Quiet Mind Sangha meeting July 2, 2023 – reciting the 14 Mindfulness Trainings, and Zoom option discontinued

Dear Thay, dear Sangha,

Please join us this Sunday from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. at the Albuquerque Zen Center, 2300 Garfield Ave. SE.

With David leading the meeting, we can enjoy reciting the 14 Mindfulness Trainings. He says “Whenever I read them I always find many little gems of wisdom-which I really need in these chaotic times. The trainings are a storehouse of mindfulness based ethics that I need every day to help me come back to my mindfulness and to be fully present. I look forward to again sharing them together.”

Please note that the Zoom option for our Sangha meetings has been discontinued. For those who wish to attend Zoom meetings in our tradition, every month there are about 100 Zoom meetings of Sanghas worldwide. These are listed at plumline.org.

At last week’s meeting there was a discussion of the Zoom option and all attendees were encouraged to share their comments. Setting up and taking down Zoom equipment requires substantial time and effort. Attendance on Zoom has been extremely low lately, the volunteer who has been setting up and taking down the equipment for three years (Jon) has resigned from this duty, and nobody volunteered to take it over. At the end of the discussion the Sangha voted by a majority to discontinue the Zoom option for our meetings.

All members are encouraged to join us in person. For those concerned about Covid exposure, it is the policy of the Albuquerque Zen Center that everyone attending in-person events must be fully vaccinated. Also, masks are optional so anyone wishing to wear a mask at an in-person meeting may do so. Two HEPA air filters are running in the Zendo at each meeting. If you need transportation to and from meetings please let us know, along with your address, and we can announce it to the Sangha to see if another member can help.

To maintain an atmosphere of reverence and tranquility in the Zendo we’ll be observing 10 minutes of Noble Silence before each meeting.

Dana (generosity) is one of the virtues cultivated in Buddhism. It is customary to offer Dana in appreciation for the benefits received and to support the Sangha. Dana can be financial and it can also be in other forms such as helping with setup or breakdown of meetings and days of mindfulness.

With metta,
🙏🏼

Quiet Mind Sangha April 23 – Bring something to share for Earth Day

Dear Thay, dear Sangha,

Please join us this Sunday from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., either in person or by Zoom (link available on request. We’ll be meeting at the Albuquerque Zen Center, 2300 Garfield Ave. SE.

In honor of Earth Day, please bring something to share – a short writing, poem, song, artwork etc.

Upcoming Events:

  1. Desert Rain Sangha in Santa Fe invites you to join them for a Day of Mindfulness with Diane Little Eagle – an Indigenous elder and dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition. Friday eve, April 28 6:30 pm -8:30 pm plus Saturday, April 29, 9 am-4:30 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church Santa Fe, 107 W Barcelona Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505. Also available by Zoom. For additional info you can contact Sue Rempel, email sue.suerempel at gmail dot com.
  2. Jim Redel, a longtime member of the Albuquerque Zen Center, will be offering a workshop there on “Demystifying Zen” from 1:00-2:30 p.m. on Sunday April 23. Suggested donation $15.

For Quiet Mind Sangha meetings, to maintain an atmosphere of reverence and tranquility in the Zendo we’ll be observing 10 minutes of Noble Silence before each meeting.

Dana (generosity) is one of the virtues cultivated in Buddhism. It is customary to offer Dana in appreciation for the benefits received and to support the Sangha. Dana can be financial and it can also be in other forms such as helping with setup or breakdown of meetings and days of mindfulness.

With metta,
🙏🏼

Quiet Mind Sangha meeting April 16

Dear Thay, dear Sangha,

Please join us this Sunday from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., either in person or by Zoom. We’ll be meeting at the Albuquerque Zen Center, 2300 Garfield Ave. SE. 

This Sunday the topic will be “What is Zen?” We’ll be reading excerpts from Thay’s book Zen Keys as well as from some other well-known books on Zen. 

The handout we’ll be reading as a group is attached (it will be distributed in print to in-person attendees). 

If you’ll be attending by Zoom you may wish to download it and have it handy for reading during the meeting. 

This message, and the handout, will also be posted on our website www.quietmindsangha.org

To maintain an atmosphere of reverence and tranquility in the Zendo we’ll be observing 10 minutes of Noble Silence before each meeting.

Dana (generosity) is one of the virtues cultivated in Buddhism. It is customary to offer Dana in appreciation for the benefits received and to support the Sangha. Dana can be financial and it can also be in other forms such as helping with setup or breakdown of meetings and days of mindfulness. 

If you’d like to be removed from this email list just let me know. 

With metta,

🙏🏼

May you be peaceful

May you be happy

May you be safe

May you live with ease

Quiet Mind Sangha Meeting April 9

Dear Thay, dear Sangha,

Please join us this Sunday from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., either in person or by Zoom. We’ll be meeting at the Albuquerque Zen Center, 2300 Garfield Ave. SE. 

Bee will be giving us an overview of the talks given by our Dharma teacher Terry Cortes-Vega at the retreat this past weekend. The theme was Deep Listening: A Path to Compassion and she talked about how to listen to ourselves, to difficult people, and to others in general, and the fact that deep healing that can come from such listening. We can bear in mind Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion, who listens to the suffering of the world. 

For security, Zoom links are not posted on the website, but are available on request.

To maintain an atmosphere of reverence and tranquility in the Zendo we’ll be observing 10 minutes of Noble Silence before each meeting.

Dana (generosity) is one of the virtues cultivated in Buddhism. It is customary to offer Dana in appreciation for the benefits received and to support the Sangha. Dana can be financial and it can also be in other forms such as helping with setup or breakdown of meetings and days of mindfulness. 

No Quiet Mind Sangha Meeting April 2

Dear Thay, dear Sangha,

Because of the retreat this weekend, there won’t be a regular meeting of the Quiet Mind Sangha this Sunday. 

More information on the retreat is available on this website.

Please join us the following Sunday, April 9, when Bee will be leading the recitation of the Five Mindfulness Trainings. 

With metta,

🙏🏼

May you be peaceful

May you be happy

May you be safe

May you live with ease