IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
Greetings at the end of 2023!
The image above illustrates the diverse geographical locations from which our ever-expanding worldwide community joined us in 2023.
And each of us in this Wisdom Seat community continues bridging the ancient Buddhist traditions into our modern world. We practice and study together, go on retreats together and befriend one another in living this marvelous and shocking life. And we are indeed indebted to those who came before us – yet we are also free and encouraged to enjoy ourselves and grow.
And grow we did. In 2023, our global community expanded around the theme of practice and retreat. This included monthly Nyinthun retreats, the Wednesday evening meditation group, a two-week retreat in Colorado, multiple Vajrayana retreats, and a yoga retreat. We were honored to welcome and host Anam Thubten and Tenzin Dasel, and had the opportunity to meet with Rabjam Rinpoche to gain his advice and further support. And we established a scholarship fund to support those in deepening their practice in meditation retreat.
Looking ahead to 2024, we plan to expand our retreat offerings, meditation instruction, vajra gatherings and Buddhist classes.
As our inspiration grows more wakeful, may we all skillfully lend a hand to a world in need of our help.
In Dharma, Bill, Michael, Matt, Al, Stephanie, Jacqui, Jeremiah, Richard, Alison from The Wisdom Seat
21st Bodhi: The Joyful Life of a Bodhisattva
Taught by Michael Carroll and Matt DiRodio
As with all the programs offered at The Wisdom Seat, 21st Bodhi will be grounded in the practice of mindfulness-awareness meditation.
During this 10-session program we will:
Explore the tradition of the bodhisattva and consider how it can unfold in our everyday lives.
Learn and practice the fundamental gesture of a bodhisattva: formless meditation.
Share among others our experiences in traveling the bodhisattva path.
Thanks again for being a part of The Wisdom Seat and we look forward to learning together in 2024
Wednesday Meditation
Ongoing offering: Online meditation every Wednesday evening 6:15 to 7:30 PM EST
Worldwide Wednesday evening online sitting meditation practice.
We, at The Wisdom Seat, invite you to meet on Wednesday evenings from 6:15 – 7:30 PM Eastern Time to practice the sitting meditation discipline as taught in the Buddhist & Shambhala tradition of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Nyinthun: Everyone is welcome!
Ongoing offering: Nyinthun (in-person and online) The first Sunday of every month. All day sitting interspersed with walking meditation. The word nyinthun*, is Tibetan for “day session.”
In understanding dharma, Trungpa Rinpoche placed a strong emphasis on mindfulness/awareness meditation practice. This community practice of Nyinthun - all day sitting interspersed with walking meditation - gives us the opportunity to experience the full spectrum of our mind, make friends with our immediate experience and rediscover our natural sanity.
For 2023, we have changed the nyinthun registration site, so that you sign up for each nyinthun retreat day individually. This replaces the old way of just joining a nyinthun email list and receiving a monthly reminder. This will help greatly by knowing how many people are actually coming to any given nyinthun, so we can arrange the shrine room to accommodate in person attendees, and plan for online attendees. Please take a look, and sign up to join us for some nyinthun retreat days. It is ok to join for as much of the day as you can.
Authentic Presence and The Feminine Principle
June 26–July 6, 2024 Taught by Susan Piver and Michael Carroll A 10-Day Heart Sutra Meditation Retreat
Offered in partnership with The Wisdom Seat and the OpenHeart Project
The Heart Sutra – the most pith of the Prajnaparamita Sutras – is a central text throughout all of Buddhism. It is widely revered, demonstrably powerful, and, one could say, thoroughly incomprehensible – at least by the conceptual mind. This is all great news.
On this 10-day retreat, we will bring these three elements together – study, meditation, and letting go – as we practice “The Sutra of the Heart of Transcendent Knowledge” in a supportive and spacious community. We will explore what is meant by authentic presence and the feminine principle, how each is invoked in our practice to reveal liberation, balance, and joy.
Student: Do you think a new kind of tantric tradition might develop here in the West, if art is being done by Buddhist meditator artists?
Chogyam Trungpa: I very much hope so.... It has to be American Buddhists who become inspired. It is only they who have the understanding to work with the Western world. It is necessary to have that situation. We reach a point, a limit to how far we can live on imports. There's some point where we better manufacture things for ourselves rather than borrowing from somebody else. Otherwise, we will be enormously in debt. – Chogyam Trungpa Summer, 1974, Naropa University
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