Metta/loving kindness meditation is a practice for many at IMFW. We recite a beautiful refrain: May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness (love); may they be free from suffering and the causes of suffering (self-clinging.)

The Vajrayana practice includes the phrase, “Especially those enemies who hate me, obstructors who harm me, and those who create obstacles on my path to liberation and all- knowingness.” Perhaps you don’t have enemies who hate you. May it be so. But you may have a few who are annoying. How fortunate.

Who else is more in need of the wish that they may be happy and free from suffering? They are obviously confused and suffering. It is this phrase that can come to mind when I walk into the kitchen I’d just cleaned and find it a mess again. For those of you assuming John is at fault; it’s not always so. You can think of miscreant elves. I can feel annoyance or I can choose to wish they be happy and free from suffering. Once in a while, I choose the former. The point here is to chant the refrain aloud at least each day to imprint it in the mind-stream. What do you want in your mind-stream? In Chicago, they color the river green on Saint Patrick’s Day. We color our mind river with our thoughts and it can be indelible dye or purified with acknowledgement and regret.

All beings want happiness, the Dalai Lama reminds us. Folks have varying ways to accomplish that and some ways aren’t efficacious. These actions can bring about suffering for self and others. Love is efficacious. Compassion is efficacious. Forgiveness is efficacious. These enemies and annoyances are precious. That’s part of what this precious human life offers us; the ability to notice dukkha. Without a taste of that, we wouldn’t be aware of the dukkha that is true and that we can make joyful effort to overcome. We’d be stuck in the cycle over and over. So thank you for messing up the kitchen, Elves. Thank you for showing me the cause of my suffering so that I can abandon resentment from my mind-stream and habitual reactions.

“When negative places are abandoned, disturbing emotions gradually decline.”
- The Thirty-seven Practices of a Bodhisattva.

This doesn’t just mean retreating to a sweet cabin along a lake; it includes the place of resentment. Take a moment to recall the feeling in body and mind when in that abode. Disturbing, right? And it fuels more resentment and disturbance. Love and compassion, even for, and especially for, enemies and obstructors, is the antidote. I believe this is true.

We have many opportunities to study and deepen our practice this fall. All are offered freely. Dana is gratefully accepted.

IMFW Fall Retreat with Carol Blotter – October 4, 5, and 6. Carol Blotter, leading teacher for Chelsea Meditation, is guiding our fall retreat. Her talk is Holding the Opposites: Joy and Sorrow. Friday night’s talk begins at 6:30 pm and is open to the public. If you are interested in attending the retreat, Saturday and Sunday, please sign up at https://www.imfw.org/retreat-fall.

Introduction to Insight Meditation is offered four consecutive Monday evenings during the month of October, starting at 6 pm and lasting about an hour. Drew Consalvo is teaching this four week course. You can see more information in our newsletter or sign up for the course on our website at https://www.imfw.org/intro-meditation.

Book Group will begin an exploration of the book You Belong: A Call for Connection by Sebene Selassie, Tuesday, October 15 th immediately following the Dharma talk. The group meets every third Tuesday, October through May. Anyone interested in joining Book Group please sign up at https://www.imfw.org/book-group.

Community Events – All are scheduled at 6:30 pm, at 2332 Sandpoint Road.
    Friday October 11th is Making Kombucha with Nate Gulley.
    Please sign up on line if you plan to attend: https://www.imfw.org/community-night

Birthday Bash – Join us in celebrating Tammy’s Birthday. Bring a dish and enjoy a potluck dinner immediately following Sangha on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Save the Date – November 12 is our Annual Meeting and Potluck dinner (in place of the usual Tuesday Night Tea.) Please bring a dish to share.

Also offered by our teachers: It is with great joy and excitement that the Teacher Collective wishes to announce that we welcome the opportunity to join you for life transitions, such as weddings and funerals.  You may contact us individually or as a group to speak with us about how we might assist you in your service.  We look forward to joining you as you make this journey from life to death and the many roads it may take along the way.

We are all just walking each other home.
- Ram Das

The Board of Directors for IMFW, which is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization:
Tammy Dyer, Founder and Guiding Teacher
Deb O’Kelly, President
Pam Steinbach, Secretary and Teacher
Monica Cardenas, Treasurer
Drew Consalvo, Teacher
Nancy Tompkins
Josh Smith
Dora Rogers
Matthew Katinsky

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.

Join us for an exploration of the book You Belong: A Call for Connection by Sebene Selassie.  We begin meeting on the third Tuesday of October, the 15th.  We meet monthly on the third Tuesday, immediately following the dharma talk, usually around 7:15 to 8:15 pm.  You need to have your own copy of the book and have the first chapter read by the October meeting.

Anyone interested in doing this study of the book, please sign up online here.  We ask that you do sign up in order to receive any communication about this meeting.  As always at IMFW, all courses are offered freely.  Dana is gratefully accepted. This course is offered in person only (no Zoom) at 2332 Sandpoint Road, Fort Wayne, IN.

You can find the book on Amazon here or at Bookshop here.