Practicing with others online during pandemic (COVID-19)


Note: Most of the links use Zoom – is an online video conferencing platform. You can download the Zoom application for Windows or Mac for free, or you can access Zoom via their free apps for iOS (iPhone, iPad) and Android. You can set up a free personal account on Zoom if you want, but it isn’t necessary to use the software. You can find more help on getting started in the Zoom Help Center online

Below are weekly practice opportunities we found

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Other Resources


Rebecca Li

Helpful resources and meditations on Rebecca’s website – she also offers occasional zoom meditation and dharma talks live on zoom.  Free guided meditation   +  Dharma Talks – contact her for more info.


Other Online material in support of practice during the COVID-19 outbreak:

Lion’s Roar Magazine has published a number of articles on how to practice in a pandemic. 


Tricycle Magazine – free access to articles and videos on practicing in a pandemic.


IMS Online / IMS Learning Modules – offers in depth learning, retreats, etc.

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Bhikkhu Analayo next 4 weeks @ Buddhist Sangha

As we embark in this New Year, May your weeks be filled with peace, love, happiness and joy. Here’s to a wonderful and joyous new year!

The next four weeks we will be sharing a recorded video and meditation series offered freely through Barre Center for Buddhist studies in our 8-9pm discussion period.  

Bhikkhu Analayo presents a practical approach to the diverse challenges of climate change that is grounded in the teachings of early Buddhism.

Did you attend our New Years Retreat? Did you attend any of our Monday night meditations or discussions? 

We would like to hear from you about your experience with us – contact us

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Retreat into Being – December 31, 2019

12/31/2019 – On this last evening of the year, you are invited to join the BSBC community for a rare and lovely opportunity to engage in extended meditation practice with our sangha. The retreat will be from 8 pm to 12 am.  Everyone is welcome to come for the whole or part of the evening.

The retreat will include guided meditation instructions, chanting, alternating sitting movement and walking  meditation periods, and a time for sharing poems, readings and reflections.

Sangha member and long-time practitioner Jeanne Reis will lead the retreat with BSBC founder James Reis who will travel from Boston MA.

If you aren’t able to arrive at 8 pm, you may either time your arrival to coincide with a walking session or enter quietly if the group is sitting. If a sitting is in progress, choose a spot in the back of the hall, then feel free move to a preferred spot during the next walking session. There will be chanting sessions at the beginning and end of the evening; chanting sheets will be provided.

You may bring a favorite poem, reading, and snack to share at teatime, if you wish.

The theme this year will be Memories and Reflections: Holding time with Lovingkindness.
Suggested donation is $20 to cover the cost of reserving the meetinghouse

Please contact us with questions 

Tentative Evening Schedule:

8:00 –   8:30 pm                    Welcome, settle in, quiet sitting meditation
8:30 –   9:00 pm                    Opening session
9:00 –   9:30 pm                    Quiet sitting
9:30 –   10:15 pm                  Tea: share readings, poems, intentions
10:15 – 11:45 pm                   Alternating quiet sitting and walking
11:45 – 12:00 am                   Closing and final chant

*You may opt to continue sitting during walking sessions, if you wish 

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Stephen Procter 4 week series in Nov/Dec 2019

Stephen Procter will be joining us via Skype to teach a 4 week series:  Mindfulness in Daily Living (MIDL)

  • Observing Thinking in Mindfulness Meditation
  • Mindfulness Meditation in Daily Life

Stephen has dedicated his life to the practice of understanding the mind, reducing suffering and had created a systematic training method for practicing and developing the Satipatthana path to full maturity within daily life.  http://www.meditationintheshire.com.au/

* We will also have his book available 

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Lama Gursam – How to love yourself and others in challenging times

Join us for and evening and full day urban retreat : how to love yourself and others in challenging times with Lama Gursam

Suggested donation $40 Fri eve/Sat all day Or $20 Fri eve; $25 Sat day

Love is the wish that we and others should be happy. Love wishes for the benefit of self and others without any expectations. That is the academic definition of the term. All beings, human and non-human, young and old, have a natural desire for happiness. Everyone deserves happiness and no one deserves suffering. So love is most basic and important.

Love has to start with oneself. Love for oneself is most important for the beginning practitioner. It is very important to love oneself. In the tantric practice one cannot have a bad opinion of oneself, one must view oneself and others as deities. Therefore, loving oneself is very important. Loving oneself has to be practiced to recognize who we are. We all have the buddha nature. Everyone has the qualities of a buddha: love, compassion, joy, and equanimity. All these great qualities are within oneself. Therefore, we have buddha nature and can love oneself. When we recognize our own buddha nature we recognize everyone has these qualities. The only difference is that some recognize these qualities and some do not.

At practice time we start first with whomever has shown love to us. This can be our parents, friends, grand parents, or adopted parents. We have to recognize and remember who loves us. That is very important for the beginning meditation. It has to start with recognizing the love others have given us. We have to remember their kindness again and again. We don’t have to remember the negative feelings, but should remember the kindness that others have shown us. From remembering this some warm feeling will develop. So a feeling rises of love toward that person. We will wish that they be happy and that we can help them. That rises naturally in the heart. That is very important at practice time. Then slowly the feeling must extend to others, not just for oneself and the one who has loved us. Since others have the same desire for happiness that we do, our love must pervade to others. That doesn’t mean our love decreases for those who have loved us. Our love only increases as it spreads to others.

Lama teaches in English, and always tries to focus on the practical application of the Dharma in everyday life.

Lama Gursam went to monastery at a very young age, received teachings as a monastic, and studied and practiced as a monastic. Then Lama Gursam went to study in Tibetan University Sarnath, Varanasi, India to get both bachelors and masters degrees in Buddhist Philosophy, History, and languages. Upon graduation he received a special award for scholastic achievement from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

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Dr. Rebecca Li – No self or Not self – applying the teachings to every day life – 11/18/2019

Here are the recordings from Rebecca’s visit, first half:

Rebecca Li 11/18/19 part 1     
Download     
Rebecca Li 11/18/19 part 2     
Download     

On Monday, November 18th, we were happy to host Dr. Rebecca Li at the Sangha. A dharma heir in the Chan lineage of Master Sheng Yen, Rebecca lead us in guided meditation and the dharma talk was “No self or not self? How should we consider the teachings on Anatta?”

–Very basically, anatta (or anatman in Sanskrit) is the teaching that there is no permanent, eternal, unchanging, or autonomous “self” inhabiting “our” bodies or living “our” lives. Anatman is contrasted with the Vedic teachings of the Buddha’s day, which taught that there is within each of us an atman, or an unchanging, eternal soul or identity. 

Anatta or anatman is one of the Three Marks of Existence. The other two are dukkha (roughly, unsatisfying) and anicca (impermanence). In this context, anatta often is translated as “egolessness.” 

Of critical importance is the teaching of the Second Noble Truth, which tells us that because we believe we are a permanent and unchanging self, we fall into clinging and craving, jealousy and hate, and all the other poisons that cause unhappiness. —  More reading on this topic: https://www.learnreligions.com/self-no-self-whats-a-self-450190

Dr. Rebecca Li, began her teacher’s training with Master Sheng Yen 1999 when she also began to serve as his translator until his passing in 2009. Starting in the mid-2000s, she also trained with John Crook and Simon Child, two lay Dharma heirs of the master, and received full Dharma transmission from Simon Child in 2016. Currently, she leads Chan retreats, teaches meditation and Dharma classes, and gives public lectures in North America, the U.K., and in Taiwan. Her talks and writings can be found at www.rebeccali.org. She is the founder and guiding teacher of Chan Dharma Community and a sociology professor at The College of New Jersey, where she also serves as faculty director of the Alan Dawley Center for the Study of Social Justice.

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Annual Membership and Potluck (11/11/2019)

Update: Monday, Nov 11 at 7pm the sangha held a special annual meeting

The Sangha celebrated the year and reflected on what the sangha means to us. We shared delicious food and connected to what it means to be part of the sangha community.   We saw a wonderful turn out of current members & few new faces we hadn’t seen a while. There were a few newer guests & Holly who came for the very first time showed interest in becoming a member afterwards. We were grateful to see Padmadharini join us as well. 

Click to see our annual report composed by Joe and Dave (co-Presidents)

Click for information on how to become a member.


This important event is in accord with the sangha’s by-laws and our standing as a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Many of you are relatively new members of the Sangha, and I want to encourage you to carefully consider whether you have the interest and ability to serve as a member of our board or on a board committee. As an all volunteer organization we need committed assistance from our members and friends to be able to serve our growing community with the support for learning, practice, and service that is the heart of our Buddhist path.

Instead of the regular service and meditation All are welcome to our Potluck dinner (Vegetarian) and annual meeting. We will then convene our Annual Membership Meeting to vote on a slate of Officers and Board Members for the next year. Ours is a peer-led, volunteer-created organization, and we sincerely thank all who serve and look forward to having people volunteer for positions and serve on our various committees.

Please remember that there will be no regular meditation that night, and that ALL ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE as we gather in a sense of togetherness and sharing.

Consider yourself, member or not, invited to join us on Monday, November 11 for our potluck dinner and Annual Membership Meeting. We look forward to seeing you then! 

6:30 – 7:15 eat and socialize
7:15- 7:30 Dave leads us in some chanting and a short meditation
7:30- 7:45 President’s report – year in review
7:45-8:00 Board Elections
8:00-8:30 Welcome to the new board, everyone present get’s a chance to speak – prompt something like: what the Sangha has meant/means to me.
8:30 end with short meditation


***Check our newsletter and facebook for the latest news, articles and more!

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About the Synergy Project ( Woody)

The Buddhist Sangha of Bucks County has been supporting The Synergy Project for a number of years. Our Outreach and Service Committee works with Woody to identify needs and provide resources he needs to continue the important work of helping homeless teens in our region. Below is an article reprinted from Bucks Coalition Against Trafficking newsletter (Summer 2017) which gives more info about this work.

Woody, a Synergy Project member since 2013, traverses Bucks County’s 624 square miles to reach homeless teenagers and young adults (typically 18-21 year olds, bringing food, basic hygiene products, food cards, and a listening ear. Although Bucks County is thought of as a prosperous county in Pennsylvania, homelessness among youth and adults is not uncommon.

Human trafficking is the second most profitable and fastest growing criminal industry in the world. The International Labour Organization estimates that there are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking globally. It is estimated that forced labor and human trafficking is a $150 billion industry worldwide.

Source: Polaris Project https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/facts

“We average about 27 to 30 kids that we reach every month in Bucks County,” Woody said recently. “There are about 2.8 million homeless people under the age of 17 in the U.S., and we get our share here.” The circumstances by which local youth find themselves on the streets vary; some are runaways, some are fleeing abuse, and some are kicked out of their homes by family. In the case of 18-21-year-olds, often they are youth from the foster care system who “age out,” or become emancipated at 18 without a support network. The youth are often difficult to find because unlike adult homeless, who often congregate, youth don’t typically convene at “homeless camps.” They’re too often on the run and trying to hide.

“I provide direct services on the street to homeless kids,” he explained. “One hundred percent of my job is to form relationships with youth who are homeless, or couch surfing, or nomads-kids who might be in Bucks County only for a little while before they move on.” Woody says he and the two other Synergy Project staffers try to form relationships that give the youth the security of knowing that someone is here to listen to them and to help provide some materials support. Most important, though, Woody noted, is that the youth say his value to them is as a good listener.

“Homelessness doesn’t define who these kids are; it’s just the situation they find themselves in right now,” he said. “My job isn’t to find these kids and turn them in; I’m not a cop. I want to sit down with them, have a meal with them, talk to them instead of handing them food and watching them eat. Most of them tell me they just want someone to listen to them.”

Whatever you bring for either cause will be gratefully accepted. The Buddhist word for giving is Dana, which means to offer, share, or gladly give without expecting anything in return. The Committee essentially is here to provide one directed means for the Sangha to do this.

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October 2019 Retreat – A Meditative Inquiry into the Buddha’s Understanding of Emptiness

Join us Friday evening Oct 4th (7-9pm) and Saturday Oct 5th (9-5pm) for “A meditative inquiry into the Buddha’s understanding of emptiness.
Lowell Arye Will lead the retreat. Friday evening will be a quiet night where we will be cultivating the boundless states of heart of Loving kindness and equanimity. Moira Kowalczyk will provide light guidance during this practice period. Saturday will include periods of meditation held in the space of silence including the lunch hour. The afternoon Will continue with guided practice and an exploration of what the Buddha said in the Pali Canon about emptiness (Maha sunnata sutta)
Light refreshments will be available and a brown bag lunch is recommended. It is best to attend the entire retreat, however we please come to any portion if unable to attend the entire retreat .


****unfortunately Padmadharini will not be co-leading due to unforeseen events . Lowell Arye will be leading the full day Saturday

Schedule for BSBC Day Retreat

9:00-9:15                                 Get Settled, a few points about the day

9:15-9:45                                 Meditation

9:45-10                                    Break

10-10:45                                  Meditation

10:45-11                                  Break

11-11:45                                  Meditation

11:45-1                                    Lunch

1-1:45                                      Meditation

1:45-2                                      Break

2-2:45                                      Meditation

2:45-3                                      Break

3-3:45                                      Meditation

3:45-4:15                                 Break

4:15-4:45                                 Meditation

4:45-5                                      Discussion

About Lowell

Lowell Arye has been diligently practicing the Path of the Buddha for 17 plus years. He is an avid and committed retreatant completing many retreats both with Sanghas and in solitary in traditions of Vipassana (insight), Zen/Chan, Mahamudra and Dzogchen. Influential teachers from Tibetan Buddhist traditions include Garchen Rinpoche, Namkai Norbu, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, and Francis Lucille and Rupert Spira from the Advaita Vedanta /Kashmiri Shavism tradition of Jean Klein.

There is a suggested donation of $20 for Friday, $30 for Sat. am session and $50 for all day Saturday. All are welcome despite ability to donate.

More About Lowell Arye

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Head & Heart Together – part three


Thai forest monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu teaches us how to use wisdom to cultivate compassion 

The fourth principle [of karma] to remember concerns the karma you’re creating right now in reaction to other people’s pleasure and pain. If you’re resentful of somebody else’s happiness, someday when you get happy there’s going to be somebody resentful of yours. Do you want that? Or if you’re hard-hearted toward somebody who’s suffering right now, someday you may face the same sort of suffering. Do you want people to be hard-hearted toward you? Always remember that your reactions are a form of karma, so be mindful to create the kind of karma that gives the results you’d like to see.

When you think in these ways, you see that it really is in your interest to develop the brahma-viharas in all situations. So the question is, how do you do that? This is where another aspect of the Buddha’s teachings on causality plays a role: his teaching on fabrication, or the way you shape your experience.

Fabrication is of three kinds: bodily, verbal, and mental. Bodily fabrication is the way you breathe. Verbal fabrications are thoughts and mental comments on things—your internal speech. In Pali, these thoughts and comments are called vitakka—directed thought, and vicara, evaluation. Mental fabrications are perceptions and feelings: the mental labels you apply to things, and the feelings of pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain you feel about them.

Any desire or emotion is made up of these three types of fabrication. It starts with thoughts and perceptions, and then it gets into your body through the way you breathe. This is why emotions seem so real, so insistent, so genuinely “you.”

But as the Buddha points out, you identify with these things because you fabricate them in ignorance: you don’t know what you’re doing, and you suffer as a result. But if you can fabricate your emotions with knowledge, they can form a path to the end of suffering. And the breath is a good place to start.

If, for example, you’re feeling anger toward someone, ask yourself, “How am I breathing right now? How can I change the way I breathe so that my body can feel more comfortable?” Anger often engenders a sense of discomfort in the body, and you feel you’ve got to get rid of it. The common ways of getting rid of it are two, and they’re both unskillful: either you bottle it up, or you try to get it out of your system by letting it out in your words and deeds.

So the Buddha provides a third, more skillful alternative: Breathe through your discomfort and dissolve it away. Let the breath create physical feelings of ease and fullness, and allow those feelings to saturate your whole body. This physical ease helps put the mind at ease as well. When you’re operating from a sense of ease, it’s easier to fabricate skillful perceptions as you evaluate your response to the issue with which you’re faced.

Here the analogy of the lump of salt is an important perception to keep in mind, as it reminds you to perceive the situation in terms of your need for your own goodwill to protect yourself from bad karma. Part of this protection is to look for the good points of the person you’re angry at. … If you focus just on the bad points of other people, … you’ll get bitter about the human race and see no need to treat it well. But if you can see the good in other people, you’ll find it easier to treat them skillfully. Their good points are like water for your heart. You need to focus on them to nourish your own goodness now and in the future.

If, however, the person you’re angry about has no good qualities at all, then the Buddha recommends another perception: Think of that person as a sick stranger you’ve found on the side of the road, far away from any help. You have to feel compassion for him and do whatever you can to get him to the safety of skillful thoughts, words, and deeds.

What you’ve done here is to use skillful verbal fabrication— thinking about and evaluating the breath—to turn the breath into a skillful bodily fabrication. This in turn creates a healthy mental fabrication—the feeling of ease—that makes it easier to mentally fabricate perceptions that can deconstruct your unskillful reaction and construct a skillful emotion in its place. This is how we use our knowledge of karma and fabrication to shape our emotions in the direction we want— which is why head teachings are needed even in matters of the heart. At the same time, because we’ve sensitized ourselves to the role that the breath plays in shaping emotion, we can make a genuine change in how we physically feel about these matters. We’re not playing make believe. Our change of heart becomes fully embodied, genuinely felt.

This helps to undercut the feeling of hypocrisy that can sometimes envelop the practice of the brahma-viharas. Instead of denying our original feelings of anger or distress in any given situation, smothering them with a mass of cotton candy or marshmallow cream, we actually get more closely in touch with them and learn to skillfully reshape them.

All too often we think that getting in touch with our emotions is a means of tapping into who we really are—that we’ve been divorced from our true nature, and that by getting back in touch with our emotions we’ll reconnect with our true identity. But your emotions are not your true nature; they’re just as fabricated as anything else.

Because [your emotions] are  fabricated, the real issue is to learn how to fabricate them skillfully, so they don’t lead to trouble and can instead lead to a trustworthy happiness.

Remember that emotions cause you to act. They’re paths leading to good or bad karma. When you see them as paths, you can transform them into a path you can trust. As you learn how to deconstruct emotions of ill will, hard-heartedness, resentment, and distress, and reconstruct the brahma-viharas in their place, you don’t simply attain an unlimited heart. You gain practice in mastering the processes of fabrication. As the Buddha says, that mastery leads first to strong and blissful states of concentration. From there it can fabricate all the factors of the path leading to the goal of all the Buddha’s teachings, whether for head or for heart: the total happiness of nirvana, unconditionally true.

Which simply goes to show that if you get your head and your heart to respect each other, they can take each other far. Your heart needs the help of your head to generate and act on more skillful emotions. Your head needs your heart to remind you that what’s really important in life is putting an end to suffering. When they learn how to work together, they can make your human mind into an unlimited brahma-mind. And more: They can master the causes of happiness to the point where they transcend themselves, touching an uncaused dimension that the head can’t encompass, and a happiness so true that the heart has no further need for desire.

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