Wednesday, November 6; 7:30-8:30 PM, on Zoom
Open Source Koan Series

Wednesday, November 13; 7:30-8:30 PM, on Zoom
Open Source Koan Series

Sunday, November 17
Save the date – All Sangha Meeting; This is our annual meeting to hear input from the sangha on what sustains us and how we dream this dream forward, there’s also a little business that needs our attention at this meeting

Wednesday, November 20; 7:30-8:30 PM, on Zoom
Open Source Koan Series

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And in December,

Saturday, December 7
Save this date, too!  our annual Bodhi Day retreat.
At Creek Bend, hybrid

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Looking Ahead

Spring Retreat

It is time to start thinking about and planning our Spring retreat. The steering committee has done some initial work with possible places to host our retreat and it is ready to hand off to a planning committee which is now forming. If you would like to help plan this upcoming retreat, please contact Kelly McFarland at s.kelly.HLS@gmail.com

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Fall Open Source Series begins
Wednesday, October 16!
Trust in Mind

Please join us for our Open Source fall online koan series
Oct 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 13, 20

We’ll be keeping company with a poem from very early Chan,
usually attributed to the Third Ancestor, Sengcan (that c is pronounced like /ts/. We can hear it  as “Trust in Heart-mind,” or “Verse on the Faith Mind,” or several different ways.

Here’s an old friend, the opening of the poem:
“The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.”

We’ll use use Joan Sutherland’s Xinxinming series of four talks as a starting point. If you aren’t already a subscriber to Joan’s talks, you can do that here: 

https://joansutherlanddharmaworks.org/Support/Subscribe/index.html

Open Source Fall Series: Trust In Mind

Weds evenings 7:30-8:30 MT, 6:30-7:30 PT

October 16 – November 20 (six weeks)

 More info to come, but save the dates: Oct 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 13, 20

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Upcoming Retreats

Save the dates – more information coming

Ancestors Retreat 
November 2 on Zoom

Bodhi Day Retreat
December 7 hybrid

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Ongoing Meditation Schedule, All available
 via Zoom; Monday Eves available in person as well

Weekly Meditations (all times MDT) on Zoom:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday are 6:30 to 7:30 AM. We sit for two periods and people come and go as they need to, and leave camera off. (Often a poem or koan will drop in at some point.)

Saturday we sit from 6:30 to 8:00 AM, then someone speaks for a bit about their practice to kick off a deep and lively discussion (til roughly 8:30) These Zen Threads talks are now alternating every other week with “mini-threads” group discussions of practice with multiple paths emerging and joining seamlessly. You can join the meditation at 6:30, 7:00, 7:30 or 8:00.

Sunday 8:00-8:30 PM Candlelight Meditation

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Many Arms of Guanyin

Volunteer with SMS 
Are you interested in volunteering to help with a specific project within the sangha? Do you have a particular skill or enthusiasm for something that might be helpful? Would you like to help out, but not sure how? SMS truly values and depends on the many efforts given freely by the sangha to the sangha. This is dana and is so much appreciated. If you have questions or want to help, please contact Kelly McFarland S.Kelly.HLS@gmail.com

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Support for Springs Mountain Sangha

You can donate to Springs Mountain Sangha in person at Shove Chapel using the dana bowl at the entrance to the dharma hall. You can also donate through our PayPal account. You can get to the SMS PayPal link on the SMS web site at:

http://www.smszen.org/supportsms/

or by selecting the donate icon:

Or you can mail a check to:
Springs Mountain Sangha
 P.O. Box 2613
Colorado Springs, CO  80903

*We depend on the generosity of our members to support the work of our sangha*

If you want to make a donation to Sarah Bender specifically, for example, dana for classes, group meetings or work on the phone (suggested donations for these are $10 per class, or $20 for a 20 min. individual meeting)  you can do this by sending a check directly to her.

Sarah Bender
7528 Jenkin Place
Colorado Springs, CO 80919

or by Paypal to sembender@gmail.com

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Support for Cloud Dragon

The easiest way is to make a donation at the website, here:

https://joansutherlanddharmaworks.org/cgi-bin/dharma/page.cgi?g=Support%2FDonate%2Findex.html;d=1