| The Bellingham Mindfulness Community is a diverse group of
people who practice meditation in the Mindfulness tradition taught by
Vietnamese monk, poet and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh. Our practice encourages
and supports the joy of mindful awareness in all aspects of our lives.
We are blessed to have a
local teacher in the Mindfulness
tradition, Eileen Kiera. Eileen has practiced in the Buddhist tradition for
over twenty years and, in 1990, Thich Nhat Hanh granted Eileen permission to
teach the Dharma. Eileen offers classes in Bellingham and leads retreats
several times per year throughout the Pacific Northwest. Eileen is also the
guiding teacher for Sanghas in Seattle, Idaho, Montana and Oregon.
Thich Nhat Hanh predicts that the next living Buddha will be
the Sangha, the community of practitioners. Our practice has a special emphasis
on community building. We welcome people of all backgrounds to come practice
with us.
We offer orientation to mindfulness practice for those who
are new to our Sangha. To request an orientation or
for information about the Bellingham Mindfulness Community please contact Danna Zelenka at 738-0681
(danna.zelenka@gmail.com).
Monthly
Practice starting this Fall
The
Bellingham Mindfulness Community welcomes you to practice with us as we make the
transition from regular Wednesday night sittings in Bellingham to a monthly day
of practice at our rural practice center, Mountain Lamp, near
Deming.
SUMMER:
Due to a busy summer retreat schedule, we will not be having regular
sangha meetings from June through August.
Practice Period in July at Mountain Lamp Community, July 1 -
30: The Mother of All Buddhas - The Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra
Please see the Mountain Lamp website: http://www.
mountainlamp.org for more details and information.
FALL:
Starting in September, we will be meeting once a month for days of
practice at Mountain Lamp. Our first scheduled date is Saturday,
September 11. This day will include sitting and walking meditation in a
beautiful rural environment, as well as a shared potluck meal,
discussion of future dates and activities, and other practices. If you
are interested in attending and would like more information please
contact Danna Zelenka at danna.zelenka@gmail.com
You can view the
Current Practice Schedule here.
Days of Mindfulness
Days of Mindfulness offer us an opportunity to deepen our practice
and build Sangha together. Days of Mindfulness usually begin at 10:00 am and continue
until 3:00 p.m. We generally begin with three periods of sitting and walking
followed by a recorded Dharma talk by Eileen Kiera or Thich Nhat Hanh. We then share a meal in mindfulness followed
by outdoor walking meditation or a Dharma discussion. The Day of Mindfulness
ends with sitting meditation. Please bring a vegetarian potluck item to share.
We also host Days of Mindfulness at Mountain Lamp. Please check the schedule to
see the date of
the next Day of Mindfulness.
Retreats and Other Information
Our sister
Sangha in Seattle, The Mindfulness Community of Puget
Sound, sponsors week long
retreats led by Eileen Kiera in January each year. The retreat take place at a beautiful camp at the edge of Puget Sound.
Practitioners may attend the retreat for the entire week or for the weekend
only. The weekend portion sometimes has a children’s program and families are
encouraged to attend.
Eileen and her husband, Zen Roshi Jack Duffy, live in the
mountains about 45 minutes east of Bellingham at Wild Rose Farm, a rural
retreat center of the Mountain Lamp
Community. Eileen and Jack co-founded
Mountain Lamp and the retreat center at Wild Rose Farm as a place of refuge.
Mountain Lamp holds Days of Mindfulness and retreats of various lengths
throughout the year, including weeklong retreats during the summer. For more information about Mountain Lamp
write P.O. Box 512, Deming, WA 98244 or click
to visit
the Mountain Lamp community website.
Gathas
for
Sitting and Walking Meditation
To practice mindfulness in our
daily activities, we focus our mind on a gatha or short poem to deepen our
experience of simple acts we often take for granted, such as dishwashing,
driving or waking up. We also use gathas to deepen our experience of sitting and
walking meditation. You may wish to use the following gathas to support your
meditation practice. Recite the first line of each pair silently on the
in-breath and the second line silently on the out-breath. Additional
gathas can be viewed here.
|
Gatha for
Sitting Meditation
Breathing in, I know I am breathing in
In
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out
Out
Breathing in, I feel my breath becoming deep
Deep
Breathing out, I feel my breath becoming slow
Slow
Breathing in, I calm my body and my mind
Calm
Breathing out, my body and my mind are at ease
Ease
Breathing in, I smile
Smile
Breathing out, I release all tension in my body and my mind
Release
Breathing in, I dwell in the present moment
Present Moment
Breathing out, I know this is the only moment
Wonderful Moment
|
Gatha
for Walking Meditation
I
touch the earth,
The
earth touches me
I
love the earth,
The
earth loves me
I
am the earth,
The
earth is me
|
last
updated June 12, 2010
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