Green Island Sangha: Updated March Schedule

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Updated March Schedule

Saturday March 24th &/or Sunday March 25th
Special Green Island Retreat Dharmateachers
Fern Dorresteyn & Michael Ciborski
& members of MorningSun Community

Saturday &/or Sunday March 24 &/or 25
Join us at beautifulPlanting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, NY
(LIRR from Jamaica or Penn w free transport to retreat)
Free Will Donation
To Register: grnislandsangha@gmail.com

Saturday March 24th 10am – 4pm
A Day for Families and Children Celebrating the Two Promises:
Cultivating Understanding & Compassion
Juice, tea and snacks provided. Please bring a vegetarian lunch for your family.

The day’s program will combine mindfulness activities for families , as well as meditation, teachings, discussion for parents/adults with a fun filled creative program for children and teens.
This will be an opportunity for parents and children to learn basic life skills not taught in schools, such as:
• how to breathe and be centered
• find nourishment in the beauty and simplicity of life
• embrace anger and other strong emotions with acceptance, calm, and ease
• learn from our four legged friends in an nearby meadow…horse & dog activities by the Kaeli Kramer Foundation
• have lots of fun!

Sunday March 25th 10am – 4:30pm
Mindfulness Practice as a Base for Sustainable & Regenerative Living:
Breathing with the Earth
Tea provided. Please bring a vegetarian lunch for yourself.

This one day retreat will offer us the opportunity to train in mindfulness, to rest in our breathing, and to connect with our vast and wonderful Dharma body – the body of the Earth and Cosmos.
Many of us are overwhelmed by the scale and scope of the suffering we see in the world and in our lives. We cannot see how our efforts will make a difference. Burdened by frustration and helplessness, we are unable to maintain our own happiness, and as we sink in anger and despair, our capacity to do good work is diminished. Mindfulness practice can change all of this. Mindfulness practice brings emphasis to the personal, spiritual and social dimensions of sustainability. It enables us to enter into a direct and clear relationship with reality, with ourselves, our loved ones, and our work and learn to draw nourishment from the positive conditions that are present in the here and now.

Dharmateachers Fern Dorresteyn and Michael Ciborski and members of MorningSun Mindfulness Community in New Hampshire. Fern and Michael are beloved friends and teachers, who met as Waldorf students, lived as Buddhist monk and nun for 7 years with Dhyana Master Thich Nhat Hanh in Plum Village, France and trained and worked intimately with Thich Nhat Hanh and the monastic community to organize, support, and offer meditation retreats around the world. In 2003, Michael and Fern departed Plum Village and returned to lay life. Now married, with three children, they have founded MorningSun, a spiritual community and education center based on the practice of mindfulness.
Driving Directions http://www.plantingfields.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55&Itemid=63
Train Oyster Bay is the last stop on the Oyster Bay line of the LIRR from Jamaica Station or Penn Station. Free Transport from the train station to Planting Fields is available by reservation, email grnislandsangha@gmail.com
This Weekend of Mindfulness is cosponsored by the Community of Mindful Living Long Island: Green Island Sangha http://greenislandsangha.blogspot.com, The Kaeli Kramer Foundation http://kaelikramerfoundation.org , The Stony Brook Sangha, The MorningSun Community www.morningsuncommunity.org, Community of Mindfulness NY Metro http://www.communityofmindfulnessnewyorkmetro.blogspot.com,

SUNDAY March 11th

St Ignatius Retreat House

10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Our Regular Sitting Practice

THURSDAY March 15th

Law Office of Allison Boyd Crain
130 Third Ave., Brentwood, NY 11717

7:15 - 8:45 PM
Dharma Study Gathering
Everyone is Welcome to Join Us

SUNDAY March 18th

St Ignatius Retreat House

10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Our Regular Sitting Practice

We Will Be Reading From Fragrant Palm Leaves
Please Bring your Books with you if you have them.

THURSDAY March 22nd

Law Office of Allison Boyd Crain
130 Third Ave., Brentwood, NY 11717

Mindful Living Practice
Everyone is Welcome to Join Us

SUNDAY March 25th
No sit at St Ignatius Retreat House

THURSDAY March 29th

Law Office of Allison Boyd Crain
130 Third Ave., Brentwood, NY 11717

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Green Island Sangha

The Green Island Sangha is inspired by the teachings and practice of Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hanh; we belong to the international Sangha which he founded: the Order of Interbeing, a "fourfold community" of lay women and men, nuns and monks. We are a grassroots Sangha, beginners and more experienced practitioners learning from and supporting one other on the path of awakening. We are also a part of The Community of Mindfulness New York Metro.

Our aspiration is to bring mindfulness, concentration, and insight to daily living. During our sessions, we apply the practice of conscious breathing to sitting and walking, as well as communicating with compassionate listening and loving speech. Our gatherings also reflect the values of openness. For example, many members continue to participate within other religious or ethical traditions. We are a Sangha of practitioners from the entire length and breath of Long Island and consider ourselves to be part of a world wide Sangha. Beginners are welcome.

Sitting & Walking Meditation

Sitting Meditation

"Sit or lie down in a way that allows your body to rest. Sitting, your head and spine form a straight line. Relax all your muscles. Find a way of sitting that allows you to sit for at least 20 minutes without becoming too stiff or tired. As soon as you sit down, pay attention to your breath. Then notice your posture, a little bit everywhere. Relax the muscles in your face. If you are angry or worried, those muscles will be tense. Smile lightly, and you will relax hundreds of muscles in your face. Then notice your shoulders, and let go of the tension there. Don’t try too hard. Just breathe mindfully, and scan your whole body."

Thich Nhat Hanh, The Mindfulness Bell, Issue 23, pages 1,4.

Walking Meditation

"Walk more slowly than you usually do, but not too slowly, while breathing normally. Do not try to control your breathing. Walk along this way for a few minutes. Then notice how many steps you take as your lungs fill and how many steps you take as they empty. In this way, your attention includes both breath and steps. You are mindful of both.... Your half-smile brings calmness and delight to your steps and your breath.... After a few hours of serious practice, you will find that the four of them — the breath, the counting, the steps, and the half-smile — blend together in a marvelous balance of mindfulness. This is equanimity, created by the practice of walking meditation. The four elements of breathing, counting, stepping, and the half-smile become one."

Thich Nhat Hanh, A Guide to Walking Meditation.

Five Mindfulness Trainings

Five Mindfulness Trainings

The Five Mindfulness Trainings were developed during the time of the Buddha to be the foundation of practice for the entire practice community, including monastic and lay members. The basis for the trainings is mindfulness.All Sangha members and guests are requested to observe these trainings to support our practice of mindfulness and living harmoniously together. No smoking, no drinking and no sexual misconduct constitute part of the Five Mindfulness Trainings to be observed at a practice center. The Five Mindfulness Trainings protect our freedom and make life beautiful. As guidelines for our daily lives they are the basis of happiness for individuals, couples, families and society.
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Reverence For Life

Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, or in my way of life. Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger, fear, greed, and intolerance, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking, I will cultivate openness, non-discrimination, and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence, fanaticism, and dogmatism in myself and in the world.

True Happiness

Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I am committed to practicing generosity in my thinking, speaking, and acting. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others; and I will share my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. I will practice looking deeply to see that the happiness and suffering of others are not separate from my own happiness and suffering; that true happiness is not possible without understanding and compassion; and that running after wealth, fame, power and sensual pleasures can bring much suffering and despair. I am aware that happiness depends on my mental attitude and not on external conditions, and that I can live happily in the present moment simply by remembering that I already have more than enough conditions to be happy. I am committed to practicing Right Livelihood so that I can help reduce the suffering of living beings on Earth and reverse the process of global warming.

True Love

Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without true love and a deep, long-term commitment made known to my family and friends. I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. Seeing that body and mind are one, I am committed to learning appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and cultivating loving kindness, compassion, joy and inclusiveness – which are the four basic elements of true love – for my greater happiness and the greater happiness of others. Practicing true love, we know that we will continue beautifully into the future.

Loving Speech and Deep Listening

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and compassionate listening in order to relieve suffering and to promote reconciliation and peace in myself and among other people, ethnic and religious groups, and nations. Knowing that words can create happiness or suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully using words that inspire confidence, joy, and hope. When anger is manifesting in me, I am determined not to speak. I will practice mindful breathing and walking in order to recognize and to look deeply into my anger. I know that the roots of anger can be found in my wrong perceptions and lack of understanding of the suffering in myself and in the other person. I will speak and listen in a way that can help myself and the other person to transform suffering and see the way out of difficult situations. I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord. I will practice Right Diligence to nourish my capacity for understanding, love, joy, and inclusiveness, and gradually transform anger, violence, and fear that lie deep in my consciousness.

Nourishment and Healing

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I will practice looking deeply into how I consume the Four Kinds of Nutriments, namely edible foods, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness. I am determined not to gamble, or to use alcohol, drugs, or any other products which contain toxins, such as certain websites, electronic games, TV programs, films, magazines, books, and conversations. I will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing, healing and nourishing elements in me and around me, not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor letting anxieties, fear, or craving pull me out of the present moment. I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness, anxiety, or other suffering by losing myself in consumption. I will contemplate interbeing and consume in a way that preserves peace, joy, and well-being in my body and consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family, my society and the Earth.

Green Island Sangha

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Updated March Schedule

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Thich Nhat Hanh