Springs Mountain Sangha, June 2024

All times listed below are Mountain Time

June Offerings

Monday, June 3; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel
Meditation and Sutra Service

Thursday, June 6; 6:30-8 PM, on Zoom & in person at Creek Bend Zendo: Spring into Summer Koan Series with Sarah Bender, Roshi
Inner Gardens: Finding, Exploring, Tending them
The Brahma Vihara Teachings, and Koans
for transformative practice in harsh times

for more info/to register: sembender@gmail.com

Monday, June 10; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel
Meditation and Dharma talk with Sarah Bender, Roshi

Wednesday, June 12; 6:30 PM Steering Committee Meeting
Steering Committee meets monthly on zoom.
Everyone is welcome to attend the meetings.

Thursday, June 13; 6:30-8 PM, on Zoom & in person at Creek Bend Zendo: Spring into Summer Koan Series with Sarah Bender, Roshi

Monday, June 17; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel: Meditation and Community Night, including vows and discussion
with Estrella Root sharing her experience with daily vows

Thursday, June 20; 6:30-8 PM, on Zoom & in person at Creek Bend Zendo: Spring into Summer Koan Series with Sarah Bender, Roshi

Friday, June 21, 7 pm – Sunday June 23 3 pm; in person at Creek Bend Zendo
Integrative Retreat with Sarah Bender, Roshi

Monday, June 24; 6 PM, on Zoom & in person at Shove Chapel: Meditation and Dharma Talk with Sarah Bender, Roshi

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

Looking Ahead

Summer Book Study Series: A Fire Runs Through All Things by Susan Murphy

with Geri Johnson

When: Thursdays, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM MT
Dates: 8/1, 8/8, 8/15, 8/29, 9/5
Where: online only via Zoom

Let Geri know you plan to attend, at gejohnson411@gmail.com

Some copies of the book are available, so please let Geri know if you would like to have one.

Reading Plan:
Week 1 – Pages ix to 25 – discuss on 8/1
Week 2 – Pages 28 to 73 – discuss on 8/8
Week 3 – Pages 75 to 128 – discuss on 8/15
Week 4 – Pages 129 to 192 (matches up with skipping 8/22 and gives everyone more time to read) – discuss on 8/29
Week 5 – Pages 193 to 224 – discuss on 9/5

Upcoming Retreats

July 19-21
Integrative retreat
with Sarah Bender, Roshi

September 30-October 5
An Open Source Retreat
at Bodhi Manda Zen Center
in Jemez Springs, NM
with Megan Rundel, Sarah Bender, and Tenney Nathanson

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

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

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

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