BodhiMind Center

08/31/2026

August 30, 2026

Dear BodhiMind Friends,

We had a wonderful gathering of around 50 people on our opening night, Aug. 18th, at our new location inside the NextUs building at 525 North Cascade, Colorado Springs (on the SE corner of Cascade and Willamette).

Our new space is on the 2nd Floor and is called "The Venue."

There is abundant free parking in the lighted lot to the right and behind the building, as well as along Cascade and Willamette.

At the bottom of this email are some picture to help you find your way!

Meanwhile:

We invite you to contribute to enhancing
everyone's experience in our new location,
both Sooner, Later, and Always

Please consider helping:

Sooner (Sept. 8-20, day/time TBD)
- Put together our new large bookcases
- Arrange over 30 boxes of books into cases

Later
- Respond to an upcoming survey about what formats
and programs you would like to see
- Give us regular feedback on what we can offer to the community

Always
- Offer a regular donation that reflects how you value what we do
(Our costs are over $1300 per month)

******************

ALSO, Here we share a special notice about an outdoor immersive headphone musical event offered by one of our members, Jeoff Harris (who has waived the admission fee for BodhiMind folk). It's called "Cathartic Fall, "and I've read very positive reviews of how powerful the event can be. It is on Friday, Sept. 18th from 6-8 pm. You can register here and put in the code Bodhimind for free admission.


******************

All our meetings are at 525 North Cascade Ave in the NextUs building on the 2nd floor.

You can always support the work we do at BodhiMind Center by donations at our meeting, by mail to Box 444, Manitou Springs, CO 80829, or electronically HERE. It takes several thousands dollars each year to bring you what we offer. Thank you for your generosity.

_______________

TUESDAY, September 1st, 6pm: In-person and by Zoom, with David Gardiner

TOPIC: Our precious human life

We will reflect on a traditional perspective, and meditation, on something the Tibetan Buddhist tradition considers an essential foundation for spiritual practice. This is to recognize as clearly and deeply as possible that in spite of the troubles our external world presents us - from economic, climate, social, health and other sources of distress - those of us who have encountered spiritual practices toward which we are inclined are in fact very fortunate.

__________________

THURSDAY, September 3rd, 6 pm: In-person and by Zoom, with Karen Recktenwald

TOPIC: Awareness of Openness


“Much of Fully Being is about working with that channel, opening that channel. It, also, includes finding out what might be partially occluding that channel, the noise in the channel that makes the communication more difficult to hear, or the blockages and knots in the channel. It’s about how to open those up in a sort of loving and organic way.” ~ Adam Kane, Fully Being Retreat, Dorje Denma Ling Meditation Center, July 2026

Dear Friends,

We’ve discussed the openness of Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s metaphor of the channel between the Thinking Mind and the Feelings. We’ll continue exploring blockages and knots in that channel, eventually nicknaming them Beautiful Monsters. We can imagine how to maintain an open and welcoming attitude toward not only the blockages and knots, but toward all of our experience, pleasant, unpleasant and neutral. The processes of not suppressing (denying), not pushing away (aggressively), not indulging (believing the story), and not fixing (spiritual bypass) all facilitate allowing the blockages and knots to transform in their own way and time, and free us from old imprints.

“Fully Being is a Meditation Course cultivating a Grounded Body, a Warm Heart, and a Clear Mind.” ~ The fullybeing.org website



Interior view (partial) of the Venue

_____________________________________________

- BodhiMind Center
_________________

New location at 525 N. Cascade

Entrance from Cascade Ave.

From the entrance: Take elevator (straight ahead) or stairs (to the right), to the second floor. Then follow the sign to the right, down the hall (pictured next) to the Venue.

2nd floor hallway ending at the Venue (restrooms on right)





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Copyright © 2026 BodhiMind Center, All rights reserved.
You either signed up to receive the newsletter at a Bodhimind Center event or via the web page bodhimindcenter.org
Our mailing address is:
BodhiMind Center
P.O. Box 444
Manitou Springs, CO 80829

Add us to your address book

08/18/2026

08/11/2026

August 10, 2026

Dear BodhiMind Friends,

[We apologize that a software glitch caused the previous email sent an hour earlier to copy portions from last week's email instead of including the new material below.)

This week both our Tuesday and Thursday meeting will be In-person and by Zoom.The details are below.

We repeat below news about our new location starting August 18th.

> We would appreciate RSVP's for the Grand Opening on Tuesday, Aug. 18th. To innaugurate our new space, we will have a brief meditation followed by plenty of good food (w/plenty of vegetarian) from Sherpa Garden Restaurant (Tibetan/Nepalese style). Please RSVP to [email protected]

********************
To repeat: OUR NEW LOCATION ANNOUNCEMENT: We are moving!! (from Aug. 18th). We found a nice new space near the Fine Arts Center on Cascade, inside the NextUs building at 525 North Cascade, Colorado Springs (on the SE corner of Cascade and Willamette). The building is filled with co-working spaces, like various therapist offices and other small businesses. Our space is on the Second Floor and is called "The Venue." There is plenty of free and lighted parking surrounding the building. We will use it for our regular Tuesday and Thursday meetings and for occasional special events. We are also renting an office space on the Second Floor that will eventually become our BodhiMind Library. We have been given hundreds of books over the past several years that we want to share with our community.

We thank those of you who contributed to the purchase of new large bookcases for our library. Thank you!!!

----------

BMC Friends,

I spoke this morning with Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsetan, the Tibetan Buddhist monk who inspired us in 2009 to establish BodhiMind Center. He is 89 years old and lives in India. He repeated to me a special message that he's shared with me and many other people over the years, and I want to share it here since it's a core principle for good living, with a Buddhist touch:

Remember always that death is certain but its timing is not.

When you wake up in the morning, think how wonderful it is that you are still alive, that you did not pass away in your sleep.

Tell yourself that you will live this day with joy, grateful for body's being alive, for friends, for good teachings, and for the opportunity of another day to practice kindness, generosity, patience, focus, and more. This way your life is meaningful.

Live each day with a commitment to being happy, grateful for this precious life that allows you to experience beauty, gives many opportunities for joyous smiles, and provides openings for insight and growth.

Love yourself and others as fully as possible. This is the key to a happy, meaningful life.

[From Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsetan]

Hope to see you on the 18th!

08/04/2026

ur LINK for all meetings: BodhiMind Center Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 896 2552 0695, Passcode: 202201
(and Button for Donations)


August 3, 2026

Dear BodhiMind Friends,

This week both our Tuesday and Thursday meeting will be In-person and by Zoom.The details are below.

OUR NEW LOCATION ANNOUNCEMENT: We are moving!! (from Aug. 18th). We found a nice new space near the Fine Arts Center on Cascade, inside the NextUs building at 525 North Cascade, Colorado Springs (on the SE corner of Cascade and Willamette). The building is filled with co-working spaces, like various therapist offices and other small businesses. Our space is on the Second Floor and is called "The Venue." There is plenty of free and lighted parking surrounding the building. We will use it for our regular Tuesday and Thursday meetings and for occasional special events. We are also renting an office space on the Second Floor that will eventually become our BodhiMind Library. We have been given hundreds of books over the past several years that we want to share with our community.

REQUEST FOR VOLUNTEERS AND DONATIONS: We could use a few hands to help move boxes of books and a cabinet or two, preferably sometime on Aug. 15, 16, or 17. If you can spare an hour or so on one of those days, please respond to this email ([email protected]) to let us know.
Also, because we need to buy a few large bookcases for our future library, we extend an opportunity for you to contribute to this purchase by a donation. We will probably want something like this double bookcase at IKEA, two or three of them. Donations of any amount are most welcome! Please also respond to this email ([email protected]).

TUESDAY, AUGUST 18th, we will have a Grand Opening gathering in our new space, from 6-8 pm. With food. We want everyone to come! Therefore, we will not hold a meditation meeting on Thursday, Aug. 20th. Just one grand gathering that week! Bring a friend :).

We will send out another email soon about the new space, with photos and more. and about our Grand Opening on the 18th.
----------
A quick Dharma talk: Some people think Buddhism rejects desire as being useless. This is entirely mistaken. Buddhism understands that it takes desire to learn and to grow. To practice what we call the "path" requires effort and a desire for growth. What Buddhism does critique is the strong energy of "thirst" that leads to never-ending cycles of depletion. Such craving is only a means to satisfaction in the short run. Once pleased, we want more, again. It is the expectation that "if I could only get this I will be satisfied once and for all" that Buddhism labels problematic. And the tradition finds that this expectation is often unconsciously present underneath most of our wishes.

But to desire something without such expectation is not likely to result in frustration. So wise desire is a very good thing. And the desire to work on transforming one's emotional energy patterns toward more wholesome expressions - ones that bring genuine, lasting contentment - is strongly affirmed in Buddhist teachings as being supremely valuable.

And such desire, when coupled with the belief that real transformation toward such freedom is actually possible, is called shraddha in Buddhism. Some translate shraddha as "faith" and others as "trustful confidence." This kind of faith is affirmed as an essential quality of someone on the path.

It is not any sort of blind faith that asks you to "believe" something that you can't confirm in your own direct experience. Rather, shraddha grows from an awareness that our emotional habit energies are moldable, changeable, not inherently solid. It is a trustful confidence that freedom from the distress that our unwholesome habit energies cause is actually possible. That there are forms of practice that are truly beneficial, and that we can engage in them. And that we should engage if we truly care for our own well-being.

That's Buddhist faith.

- David Gardiner

_______________

All our meetings are at 2955 Professional Place, Suite 101, Colorado Springs (belonging to the Hammond Law Group)

You can always support the work we do at BodhiMind Center by donations at our meeting or electronically HERE. It takes several thousands dollars each year to bring you what we offer. Thank you for your generosity.

_______________

TUESDAY, August 4, 6pm: In-person and by Zoom, with David Gardiner

TOPIC: To dream that enlightenment is possible...

We'll discuss the "faith" mentioned above. Some call it faith in one's "buddha nature." This means to feel inside that beneath all the busy, wild, and unpleasant emotions and thoughts circulating within our minds there is a soft, quiet, and gentle capacity for clear knowing and loving being. We can learn to trust that this capacity can be actualized within our daily lives. The Buddhist "stupa" pictured above (in Crestone, Colorado) symbolizes our capacity to wake up.

__________________

THURSDAY, August 6th, 6 pm: In-person and by Zoom, with Karen Recktenwald

TOPIC: Awareness of the Channel



“But just as a temporary metaphor, we can say that there's a channel between our mind and our experiential realm. And the degree of openness of that channel, the degree of health of that channel is exactly the constraining factor for the gap between what we know and what we're able to feel and experience.” ~ Adam Kane, Fully Being Retreat, Dorje Denma Ling Meditation Center, July 2026

Dear Friends,

We’ll continue a practical exploration of the benefits of Dropping Practice, and take a good look at the metaphor of the Channel. Adam Kane suggests, “Much of Fully Being is about working with that channel, opening that channel. It, also, includes finding out what might be partially occluding that channel, the noise in the channel that makes the communication more difficult to hear, or the blockages and knots in the channel. It’s about how to open those up in a sort of loving and organic way.” ~ Adam Kane, Fully Being Retreat, Dorje Denma Ling Meditation Center, July 2026

A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR A LONG-TIME SANGHA MEMBER
Rachelle Reid joined us regularly before Covid, after which she moved out of state. She recently returned. She is most unfortunately disabled due to severe effects of late-stage cancer and is now under home hospice care. Anyone who would like to do a compassionate act of kindness could offer to call her to chat (719) 258-7575.

07/14/2026

Our LINK for all meetings: BodhiMind Center Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 896 2552 0695, Passcode: 202201
(and Button for Donations)


July 13, 2026

Dear BodhiMind Friends,

This Tuesday is In-person and by Zoom, but Thursday will be by Zoom only this week. And we have a new Book Group meeting starting on July 22nd (see details below).

Thursday's session with Karen Recktenwald (by Zoom only) will be on using the body as a "tether." One might think Buddhism is focused on mind-training, and in many ways this is true. And yet, an important part of transforming unhealthy mind habits is to learn to pay close attention to one's body. There is a lot of emphasis in recent studies in biology and psychology on the body's sensations as a foundation for our emotional responses.

When we learn to pay close attention to how the body feels - whether good, bad, or in-between - we start to notice how emotional energies emerge from the body as if a scent from ripening fruit. We begin to see how there is an energy feeling from which anger arises, and another for fear, and another for strong desire. Of course, there are different shapes of such energy patterns and not everyone is the same. But we can learn to discern the relation between our body's felt-sense and emotional reactions. This becomes the basis for genuine self-knowledge, the kind that is applicable in so many situations.

Developing such awareness becomes a concrete method for a practice like "taking a deep breath and counting to ten" - a modern approach that creates a space for nurturing awareness of arising emotional states. Such a pause establishes a huge foundation for cultivating effective skills for emotional regulation.

Hence, the Buddha taught that the "first foundation" of mindfulness practice was developing a keen awareness of our body - what is hard, soft, fluid, and so on, in great detail - an intimate first person accounting of what is the body. This might sound strange, but what's actually stranger is that so many of us are kind of "dead from the neck down." We pay attention to our thoughts but not so much our bodies. And the second foundation is to focus on the general feeling tone of the body at any particular moment.

Thus awareness of the body and its sensations becomes a window for seeing more directly and intimately our "inner states," and this skill grows into the third foundation, which is mindfulness of mental states.

All of these four foundations of mindfulness practice create a basis for self-cultivation. There are many other teachings about how to develop them further and further, but in general not much within Buddhist practice departs from this basis. These form the starting point for the entire Path.

We hope you'll come meditation, discuss, and learn with us.

- David Gardiner

_______________

All our meetings are at 2955 Professional Place, Suite 101, Colorado Springs (belonging to the Hammond Law Group)

You can always support the work we do at BodhiMind Center by donations at our meeting or electronically HERE. It takes several thousands dollars each year to bring you what we offer. Thank you for your generosity.

_______________

TUESDAY, July 14th, 6 pm, in-person and by Zoom, with David Gardiner

TOPIC: Views of the Path

(Image of a Tibetan Buddhist stupa in Crestone Colorado)

We'll look at the division of the path into three dimensions of Ethical Conduct, Concentration, and Wisdom. I'll avoid the details here, so come study with us to learn more
______

THURSDAY, July 16th, 6 pm: By ZOOM ONLY, with Karen Recktenwald

TOPIC: Awareness of the Body as a Tether

“Most of the inputs into your brain originate within your own body, and most if not all of those signals are like night watchmen calling, “All is well. All is well. All is well . . .Feeling into your breathing, sensing into your innards, and noticing that you are alright right now are endlessly renewing opportunities to settle into the physical center of your being. ~ Rick Hanson, Come to Center, June 2026 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

We’ve taken deep dive into Rinpoche’s Dropping Practice, breaking the proliferation of thoughts and bringing us into body-based awareness. We begin to see its dramatic effect on Awareness and Meditation. Last week we emphasized the first state, Letting Go of Grasping without aversion, to avoid a reverberation with unhealthy consequences.

This week we’ll unpack how Dropping counteracts the strong, western cultural tendency that overemphasizes the cognitive Thinking part of the Mind. It’s like having one bizarrely large muscle that dominates the body. Dropping reminds us that there is, also, a Body right here regardless of where the Mind is. And we can use the Body to activate Awareness and as a tether for awareness.
And finally, Dropping helps us learn to relax without a drink, a screen, or a vacation in the Bahamas. It helps us learn to relax without going into a state of dullness. It allows us to breathe deeply, and at the same time remain clear and awake. In other words, it sets up the perfect conditions for meditation, clear and calm.

The Mind has many parts and dimensions. The thinking Mind is one of them. �We're all pretty darn good at that, overthinking, neurotic thinking, extra thinking or ruminating. analyzing, figuring it all out.” ~ Adam Kane, Denver Shambhala Fully Being Retreat, 6/6/26

"The extra grasping, seeing the grasping and the confusion in the grasping, and releasing it, is a relaxing, loving, healthy way to let go.” ~ Adam Kane, Denver Shambhala Fully Being Retreat, 6/6/26
_________

PLEASE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY FOR GENEROSITY FOR A LONG-TIME SANGHA MEMBER
Rachelle Reid joined us regularly before Covid, after which she moved out of state. She recently returned. She is most unfortunately disabled due to severe effects of late-stage cancer and is now under home hospice care. Anyone who would like to do a compassionate act of kindness could offer to pick up a couple of things to bring her. It is best to call to ask find what she needs that day. And if you don’t have time for a visit, a phone call will makeher day! She considers you a friend as a fellow meditator, 602-919-6990.

_____________________________________________



The BodhiMind Book Group is starting a new book, It’s Up to You: The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path by Dzigar Kongtrul on July 22nd. The group meets each Wednesday evening from 7:00 to 8:00.

From Amazon about the book: “On the spiritual path we speak of enlightenment. But how do we reconcile the idea of enlightenment with what we see when we look in the mirror—when insecurities, doubts, and self-centered tendencies arise in our minds? Dzigar Kongtrül suggests that we need not feel “doomed” when these experiences surface. In fact, such experiences are not a problem if we are able to simply let them arise without judging them or investing them with so much meaning. This approach to experience is what Kongtrül calls self-reflection.”

“Self-reflection is a practice, a path, and an attitude. It is the spirit of taking an interest in that which we usually try to push away. When we practice self-reflection we take liberation into our own hands, and we accept the challenge and personal empowerment in Kongtrül’s title: it’s up to you.”

The book is one hour on Zoom for six weeks. To sign up for the book group, email the moderator Gary Reneau at [email protected]
_________




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07/07/2026

Our LINK for all meetings: BodhiMind Center Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 896 2552 0695, Passcode: 202201
(and Button for Donations)


July 6, 2026

Dear BodhiMind Friends,

This Tuesday is In-person and by Zoom, but Thursday will be by Zoom only this week. And we have a new Book Group meeting starting on July 22nd (see details below).

As Summer deepens and (let's not forget impermanence...) we can already envision Fall on the horizon, it's a fine time for reflecting on core Buddhist perspectives on life and death (also known as samsara).

From this week, our Tuesday meetings will return for a while to basic approaches to framing the Buddhist path that are centrally relevant to our everyday lives. We will look at a variety of models of the path with an aim to extracting essential elements to keep in mind for balance, grounding, sanity, peace, and joy - a crucial ingredient, too!

We hope you an join us.

- David Gardiner

_______________

All our meetings are at 2955 Professional Place, Suite 101, Colorado Springs (belonging to the Hammond Law Group)

You can always support the work we do at BodhiMind Center by donations at our meeting or electronically HERE. It takes several thousands dollars each year to bring you what we offer. Thank you for your generosity.

_______________

TUESDAY, July 7th, 6 pm, in-person and by Zoom, with David Gardiner

TOPIC: Why even speak of there being a "path"?

- Eight-fold and three-fold paths
- What to "give up" and what to "take up"
- Philosophy or psychology?
- Ideas that awaken and energize
- Why and how deep transformation is possible.

So many intersecting ideas! And yet - there is a core pattern and meaning that is clear. We will distill the essence and soak it in.

______

THURSDAY, July 9th, 6 pm: By ZOOM ONLY, with Karen Recktenwald

TOPIC: Awareness of Deeper Aspects of Dropping

"Who cares so what? No big deal. Who cares so what?”
No big deal. Whatever happens, happens, whatever doesn't happen, doesn't happen.” ~ Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s Mantras for Dropping Practice

Dear Friends,

Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s "mantras," above, are for those of us who “over care”, who care too much. They’re included in Dropping Practice to help us become more “carefree”, “not too loose and not too tight.” Besides breaking the proliferation of thoughts and bringing us into body-based awareness, this practice facilitates three important states of being.

The first is allowing us to let go of grasping and relax into a healthy state of relaxation. Have you ever tried to let go of your sense of self, your identity, your perception of being right, or your view or opinion? Imagine being able to let go of grasping without aversion, which leaves a reverberation within us, and has consequences. Dropping facilitates a healthy form of letting go.

Adam Kane says, “the Mind has many parts and dimensions. The thinking Mind is one of them. �We're all pretty darn good at that, overthinking, neurotic thinking, extra thinking or ruminating. analyzing, figuring it all out.” Dropping counteracts this strong, western cultural tendency. It reminds us that there’s, also, a Body right here regardless of where the Mind is. And we can use the Body to activate Awareness and as a tether for awareness.

And finally, Dropping helps us learn to relax without a drink, a screen, or a vacation in the Bahamas. It helps us learn to relax without going into a state of dullness. It allows us to breathe deeply, and at the same time remain clear and awake. In other words, it sets up the perfect conditions for meditation, clear and calm.

"The extra grasping, seeing the grasping and the confusion in the grasping, and releasing it, is a relaxing, loving, healthy way to let go.” ~ Adam Kane, Denver Shambhala Fully Being Retreat, 6/6/26

“Most of the inputs into your brain originate within your own body, and most if not all of those signals are like night watchmen calling, “All is well. All is well. All is well . . .Feeling into your breathing, sensing into your innards, and noticing that you are alright right now are endlessly renewing opportunities to settle into the physical center of your being. ~ Rick Hanson, Come to Center, June 2026 Newsletter

*************

PLEASE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY FOR GENEROSITY FOR A LONG-TIME SANGHA MEMBER
Rachelle Reid joined us regularly before Covid, after which she moved out of state. She recently returned. She is most unfortunately disabled due to severe effects of late-stage cancer and is now under home hospice care. Anyone who would like to do a compassionate act of kindness could offer to pick up a couple of things to bring her. It is best to call to ask find what she needs that day. And if you don’t have time for a visit, a phone call will make her day! She considers you a friend as a fellow meditator, 602-919-6990.

_____________________________________________




The BodhiMind Book Group is starting a new book, It’s Up to You: The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path by Dzigar Kongtrul on July 22nd. The group meets each Wednesday evening from 7:00 to 8:00.

From Amazon about the book: “On the spiritual path we speak of enlightenment. But how do we reconcile the idea of enlightenment with what we see when we look in the mirror—when insecurities, doubts, and self-centered tendencies arise in our minds? Dzigar Kongtrül suggests that we need not feel “doomed” when these experiences surface. In fact, such experiences are not a problem if we are able to simply let them arise without judging them or investing them with so much meaning. This approach to experience is what Kongtrül calls self-reflection.”

“Self-reflection is a practice, a path, and an attitude. It is the spirit of taking an interest in that which we usually try to push away. When we practice self-reflection we take liberation into our own hands, and we accept the challenge and personal empowerment in Kongtrül’s title: it’s up to you.”

The book is one hour on Zoom for six weeks. To sign up for the book group, email the moderator Gary Reneau at [email protected]
_________

07/01/2026

ur LINK for all meetings: BodhiMind Center Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 896 2552 0695, Passcode: 202201
(and Button for Donations)


June 29, 2026

Dear BodhiMind Friends,

Both our Tuesday and Wednesday meetings will be by Zoom only this week. I will return to Colorado in time for our in-person meeting on July 6th. Victor Reyes will lead this Thursday. And we have a new Book Group meeting starting on July 22nd (see details below).

A dear friend who sometimes chimes in on our Zoom gatherings shared with me a lovely composite of video clips of Robert Thurman, on stage on multiple occasion with the musician Krishna Das, his close friend. (If you don't know of Krishna Das, he is an American musician and vocalist who does devotional Hindu singing. A famous song is his Baba Hanuman, a true gem).

I will honor Thurman's recent passing by emphasizing in this Tuesday's Zoom session how his emphasis on combining wisdom and compassion so beautifully encapsulates not only "the Buddhist path" but what is also a supremely concise and powerful way to describe how we can become both freer and more joyous.

Tuesday's Zoom meeting will focus on this theme, employing the image and mantra of Green Tara to energize our practice and discussion.

We hope you an join us!

- David Gardiner

_______________

All our meetings are at 2955 Professional Place, Suite 101, Colorado Springs (belonging to the Hammond Law Group)

You can always support the work we do at BodhiMind Center by donations at our meeting or electronically HERE. It takes several thousands dollars each year to bring you what we offer. Thank you for your generosity.

_______________

TUESDAY, June 30th, 6 pm, By ZOOM ONLY, with David Gardiner

TOPIC: Pure nature of mind, infinite capacity for growth

The above image is of Green Tara. She represents all the excellent qualities of Body, Speech, and Mind of all enlightened beings. As such, she symbolizes everyone's inherent potential for cultivating maximum Wisdom, Compassion, and Courage. She especially expresses our powerful potential for acting creatively and energetically for the benefit of all beings, which means ourselves and all others. We will meditate on her together with her mantra:

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA
_____

THURSDAY, July 2nd, 6 pm: By ZOOM ONLY, with Victor Reyes

TOPIC: The Four Immeasurable Qualities of Mind

Please join us as we meditate upon the Four Immeasurables (or Brahmaviharas). These are sublime mental states and meditation practices in Buddhism. They are called "immeasurable" because they are cultivated to an infinite degree, without boundary or limit, toward all sentient beings.

The Four Qualities

Loving-Kindness (Maitri / Metta): The wish that all beings experience happiness and the causes of happiness.
Compassion (Karuna): The wish that all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
Sympathetic Joy (Mudita): Celebrating the happiness, success, and good fortune of others, free from jealousy.
Equanimity, Impartiality (Upekkha): A stable, balanced mind that views all beings impartially, free from attachment and aversion.

_____________________________________________


The BodhiMind Book Group is starting a new book, It’s Up to You: The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path by Dzigar Kongtrul on July 22nd. The group meets each Wednesday evening from 7:00 to 8:00.

From Amazon about the book: “On the spiritual path we speak of enlightenment. But how do we reconcile the idea of enlightenment with what we see when we look in the mirror—when insecurities, doubts, and self-centered tendencies arise in our minds? Dzigar Kongtrül suggests that we need not feel “doomed” when these experiences surface. In fact, such experiences are not a problem if we are able to simply let them arise without judging them or investing them with so much meaning. This approach to experience is what Kongtrül calls self-reflection.”

“Self-reflection is a practice, a path, and an attitude. It is the spirit of taking an interest in that which we usually try to push away. When we practice self-reflection we take liberation into our own hands, and we accept the challenge and personal empowerment in Kongtrül’s title: it’s up to you.”

The book is one hour on Zoom for six weeks. To sign up for the book group, email the moderator Gary Reneau at [email protected]
_________

OPPORTUNITY FOR GENEROSITY FOR A LONG-TIME SANGHA MEMBER
Rachelle Reid joined us regularly before Covid, after which she moved out of state. She recently returned yet is most unfortunately disabled due to severe effects of late-stage cancer and is now under home hospice care. Anyone who would like to do a compassionate act of kindness could offer to pick up a couple of things to bring her. It is best to call to ask find what she needs that day.