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March Newsletter

Visit us!

On the Web at imfw.org
On Facebook
Email us at info@imfw.org

In this issue:

Intro to Meditation Class, April-May
Chi Gong in March
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, May-June
Refuge in Sangha - message from Tammy
Update from the Board
Practice Group - Mindfulness of Death
Weekly Tuesday Meditation and Dharma Talk
Sunday Morning Meditation
Scholarships
Sangha House Cleaning
Refuge Recovery every Friday Evening

IMFW is excited to announce the following events coming up soon at Sangha House, 2332 Sand Point Road in southwest Fort Wayne.

You can also peruse the Calendar on our website.

Introduction to Insight Meditation Class
Mondays, April 6 through May 4, 2020

Starting the first Monday of April (4/6/20) Tammy Dyer, guiding teacher at IMFW, and Barb Lahman are offering an Introduction to Insight Meditation Class.  Tammy and Barb will be teaching the Four Establishments of Mindfulness based in Theravada Buddhism.

They will look at mindfulness of body and breath, thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Through these classes you may discover ways to wake up to your true nature, start a meditation practice and learn more about Buddhism.

Please join Tammy and Barb on Mondays, April 6 through May 4, 2020, 6:30 - 8  pm at Sangha House, 2332 Sandpoint Road and learn about meditation from the Theravada tradition.

To register, please fill out the form at https://www.imfw.org/beginners-sessions-1
For further information, contact Tammy Dyer. Her email is tamaradyer6@gmail.com

Move Into 2020 With
Chi Gong

Seven Movements
Of The Sky Fisherman

When:
Thursdays March 5 through March 26, 6:30 to 7:30pm
Where:
Sangha House, Insight Meditation Fort Wayne
2332 Sand Point Rd.
Fort Wayne, IN 46809
Cost: Free, however, a small donation to cover expenses for the use of this wonderful space is very much appreciated.
Register by calling Mona Beesley at 260 436 0204 or email beesleymona@aol.com

CHI means your breath, your life force, this energy that flows within you and all around you. It refers to the living energy in all things. When there is stagnation of this flow, there is more tendency for pain and disease to develop. GONG is a term that refers to the achievement of a practice. CHI GONG together describes a relationship between the cultivation of CHI and the discipline used.
In this class you will learn 7 specific exercises that facilitate movement through 12 meridians affecting major organs. The sequence in which we perform these exercises follows the flow of energy from one meridian into the next according to the Meridian Cycle in Chinese Medicine. This is a wonderful short form, easy to learn and could be used as a moving meditation.

Our presenter is Mona Beesley. She has studied Tai Chi and Chi Gong with Chungliang Al Huang, Dr. Paul Lam, Dan Jones and William Chen. She is currently teaching a class through Parkview Center for Healthy Living, in Kendallville, IN.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

Mondays, May-June

This is an eight week course that is designed to train attention, and reduce stress through a variety of practices and meditations. The course is life affirming and offers participants an opportunity to challenge existing habitual patterns of thoughts and behaviors that can lead to new insights and ways of being.

This course will be taught by Becky Pape. To register, please email: Becky@MindMentor.life

Where: Insight FW
When: Mondays starting May 11-June 29.
Time: 6:30-8:45pm
Cost: $160
Sliding scale available upon request.

Refuge in Sangha
From Tammy

Good friendships are much more than associating with people that we find amenable and who share our interests.

The Buddha tells us that good friendships mean choosing friends to whom we can look for guidance and instruction, a companionship necessary as we walk the spiritual path.

As Dharma practicioners, our task is to keep the unwholesome tendencies in check and foster the growth of the wholesome tendencies…those that lead to purification of mind and heart, those that lead to awakening to freedom.

Our internal tendencies, our habits, attitudes, and beliefs, don’t mature and decline in a vacuum. They are subject to winds of the environment in which we live.

So, it becomes essential for us to choose as our guides and companions those who represent, at least in part, the qualities we seek to internalize by the practice of the Dharma.

Our minds are much like a chameleon, which alters its color according to its background. Just as this remarkable lizard turns green when in the grass and brown when on the ground, we become fools when we associate with fools and sages when we associate with sages.

The Buddha wasn’t suggesting that a spiritual friend is without hindrances and never does harm to self or other. He was saying that spiritual friends are practicing what they believe to be true. They are practicing right speech, livelihood, and action. They are practicing generosity, compassion, and lovingkindness.

So, Sangha isn’t a community of perfect people who really know where they are going. But we do have the words the Buddha offered us about the possibilities the practice offers if we walk the path of freedom. Our practice is doing more of the things that lead to more peace and harmony and less of the things that lead to discomfort. We know that certain thoughts, actions and words lead to happiness and others lead to suffering.

We are simply a group of people who are committed to that path in the best way we know how to walk it at any given moment. And mostly, we just practice a lot of patience, a lot of beginning again, and forgiveness with as much mindfulness as we can muster up.

The IMFW Sangha is simply people, committed to a practice, that leads us in the direction we want to orient our life.

By coming together as a spiritual community on a regular basis, we can remind one another there is another possible way to live life. We take refuge in Sangha.

Update from Deb

To all members of our Sangha,

We continue to grow and learn in interesting and exciting ways.

Tammy offered a one day silent retreat on Saturday, February 15, that was very well received. She plans to do this every year around this time. So, if you missed this one, keep watching our newsletter and Facebook page for other opportunities. Sangha House offers a non-residential weekend retreat in the fall. All retreats are supported by dana only and no fee is established.

We are currently updating our mailing list and switching to a new mail host. Jim Lewis and others are working to update the list, which has grown to over 300 people. Remember, our list is completely voluntary, and you can “unsubscribe” at any time. While we are on the learning curve changing over from Google Groups to MailChimp please show patience and help us in any way you can. Please point out to Nancy Tompkins any spelling or address mistakes. If you don’t receive a newsletter (via email) near the first of the month please mention it to a board member. All new information will be uploaded automatically from our website. We previously only collected first names and email addresses but our new system allows us to store more complete information. If you’d like to update your contact information (with street address and phone number) you can go to our website IMFW.org Just fill out the “subscribe to our email and snail mail communication”. It will update your record, not set you up as a duplicate.

As always, the Board of Directors works in service of Sangha House, our community and the community of Fort Wayne. These service minded people work for you – and we enjoy hearing your feedback and suggestions. Also, for anyone who would like to volunteer in any way; these are the people who can direct you to the people that will make that happen.

Tammy Dyer, Guiding Teacher
Drew Consalvo, Secretary
Alexandra Belyaeva, Treasurer
Jay Luce
Ellen England
Nancy Tompkins
Deb O’Kelly, President of the Board

Our Mission: To provide for the study and practice of insight (vipassana) meditation according to the Theravada Buddhist religious tradition and to support and encourage the
development of community based upon Buddhist ideals, teachings and practices.

Maraṇānussati

Mindfulness of Death

This group focuses on the Buddha's teachings on mindfulness of death, and to a lesser degree birth and metta. The first group meeting was held on 1/16/20 .

Metta is included in this group because: 1) Two of the four protective meditations regard mindfulness of death and one concerns metta. And 2) Mindfulness of death can be a very heavy topic and many teachers have recommended that metta be used alongside the practice. For example Ajahn Achalo highly recommends finishing Maranasati practice with metta in several of his talks.

This group is also for open discussion on your personal feelings and experiences regarding this practice. It is a very open format focusing on the teachings of the Buddha.

Each meeting ends with a 10-15 minute metta meditation.

The group is open to anyone to attend at any point. Meetings will be held every fourth week on Thursdays at 3:00 pm, following the Thursday KM group that meets earlier in the day. (See the calendar for specific dates.)

Any questions please contact Jay Luce at keop72@hotmail.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

Please join us for Sunday Sits each week at 10:00 am.

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.

Scholarships

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

COVERAGE
IMFW 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 IMFW 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 IMFW'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).

IMFW 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 IMFW 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 IMFW.

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

Help maintain our home

"At IMFW we offer participants a 'yogi job,' a way of managing the maintenance workload by requesting small work assignments as people are able. Each job is like a spoke in the wheel that allows Sangha House to turn smoothly. We work from the center of the wheel for the whole, and only in concert can the wheel move forward."
- Paraphrased from "Stepping Out of Self-Deception" by Rodney Smith

Yogi Job house cleaning is offered after the first Sunday meditation of the month, and after the third Tuesday meditation of the month. You can check the Calendar for this month's dates. Please join us, when you can, for 30-40 minutes to assist in keeping Sangha House clean and tidy.