June 1 Day of Mindfulness at FSC

Please mark your calendar or register to join us for a day of mindfulness practice on Saturday June 1st. This provide you with an opportunity to have more continuous time to practice and learn from your experience, ways of dealing with difficulties and cultivating peace.

Mindfulness day:Skillful Effort

Saturday June 1, 2019

9 am – 4 pm

 

Suitable for beginners and experienced meditators who would like to have a day to practice 

Attending half day is an option. Please indicate AM or PM

Place: Franciscan Spirituality Center

Please do not call Franciscan Spirituality Center to register for this class

Instructor: Vanee Songsiridej 

Fee: free will donation

Registration: Mindfulnesslacrossewisconsin.offeringtree.com

Please do not add www to this URL

You do not have to sign in to register. You can go directly to the program and register for the classes you plan to attend.

Kevala La Crosse session Feb 27

February 27th -- Wesley UMC at King & 8th (see important details below)

Contemplating Physical Form 

 

(the Diversity of Meditation Styles & Approaches 3)

How we experience physical reality is basic to our experience as living beings. Common sense may assume there is a material reality; in meditation we examine our experience of whatever that is. That is, we pay attention to how it feels and seems to us. There are numerous ways to do so.

Through the five physical senses, we experience our bodies and the bodies that interact with us. These senses take in physical properties that are the basis for our perceptions. A mindfulness practice that gives special attention to these properties is this week's offering.

How do our bodies appear to us -- seem to be -- when these properties are highlighted? What may we learn from observing physical appearances in this way?

 

Our once a month series explores a broad range of meditation styles and practices. This series supports an expanded repertoire of meditation skills and serves as a basis for on-going discussions concerning the nature, purpose, and potential of meditation practice. For an outline of the series, please follow this link:

http://www.liberationpark.org/study/pdf/many_kinds_meditation.pdf

For location  and related information, please go here.

Dāna (donations, gifts, free-will offerings) to sustain Liberation Park and support our work are most welcome. Santikaro and Liberation Park depend on donations as sole means of support. Liberation Park in turn makes donations to Wesley UMC for kindly hosting us.

A sampler of Santikaro's talks from La Crosse and elsewhere are posted at http://liberationpark.org/audio/index.htm

Next sessions:  March 13 and 27, 2019.

Awakening Joy starts February 28

We are starting Awakening Joy this Thursday February 28th

We will meet on the second and fourth Thursday of the month using “Awakening Joy” by James Baraz for our study and practice.

 I am getting some feedback that you are planning to not attend because you did not sign up for the national program. Please attend regardless of whether you signed up with the national program or not. I know James would not mind your attending our local group whether you signed up with his program or not. His intention is to help as many people who can benefit from this teaching. Cultivating Joy is a major practice that is considered an important factor to have for mindfulness and wisdom practice. Please come for your own benefit as well as others in the group.

 RSVP vsongsir@aol.com  if you are planning to attend.

Please register at mindfulnesslacrossewisconsin.offeringtree.com if you can. You do not have to sign in to register. You can just go to the class and register. Please do not add www or https to the address.

Meeting starts at 6 PM

We are meeting at Gundersen Health System Onalaska Clinic at 3111 Gundersen Drive, Onalaska. 

The meeting room is on the second floor - Conference room 2A.

Go up the stairs or elevator to the second floor and go to your left. The conference room is in the far left corner.

Please dress in layers. I am not sure how the temperature will be for everybody. Bring warming clothes, blankets if you tend to be cold. Make sure that you have light clothing on if you tend to be warm. We will not be able to adjust the thermostat on our own.

Bring a cushion for your back or feet if you need those. 

RSVP vsongsir@aol.com  if you are planning to attend.

We are getting together on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month from 6-8 pm. 

In order for this to continue to be a safe and supportive place for everybody to work with this very important practice, please leave all personal stories in the room. 

Each of us is a human being free from other roles in this space. Feel free to share what you personally learned with people who are interested. The main work is to look within ourselves and find out what we can do to decrease our distress, getting to know ourselves more and take care of ourselves well. By taking care of ourselves this way, we can also take care of others in a compassionate way.

I would also like to request that you share similar experiences and what help your growth and development and refrain from directly giving instruction or advice to other participants unless directly requested by the individual.

Making Friends with Yourself workshop

Recorded talks by Buddhist Teacher, Pema Chödrön, who presents a traditional way of under-standing human nature. Chödrön will introduce the 5 Skandas, the collections or streams that make up our sense of self as human beings. We will explore practical ways to interrupt the Skandas’ process of maintaining habitual patterns. This, releases us to take a fresh perspective and make a fresh start rather than repeating patterns that keep us stuck in unskillful ways of thinking and acting. By compassionately starting fresh, we befriend ourselves, which is essential to free ourselves from suffering and wish to work to alleviate the suffering of others.

The day-long workshop includes:

~ Recorded Talks by Pema Chodron ~

~ Meditation ~ 

~ Guided Contemplation ~ 

~ Group Discussion ~

Please bring a bag lunch as lunch is not provided, nor are there restaurants nearby.

Hot water, coffee & tea will be available.

Sliding Scale Fee: $30 - $50

Facilitators:

Sharon Lukert a Vajrayana Buddhist practitioner and student of Pema Chödrön since 1990 and

Ann Tyndall a practitioner in the lineage of Shambhala Buddhism since 2001.

See link for registration form.

June retreat with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

A residential meditation retreat to explore awareness, compassion, and wisdom will be held June 2-7 in St. Paul. The retreat is open to all, including beginning meditators.

Visit tergar.org/schedule for more information.

February 17 - Experience Zen

We will be hosting the monthly meditation group at 1832 22nd Street South next Sunday, February 17th from 10:30 - Noon.

Frank will lead us in sitting Zazen. Here is a link to the Fukanzazengi, described below.

Please let us know if you plan to attend and if you prefer a chair or a cushion - Sharon, 563-7941244

Fukanzazengi  was written by Dogen Zenji (1200 – 1253) founder of Soto Zen Buddhism in Japan. It is translated as “ The Universal Guide to Correct Practice of Zazen”

Also see attached link below for further study.

http://www.chzc.org/pat55.htm

Kevala Retreat - February 13

February 13th -- Wesley UMC at King & 8th (see important details below)

The Diversity of Meditation Styles & Approaches 2

Following our January 23 session on Metta (loving kindness) Meditation, let's share how that practice and its ramifications have shaped our lives, whether in the past two weeks or previously. We all share an innate capacity for altruism and kindness. Practice is how we expand, deepen, and mature this capacity as an increasingly powerful force in our lives.

How do we infuse our lives with kindness and friendliness, even in challenging circumstances such as being treated unfairly or harshly or dishonestly?  What are the benefits and drawbacks of a life infused with loving kindness?

 

Our once a month series explores a broad range of meditation styles and practices. This series supports an expanded repertoire of meditation skills and serves as a basis for on-going discussions concerning the nature, purpose, and potential of meditation practice. For an outline of the series, please follow this link:

http://www.liberationpark.org/study/pdf/many_kinds_meditation.pdf

For location  and related information, please go here.

Dāna (donations, gifts, free-will offerings) to sustain Liberation Park and support our work are most welcome. Santikaro and Liberation Park depend on donations as sole means of support. Liberation Park in turn makes donations to Wesley UMC for kindly hosting us. 

A sampler of Santikaro's talks from La Crosse and elsewhere are posted at http://liberationpark.org/audio/index.htm

Next sessions:  February 27 and March 13, 2019. We won't meet the day after Christmas.

Awakening Joy begins February 28

We are starting a new program using James Baraz‘s program Awakening Joy. 

Please sign up at AwakeningJoy.info if you can. There is a group discount of $80 if you sign up using the group code Onalaska-016. 

We will be using James Baraz’s book “Awakening Joy “ for this program.

Please let me know that you are joining us by signing up at mindfulnesslacrossewisconsin.offeringtree.com Our first session will be on Thursday February 28, 2019

We will be meeting on the second and fourth Thursday of the month.

The meeting will be held at Gundersen Health System Onalaska Clinic at 3111 Gundersen Drive, Onalaska. The meeting room is on the second floor - Conference room 2A.Go up the stairs or elevator to the second floor and go to your left. The conference room is in the far left corner.Please dress in layers. I am not sure how the temperature will be for everybody. Bring warming clothes, blankets if you tend to be cold. Make sure that you have light clothing on if you tend to be warm. We will not be able to adjust the thermostat on our own.Bring a cushion for your back or feet if you need those.

We are getting together on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month from 6-8 pm.

In order for this to continue to be a safe and supportive place for everybody to work with this very important practice, please leave all personal stories in the room. Each of us is a human being free from other roles in this space. Feel free to share what you personally learned with people who are interested. The main work is to look within ourselves and find out what we can do to decrease our distress, getting to know ourselves more and take care of ourselves well. By taking care of ourselves this way, we can also take care of others in a compassionate way.I would also like to request that you share similar experiences and what help your growth and development and refrain from directly giving instruction or advice to other participants unless directly requested by the individual.

Peace, 

Vanee