Within our DTO community there has been the unexpressed need for an opportunity to practice together in a setting with fewer distractions, with enough time to let our mind run itself out and become quiet. It is at such moments that our original mind is no longer shrouded by the words, thoughts, feelings, and concepts that seem to form the ‘I’ that we think we are.
Read more ›There is an interesting article on the birthplace of the Buddha in the September/October 2020 issue of National Geographic History magazine.
Read more ›Our Connecticut Day of Mindfulness was this past Saturday. The intention was to provide an opportunity to ‘provide more spiritual nourishment to our sanghas.’ In this regard, and many others, it was successful.
Tom Duva and Mike Geres organized and led our time together. We shared a variety of practices that were grounding, thought-provoking, and inspiring. It was a time to reflect, revise, and renew our aspirations. It was fitting that this was the first full day of summer and the weather was all that one could wish for in a summer day.
Read more ›This will be a day of mindfulness primarily for the Connecticut and New York DTO sanghas to practice together, but is open to all. If you would like to join us, but are not familiar with with the Dharma Teacher Order, please read the overview information page on our website at https://dharmateacherorder.org/about/.
Read more ›Here are the details:
| When: | Thursday April 25 through Sunday April 28 | ||||
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| Where: | Mariandale Retreat Center in Ossining, New York [map] | ||||
| Cost:* |
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| Schedule: | A schedule of activities should be available in the first week of April | ||||
| Registration: | Contact your local sangha’s retreat coordinator or teachers to register to attend. Please do this before April 13th. Each sangha must send a final count of who’s attending to the New York sangha by Saturday, April 13. |
Regarding retreats
“From time to time, to remind ourselves to relax and be peaceful, we may wish to set aside some time for a retreat, a day of mindfulness, when we can walk slowly, smile, drink tea with a friend, enjoy being together as if we are the happiest people on Earth.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace
A couple of images from last year’s retreat…
Our Texas DTO sangha is part of the Phap Nguyen Buddhist Congregation. To support their mission they have a website focusing on the activities there.
They recently lost access to the administration of that site, but were able to recreate the site under a slightly different URL. The new address for the site is dharma-spring.net. Please change any saved link you have from the old address (dharmaspring.org) to the new dharma-spring.net.
Craig Hannah Reporting, Connecticut Sangha
The subject of Connecticut’s Dec. 1st practice was an introduction to aspects of the Avatamsaka sutra.
One of the memorable images from that sutra is a metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of [paraphrasing from WP] Śūnyatā (emptiness), dependent origination, and interpenetration in Buddhist philosophy. “Indra’s net” is an infinitely large net of cords owned by Indra, a Vedic deva. In this metaphor, Indra’s net has a multifaceted jewel at each vertex, and each jewel is reflected in all of the other jewels.
We just received news that, due to construction and related activities, the winter retreat in Pearland has been canceled for 2018. Cathy’s notice follows:
Read more ›
Craig Hannah Reporting, Connecticut Sangha
On Sunday, June 10, 2018 a group of nine CT people made a day trip to the Chaung Yen Monastery in Carmel, NY. This monastery was started by the Buddhist Association of the United States (BAUS) in November 1975. Its buildings are in the architectural style of China’s Tang Dynasty, but the programs offered seem to span the range of all the Buddhist schools. Read more ›
Craig Hannah Reporting, Connecticut Sangha
Our 2018 Spring retreat at Mariandale Retreat Center in Ossining, NY was an amazing experience. We had more than 31 people attending representing all of our five sanghas! The beauty of the setting, and the facility itself were perfect. The power of the ceremonies in which we participated, and the wisdom shared both formally and informally was profound. Even more significant though, was the immediate feel of family, love and compassion shared by everyone. Read more ›
