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In this issue:

• Silent Retreat Feb 15
• Possible MBSR Class
• Board of Directors Updates
• Dear Friend - From Tammy
• Metta Study Group
• Weekly Tuesday Meditation and Dharma Talk
• Sunday Morning Meditation
• Web and Newsletter Help Needed
• Scholarships Available
• Sangha House Cleaning
• Refuge Recovery every Friday Evening

Silent Retreat

MBSR Program

Board of Directors Update

Dear Friend in the Dharma

Dear Friend in the Dharma,

As 2019 comes to an end and a new year and decade lies before us, I have been reflecting on the many blessings in my life. On the top of my gratitude list is the Insight Meditation Fort Wayne Sangha.

Since 2004, IMFW has been meeting on Tuesday nights to offer a time to sit in meditation and receive dharma talks. During that time, thousands of people have joined us for beginning classes, retreats, book groups, KM groups, and to sit in silence.

Today, IMFW thrives, strengthened in our mission and personal commitment to bring the fruits of the Dharma into this beautiful and suffering world. We have accomplished much, as we worked together in fellowship with this powerful, shared purpose.

Whenever I sit in the meditation hall at Sangha House, I feel the deep well of peace that has accumulated from the many people who have practiced there. For 16 years, the generosity of our community has built and sustained this tranquil space. Over and over again, when a new person visits, I hear, “This space feels sacred. I’m so glad you are here.”

We are grateful for the generosity of so many who make all this possible, through hours of committee work, volunteering, attending the many opportunities for study and practice, as well as through regular financial contributions.

IMFW is fortunate to have such an engaged and caring community of supporters. Your generosity makes our mission possible, and we need your continued support.

Please take a moment to consider how you might commit to increasing what you offer to our spiritual community in the new year. Increasing your financial contribution, volunteering to serve on a committee, attending more regularly on Tuesday nights, all help to create a meditative environment where the Buddha’s teachings can take root in our lives, where our minds and hearts can open.

We count on your service and financial contributions to help ensure Sangha House is well maintained, utility and insurance bills are paid, and so we may continue to provide refuge where the Buddha’s teachings can transform our lives and our world.

A closing remark, in memory of Ram Dass, from How Can I Help, “There’s no place special we have to be in order to help out. Right where we are, in whatever we’re already doing, the opportunity to be of service is almost always present. We need only stay conscious and aware, and then give whatever we can to whenever is right there.”

Wishing you and your loved ones the very best for 2020. May wisdom and compassion guide all our actions throughout the year.
Tammy Dyer
Founding and Guiding Teacher

Metta Study Group

We would like to start a study group with the constant theme of Birth/Aging/Death and Metta.  The starting framework would be based on a Eugene Cash article which is concise and very useful. You can access his article at https://www.spiritrock.org/the-teachings/article-archive/the-paradox-of-maranasati-practice Other core elements of the group will be mindfulness of death and the use of metta as a remedy for the heaviness of that topic. It would be a no homework, no demands type group that would allow attendees to absorb what is useful and discard what is not while mindfully facing the reality of impermanence. 

Please let us know if you are interested, and suggest a time and day that would work for you. Contact Jay or Nancy, or email us at insightmeditationfw@gmail.com.

Weekly Tuesday Meditation and Dharma Talk

Each Tuesday evening, at 6pm, IMFW Guiding Teacher Tammy Dyer leads a 40 minute meditation followed by a Dharma Talk.

Insight Meditation is the practice of cultivating a precise nonjudgmental attention, which can clearly experience the present moment. Often associated with Mindfulness Meditation, it supports the awakening of hearts and minds through the direct experience of the Buddhist path.

Second Tuesday Tea
Stay late for tea and conversation after meditation 

Greeters Needed 
Tuesday Night Greeters help us ready Sangha House for visitors, greet newcomers, watch for latecomers, and tidy the place up afterwards. You can sign up at SignUpGenius, or contact Barb Lahman.

Sunday Morning Meditation

We are continuing with the Sunday Sits at 10:00 am. Occasional offerings for a 2-hour sit where you can come and go as you wish will be announced on Facebook.

Bell Ringers Needed
If you'd like to be a Bell Ringer for the start and end of a Sunday Sit, you can sign up at SignUpGenius

Questions? Contact Nancy Tompkins.

Web and Newsletter Help Needed

We are looking for someone to help maintain the IMFW website and the monthly newsletter.

• The website is created using SquareSpace.  Most of the work would be in their drag-n-drop page editor.
• The newsletter is created using Mailchimp, and their drag-n-drop editor.
• We use SignUpGenius for specific events like Greeters and Bell Ringers

Scholarships

Insight Fort Wayne
Financial Assistance Guidelines
In keeping with the spirit and practice of dana (generosity), Insight Fort Wayne has made provision to extend financial assistance to people who would otherwise be unable to attend a retreat because of limited financial resources.

COVERAGE
IFW financial assistance is offered to support the individual’s attendance at retreats and also to support the growth of our sangha overall.  Financial assistance is therefore offered to those who are regular attendees at IFW meditation classes, Tuesday meditation sessions or our local Spring and Fall retreats.  Recipients are encouraged to report back to the sangha or the Dharma Council on their experience after the retreat is complete, though this is not mandatory.

As Insight Fort Wayne’s focus is on Vipassana meditation from the Theravadan tradition, we offer financial support to those attending retreats in that tradition including, but not limited to, those offered by the Insight Meditation Society (www.dharma.org) and Spirit Rock Meditation Center (www.spiritrock.org). 

IFW financial assistance is available to fully or partially cover the cost of registration and transportation of a retreat.  Because our financial resources are limited as well, we ask that applicants make every effort to pay as much of the registration fee and transportation costs as they are able so there will be funds to assist as many people as possible

It is a long-standing tradition that teachers offer the teachings at no cost and attendees freely offer dana at the end of the retreat.  This practice of generosity and contemplating the value of the teachings is a key part of the retreat experience and therefore IFW financial assistance is not available to cover teacher dana.

APPLICATION PROCESS
If you would like to apply for financial assistance please complete the scholarship application form and mail or e-mail it to lahman.b@gmail.com as far as possible in advance of the retreat.  If you are applying for scholarship funds from the retreat organizers, please complete that process prior to applying for assistance from IFW.

HOW FUNDS ARE AWARDED
Once an application has been accepted, the recipient will be provided with a check made out to the retreat center to submit with their registration.  Transportation cost support will be paid direct to the applicant.  For air fares, a receipt for the same amount should be provided as soon as booking is confirmed.  For other costs such as shuttle buses, an estimated amount will be provided prior to the retreat.

SCHOLARSHIP LIMITS
We can offer up to two scholarships per person per year (except in the case of someone with a life-threatening illness); first consideration will be given to individuals who have not received a scholarship within the past 12 months.
We trust that financial assistance will be received in the same open and honest fashion with which it is offered.  Any misuse of this trust will affect the decision on future applications from that individual.
If you have any questions, please contact Barb Lahman.

Sangha House Cleaning

Refuge Recovery Northeast Indiana