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COVID
Covid infection rates are still high. For most, it will be a like a flu, but some will die and some will suffer long term effects.
So we still ask everyone to take a rapid covid test before their journey to Satipanya, and not to come if the test is positive or if they've had covid symptoms within previous 5 days (unless PCR test shows negative). Your deposit will be refunded. This is to protect Bhante, Noirin or other teacher, as the retreat would have to be closed if the teacher were infected.
If you develop any symptoms during retreat, you must take a test and isolate if the result is positive. Please bring your own tests.
Noirin here. Bhante is currently recovering from COVID which he picked up either during his teaching in Switzerland or on the journey. He tested negative when symptoms started and thought it was 'the worst cold ever' but when he started to feel better, he tested positive and still is positive at the time of writing, about a week later. He feels somewhat lethargic and doen't have his normal appetite, but otherwise OK. Lets hope it clears completely soon.
Last month we told you that the rats were back, but we were being fooled by little acorns falling from the oak tree beside Satipanya. They were bouncing along the roof before skidding to a stop. Hop, hop, hop, scrabble, scratchy scratch - a very good imitation of rats in the attic! It was Jim, our Pest Controller who discovered the hoax.
As Bhante explained last month, we won't run a winter retreat because of the covid risk and the exorbitant cost of heating. Instead, Bhante will offer an on-line course supporting daily life practice over the winter months, and we will run a 24-week roll-on-roll-off retreat from April right through to September. See the link to the 2023 calendar below.
Announcements
New Year's Eve Vigil (on-line only)
An early reminder if you wish to join me.
Starts 21.00 A mixture of sitting, sharing, chanting and at midnight Refuges and Precepts. Email me if interested (
[email protected]
). Details will be sent closer to the time.
Northwest area Satipanya Sangha:
Anyone living in the northwest, particularly in Chester, Manchester, Liverpool and surrounding areas who would like to explore options for practicing together please contact
Martin Ratcliffe
who hopes to form a local group.
Opening to the Impact of the Climate Emergency:
Following on from the Zoom with Gwen Sanderson and Bhante Bodhidhamma in September, there are two options for ongoing engagement:
-
Gwen Sanderson is facilitating monthly
Climate and Dhamma Conversations
which will be held using
Zoom
. Email
Gwen
for further information or to register.
-
Noirin Sheahan has set up a Satipanya
Forum
focussing on the
Six Maxims
(ethical training to prepare for the social and environmental consequences of climate change - see tip below). Contact
Noirin
for further info or to register.
This collaborative study group has evolved out of the fortnightly London and South East Satipanya Saṅgha which has been meeting via Zoom since the beginning of the Covid outbreak. We are currently
studying the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta
, as set out by Joseph Goldstein in his
46 part discussion on the Dharma Seed site
and in his book Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening. We are coming towards the end of the section on
The Five Aggregates
. We intend to continue this group on Zoom and
warmly extend an invitation to any practitioner
who would like to join us. Currently meeting alternate Sundays 10:30am - midday. Please contact
[email protected]
for further information.
Join us for your daily meditation - 06.00, 09.00, 14.00, 16.00 and 20.00 sits.
Info.
An informal meditation group meets on a monthly basis via Zoom for a full day of meditation. Email Magda for details at
[email protected]
Join 20.00 to 21.00 on the Sunday closest to the Full Moon. Bhante gives a short dhamma talk, followed by a 30-min sitting, refuges and precepts and we end by reading and chanting the metta sutta.
For date of next Celebration.
Every morning at puja we call the names of those who are sick or dying, or are having a hard time.
Every evening at puja we call the names of those who have something to rejoice.
Calendar for 2022
Coronavirus:
Requirements for visiting Satipanya.
We are asking everyone to take an antigen test before setting out in their journey to Satipanya and not to come if the test is positive.
Vipassana as taught by the Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma
The Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma, one of the most influential vipassana insight meditation teachers of the last century, developed techniques to help us maintain moment to moment mindfulness from the instant we awake to the instant we fall asleep.
This leads not only to spiritual insights into our true, unborn-undying essence, but also, equally important, to the purification of the heart. So that we not only become wiser but more caring, generous, joyous and compassionate.
Applying the techniques on this retreat we follow a robust schedule, but meditators can modulate their practice to fit their level of experience, even absolute beginners. The accent is on relaxation and curiosity, rather than striving and concentration. And regular teacher contact, daily Q&A and personal interviews ensures students are supported throughout.
The retreat ends with advice on how to bring the practice into ordinary daily life to enhance our relationships and give spiritual meaning to our work and everyday tasks.
Assistants Needed
N.B.
All the courses are serviced by assistants.
See
calendar on website
for up-to-date assistant need.
As assistant you have the opportunity to serve others. It can be a way of
expressing gratitude for the gift of Dhamma. Although the morning is mainly
taken up with breakfast preparation and cooking, the rest of day is for
practice.
You can
see
the menus here
(PDF).
As an assistant, we do not expect payment of the deposit or make a donation
because you have kindly offered your time.
However, your commitment is essential, for the course would be very difficult to
run without an assistant and may indeed have to be cancelled.
If you are interested, follow this link:
Course
Assistant
For info. about retreats and teachers see website:
www.satipanya.org.uk
See drop down menus: especially About Us, Teachings and Retreats
Would you like to come and assist on a course?
Scroll down to see where you are
needed
.
Autumn Five Week Mahasi
Sat 29 Oct-Sat 3 Dec
Noirin Sheahan
Five-week roll-on, roll-off, residential
Deposits will be refunded if cancellation due to Covid Restrictions
Starting dates: October Sat 29, November Sun 06, Sat 12, Sun 20 & Sat 26
Assistants
Fri 28 October to Saturday 12 November :
Toby Glynn
Fri 11 to Sat 26 November :
Fiona Robertson
Fri 25 November to Sat 03 December :
Thomas Collingwood
Schedules
Join for the full five weeks or a shorter period
(Minimum 5 full days, Sun evenig till following Sat morning).
Beginners welcome!
When we see the world as it really is, we will be free from the distress that comes from identifying with a limited view of who and what we are. The retreat supports our efforts to see the world more clearly, and thereby disentangle the knots of confusion that bind us to emotional turmoil. At precious moments, the heart opens and we sense what it means to be free.
What we teach
.
Click here to book
Radical Hope, Saddha - Second Ethical Maxim
Noirin Sheahan
This continues a series of tips based on the six maxims
[1]
which have been suggested as a way to fortify ourselves for the environmental and social consequences of climate change. The first maxim challenges us to ‘grasp the immensity’ of the risk to our environment and social structures and possibly even to our civilization, posed by climate change. The second maxim asks us to cultivate radical hope.
Normally we think of hope in terms of a particular outcome. We hope for good news or recovery from illness. This is ‘hope for’ and the six-maxim authors
1
distinguish radical hope from this; radical hope is not based on optimism that we will find a way to restore stability to the climate and nature; its a form of hope that will survive ever deteriorating weather conditions with harsh consequences for the environment and mankind. It would inspire us to make the best of things even when our home had been burned by a wildfire. Having nowhere to live and only scraps of food to eat, it would motivate us to eat those mindfully, with gratitude.
In Buddhism this is termed ‘saddha’, normally translated as faith, but the better translation is trust. Saddha gives us confidence in the teachings of the Buddha. Even if our circumstances were totally miserable and the outlook equally bleak, saddha lets us trust that simply being aware of the misery is noble and worthwhile.
Radical hope, saddha, has no preferred outcome. It’s not driven by desire for any goal we can envisage. It trusts a goodness beyond the surface appearance of things, found in simply being present, aware of things as they are.
Mystics from all religions find radical hope. Julian of Norwich lived at the time of bubonic plague and the 100 year war but could confidently believe the inner voice that told her “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well”.
Fortunately, saddha is naturally cultivated by meditation practice. Every time we drop our daydreams, plans, worries, and bring attention to the here and now we are letting go of outcomes. We learn that all we really know are present sensations and feelings; the future is but a thought of what might happen. Since we don’t yet know what’s to come, why waste energy worrying?
“Its one thing to do that in meditation practice” our inner sceptic argues “where we’ve decided to sit down and watch the breath. Its quite another thing to be facing a future where millions are competing for scarce food and water.” True, it will be a greater challenge. But its one we are training for every time we overcome some obstacle in meditation. When pain makes us irritable or we grow bored, restless, dozy, or when doubt persuades us we’re wasting our time. We're tempted to give up; we don’t want to endure these miseries, we want to be entertained or to be doing something, achieving something.
Can we see all such challenges as spiritual muscle-building, preparing us for serious horrors which may come our way? Bringing a gentle curiosity to every experience we develop resilience to physical and mental discomfort, learn that we don’t always need to be achieving goals or distracting ourselves.
These traits will help enormously in the event of climate catastrophe, when there may be little we can do to avoid hardship for ourselves and for those we love. Saddha, radical hope, will bring out the best in the changed circumstances; for example we may be relieved that the delusion of human dominance over nature has been shattered along with and the ‘greed is good’ message of consumerism.
With the loss of illusion, deeper humanity may come to the fore. During bereavement or serious illness people discover the value of family and friends. Neighbours who had hardly known one another before COVID helped each other during lockdown. Kindness and care may become our best survival-tools when climate change really bites and we can no longer rely on the social structures we now take for granted.
Radical hope will let us play our part to minimise suffering in what may well be appalling circumstances. Mindfulness practice is our training ground. We can use any worries about climate change to motivate our practice. We may not be able to persuade governments to avert the disaster, but we can persuade ourselves to be ready for disaster, ready to find meaning in being present, just breathing, even if the future looks horrifying.
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Finally
, please forward this email if you know someone who may be
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