Dear Friends,

Once again, most of us have had an unusual year that has been quite challenging. We’ve been aware of the changing and impermanent nature of just about everything that we’ve considered normal, and so much of what we’ve taken for granted.

The truth is that it has always been this way and always will be. There’s never been anything that we can depend on to last forever, to remain the same, or to even remain at all. But we haven’t been called to notice this quite so clearly and intimately on a personal nor world-wide scale until these last few years.

It’s through our own direct experience, via our meditation practice, that we truly learn that all sentient beings are totally interdependent, albeit temporary manifestations of life.

As awakening beings, we acknowledge that this temporariness can be hard to accept, at least at first. That what often appears to be difficult, we slowly begin to trust this constant change, this transformation towards a greater truth.

As we enter into this ‘new year’, we can practice sitting still, mindful of breath, allowing relaxation and clarity to arise. We might mindfully notice that no two breaths are alike. We notice that the breath gets more and more subtle, or more coarse. Oftentimes, as we sit, the breaths become soft and light as we relax. We notice that a lightness of being and a quiet joy begin to show up.

We’re doing nothing to make this sense of joy and tranquility arise. Experiencing centeredness and a balance of heart and mind, we might recognize and learn to be present within the body, the breath and the heart/mind, as it all keeps changing.

We can resolve to begin each day by sitting and cultivating gratitude for change. With an affirmation toward a wholesome relationship to change and impermanence, we allow things to arise and fall away. We learn to open our heart/mind towards being grateful for whatever shows up.

BREATH…”much gratitude for breath.” SENSATIONS IN THE FEET…”gratitude for feet.” HEARING BIRD SONG and WIND…”gratitude for hearing, for birds, for air”. THOUGHTS OF MY SON OR DAUGHTER…”deep gratitude for my son or daughter”. INTERNAL and EXTERNAL DIFFICULTIES…Can we be grateful for difficulties? Difficult internal and external experiences can be some of our most insightful teachers. MORNING SUNSHINE...”gratitude”.

On and on it goes, without any clinging…JUST GRATITUDE!

A heart filled with gratitude allows for wholesome heart qualities to blossom and flourish. Patience, generosity, compassion, loving-kindness, clarity, equanimity and a deep sense of interconnectedness naturally arise. As we begin to know the world as it truly is, we are more and more able to respond to the inner and outer world…rather than reacting to what shows up.

May this ‘new year’ be filled with gratitude, understanding, ease, friendship, love and a deepening sense of well-being for each of you and for all beings everywhere.

With love and gratitude,

Tammy

Dear Friends,

Our Refuge-Precepts ceremony has been rescheduled to Tuesday evening, February 22 at 6 p.m.  It is the time each year when IMFW gathers to participate in reaffirming our commitment to Buddhist practice.  All are invited to attend. CDC guidelines recommend that N95 masks (or the equivalent) be worn in public spaces.  Because we will be standing in a circle around the room, possibly closer than 3’, we ask that they be worn that evening.   We will have them available if you do not have one of your own. 

The New Year often brings fresh intention and resolution.  However, the goals we set for the year are often difficult to reach, and we end up feeling needless guilt and shame.  The Buddhist teachings offer another way to look at intention and aspiration, to see it more as a practice rather than some goal to attain.

The Precepts Ceremony done each year at IMFW, and sometimes daily or weekly in monasteries, reminds us of the foundation of our moral and ethical conduct practice.  The five precepts provide us with an orientation that can help spark virtuous activity in our every-day life. 

Virtue can have a heavily moralistic or religious overtone, but Buddhist practice views ethical conduct as our determination to develop the wisdom to clearly see how the world works and the compassion to always hold the welfare of others in mind.

The precepts are guidelines, not rules to make us feel guilt or shame.  They are ways to help raise our level of awareness to what is going on at a particular moment in our life and whether practicing them leads to happiness, if practiced.  They are a basic structure that can form our life path to Do No Harm.
The Precepts ceremony on February 22, invites those present to undertake the five basic precepts to not harm others through our speech and actions. The precepts are:

1. I undertake to refrain from killing and harming living beings.
2. I undertake to refrain from stealing and taking that which is not mine.
3. I undertake to refrain from causing harm through sexual misconduct.
4. I undertake to refrain from false speech, harmful speech, gossip, and slander.
5. I undertake to refrain from the misuse of intoxicants or substances such as alcohol or drugs that cause carelessness or loss of awareness.

1. I go to the Buddha for refuge.  When we take refuge in the Buddha, it is not taking refuge in the man who was called Buddha as a god or energy source but refuge in the “awakened,” knowing faculty of all hearts and minds. After enlightenment, the Buddha was asked by those he met along the road, “Who are you?”  He answered, “I am awake.”  We make a commitment to mindfulness, to awaken.  We make a commitment to our knowing what is true in the present moment.  When we take refuge in the Buddha, we are acknowledging confidence in the practice of wakefulness.

2. I go to the Dhamma for refuge.  When we take refuge in the Dhamma, it is more than the words that were spoken by Buddha.  We take refuge in truth, the way it is in the here and now.  When we take refuge in the Dhamma, we are surrendering to the impermanent, selfless nature, and unsatisfactoriness of life, not our belief of how life should be if we could control it. We have confidence that “letting go” of beliefs and opinions can lead to happiness. We have awareness that trying to “hold on” to things causes suffering.  We have faith in the natural law of experience—that all causes have effects.  We open to the truth, to the way life actually is; the orderliness of the truth of nature itself and how it functions.  There is no refuge in the conditioned reality of greed, hatred and delusion.  The world our mind creates and that we cling to is illusion and causes suffering.  Therefore we take refuge in the here and now.

3. I go to the Sangha for refuge.  We have faith and commitment to those who are practicing to awaken to the truth.  It is you and I, those of us who recognize this as a path to Truth.  It is individuals and groups committed to recognizing the truth in the now.  We place confidence in this group that is practicing together and supporting each other in our practice.  In the Sangha we have faith that letting go of self-centered views and self-concern is necessary and that this leads to a noble, unselfish response to life.

When the awakened heart knows the way things truly are, what springs forth is harmonious and virtuous action.

With lovingkindness,

Tammy
 

The Precepts ceremony has been rescheduled to February 22.  See the article above.

Can you help?  Anyone willing to help with snow removal on the grounds at Sangha House please contact us at InsightMeditationFW@gmail.com.  We do have a snow blower to handle lighter snowfall– and we contract with a plow truck for snow deeper than three inches.  Walkways need to be cleared and salted to allow safe entry into the building.

We welcome any involvement. Anyone willing to donate your time or talents may contact us at the email address above – or talk with the greeter, board member or teacher on Tuesday night.  We have plenty of ways for you to be engaged and involved in keeping your Sangha vibrant – and clean. 

All yoga classes are canceled until further notice.  This includes Saturday morning and Sunday morning yoga. The teachers felt it was best for the safety of all participants to suspend the classes.  We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank you to every person who has supported IMFW with your time, talents, and/or financial support.  We could not do it without you!  Thank you!

Our mission is to provide for the study and practice of Insight (Vipassanā) Meditation according to the Theravāda Buddhist religious tradition and to support and encourage the development of community based upon Buddhist ideals, teachings and practices.

IMFW is entirely supported by voluntary donations that embody the ancient practice of dāna or generosity. The teachings are always offered freely and practitioners are invited to offer support that matches their own financial means, and/or by volunteering time and talents to support the teachers and the upkeep of Sangha House.