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Full Moon Observance
Sunday 12 January:
Talk on the Buddha's statement:
I teach dukkha and the end of dukkha.
Applications Coordinator
Our Application Co-ordinator Barbara (Aubert) decided to step down at the end of last year. Deep bows of gratitude for her three years of service!
Louise (Kennedy) has volunteered to take her place. Some of you will know Louise as the Events Manager for London Insight. Deep bows of gratitude!
See below for Winter Courses
It is rare since Noirin joined me here to have the whole of Satipanya to myself. Apart from a two week retreat in early January, I have solitude now till the end of February. Being alone in a busy life is regenerating. It allows us to stop and turn inward long enough to get in touch with the deepest parts of the heart. Just for a time life's enegy which is spent so much on communication, social media, the news, work and doing, is held in check. A switch from human doing to human being! There is time and energy to reflect on the past year and have some idea of the shape of next year.
And that will be also what Noirin will be doing in part on retreat in Portugal. She is house sitting near an 'Amaravati' monastery and the sea!
We enter the New Year with a world in growing turmoil. Most of us have no power or direct influence on events. All sorts of reactions arise watching the tragedies unfold. But rather than turning off, we can in small ways - metta practice, how we talk about the different situations, how we talk about the different leaders - add a little goodwill to nudge the world in the right direction.
Have you thought of giving Putin, Natanyahu, Kim Jong Un, Xi Xiaoping, Trump, Musk .... a big hug and ask them to be kind? Even If it has no effect on them, at least it helps me.
Announcements
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.
Join us for your daily meditation -
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]
This collaborative study group is currently studying
the
jhāna
s, as taught by Rob Burbea
, in order to better understand this mainstay of the suttas, and how they contribute to the practice of
vipassanā
. We
warmly extend an invitation to any practitioner
who would like to join us. Currently meeting on the second and fourth Sundays of each month at 10:20am - around midday. Please contact Carl at
[email protected]
for further information.
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.
Opening to the Impact of the Climate Emergency:
Following on from the Zoom with Gwen Sanderson and Bhante Bodhidhamma in September last year, there are two options for ongoing engagement:
-
Gwen Sanderson is facilitating monthly
Climate and Dhamma Conversations
which are 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.
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.
Satipanya Courses
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.
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?
See
calendar on website
for up-to-date assistant need.
The Fire Sermon
Bhante Bodhidhamma
The Buddha explains the cause of conflict and suffering.
He tells us how to free ourselves from it.
In a word: non-reactivity.
We can then act in the world with a pure heart
as he did.
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Gaya, at Gaya’s Head, together with a thousand bhikkhus. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus:
“Bhikkhus, all is burning. And what, bhikkhus, is the all that is burning? The eye is burning, forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, and whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hatred, with the fire of delusion; burning with birth, aging, and death; with sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair, I say.
“The ear is burning … The mind is burning … and whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hatred, with the fire of delusion; burning with birth, aging, and death; with sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair, I say.
“Seeing thus, bhikkhus, the instructed noble disciple experiences
disenchantment
towards the eye, towards forms, towards eye-consciousness, towards eye-contact, towards whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant; experiences revulsion towards the ear … towards the mind … towards whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition…. Experiencing
disenchantment
, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion his mind is liberated. When it is liberated there comes the knowledge: ‘It’s liberated.’ He understands: ‘Destroyed is birth, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more for this state of
becoming
.’”
This is what the Blessed One said. Elated, those bhikkhus delighted in the Blessed One’s statement. And while this discourse was being spoken, the minds of the thousand bhikkhus were liberated from the taints by nonclinging.
Bhiikhu Bodhi
Italics are mine. disenchantment for revulsion and becoming for being.
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