Winter-Spring 2021 Study Group: The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana

Dec 222020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Ajahn_Amaro

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Ajahn_Pasanno

Upaya Sangha of Tucson Winter-Spring 2021 Study Group
The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana

Ajahn Pasanno & Ajahn Amaro
January through April, 2021

In this eight-week course, we will study selected chapters from The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana with commentary on the text offered by Ajahn Amaro in 2017. We will meet on Zoom, January through April on the 2nd and 4th Thursday mornings, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM.

In addition to the Pali Canon, the authors draw on the words of contemporary adepts, verses from classical literature, and texts of
Northern Buddhism, making the Buddha’s instructions on liberation accessible to careful readers.

Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno’s lucid and evocative commentaries are characterized by Ajahn Sumedho as “…pointing to nibbana, pointing out that nibbana is a reality that each one of us can know for ourselves – once we recognize non-attachment, once we realize the reality of non-grasping.”

This course will engage those of you who have a solid grasp of the fundamentals of the dharma. Prior to our meetings, following on your having completed the reading, you will then listen to Ajahn Amaro’s commentary and complete a study guide addressing points both from The Island and the commentary.

Audio of the lectures will be provided to you on a disc or you may listen to the lectures online.

REQUIREMENTS: A copy of The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana; a computer and email address or a cooperative friend with same.

TO REGISTER: Mail a $25.00 check, made payable to TCMC, to Christine Johnson at 3900 N Sabino Canyon Rd., #3513, Tucson, AZ 85750-2137.

Include, in addition to your name, your postal address, email address & telephone number.

DEADLINE TO REGISTER: January 1, 2021

WHEN: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
The 2nd and 4th Thursdays of: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., 2021.

REQUESTED DONATION: $25.00 which is to be offered to TCMC to offset ongoing operating expenses. No one will be turned away due to inability to pay.

CONTACT: Christine Johnson; johnson-manz@comcast.net; 520-207-8718

Fall-Winter, 2020 Study Group: Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong

Jul 152020

Norman Fischer

Upaya Sangha of Tucson
Fall-Winter, 2020 Study Group

Training in Compassion:
Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong

by Norman Fischer
www.normanfischer.org

Norman Fischer offers both Illuminating commentary and pithy counsel on bringing greed, aversion and ignorance to the path through ‘Lojong’. Lojong, or mind training, originated with the Bengali practitioner Atiśa Dīpankara Śrījñāna. (982–1054). Fischer’s commentary applies Zen wisdom to this training for anyone who wishes to be focused rather than scattered, generous rather than stingy, and kind rather than thoughtless.

We will be meeting in eight sessions, 10:00 to 11:30 AM, the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of September, October,
November & December via Zoom.

Intending to minimize the impediments of teleconferencing, making this platform work for us, we will be departing from our prior study group format; the discussion will be actively facilitated. The intention is to enjoy fruitful conversations by our each taking responsibility for cultivating the caring communication practices well defned in ‘Insight Dialogue’.

Before our frst meeting on September 3rd listen to Gregory Kramer’s lectures on Insight Dialogue principals (Pause; Relax; Open; Trust Emergence; Listen Deeply; Speak the Truth) at: www.gregorykramer.org/insight-dialogue/

REQUIREMENTS: Copy of Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong; a computer and an email address or friend with same.

WHEN: 1st & 3rd Thursdays of September, October, November, December; 10:00 – 11:30 AM
A Zoom link will be provided prior to each meeting.

COST: $25.00 check, payable to TCMC , which is to go towards TCMC overhead.. No one will be turned away due to inability to pay.

REGISTRATION: Mail a $25.00 check, made payable to TCMC, to Christine Johnson at 3900 N Sabino Canyon., #3513; Tucson, AZ 85750. Include, in addition to your name, your email address & telephone number.

DEADLINE: Friday, August 14, 2020

CONTACT: Christine Johnson; johnson-manz@comcast.net; 520-207-8718 (no text), 520-245-0296 (voice/no text).

Fall-Winter, 2019 Study Group: Desire That Binds, Desire That Liberates

Jul 192019

The desire for liberation, a liberation that is marked by peace, entangles with the desire that binds, a bondage that is marked by dissatisfaction. Through insight one distinguishes the desire that liberates from the desire that binds. Through cultivating such insight, one then gains certainty in what is to be abandoned and what is to be cultivated.

In this collection of lectures Thanissaro Bhikkhu elucidates dharma from the early Canon on the Buddha’s instructions to his disciples on how to distinguish skillful desire from unskillful desire, pointing out the means to unbinding, that is, the means to a liberation that is marked by peace.

Over the eight meetings in this four-month course, you will be listening to audio presentations, studying the supporting texts, and completing a study guide prior to each of our meetings.

REQUIREMENTS: A computer with CD player, an email address or a cooperative friend with same

FEE: $25.00 (the cost of materials, postage, and TCMC space use contribution).
No one will be turned away due to inability to pay.

TO REGISTER: Mail a $25.00 check, made payable to Upaya Sangha, to Christine Johnson at 4145 N. Stone Ave., #102; Tucson, AZ 85705-8807. Include, in addition to your name, your postal address & email address & telephone number.

DEADLINE TO REGISTER: August 14, 2019

WHEN: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Beginning on Thursday, September 5th, the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of September, October, November & December.

LOCATION: Tucson Community Meditation Center; 1231 E. Edison Tucson, AZ. The Center is one block S. of Grant and 2 houses W. of Mountain Ave.

CONTACT: Christine Johnson; christine-johnson@cox.net ; 520-207-8718 (no text)

PARKING: It is important to the future of TCMC to observe mindful parking by not parking on the same block as the Center and by leaving an empty parking space in front of the homes on the neighboring blocks. Please reserve TCMC driveway parking for people who cannot walk far. Thank you!

Winter-Spring, 2019 Study Group: Older and Wiser: Classical Buddhist Teachings on Aging, Sickness, and Death

Nov 232018

https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/teacher/mu-soeng

https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/teacher/gloria-taraniya-ambrosia

https://www.andrewolendzki.org/about.html

Upaya Sangha of Tucson Winter-Spring 2019 Study Group
Older and Wiser: Classical Buddhist Teachings on Aging, Sickness, and Death

Mu Soeng, Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia, Andrew Olendzki
January through April, 2019

Participation will be profitable for dharma practitioners now into old age;it will be profitable for dharma practitioners who expect to arrive at old age;
it will be profitable for dharma practitioners, young or old, who wish to die well.

While Older and Wiser: Classical Buddhist Teachings on Aging, Sickness, and Death is easy reading, discussion of the material may not always give up easy answers. The authors Mu Soeng, Gloria Taraniya Ambrosia, Andrew Olendzki, practice in the Korean Zen, Thai Forest (Theravada) and early Buddhist (Theravada) traditions, respectively.

The book is organized topically, with each author offering commentary and concludes with questions for readers’ contemplation. We’ll be discussing such concerns as:

A shift in focus
using the opportunity that aging affords to turn towards spiritual goals

Reflections on one’s actions
distinguishing between the virtue of remorse and obstacle of regret

Pleasures
knowing diminished sensual pleasure and pleasure that is freedom from want

Mental fabrication
discerning the distinctions between pain and reactivity to pain

Clarity of mind
recognizing clarity that is independent of a weakened, decrepit or dying body

Letting loved ones go
offering uncomplicated care and companionship to dying loved ones

Taking one’s own life
thinking through the complex interplay of intention and transgression

Mourning
Enjoying liberation from within conditions rather than liberation from conditions

REQUIREMENTS: A copy of Older and Wiser: Classical Buddhist Teachings on Aging, Sickness, and Death; a computer and email address or a cooperative friend with same.

FEE: $10.00 (the cost of materials and TCMC space use contribution). No one will be turned away due to inability to pay.

TO REGISTER: Mail a $10.00 check, made payable to Upaya Sangha, to Christine Johnson at 4145 N. Stone Ave., #102 Tucson, AZ 85705-8807. Include, in addition to your name, your postal address, email address & telephone number.

DEADLINE TO REGISTER: December 27, 2018

WHEN: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. The 2^nd and 4^th Thursdays of Jan., Feb, Mar., Apr, of 2019

LOCATION: Tucson Community Meditation Center; 1231 E. Edison Tucson, AZ. The Center is one block S. of Grant and 2 houses W. of Mountain Ave.

PARKING: It is important to the future of TCMC to observe mindful parking by not parking on the same block as the Center and by leaving an empty parking space in front of the homes on the neighboring blocks. Please reserve TCMC driveway parking for people who cannot walk far. Thank you.

CONTACT: Christine Johnson; christine-johnson@cox.net; 520-207-8718

A Weekend of Special Events with Award-Winning Poet and Zen Teacher Henry Shukman

Jul 312018

We are sorry to announce that the September 7 – 9 weekend of events with Zen teacher and poet, Henry Shukman is being cancelled, due to low registration.

Study Group: The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana

Jul 232018

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Ajahn_Amaro

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Ajahn_Pasanno

Upaya Sangha of Tucson Fall-Winter, 2018 Study Group
The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana

Ajahn Pasanno & Ajahn Amaro
September through December, 2018

In this eight-week course, we will study selected chapters from The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana with commentary on the text offered by Ajahn Amaro in 2017. We will meet September through December on the 1^st and 3^rd Thursday mornings, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM.

This anthology was composed following requests by western Insight and Theravadin practitioners for teachings on nibbana. In addition to the Pali Canon, the authors draw on the words of contemporary adepts, verses from classical literature and from the texts of Northern Buddhism, making the Buddha’s instructions on liberation accessible to careful readers.

This course will engage those of you who have a solid grasp of the fundamentals of the Buddhadharma. Prior to our meetings, following on the reading, you will listen to the recorded sessions and complete a study guide addressing points both from The Island and Ajahn Amaro’s commentaries.

Audio of the lectures will be provided to you on a disc.

REQUIREMENTS: A copy of The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana; a computer and email address or a cooperative friend with same.

FEE: $18.00 (the cost of materials and TCMC space use contribution). No one will be turned away due to inability to pay.

TO REGISTER: Mail a $18.00 check, made payable to Upaya Sangha, to Christine Johnson at 4145 N. Stone Ave., #102 Tucson, AZ 85705-8807. Include, in addition to your name, your postal address, email address & telephone number.

DEADLINE TO REGISTER: August 20, 2018

WHEN: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. The first and third Thursdays of September, October, November, and December 2018.

LOCATION: Tucson Community Meditation Center; 1231 E. Edison Tucson, AZ. The Center is one block S. of Grant and 2 houses W. of Mountain Ave.

CONTACT: Christine Johnson; christine-johnson@cox.net; 520-207-8718

Study Group: Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain & Body

Nov 172017

Daniel Goleman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Goleman

Richard Davidson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Davidson

Sensei Al Genkai Kaszniak

https://upayatucson.org/about-upaya/sensei/

Upaya Sangha of Tucson Study Group
Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain & Body
January 11, 2018 through April 26, 2018

Over this eight-session course, we will discuss authors Daniel Goleman and Richard J. Davidson’s new book, Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain & Body. You will be completing a study guide prior to our discussions, the 2^nd & 4^th Thursdays, January – April; 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM.

Goleman and Davidson, both practitioners, write from the point of view of contemplative science as well as from their own experiences. They include a generous selection of anecdotes. The authors write that We aim to shift the conversation with a radical reinterpretation of what the actual benefits of meditation are – and are not – and what the true aim of practice has always been.

Sensei Al Genkai Kaszniak will be participating in our discussions, providing us with clarifications as needed, and likely too, sharing stories of his own experiences in a long career in neuro and contemplative science.

REQUIREMENTS: A computer with an email address or a cooperative friend with same.

FEE: $12.00 (at cost) in addition to the book, in multiple formats online, with five hard copies in the Pima Co. Library system. No one will be turned away due to inability to pay.

TO REGISTER: Mail a $12.00 check, made payable to Upaya Sangha, to Christine Johnson at 4145 N. Stone Ave., #102; Tucson, AZ 85705-8807. Include, in addition to your name, your postal address, email address & telephone number.

DEADLINE TO REGISTER: December 27, 2017

WHEN: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Beginning on Thursday, January 11^st, the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of January, February, March, & April

LOCATION: Tucson Community Meditation Center; 1231 E. Edison Tucson, AZ. The Center is one block S. of Grant and 2 houses W. of Mountain Ave.

CONTACT: Christine Johnson; christine-johnson@cox.net; 520-207-8718

Study Group: Stephen Batchelor: A Son (Zen) Retreat: “What is This?”

Jul 262017

www.stephenbatchelor.org/ index.php/ en/ stephen/ biography	Upaya Sangha of TucsonStudy Group A Son (Zen) Retreat: “What is This?” Stephen Batchelor Is there something beyond or behind what we experience through our sense faculties? Is there something to be known that is other than what is seen, heard, sensed and cognized? Over the course of eight meetings, we’ll discuss Stephen Batchelor’s evocative presentations on the nature of emptiness. The conversations will be framed in the context of what is to be known, what is to be abandoned, what is to be realized, and what is to be practiced. This course will engage those of you who have a solid grasp of the fundamentals of the Buddhadharma. Prior to our meetings, you will listen to the recorded sessions and work through a study guide. Audio of the lectures will be provided to you on a disc. REQUIREMENTS: A computer and email address or a cooperative friend with same.
WHEN: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM The 1^st and 3^rd Thursdays of: Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec., 2017LOCATION: Tucson Community Meditation Center; 1231 E. Edison Tucson, AZ DIRECTIONS: One block S. of Grant and 2 houses W. of Mountain Ave.		To Register: Mail a $18.00 check, made payable to Upaya Sangha, to Christine Johnson at 4145 N. Stone Ave., #102; Tucson, AZ 85705-8807. Include, in addition to your name, your postal address, email address & telephone number. DEADLINE TO REGISTER: August 21, 2017
FEE: $18.00 (the cost of materials and TCMC space use contribution). No one will be turned away due to inability to pay.		CONTACT: Christine Johnson christine-johnson@cox.net 520-207-8718
PARKING: It is important to the future of TCMC to observe mindful parking by not parking on the same block as the Center and by leaving an empty parking space in front of the homes on the neighboring blocks. Please reserve TCMC driveway parking for people who cannot walk far. Thank you!

2015 Fall-Winter Upaya Sangha Study Group

Jul 292015

Upaya Sangha is offering an eight-session course, beginning this September, during which we will discuss the March, 2015 presentations by Stephen Batchelor & Roshi Joan Halifax, hosted by the Upaya Zen Center. The program is titled Being Completely Human: A Retreat on Secular Buddhism and Beyond. You can find the audio at: https://www.upaya.org/2015/04/being-completely-human-series-all-12-parts/

We will meet the 1st & 3rd Thursdays mornings of September through December, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM at Tucson Community Meditation Center (TCMC).

Batchelor’s presentation on the Four Noble Tasks (aka Four Noble Truths) coupled with Roshi Halifax’s evocative commentary on the Four Great Vows, frame their discussions with each other and with the participants. Conversation roves wonderfully into ancient and contemporary issues to include: the upaya of vow; dogma; ritual; the ethic of risk; awareness and non-reactivity; the accomplishment of stream-entry; the near enemies to compassion, equanimity, benevolence, and sympathetic joy; secular Buddhism vis a vis Zen Buddhism.

The course will engage those of you who have a solid grasp of the fundamentals of the Buddhadharma. Prior to our meetings, you will listen to the recorded sessions and work through a study guide.

Audio of the Retreat on Secular Buddhism will be provided to you on a disc.

REQUIREMENTS: A computer and email address or a cooperative friend with same

WHEN:
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
The 1st and 3rd Thursdays of:
Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec., 2015

LOCATION: Tucson Community Meditation Center; 1231 E. Edison, Tucson, AZ

TO REGISTER: Mail a $15.00 check, made payable to Upaya Sangha, to Christine Johnson at 4145 N. Stone Ave., #102; Tucson, AZ 85705-8807. Include, in addition to your name, your postal address, email address & telephone number.

DEADLINE TO REGISTER: August 25, 2015

Any questions? email or call Christine Johnson at christine-johnson@cox.net or 520-207-8718

Sharon Salzberg Workshop on Equanimity, Sunday, July 19

Jun 032015

SUNDAY, JULY 19 – DAY LONG WORKSHOP ON EQUANIMITY – Cultivating Balance in Our Lives

LOCATION:

SHERATON HOTEL 5151 E. GRANT ROAD TUCSON, AZ 85712 (NEXT TO TUCSON MEDICAL CENTER) 10:00 AM-4:30 PM. SLIDING SCALE: $50- $75 (NO ONE WILL BE TURNED AWAY FOR LACK OF FUNDS). ORGANIZER: ARIZONA MEDITATION RESEARCH INTEREST GROUP (AMRIG) CONTACT: ALICE BURMEISTER ALICEJSJ@GMAIL.COM – Phone: 480- 688- 4363

REGISTRATION:

To Register Online and for CEUs information: Go to AMRIG.org. To Register by Mail: Please make check payable to AMRIG and mail to Alice Burmeister P.O. Box 15091 Phoenix, AZ 85060.

“Equanimity is the ability to support compassion and its roots in wisdom” – Sharon Salzberg

This full day workshop will help ground the practice of equanimity, which can be experienced as a spacious relationship with impermanence. Through discourse, guided meditations, and Q&A sessions, Sharon will explore the fundamental nature of equanimity. This workshop is suitable for new and experienced meditators alike. Approved for 6 CEU hours by the University of Arizona Department of Psychology.

Sharon Salzberg is co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, MA. She has been a student of meditation since 1971, guiding meditation retreats worldwide since 1974. Sharon’s latest books is Real Happiness at Work: Meditations for Accomplishment, Achievement, and Peace, published by Workman Publishing. She is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post and is the author of several books including the New York Times Best Seller, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-Day Program, Love Your Enemies, Faith: Trust in Your Own Deepest Experience, and Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness. For further information about Sharon, please visit: www.SharonSalzberg.com

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